Occasionally, a behavioural issue may come to the University's attention that is serious enough to warrant a case first being considered from a precautionary perspective. In other words, is there something that indicates a risk to a student, the University or its community and what does the University need to do to manage that risk.
The associated processes tend to be for criminal offences (Procedure for Student Criminal Offences) or for issues (serious misconduct or criminal offences) that might warrant a suspension (Procedure for Suspending a Student).
The police do not automatically inform the University if a student is going through criminal proceedings. This may come to the University's attention such a from a student informing the University, the police asking for details of a student, the media, an issue arising on campus etc. Except for students on programmes with professionalism requirements, students are not under an obligation to inform the University of criminal proceedings.
However, when they become known, the University will review a variety of factors e.g. what the student is accused of, who the alleged victims are, where the case is up to, any bail conditions or sentence etc.
Sometimes the information about a case is not very detailed. Therefore, the University will arrange to speak to a student about the case to learn more. Though part of the disciplinary process, this meeting is not a disciplinary panel. The outcomes from the meeting may be to take no action, to make recommendations to the student or to refer a case into another process.
Where a student receives a custodial sentence, the University will review these cases to decide whether it is appropriate or practical for the student to return to study.
When a student is accused of serious misconduct, or is going through criminal proceedings for a serious alleged crime, the University may need to consider a case through the suspension process. A suspension is a precautionary act intending to manage risk. It does not mean someone has done something wrong and so it is not a penalty.
A suspension may take one of the forms from the table below:
| Urgency | Immediate: applied before hearing from a student | Non-immediate: hear from a student about a potential suspension |
| Type | Full: a student's studies are fully paused | Partial: conditions are identified to manage risk but a student is able to continue studying |
A student will be offered the opportunity to meet with individuals from the University to discuss a suspension and any comments they make will be considered before a more final decision is confirmed.
After the meeting, where a suspension is applied, students will have a 10 working day window to appeal the decision and/or the suspension will be reviewed periodically to look for significant developments in a case.
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