Roosevelt University: Student Discipline, Dismissal & Federal Court

How do student discipline and dismissal cases work at Roosevelt?

Roosevelt is a private university of about 4,600 students, based in Chicago’s South Loop, with a Schaumburg campus that houses its Doctor of Pharmacy program; both sit in Cook County. The Higher Learning Commission accredits the university, ACPE its PharmD and the American Psychological Association its PsyD, and in March 2020, with the Commission’s approval, Roosevelt absorbed Robert Morris University Illinois. The fact to know first is a gap in Roosevelt’s own paperwork: its 2026–27 Student Handbook promises students due process “in compliance with the Fourteenth Amendment,” yet publishes no procedure for appealing a conduct decision. The appeal rule — seven calendar days, four grounds, and only if your outcome letter says the decision is eligible — lives on the conduct office’s web page instead.

Roosevelt University is a private institution. There is no state action, so there is no constitutional due process claim, and arguing one wastes an appeal. The theory is contract: Illinois holds that a college and its students have a contractual relationship whose terms come from the catalog and the handbook — Raethz v. Aurora University, 346 Ill. App. 3d 728 (2004), restated by the Fourth District in Urso v. Bradley University, 2023 IL App (4th) 230165 — while adding that the relationship “is unique and cannot be strictly categorized or characterized in purely contractual terms.”

The limit is the standard of review, and it decides most of these cases before anyone reaches the facts. A student has a remedy for an adverse academic decision only if it was made arbitrarily, capriciously, or in bad faith. Frederick v. Northwestern University Dental School, 247 Ill. App. 3d 464 (1993), puts it bluntly — courts have been loath to review, much less overturn, academic dismissals — and Bosch v. NorthShore University Health System, 2019 IL App (1st) 190070, holds that a school which departs somewhat from its handbook still wins unless the departure was material. The federal courts in Chicago apply the same test: in Doe v. Columbia College Chicago, 933 F.3d 849 (7th Cir. 2019), the Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a student’s contract claim where the college had investigated and reasoned its way to a decision, and in Gash v. Rosalind Franklin University, 117 F.4th 957 (7th Cir. 2024), it held that calling a process arbitrary or predetermined, without specific facts, is not enough. What survives is specific: in Liu v. Northwestern University, 78 F. Supp. 3d 839 (N.D. Ill. 2015), a former law student’s claim went forward where the school imposed what amounted to an integrity charge while denying her the handbook procedure for contesting one. Federal law does not care that the school is private: Title IX, Title VI and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act apply because it takes federal funds, and the ADA applies to it as a place of public accommodation.

A federal claim arising at Roosevelt University is filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois — Cook 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 or ADA complaint for a Roosevelt 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.

Conduct: the handbook’s promise and the missing appeal

Non-academic misconduct belongs to the Dean of Students Office and its Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities; notices arrive from the Maxient portal at your Roosevelt email. After an initial conference, the case manager usually offers acceptance of responsibility or an administrative hearing, and a case can go to the Student Conduct Hearing Board on the case manager’s recommendation “or at the selection of the alleged student.” The formal hearing comes “no less than three (3) business days after the initial conference”; you may read the incident report there but “may not keep a copy.” The Hearing Board decides by simple majority on a preponderance of the evidence, and “strict rules of evidence do not apply.” You may bring an advisor if the case manager is told “at least 2 business days in advance,” but “No advisor may speak at any time in place of the student.” To contest an interim suspension you submit a written request for a hearing before the Associate Dean of Students; no deadline is stated. More on conduct code defense.

Then the gap. The handbook says students “are given due process rights in compliance with the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Roosevelt is private, so the Amendment does not itself apply — but that is Roosevelt’s own written standard, in the document Illinois treats as a source of the contract terms. Yet the handbook has no appeal section. The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities web page supplies the rule: “If the outcome is eligible for appeal, the petition for appeal must be filed within 7 calendar days of the outcome letter,” on new evidence, disproportionate sanctions, procedural irregularity, or the case manager’s conflict of interest or bias. Who decides eligibility, and who hears the appeal, is not published.

Title IX sexual harassment goes to the Title IX Coordinator under RU Policy No. 3.11, revised March 2025. 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 2020 regulation requires postsecondary institutions to hold a live hearing at which each party’s advisor conducts cross-examination, and Roosevelt’s policy does that: a live hearing, virtual by default, where advisors — who may be attorneys — question “directly, orally, and in real time,” decided on a preponderance of the evidence. The appeal is due within seven (7) days, counting weekends and holidays, by 5:00 p.m. Central on the last day.

Academic integrity and academic standing

Under RU Policy No. 0.1 (revised August 2024), a faculty member who “reasonably believes” you were dishonest may warn you or lower the assignment or course grade; the Provost alone may refer recurring or egregious cases to the conduct office, which can add probation, suspension or expulsion. “Unauthorized content generation” by AI is a violation, and plagiarism counts “regardless of whether the conduct was inadvertent” — so an AI accusation usually turns on what the syllabus allowed. “The Sanction itself cannot be appealed”: you may appeal only with evidence disproving the violation or proof of the faculty member’s “gross error in judgment.” Step 1 is due “no later than five (5) days” after notice — the policy does not say whether calendar or business days, so treat them as calendar — and each later step, to the chair, the dean and the Provost, within three (3) business days. A final-grade appeal under RU Policy No. 0.2 starts within five (5) business days of the grade posting.

Undergraduates go on probation below a 2.0 cumulative GPA and have one term to reach 2.0 or earn a 2.2 semester GPA; otherwise academic suspension follows, with no return the very next semester. Reinstatement petitions go to the Academic Status and Progress Committee by Feb. 15 (summer), July 15 (fall) or Oct. 15 (spring); a refusal for every future term becomes dismissal, reviewable by the Provost with no published deadline. Graduate students may be dismissed immediately on a second probation, face immediate dismissal for two D or F grades in one semester or two consecutive ones, and a program may recommend dismissal for failing “other standards required in the field.” An involuntary withdrawal under RU Policy No. 3.12 must be appealed within seven (7) calendar days, after which “No other appeal options shall be available.”

Pharmacy and the PsyD: where the stakes are licensure

The 2026–2027 Pharmacy Program Student Handbook (updated Aug. 20, 2026) says the University Academic Standing Policy “does not apply.” Good standing requires a cumulative GPA above 2.5 and a C− or better in every course; the Promotion and Graduation Committee orders remediation, a move to the five-year pathway, an Individualized Progression Plan — none of which may be appealed — or dismissal, which can follow a single F, three grades below C− at any point even if remediated, or two Technical Standards, conduct or integrity violations. A pharmacy dismissal appeal goes to the Dean “within three (3) business days,” on one ground — failure to follow progression or other pertinent policy — and the Dean’s word is final. Refusing a drug screen “will be considered as admission of a positive test,” and the college reports positive tests to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. And the pharmacy handbook sends conduct appeals to a process “as outlined in the University Student Handbook” — which the 2026–27 handbook does not contain.

The PsyD requires a 3.25 GPA; a D, an F or a second C means dismissal, a C in either practicum semester means repeating the year-long sequence, and two failed comprehensive examinations end the program. Its manuals sit only on Blackboard — request your copy in writing.

What a student defense lawyer can do here

Most of the value is early and quiet: reading the policy against what Roosevelt actually did; writing the response or appeal on the grounds the policy recognizes rather than the ones that feel most unfair; preserving Title IX, Section 504, ADA and FERPA issues so they are in the record if the case ever leaves campus; and finding comparators, because a sanction far outside what similar cases drew is one of the few arguments that reliably moves a decision-maker.

At Roosevelt two moves matter. First, hold the school to its own conduct paperwork: diary seven calendar days from the outcome letter, and if the letter calls you ineligible to appeal, ask in writing which rule says so, quoting the handbook’s due-process promise as Roosevelt’s own standard rather than as a constitutional claim. Second, in integrity and pharmacy cases, recognize how narrow the appeal is — disprove the violation, show gross error, or show a written policy was not followed — and build it from the syllabus, the progression policy and the committee letter, line by line.

The limit: a lawyer cannot turn a campus hearing into a trial. The rules of evidence do not apply, there is no discovery, and you cannot even keep the incident report, so the written record built on campus is the whole case when a court later looks at it.

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 Roosevelt’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.

What to do first

1. Diary the deadline in its own unit. Conduct appeal: 7 calendar days. Integrity: five days, unit unstated, then three business days a step. Grade appeal: five business days. Involuntary withdrawal: seven calendar days. Pharmacy dismissal: three business days. Title IX: seven days.
2. Save the web page. The conduct appeal rule appears only online; save it as a dated PDF with the 2026–27 handbook.
3. Take notes at the hearing. You may read the incident report but not keep it; note what it says and ask in writing for the evidence.
4. Name your advisor two business days ahead, in writing to the case manager.
5. Raise any disability or accommodation request now — a Section 504 and ADA issue belongs in the record. The Illinois student defense hub explains the wider framework.

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.

The federal money on the line at Roosevelt

Roosevelt University students and families took on $34.9 million in federal Direct Loans in the 2025–26 award year — including $5.4 million borrowed by 250 parents through Parent PLUS.

Every dollar of it rides on academic standing. A dismissal, a failed Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluation, or a mid-term withdrawal sets off federal rules that decide whether aid continues, whether money already disbursed has to go back, and — under the borrowing caps in effect since July 1, 2026 — whether a student who leaves can still finance a return. The academic fight and the financial aid fight are the same fight, and the windows are short. How those rules work: SAP appeals and academic dismissal.

On the Department’s financial responsibility test, Roosevelt University’s most recent published composite score is 1.7 (fiscal year 2022–23) — a passing score on the –1.0-to-3.0 scale, where 1.5 and above passes. How to read that number: the federal warning signs guide.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Direct Loan volume by school, award year 2025–26 (cumulative through June 30, 2026). Institution-wide federal Direct Loan totals.

Other schools in the Northern District of Illinois

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other schools in the Northern District of Illinois:

• Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
• Rush University
• Saint Anthony College of Nursing
• Saint Xavier University
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

Common questions about Roosevelt student cases

How long do I have to appeal a conduct decision at Roosevelt?

Seven calendar days from the outcome letter — a rule found on the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities web page, not in the 2026–27 Student Handbook, which has no appeal section. The page allows an appeal only “if the outcome is eligible,” on four listed grounds. If your letter says you are ineligible, ask in writing which rule says so, inside the seven days.

Can I bring a lawyer to a Roosevelt conduct hearing?

The handbook lets you bring an advisor, does not exclude attorneys, and requires notice to the case manager at least two business days ahead. But no advisor may speak in your place; the advisor may only confer with you. In a Title IX hearing the rule differs: your advisor, who may be an attorney, questions the other party and the witnesses.

What standard of proof does Roosevelt use?

The Student Conduct Hearing Board and the Title IX hearing officer both use a preponderance of the evidence. Academic integrity differs: the faculty member acts on a reasonable belief, the sanction itself cannot be appealed, and your appeal must disprove the violation or show gross error — so the burden falls on you.

How do I appeal a dismissal from Roosevelt’s pharmacy program?

In writing to the Dean of the College of Science, Health and Pharmacy within three business days of receiving the Promotion and Graduation Committee’s decision. The only ground is that the committee failed to follow the progression policy or another pertinent policy, and the Dean’s decision is final. Required remediation, a pathway transfer and an Individualized Progression Plan cannot be appealed.

I was academically suspended at Roosevelt. When can I come back?

Not the semester immediately after the suspension. Undergraduates petition the Academic Status and Progress Committee by Feb. 15 for summer, July 15 for fall or Oct. 15 for spring, and approval is not automatic. Graduate students appeal in writing before the term starts; the program decides within five to seven business days, and the Graduate Council’s Executive Committee has the last word.