Florida Atlantic University Student Defense Lawyer

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at FAU?

An FAU student defense lawyer is, in this case, local. My office is in Boca Raton, the same city as Florida Atlantic University’s main campus, so an FAU matter does not involve a remote lawyer working from documents alone. FAU is a public institution with campuses across Palm Beach and Broward counties, a large commuter and transfer population, and a growing set of graduate and health-professions programs.

Because FAU is public, constitutional due process applies. Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975), requires notice and an opportunity to respond before a disciplinary suspension, and Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, 294 F.2d 150 (5th Cir. 1961), remains binding precedent in the Eleventh Circuit on notice and a meaningful hearing before expulsion for misconduct. FAU is also bound by the procedures it publishes, and that second constraint is usually the more useful one.

Where do FAU cases come from?

The recurring categories are academic integrity allegations, including AI-related ones; conduct charges involving alcohol, drugs, and housing; Title IX matters; and academic dismissal for grades or progression. FAU’s transfer-heavy population produces a particular category of dispute that is easy to overlook: credit evaluation and progression problems that arise from how transferred coursework was counted, which can trigger an academic standing decision that is actually an arithmetic dispute rather than a judgment about ability.

FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine, Lynn College of Nursing programs, and other health-professions tracks add committee-level academic and professionalism review, where the consequences extend to licensure rather than stopping at the transcript. See Medical School Dismissal and Remediation, Nursing School Dismissal, and Health-Professions Programs.

Progression disputes are often calculation disputes

Before treating a dismissal or probation decision as a judgment about performance, verify the numbers. GPA calculations, credit counts, repeat-course and grade-replacement rules, and transfer credit evaluations are applied by hand more often than students assume, and a demonstrable computational error is the single most persuasive appeal ground available because it does not ask a committee to second-guess academic judgment. That approach is developed on the Academic Dismissal and Suspension and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeals pages.

What should you do first?

Pull the current student code of conduct, academic irregularity or integrity policy, and the catalog in effect for your cohort from the university itself rather than from any summary, including this one. Start at Florida Atlantic University and confirm which office owns your matter, since the responsible office differs between conduct, integrity, and academic standing decisions.

Then write down the deadline, request your file, and preserve your drafting history, messages, and any advising records. Advising records matter more here than students expect, because a documented conversation in which a student was told a course sequence or a repeat would count a certain way can be decisive in a progression dispute. Do not give a statement before you know what the university claims to have.

What does FAU’s own policy actually say?

FAU’s Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution runs behavioral cases under Florida Atlantic University Regulation 4.007, the Student Code of Conduct. Academic integrity cases under Regulation 4.001, the Code of Academic Integrity, run through faculty channels instead: the instructor, the chair, the dean’s Faculty-Student Council and the Provost, with the Dean of Students running only the Academic Integrity Seminar. All appeals must be received in writing within five business days of the decision and must specify the basis for the appeal; the regulation defines business days as Monday through Friday excluding official university holidays, and no one who conducted or participated in the hearing may decide the appeal. The hearing officer determines responsibility by a preponderance of the evidence. FAU’s advisor rule is one of the strongest in Florida: the advisor is chosen and paid for by the student and “may directly participate in all aspects of the Hearing, including the presentation of relevant information and questioning of witnesses,” though the advisor may not testify.

• Conduct office: Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution
• Governing policy: Student Code of Conduct, Florida Atlantic University Regulation 4.007
• Academic integrity: Code of Academic Integrity, FAU Regulation 4.001
• Appeal window: Five (5) business days from the decision, business days being Monday through Friday excluding official university holidays
• Standard of proof: Preponderance of the evidence
• Advisor: An advisor at the student’s expense who may directly participate in all aspects of the hearing, including presenting relevant information and questioning witnesses, but may not testify. In Title IX matters a party with no advisor at the hearing is provided one by the University at no charge (the Dean of Students needs at least five days’ notice), and advisors conduct cross-examination.
• Title IX / equal opportunity: Office of Civil Rights and Title IX (OCR9)
• Disability accommodations: Student Accessibility Services

The regulation builds in real preparation time on the front end — the hearing may be set no less than seven business days after the Notice of Hearing, the right to review the evidence attaches no less than five business days before it, and in Title IX matters Policy 7.10 calls for the notice of hearing, and access to the investigative report and materials, at least ten days before the hearing — but the appeal that follows runs on the same five-day scale, so the analysis has to be built before the hearing, not after it. The Vice President’s appeal decision is final within the university. On the academic side, a dismissed student may seek re-entry only after a minimum of one year away, by reapplying and petitioning the last college or major, which makes the conduct-side clocks the ones with real teeth.

What can a student defense lawyer do here?

• Reading the governing policy against the charge or decision letter
• Helping you prepare your account, your documents, and your questions
• Verifying GPA, credit, transfer, and progression calculations
• Testing whether FAU followed its own published procedures
• Assisting with the written response and appeal, to the extent the policy permits
• Serving as your advisor where the process allows it
• Negotiating sanction terms, notations, and disclosure language

What a lawyer may actually do in your case depends on that school’s policy. Some allow counsel to participate, some allow a non-participating advisor, and some allow no outside person at all. Reading the current policy is the first step, and it determines what form the assistance can take.

Local representation in Palm Beach County

FAU’s main campus is in Boca Raton, and I work with students across Palm Beach County — in person where a hearing or a meeting with a dean is better attended in the room, and remotely where that gets the written submission done faster. Because FAU is a public university, section 1006.60 of the Florida Statutes applies on top of the Fourteenth Amendment: five business days’ notice, the full evidence file including anything exculpatory, and an appeal to a senior administrator who took no part in the original decision. See Boca Raton and Palm Beach County student defense.

Its medical school runs a separate process

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine decides promotion and dismissal through its Medical Student Promotions and Professional Standards Committee, on five-business-day clocks — and unlike the University’s conduct process, an appeal there can result in a more severe sanction than the one you are appealing. University Legal Counsel sits on the committee. How dismissal and appeals work at FAU College of Medicine.

One FAU nursing code recorded a very low pass rate in 2025

A Board of Nursing program code registered to the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing passed 42.86% of 14 first-time candidates in 2025. FAU’s main baccalaureate nursing code is separate and cleared its floor.

Two honest caveats, because this figure should not be over-read. The code in question carries no degree suffix in the Board’s report, so it cannot be confirmed from the published data whether it covers an associate or a baccalaureate program — and the applicable floor differs (76.05% against 77.59% for 2025). Either way the result is below both. And fourteen candidates is a small cohort, where one or two results move the percentage several points. What this supports is a question to ask about which program or entry route the code covers, not a conclusion about the college as a whole. The full tables are on the Florida nursing program pass-rate page.

Who decides a grade dispute, a cheating charge, or a conduct case at FAU

Faculty and academic deans, then the Provost, decide grade and cheating disputes; the Dean of Students decides conduct cases.

Grades. Regulation 4.002, Student Academic Grievance Procedures for Grade Reviews (amended June 23, 2010), allows a review only for a computational or recording error, non-academic grading criteria, or a gross violation of the instructor’s own grading statement.

• Written request to meet the instructor: by October 1 for spring or summer grades, February 1 for fall grades.
• Written request, with clear evidence, for a conference with the chair or director: by November 1 or March 1.
• Appeal to the dean: within five business days of the chair’s findings. Unless the dean finds no merit, a Faculty Committee is convened within ten business days; an advisor may attend but not speak.
• Appeal to the Provost, whose decision is final: within five business days of the dean’s notice.

Academic integrity. Cheating, plagiarism, and unauthorized AI use go through academic channels, not the conduct office, under Regulation 4.001, the Code of Academic Integrity (amended August 13, 2024). You get five business days from receiving the instructor’s notice to request a meeting with the instructor and chair, from the chair’s summary to appeal to the dean, and from the dean’s findings to appeal to the Provost. The dean’s Faculty-Student Council reviews only whether dishonesty occurred, not the instructor’s penalty. You cannot drop, withdraw from, or grade-forgive the course. A finding adds a transcript notation. For a first offense, completing the Academic Integrity Seminar by the end of the semester after the violation removes it from the transcript, though not from FAU’s internal record. A second violation means expulsion.

Conduct. Under Regulation 4.007, the Student Conduct Board or hearing officer only recommends in non-Title IX cases. Accepting responsibility, or missing the Student Conduct Conference or the hearing, leaves only an appeal of the sanction’s severity. An attorney-advisor must be disclosed to the Dean of Students at least three business days before the hearing.

What the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing requires to stay in the program

It depends on which FAU document you read: the 2026-2027 University Catalog says a C passes a nursing course, but the college’s BSN Progression and Retention Policy (updated August 2026) requires a C+ (77% or higher on the college’s grading scale) or a Satisfactory. Under that policy:

• A C or below, or a U, may be repeated once, if space allows.
• A second such grade in the same course, or such grades in any two nursing courses, means dismissal from the major.
• Withdrawing from a nursing course costs your cohort seat unless it is an approved exceptional circumstances withdrawal, which covers the whole semester.
• Removal from clinical for patient safety carries an F.
• The college’s Testing Policy (November 24, 2025) caps the course grade at C when the exam average is below 77%.

A program official notifies you by FAU email and offers a meeting; you have ten academic days to respond. The result is probation under a written Plan of Improvement or a dismissal recommendation. The dismissal policy refers students to a “Student’s Appeal Procedure,” but the handbook page for it only points to Regulation 4.002, the grade-review rule. A dismissed student may petition for readmission only once, through the college’s Admission and Progression Subcommittee.

The college’s graduate policy (August 17, 2026) requires a B in required nursing courses, though the catalog says C. Graduate dismissals follow the Provost’s August 21, 2015 memo: ten academic days to respond, five academic days after meeting the program official to request a dean’s hearing, and the Provost decides.

How to report sexual misconduct or discrimination to FAU

Reports go to FAU’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX (OCR9): online at fau.edu/report, in person at Administration Building Room 265 in Boca Raton, or by phone (561-297-3004). The 2020 edition of Regulation 7.008 called it the Office of Equity and Inclusion, and the old web addresses forward to fau.edu/ocr9. The fau.edu/report page has separate forms for sexual misconduct (Title IX) and for other harassment or discrimination. Neither is confidential. An online report is notice to FAU, not a formal complaint; a complaint is signed only after a meeting with OCR9.

Title IX cases follow Policy 7.10, Title IX Compliance (Policy 1.15 before FAU’s February 16, 2026 renumbering). OCR9 aims to finish intake in five business days and its investigative report in 75 business days (its website says 75 calendar days). The written decision is due 15 business days after the live hearing; appeals, five business days after the decision. Other discrimination complaints fall under Regulation 7.008 and Policy 7.14 and must be filed within 180 calendar days of the incident. One conflict: Policy 7.10 sends Title IX appeals to the OCR9 appeal form, but that form says student-respondent cases are appealed under Regulation 4.007.

Getting accommodations from Student Accessibility Services, and contesting a denial

You apply online (Application for Academic Accommodations, on the SAS Apply page), describing your disability and past accommodations and uploading documentation. SAS suggests a dated, signed letter on letterhead from a qualified professional naming the disability and its impact, or an SAS Verification Form. If it suffices, an Accessibility Coordinator meets with you to set accommodations; if not, SAS emails you for more and may grant provisional accommodations meanwhile. There is no application deadline, but Policy 7.12 requires requesting accommodation letters through the portal each semester. Nursing students must book SAS testing as soon as exam dates post, and not within a week of the test.

To contest a coordinator’s decision, SAS’s rights page sets an in-person review path: the Associate Director, then the SAS Director, then the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs. SAS publishes no deadline or form for that appeal. A denial you believe is discriminatory can also go to OCR9 under Regulation 7.008, within the 180-day limit.

Common questions about FAU student cases

Is being local actually useful?

Sometimes, and honestly not always. Most of this work is documentary and can be done from anywhere. Where it helps is when a matter calls for an in-person meeting on short notice, or when a hearing is scheduled quickly and attendance is permitted under the policy.

My dismissal came from how my transfer credits were counted. Is that appealable?

Often, and on stronger footing than most appeals. A credit or GPA calculation error is a factual question a committee can verify, which is a very different request than asking it to reconsider a judgment about your ability.

Can a lawyer attend an FAU hearing?

It depends on the track and the current policy. Some processes permit an advisor of choice who may be an attorney, some permit a non-participating advisor, and some permit none. Where counsel cannot participate, the assistance shifts to the file and the written submission, and how much that matters depends on the issues and the facts.

How fast should I move?

Response and appeal windows are commonly measured in days, and records take time to obtain. A flat-fee Full Read + Game Plan is described on the Fees and Scope of Services page.

Nearby Florida schools: Lynn University, Palm Beach Atlantic, Palm Beach State College, and Broward College. The full list is on the Florida schools index. Regional overview: student defense in Palm Beach County.

This is general information about the matters I handle and the law that applies to them. It is not legal advice about your situation, and the law in this area can change. For advice on your matter, start with the Full Read + Game Plan — your entire file read, straight answers, and exactly what to do next, in what order.

This page is informational and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the institution named on it.

My child got a C in an FAU nursing course. Is that a failing grade?

Under the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing’s BSN Progression and Retention Policy, updated in August 2026, a C does not meet the standard: the college requires a C+ or better, and a course graded C or below may be repeated only once. The 2026-2027 University Catalog still lists a C as passing, so it is worth asking the college in writing which standard applies to your child’s cohort. Separately, the college’s Testing Policy caps the course grade at C whenever the exam average is below 77%.

Will FAU talk to me about my child’s conduct case or accommodations?

Only in limited ways unless your child signs a release. FAU’s Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution says it can discuss alcohol and drug violations with parents of dependent students, but other conduct matters require a release on file with FAU allowing Student Affairs information to be shared with you. Student Accessibility Services speaks only with the student unless the student signs its Permission to Discuss Form, and even then a parent cannot request changes to accommodations or meet with SAS without the student present.