Code Of Conduct La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL Code of Conduct

The student Code of Conduct contains the following sections:

• Preamble.
• Chapter I. General Principles.
• Chapter II. Procedure for Initiating and Closing Disciplinary Procedures in normal cases/circumstances.
• Chapter III. Procedure for Initiating and Closing Disciplinary Procedures in exceptional cases/circumstances.
• Chapter IV. Misconduct and Applicable Sanctions.
• Chapter V. Disciplinary Measures.

Preamble

The principles on which the educational approach of the Lasallian University Institution is founded, brought together in the document “Characteristics of a European Lasallian university institution,” are based on the consolidation of our traditional teaching style to current times, focused on the individual, in which each student on campus is the center of her or his learning process and is responsible for her or his own personal development. A respectful university community which is sensitive to diversity, critical thought, commitment and a sense of responsibility, in which Justice, Peace and Solidarity, goodwill and the conscientious participation of all members of the community contribute to the creation of an environment home to the ethical values of La Salle, a home which helps us to carry out our mission and put into practice the values of the Campus La Salle Barcelona – URL. We have said that we want to train graduates with the courage needed to build a more just and sustainable society, and we are fully aware of the fact that our project is to train highly‐committed students with an optimistic vision of the future, who will treat others with respect and who will develop excellent decision-making skills and be great team players. Similarly, and on the subject of the community, Article 3 of Law 1/2003, of 19 February, of the Law of Catalan Universities (La Llei d’Universitats de Catalunya – LUC) states that one of the four main objectives of the universities which belong to the Catalan university system is “to transmit the civic and social values associated to a democratic society,” and “to foster critical thinking and a culture based on the values of freedom, solidarity, equality and pluralism.”

This document, “Code of Conduct La Salle Campus Barcelona – URL”, aims to provide the information required to address any conflicts which may arise on campus, while fomenting the aforementioned principles. At the same time, this document regulates the procedures of the rights and duties of the university community of La Salle Campus Barcelona – URL.

These guidelines are applicable to all circumstances and situations related to La Salle Campus Barcelona – URL and must be upheld and respected by all those who make up the university community, provided that such intervention does not exceed the competences of this framework or enter in conflict with other applicable legal measures. Actions related to university staff misconduct or improper behavior between staff and students, which are regulated by employment, civil or mercantile legislations, will follow the regulations set out in their respective legislations, and this Code of Conduct will therefore not be applicable in such cases.

Chapter I. General Principles

Article 1.

All members of the academic community are jointly responsible for the proper application and respect of the Code of Conduct. In order to ensure compliance with these measures, in addition to the individual responsibility to do so, several mechanisms have been established:

a) The ordinary procedure to ensure the compliance of the Code of Conduct is explained in Chapter II of this document.

b) Similarly, the extraordinary procedure to ensure the compliance of the Code of Conduct is explained in Chapter III of this document.

Article 2.

La Salle Campus Barcelona – URL is committed to ensuring that all campus members are fully aware of the Code of Conduct and the corresponding protocols, procedures and consequences derived from it. Students have the right to be informed of the existence of such regulations and the manner in which they are implemented on campus, as well as of their duty to be aware of the implications of co-responsibility. To this end, the university community will have access to this Code of Conduct on the virtual campus, from the Student Council and on other media with the community.

Nevertheless, the teaching faculty, and in particular all those professors who undertake student tutoring, are obliged to inform and guide students who find themselves involved in a disciplinary issue on how to initiate this procedure.

La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL will also do everything in its power to ensure that people from other organizations who are involved in any form of campus activity, albeit permanent or temporary, are familiar with and respect these rules of conduct.

Article 3.

In the context of the co-responsibility stipulated in the present Code of Conduct, all members of La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL are responsible for addressing, according to the regulations in force on the Campus, any inappropriate behavior that they are witness to. Failure to act upon inappropriate behavior will be considered as misconduct itself as it represents a lack of responsibility from those who witness the action and a lack of respect from those who perpetrate the actions, as well as third parties, to those responsible for implementing the Code of Conduct.

The proactive implementation of such co-responsibility on campus means the application, for all intents and purposes, of the consequences of misconduct that have occurred. If this application is not possible, the mechanisms provided in this Code of Conduct must be activated.

Under no circumstances will the implementation of the co-responsibility actions set out in the Code of Conduct contradict the principles and spirit of the rules themselves.

Article 4.

The guidelines set on in this Code of Conduct will be not applicable on the following non-working days: Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays, in accordance with the current working calendar in the city of Barcelona. The month of August. Non-teaching days are stipulated in accordance with the current academic calendar.

Article 5.

In the application of the procedures set out in the Code of Conduct, both under normal and exceptional circumstances, La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL has two roles: as educators and as decision-makers.

Article 6.

If, at any point in the disciplinary proceedings, it is brought to the knowledge of any member of the boards or committees involved that the alleged misconduct may constitute a criminal offence (violation or minor offence), the Police or Public Prosecutor will be duly informed. In this case, as soon as the board and/or committee members are aware of the existence of a criminal enquiry, subjects and all contact between the alleged disciplinary offence and the alleged criminal offence, internal disciplinary proceedings will be immediately suspended until the court verdict is known.

The Code of Conduct Committee may agree to, depending on the content of the aforesaid judicial resolution, continue proceedings or to close the file. In any case, the evidence validated in court will link the appropriate campus bodies to the proceedings and the disciplinary file. Therefore, a corresponding sanction may be imposed on the offending student, taking into account the principle of non bis ídem in which a person cannot be tried twice for one offence. During the period of suspension of the file caused by this, all the applicable legal prescriptions and expiry dates affecting the internal disciplinary proceedings will be put on hold.

Article 7.

The disciplinary file has an expiry period of six months, which starts from the date of communication and closing of the disciplinary procedure under normal circumstances, or the closing of the disciplinary procedure under exceptional circumstances if the Code of Conduct Committee is requested for intervention.

Chapter II. Procedure for Initiating and Closing Disciplinary Procedures in Normal Clases/Circumstances

1. The academic directors of La Salle Campus Barcelona, duly assigned by the Board of Directors of the School, are in charge of implementing the Code of Conduct regulations on a day-to-day basis.

2. In the ordinary application of the Code of Conduct, the Academic Board, in the same way as all the other bodies of La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL, has two roles: as educators and as decision-makers.

The Academic Board will act in relation to the coexistence regulations in two different types of circumstances:

It is the responsibility of the Academic Board, in agreement with the governance of the center, to decide on the initiation of the disciplinary proceedings. The Academic Board will have the backing of the tutor of the student involved and will ask any member of campus they consider relevant to provide additional information or to verify or understand the facts. reported. In the same way, they will undertake all the actions it deems necessary to clarify the facts and to determine, where appropriate, the existence of sanctionable liabilities, including the statements of the individuals concerned.

The Academic Board has 15 working days from the receipt of the written request to present a formal report which must include:

• The facts, specifying those considered to be proven and their legal validity, based on the offence committed and those considered responsible. If appropriate, inexistent lack of legal responsibility.
• Where appropriate, an assessment of the inappropriate conducts that derive from the facts and the disciplinary sanctions applicable as well as an evaluation of the person (s) involved.
• The proposed sanctions applicable to the misconduct.
• The provisional measures which are considered necessary to ensure that the case is properly resolved, with the necessary caution being paid to guarantee the presumed innocence of the assumed offender until the final verdict is given.

The Academic Board will notify the parties involved of their decision, so that, within five working days, they can make appeal and/or present the documents or information they deem appropriate.

The body responsible for giving the final resolution under normal circumstances is the Board of Directors of the center. The case must be ratified, modified and resolved within a maximum period of five working days from the receipt of the proposed resolution. In the resolution of the file, facts different from those determined in the report of the Academic Board will not be accepted.

All actions of the disciplinary proceedings will be documented, and the alleged offender will be informed either in person or by a letter sent by registered post or certified fax service sent to the address provided in her/his enrolment form.

The Campus Ministry acts as the official safekeeper of all the correspondence of the different stages of this process.

Provisional measures may be applied, provided that they are considered relevant, suitable and proportional enough to ensure that the facts are correctly interpreted. Under no circumstances can the provisional measures be greater that the sanction of the final verdict, or can it violate in any way the legal rights of the alleged offender.

The person affected may lodge an appeal before the Code of Conduct Committee of La Salle Campus Barcelona against the final resolution of the Direction of the Center, within a maximum period of fifteen working days, from the moment of receipt of the verdict.

In the event of the Academic Board, Board of Directors and/or the Campus Ministry having participated in the mediation process, they may refer the case to the Code of Conduct Committee at any time from the initiation of the file in the normal procedure, thus activating the extraordinary procedure and interrupting the ordinary mechanism, which will be inapplicable.

Chapter III. Procedure for Initiating and Closing Disciplinary Procedures in Exceptional Cases/Circumstances

Article 1.

1. The Code of Conduct Committee is defined as a technical body specifically constituted to deal with each separate disciplinary file, with the participation of the Board of Directors or center that are not involved in the ordinary procedure (who presides it), a representative of the student body, the Board of Directors of the centers involved, the Academic Board of the corresponding area (or Academic Direction(s) in the case of double degrees), the tutor(s) of the persons involved, the Campus Ministry (in the event that he/she has not been involved in the mediation in the ordinary procedure), a member of the ethics committee of La Salle Campus Barcelona, as well as whoever the presidency deems appropriate for each specific case. The student representative will be a member of the Student Council or course delegate and the number of members of the commission will not exceed, whenever possible, seven people. In all cases, the members of the Code of Conduct Committee will be appointed as long as they are not related or directly related to the facts.

2. In exceptional circumstances, Code of Conduct Committee of La Salle Campus Barcelona - URL, has two roles: as educators and as decision-makers.

Article 2. Request for intervention of the Code of Conduct Committee

There are two ways to request the action of the Code of Conduct Committee:

a) If the procedure set out in Chapter II is not effective, the members of the Academic Committee who so consider will submit an appeal (through a letter) to the Board of Center’s Coordination.

b) By referral of a file that was being processed through the ordinary mechanism, as stated in Article 10 of Chapter II of these regulations.

The members of the university community of La Salle Campus Barcelona – URL have the right to know the existence of this procedure. To this end, this Code of Conduct will be available to them on the virtual campus and via the Student Council. The request for the intervention of the Code of Conduct committee, must contain, at least, the identification data of the person or persons who present it; the list of the facts constituting the offense or complaint and, whenever possible, the identification data of the alleged perpetrators. The person or persons submitting the request for action by the Code of Conduct, despite not having the status of interested parties in the procedure for the opening and closing of the disciplinary file, shall have the right to be informed of the initiation of said procedure.

Article 3. Convening of the Code of Conduct Committee and initiation of disciplinary proceedings

Depending on the nature and character of the misconduct, the request for the invention of the Code of Conduct Committee will be registered, in the records of the Campus Ministry. The Campus Ministry will formally notify the person or persons affected that the Code of Conduct Committee protocol has been activated. It is the responsibility of the chair of the committee, or whoever s/he designates, to initiate the disciplinary proceedings. If s/he considers it necessary, s/he may request additional information from the person or persons concerned in order to verify or understand the alleged misconduct. In any case, the person or persons concerned will have a period of ten working days from the communication of the activation of the Code of Conduct Committee to make their appeal, provide all the documents and evidence they deem appropriate. The content of articles 28 and 29 of Law 30/92, of November 26, 1992, of the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure shall be taken into account, by analogy with the abstention and recusal regime applicable to the competent bodies, in accordance with these regulations, in the processing of the present procedure.

Article 4. Code of Conduct Committee report

LThe Code of Conduct Committee will initiate all the actions that it considers necessary for the clarification of the facts and for the determination, if necessary, of the existence of sanctionable actions, including the statements of the persons concerned. This committee must issue, within 15 working days from the date of activation of the Code of Conduct Committee, a final report, which will include:

• If appropriate, the declaration of non-existence or lack of responsibility will be proposed.
• Where appropriate, the facts, specifying those considered proven and their legal assessment, establishing the misconduct they constitute, and the person(s) considered responsible.
• The measures proposed to be imposed.
• The provisional measures that, eventually, are deemed appropriate to ensure the effectiveness of the resolution that may be issued, always with the necessary precautions to ensure the right to the presumption of innocence, until the time of the final resolution.
• The proposed resolution of the case. The Code of Conduct Committee has as a frame of reference for the analysis of the facts the public documents of the campus.

Article 5. Case resolution

The presidency of the Code of Conduct Committee, or whoever he/she designates, will notify all the parties involved, who will have the right to receive a copy of the associated documentation. Those concerned have the right to receive a copy of the aforementioned documentation so that, in a maximum of 10 working days, they can make any allegations and/or present the documentation or proof that they consider appropriate to the Campus Conduct Commission. This notification will include the following warnings: If no allegations are made regarding the content of the final report within the period provided, it shall be considered as a proposed resolution.

a) In the case of explicit recognition of the facts and responsibility on the part of the person affected, the matter may be closed at this point with the intervention of the Code of Conduct Committee.

b) Any person wishing to appeal the final report of the Code of Conduct Committee, will have 10 working days to do, from the date of her/his receipt of the report. Any further documentation and/or reports considered opportune should be included in the appeal, as well as its corresponding proof.

The Code of Conduct Committee will have ten working days to re-evaluate the facts and issue a communication in relation to the practice of evidence, if any, or its proposal for a definitive resolution. In the case of acceptance of evidence, once the evidence has been taken, the final resolution proposal will be issued within ten working days. The final report, which includes the resolution proposal, with all the documents, the person in question, will be transferred to the presidency of the Code of Conduct Committee.

Article 6. Closure of disciplinary case and corresponding notification.

The person qualified to announce the final verdict is the president of the Code of Conduct Committee, who may ratify, rectify and enforce the decision of this Committee on the Academic Board. The case must be resolved, and a ruling made within five working days of receipt of the proposed verdict. The facts which appear in the amended report must not differ from those of the report by the Code of Conduct Committee, regardless of their jurisdiction. If the president of the Code of Conduct Committee or the Academic Board consider that the misconduct is more serious than that defined by the Code of Conduct Committee and/or that the sanction should be greater, those alleged offenders will be duly informed and will have five working days to appeal this decision. The final verdict will be given in a maximum of five days on receipt of this appeal.

Article 7. Notifications

All actions of the disciplinary proceedings will be documented, and the alleged offender will be informed either in person or by a letter sent by registered post or certified fax service sent to the address provided in her/his enrolment form. The Campus Ministry acts as the official safekeeper of all the correspondence of the different stages of this process.

El Campus Ministry actúa como fedatario de las fechas de comunicación de las diferentes etapas del proceso de gestión del expediente de convivencia.

Article 8. Provisional measures

Provisional measures may be applied, provided that they are considered relevant, suitable and proportional enough to ensure that the facts are correctly interpreted. Under no circumstances can the provisional measures be greater that the sanction of the final verdict, or can it violate in any way the legal rights of the alleged offender.

Article 9. Appeal to Universidad Ramon Llull

Should the alleged offender reject the decisions of the Code of Conduct Committee or similarly that of the Academic Board, s/he can appeal to the Rector of the Universidad Ramon Llull, in accordance with Article 19.2.j) of the Regulations on University Organization and Management (Normas de organización y funcionamiento de la Universidad Agreement) GOV/99/2010, dated 25 May. The alleged offender will have a maximum of fifteen working days from the receipt of the notification of the decision to appeal.

CHAPTER IV. MISCONDUCT AND APPLICABLE SANCTIONS

Chapter IV. Misconduct and Applicable Sanctions

Article 1. Circumstances and responsibilities

1. The application of the measures foreseen in this code must be proportional to the seriousness of the misconduct. In an effort to assess the evidence of the misconduct and the corresponding sanction, the following circumstances will be taken into consideration:

• The degree of participation of the misconduct.
• The evidence demonstrating the intention behind the misconduct.
• The nature of the damage caused.
• The degree to which academic order is affected.
• The degree to which the damaged is repaired or its effects reduced.
• Instant recognition of the misconduct, before disciplinary action is taken.
• Evidence of remorse and apologies made.
• Personal, family and social circumstances of the student which may justify or strongly influence her/his behavior.

2. The students, who, although they are not the principal offenders, participate in the misconduct in previous or simultaneous actions, either by action or omission, will be sanctioned:

• With the sanction which corresponds to a serious offence if s/he has participated in misconduct considered to be very serious.
• With the sanction which corresponds to a minor offence if s/he has participated in misconduct considered to be serious.

Article 2. Degree of misconduct and responsibility

1. The offences committed can be minor, serious or very serious

2. Minor offences:

a) Causing damage through the negligence or misuse of University premises, materials or documentation or of any possession belonging to other members of the university community.

b) Smoking or alcohol consumption in unauthorized areas on campus, despite the obvious prohibition signs.

c) Eating or drinking (except water) in classrooms, the library and any other area of study or work on campus, unless specific permission has been granted to do so and this permission can be confirmed by the person in charge of the activity.

d) Consistent lateness and unjustified absences.

e) Intentionally obstructing the academic work of other students and/or professors.

f) The use of electronic devices in the classroom which are of no academic relevance.

g) Any of the offences not included in the “serious offence” and/or “very serious offence” category which may disrupt the order of academic discipline.

3. Serious offences:

a) Improper acts or language which disrupt the order on the University Campus, either inside or outside the classrooms.

b) Disobedience, of any kind, with respect to orders from superiors.

c) Repetition of minor offences.

The following actions, including but not limited to, will be understood to be forms of misconduct which significantly disrupt academic order:

3.1 With reference to exams or other gradable activities:

a) Copying or providing answers in a gradable activity.

b) Disesteem or exaggeration of the contribution of a person in coursework and diverse academic activities.

c) Plagiarism, copying or incorrect quotation of unacceptable length in documents, and a general lack of respect for copyright.

d) The partial re‐use of work without the corresponding authorization and the quotations, and the deletion or alteration of parts of the original work.

3.2 With reference to academic acts or the management and administration of universities:

a) Alter the procedures and availability, consulting and use of learning tools and resources in such a way as to modify its equalitarian intended use on campus.

b) Behavior which damages the University patrimony, or which hinders or alters its use.

c) Inappropriate access or misuse of software, machinery, instrument or other educational resources.

d) Obstruction and/or violation of the campus safety measures.

e) Personal behavior which damages or degrades the good name of the University.

f) Inappropriate disclosure to third parties of confidential information which the person has accessed during an academic activity.

4. Very serious offences:

a) Insults, verbal abuse or subordination towards the academic authorities or the teaching faculty.

b) Serious offences, either physical or verbal, towards peers or any member of staff on campus.

c) Identity fraud in academic activities and/or the falsification of documents.

d) Dishonesty in the investigation of an offence.

e) Repetition of serious offences.

The following offences, including but not limited to, are considered to be acts of dishonesty:

4.1. With reference to exams and/or other gradable activities:

a) Pre‐meditated copying or providing answers.

b) Purposefully creating, bringing and facilitating instruments to illegally obtain information.

c) Purposefully omitting and/or falsifying the acknowledgement of a person’s contribution to academic work or activities.

d) Plagiarism, copying or incorrect quotation in documents, and other examples which demonstrate a lack of respect for copyright.

e) The duplication of unauthorized works, the deletion of relevant information and the incorporation of false information.

f) The improper access or possession of the content of an exam or test, or actions which promote the appropriation, modification or posterior destruction of the content of a gradable activity.

4.2 With reference to academic acts and/or the university administration and management:

a) The wrongful appropriation of library resources, machinery, instruments, software, and other education resources.

b) The improper acceptance or offering of gifts or benefits in exchange for academic or administrative actions that may influence or appear to influence future academic performances or administrative tasks.

c) The use of machinery, software, research and teaching instruments and other university resources to cause damage to third parties, which refers to persons, goods or services of the University or dependent persons or to any other person or entity.

4.3. The following examples of misconduct are all considered to demonstrate injury, offence and contumacy towards peers or members of the university community:

a) Coercion, disruption, insults or any other offensive behavior that limits or prevents the harmonious development of the academic activities and respect for free self-expression.

b) Intimidation or harassment that constitutes threatening behavior and prevents a person from carrying out her/his academic activity which s/he would otherwise be doing was it not for this misconduct.

c) The modification, obstruction and/or violation of the campus safety measures.

d) Discrimination against member or dependent of the university community on the grounds of national origin, sex, beliefs or any other personal or social circumstance.

4.4. The following examples of misconduct are all considered to demonstrate acts of falsification::

a) The falsification, modification and/or the omission of important information which may include applications, forms and any other type of administrative documentation, and the purposeful use of modified or false documentation.

Chapter 5. Sanctions and Disciplinary Measures

Article 1. Types of sanctions

There are two types of sanctions, educational and disciplinary sanctions. The governing academic boards in normal circumstances, or the Code of Conduct Committee, in exceptional cases, are responsible for evaluating the advantages of applying one type of sanction over another.

a) An educational sanction is understood as one which aims to compensate for the damage caused as a result of misconduct by contributing to the agreed upon resolution in a way which benefits all the parties involved and the university community as a whole.

b) The disciplinary sanctions are those which seek the acknowledgement of the responsibilities in relation to the offence committed through the documented evidence and which require a suspension, or the ceasing of certain rights associated to academic activity.

Article 2. Sanctions for minor offences

• The sanctions for minor offences can be substituted by educational sanctions, such as the undertaking of services or activities in benefit of the whole university community.
• Change of group-class.
• Public or private written warning.
• Suspension of the right to attend university until s/he has demonstrated a change in positive behavior or has compensated for the misconduct committed.
• Unable to register for one or more subjects.

Article 3. Sanctions for serious offences

• Suspension of the right to attend certain activities for a period which must be longer than six days but not exceed fifteen teaching days. This temporary suspension does not affect the student’s right to be graded, although in the event of the student missing evaluation activities, s/he retains the right to undertake academic work in order to obtain a mark.
• The sanctions for serious offences can be substituted by educational sanctions, such as the undertaking of services or activities in benefit of the whole university community.
• Partial or total loss, albeit temporary or definitive, of grants and/or any other type of aid awarded by the University..

Article 4. Sanctions for very serious offences

• Temporary suspension or permanent expulsion from the University. In this case, the person also loses her/his rights as a member of the university community for the duration of this sanction.

Article 5. Application of sanctions

The sanctions imposed will be registered in the student’s record and will be cancelled on completion of the contractual relationship with the University, albeit academic or working/mercantile, or, otherwise, in a maximum period of ten years of the registration of the sanction in the student’s record.

Article 6. Statute of limitations of faults and measures

1. Acts constituting misconduct shall be subject to the statute of limitations after three years for very serious misconduct, two years for serious misconduct and six months for minor misconduct. This statute of limitations period shall be interrupted with the initiation of disciplinary proceedings and shall be reactivated if the proceedings are suspended for a period of more than one month for reasons not attributable to the person allegedly responsible.

2. Measures imposed for very serious misconduct shall expire within three years, two years in the case of serious misconduct and one year in the case of minor misconduct, counting from the date on which the decision becomes final. This limitation period is interrupted with the start of the penalty enforcement procedure and is reactivated in the event of a stoppage of this procedure for more than one month for reasons not attributable to the person sanctioned.