Illinois Valley Community College: Student Discipline, Dismissal & Federal Court

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at Illinois Valley Community College?

Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) is a public community college in Oglesby, in LaSalle County, with about 7,300 students a year, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The rule to read first is its academic integrity policy: plagiarism counts whether done “on purpose or unintentionally,” and the policy states that “Students must be able to prove that their work is their own.” Most appeals then run on a clock measured in class days — five at a time.

Illinois Valley Community College is a public community college, so two bodies of law apply on top of its own policies. The first is constitutional due process: the college is a state actor, and Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975), requires notice of the charge and a meaningful chance to respond. The second is the deference courts give genuine academic judgment — Board of Curators of the University of Missouri v. Horowitz, 435 U.S. 78 (1978), and Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing, 474 U.S. 214 (1985). In the Seventh Circuit a due process claim also needs a protected interest: there is no free-standing property interest in a public education, and a student has to point to a specific promise the college made — Charleston v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 741 F.3d 769 (7th Cir. 2013).

Illinois law treats a community college differently from a state university, and the difference matters. A community college district is a local public entity, not the State: it falls under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/1-206, not the Court of Claims Act, so a breach-of-contract claim against it is brought in circuit court — see Luciano v. Waubonsee Community College, 245 Ill. App. 3d 1077 (1993). Review of the board’s disciplinary decision does not run through the Administrative Review Law, which the Public Community College Act does not adopt for these matters; the route is a common-law writ of certiorari (or mandamus) in the circuit court — Maas v. Board of Trustees of Community College District No. 529, 94 Ill. App. 3d 562 (1981). And in federal court the district is not an arm of the State and has no Eleventh Amendment immunity — Hostrop v. Board of Junior College District No. 515, 523 F.2d 569 (7th Cir. 1975) — so under Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978), it can be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 where its own policy or custom caused the constitutional violation.

A federal claim arising at Illinois Valley Community College is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — LaSalle County sits in its Eastern Division under 28 U.S.C. § 93(a), and the statute fixes the places of holding court for that division at Chicago and Wheaton. I am a member of the general bar of that court, admitted on my Florida license under its Local Rule 83.10, which opens the general bar to an attorney in good standing before the highest court of any state. That means a Title IX, Section 504, ADA or due process complaint for a Illinois Valley Community College student is one I file and litigate under my own name, with no pro hac vice motion. The Northern District abrogated its local-counsel designation rule in July 2023, so a member of its bar with no office in the district no longer has to designate local counsel. One limit, stated plainly: the court keeps a separate trial bar, and under Local Rule 83.12 a general-bar member who is not on it — that is me — appears alone in everything except testimonial proceedings, meaning evidentiary hearings and trial, where a trial-bar member must sit as advisor unless the judge grants the rule’s narrow waiver.

Plagiarism without intent, and a five-class-day clock

Under the 2026–2027 Student Handbook the instructor “has full authority to identify academic dishonesty” and may fail the work or the course, lower the grade or impose “Involuntary withdrawal from the course.” You may not withdraw to avoid the penalty, and a second documented incident goes to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, whose investigation “may include a formal hearing.” If you are accused of using AI or copied text, the proof-of-authorship sentence is the one to plan around.

The appeal runs through Student Academic Complaints: an informal meeting with the instructor within five class days “When feasible,” then the instructor’s dean, then a written appeal to the dean within five class days of that discussion. The dean answers within five class days, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs decides a final appeal filed within five class days of that answer. A class day is “normally Monday through Friday when classes are in session.” No hearing or standard of proof is published.

Conduct: the hearing comes before suspension, and it is your only hearing

The Vice President for Student Services investigates and may impose lesser sanctions, from admonition to disciplinary probation or suspension of a scholarship. Those are appealed “in writing to the Vice President for Student Services within 5 business days of the receipt of the sanction” — to the officer who imposed them. No standard of proof is published.

A recommended college suspension or expulsion “automatically requires a due process hearing prior to being applied,” before a Faculty-Student Review Committee of three students and three faculty, chaired by that same Vice President. You may speak, present witnesses and “question any witnesses against” you, and minutes and audio tapes are made available. If the Vice President believes “danger will be present,” you may be suspended pending the hearing. Appeals follow, each within five class days, to three vice presidents, the President and, for expulsion only, the Board of Trustees — but “No new evidence or testimony will be considered.” Counsel appears once: “At the hearing before the Board of Trustees, the student may be assisted by counsel.” See conduct code defense.

Academic standing, and a dismissal policy behind a dead link

After 12 attempted semester hours, one semester of poor performance brings Academic Caution, a second consecutive one Academic Warning and a third Academic Probation, each with a required counselor meeting. For academic dismissal the 2026–2027 catalog points to Board Policy 02.03 through a link that returned “Page Not Found” when checked on October 7, 2026.

Nursing: critical incidents and the chain of command

The nursing handbook linked as 2026–2027 (its cover still reads 2025–2026) requires 80.00% “(no rounding)” in theory. Clinical problems become Critical Incidents: informal notice “within 24 hours,” a formal form “within 48 hours,” and your written response usually within 24–48 hours. Two in one course mean an F and possible dismissal, and one can be enough if deemed “of such monumental significance”; a student dismissed “with proper documentation for unsafe practice” will not be readmitted. Concerns climb a chain of command from instructor to Vice President; formal appeals use the five-class-day complaint procedure. See nursing dismissals.

Sexual misconduct: a 2020 procedure that names a retired president

For sexual misconduct, the federal rule is the 2020 Title IX regulation: the 2024 rule was vacated nationwide on January 9, 2025, in Tennessee v. Cardona, and on September 29, 2026 the Department of Education formally repealed it and restored the pre-2024 text (91 Fed. Reg. 61,308). The procedure IVCC links from its Title IX page — Administrative Procedure 6.13, last revised August 14, 2020 — follows it: the 2020 regulation requires postsecondary institutions to hold a live hearing at which each party’s advisor conducts cross-examination. Your advisor “may be, but is not required to be, an attorney,” and may not otherwise speak for you. A Hearing Officer decides on a preponderance; appeals are due within seven business days of receiving the written determination and go to “Dr. Jerry Corcoran, President of IVCC or designee” — who, IVCC’s history page says, retired on June 30, 2023. Board Policy 06.22 itself now sits in the college’s online policy portal, so ask the Title IX Coordinator in writing which procedure governs. See Title IX cases.

What a student defense lawyer can do here

Most of the value is early and quiet: reading IVCC’s policies against what was done, writing the response or appeal on the grounds they recognize, preserving Title IX, Section 504, ADA and FERPA issues, and finding comparators whose similar cases drew lighter sanctions.

Two moves are specific here. In an academic dishonesty case, assemble proof of authorship — drafts, version history, notes — before the first meeting, because the policy puts that proof on you. In a suspension or expulsion case, treat the Review Committee hearing as the whole case: it is the only stage that takes evidence and testimony.

The limit: no discovery, no rules of evidence, and the college decides its own case, so the written campus record is what a court will see.

The one Illinois statute that gives you procedure

Illinois has no general statute setting notice periods, hearing formats, standards of proof or appeal rights for college students. The Illinois School Code, 105 ILCS 5, has a detailed suspension and expulsion scheme, and it applies to elementary and secondary schools, not here. The exception is the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, 110 ILCS 155, and it is a real one. It reaches every higher education institution in the state — public universities, community colleges, and private not-for-profit and for-profit institutions alike — and it requires timely written notice of the allegations to all parties, an investigation that is adequate, reliable and impartial, written notice of the outcome, and appeal rights. It requires the school to make confidential advisors available, trained to a statutory standard and kept separate from the people deciding the case. Both parties are entitled to an advisor of their choice, and that advisor may be an attorney — although the institution may limit how far an attorney-advisor participates in a hearing, which is why Illinois Valley Community College’s own rule on that, set out above, still governs what your lawyer may do in the room. The standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence, applied the same way to both sides.

The rule left in place is mixed: in a Title IX hearing your advisor, who may be an attorney, cross-examines; the conduct procedure mentions counsel only before the Board of Trustees; the academic complaint route mentions no advisor.

What to do first

1. Count five class days for academic and post-hearing appeals, and five business days for lesser conduct sanctions.
2. Save your drafts and version history now if you are accused of plagiarism.
3. Ask for the minutes and audio tapes of any Review Committee hearing.
4. Request in writing the current Board Policy 02.03 and the Title IX procedure that governs your case.
5. Follow the nursing chain of command in writing, and compare colleges on the Illinois student defense hub.

One honest caveat about geography. Illinois has three federal districts. I am admitted to two of them, the Northern and the Southern. A federal claim arising at a school in Springfield, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana or the Quad Cities falls in the Central District; I am not a member of that bar, and those matters I handle with local counsel in that district or by pro hac vice admission. Appeals from the Northern District go to the Seventh Circuit, which keeps its own bar; my appellate admission is in the Eleventh. I say so before a retainer rather than after.

Where I am licensed. I am licensed to practice law in Florida. I am admitted to the bars of the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the District of Colorado, the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois, the District of Nebraska, the District of New Mexico, and the Western District of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Federal court admission is not a license to practice the law of the state in which the court sits. I am not licensed in Illinois and do not advise on Illinois state law or appear in Illinois state court.

Other schools in the Northern District of Illinois

Every college writes its own conduct, academic-standing and appeal rules, and the deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other community colleges in the Northern District of Illinois:

• Joliet Junior College
• Kennedy-King College (City Colleges of Chicago)
• Kishwaukee College
• Malcolm X College (City Colleges of Chicago)
• McHenry County College
• Moraine Valley Community College

Common questions about Illinois Valley Community College student cases

How long do I have to appeal at Illinois Valley Community College?

Five days — but check the unit. A lesser conduct sanction is appealed to the Vice President for Student Services within 5 business days. Each step of an academic complaint, and each appeal after a suspension or expulsion hearing, uses five class days. A Title IX determination must be appealed within seven business days.

Can I bring a lawyer to my Illinois Valley Community College hearing?

In a Title IX case, yes: your advisor may be an attorney and conducts cross-examination at the live hearing. The conduct procedure mentions counsel only at the Board of Trustees stage, which exists for expulsion appeals; at the Review Committee it has you speaking for yourself and questioning witnesses. Ask in writing before the hearing whether an advisor may attend.

Do I have to prove I did not plagiarize at Illinois Valley Community College?

The policy says “Students must be able to prove that their work is their own,” and it defines plagiarism to include using another’s words or ideas “on purpose or unintentionally.” No standard of proof is published, and the instructor decides first. Keep drafts, version history and notes, and appeal within five class days.

Can Illinois Valley Community College suspend me before a hearing?

Only in a narrow case. A recommended college suspension or expulsion “automatically requires a due process hearing prior to being applied.” The exception is danger: if the Vice President for Student Services has reasonable cause to believe danger will be present, you may be suspended immediately pending the full hearing.

What standard of proof does Illinois Valley Community College use?

For conduct and academic dishonesty, IVCC publishes none — neither the disciplinary process nor the academic integrity policy states one. In sexual misconduct cases the linked procedure uses preponderance of the evidence. If you face the Review Committee, ask the Vice President for Student Services in writing what standard it will apply.