LSU Student Advocacy & Accountability (SAA): How a Conduct Case Works

If you or your child has an email from LSU's Student Advocacy & Accountability office, usually called SAA, the case is running under LSU's Code of Student Conduct, which took effect August 1, 2024. SAA handles both academic integrity cases, such as plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and undisclosed AI use, and behavioral cases, such as alcohol violations and hazing. The process has short deadlines, and some of its choices can't be undone, so it helps to understand the whole path before you answer the first email.

This guide walks through how an LSU SAA case works, from the first referral to the final appeal. It describes the August 2024 code and is current as of November 2026. Always check the version of the code linked in your own notice, because LSU revises it from time to time.

How an SAA case starts

In short:SAA can open a case from a written referral by anyone, including an instructor, a staff member, another student, or the police.

SAA can open a case from a written referral by anyone, including an instructor, a staff member, another student, or the police. It can also act on information it learns some other way. After a referral, SAA decides whether there is enough to start what LSU calls the Accountability Process.

One LSU rule matters a great deal in academic cases. Under the code, an instructor may not give a disciplinary grade, such as an F or a zero on an assignment, exam, or course, as a penalty for suspected cheating in place of referring the student to SAA. Any grade penalty for an academic integrity violation has to come through the code's process. If an instructor penalizes a grade for suspected cheating without a referral, that is worth raising with SAA.

All SAA notices go to your LSU email address, and the code treats that as official notice. If you don't check your LSU email, the deadlines still run.

The Educational Conference

In short:Most cases begin with an Educational Conference.

Most cases begin with an Educational Conference. This is an informational meeting with the Case Manager assigned to your case. At this meeting, the Case Manager explains the allegations. If you ask, you get a reasonable chance to review the complaint. You can respond, present information, and name witnesses you think the Case Manager should talk to. You can also ask questions about the process and the possible outcomes.

After the conference, the Case Manager can close the case with no action, or keep gathering information before deciding whether to bring formal charges. That makes the Educational Conference more important than its name suggests. It is often the best chance to end a case early.

A few practical points help:

• Ask to review the complaint. You can't respond well to an allegation you haven't read.
• Gather your evidence first. In an academic case, that means drafts, version history, notes, research sources, messages about the assignment, and the syllabus or assignment instructions. In an AI case, version history and drafts written over time are often the strongest evidence.
• Know who should be interviewed. If a classmate, tutor, or teaching assistant can confirm how you did the work, say so.
• Don't skip it. If you miss the conference, the Case Manager can simply email you an Informal Resolution offer.

The three ways an SAA case ends

Informal Resolution

An Informal Resolution is an agreement between you and SAA that settles the case without a hearing. The Case Manager emails a written offer, and you have five business days to accept it in writing.

Before you accept, understand exactly what you are giving up. Accepting an Informal Resolution waives your right to a formal Accountability Meeting or hearing. You also can't take it back or appeal it later. If you decline, or simply don't respond, the case moves to an Accountability Meeting or a University Hearing Panel.

The code says an Informal Resolution is not part of your permanent record and won't be shared with outside requesters, unless the law requires it or the resolution involves suspension, expulsion, or degree revocation. It is still shared within SAA and with any future hearing panel. It can also be shared with LSU departments that decide eligibility for programs, scholarships, and student organization officer roles. In academic cases, also read the transcript section below before you accept. Ask SAA in writing how the specific offer will be recorded.

Accountability Meeting

An Accountability Meeting is a formal meeting before a single Hearing Officer. The Case Manager investigates and passes the information to the Hearing Officer, who decides what to charge. You then receive a Notice of Charges. It lists the code sections you are accused of violating, the documents reviewed, the date and place of the meeting, and your rights.

At the meeting, you can present information and Material Observers, LSU's term for witnesses. The Hearing Officer can question you. The decision is given out loud at the end of the meeting, and a written Notice of Outcome follows by email within one business day. The notice must explain how the evidence standard was met.

An Accountability Meeting can't be used when suspension, expulsion, or degree revocation is a possible outcome. Those cases go to a hearing panel.

University Hearing Panel

A University Hearing Panel, or UHP, is required when suspension or expulsion is possible. SAA can also send other cases to a panel. A panel has three to five voting members, including at least one student and one faculty member. One member serves as chair.

Preparing for a University Hearing Panel

In short:The panel process has its own timeline, and missing a step can keep your evidence out of the hearing.

The panel process has its own timeline, and missing a step can keep your evidence out of the hearing.

The notice. The hearing must be scheduled at least seven business days after the notice. The notice includes the charges, the documents reviewed, a link to the Hearing Packet, the names of the university's Material Observers, the names of the panelists, and your rights.

Your submissions. At least five business days before the hearing, you must give the UHP Administrator three things in writing:

1. The name of your advisor, if you will have one.
2. The names of your Material Observers, with a short summary of what each will say. Each side can usually call up to three, and each one usually has 10 minutes. The chair can allow more.
3. Copies of everything you plan to present, such as statements, recordings, photos, text messages, and documents.

Information and Material Observers that weren't disclosed in advance can be excluded. If you want a Material Observer who wasn't named in the notice, you are responsible for contacting them and getting them to the hearing.

Panel members. You can ask for a panelist to be removed for good cause. The request must be in writing at least five days before the hearing, with your reasons. The Dean of Students decides.

Reviewing the file. You have to contact the UHP Administrator to arrange a time to review the hearing documents. A physical copy is available on request.

What happens at the hearing

LSU publishes the order of a panel hearing in the code. After introductions and a review of the charges, you respond to the charges and give an opening statement. Then the Case Manager presents, and the panel and you can ask questions. Next you present your information, followed by the Material Observers, each of whom can be questioned. The hearing ends with final questions and your closing statement.

The panel then deliberates in private. If it finds you responsible for any charge, a second phase begins. In that phase, the panel hears about any prior violations, and you can present mitigating factors and character statements before it decides the outcome. Plan for this phase ahead of time. Students often prepare only for the question of responsibility and arrive with nothing for the outcome phase.

A few other rules shape the hearing:

• Court rules of evidence don't apply. The chair decides what is relevant, and can require questions to be submitted in writing.
• Prior violations stay out at first. They can't be used to decide responsibility, unless they rebut a claim that you have no prior misconduct. They can be considered for the outcome.
• The university records the hearing. No one else may record it, but you can ask for a copy.
• The hearing goes ahead without you. If you don't attend, the panel decides anyway, and you are bound by the result.
• The result comes quickly. The panel announces its decision at the end, and the written Notice of Outcome arrives by email within one business day.

The evidence standard

Most SAA decisions use a preponderance standard, meaning more likely than not. The code raises the standard to clear and convincing for the decision on responsibility when suspension or expulsion is possible. In those cases, it is worth reading the notice to confirm which standard the panel will apply.

Academic integrity cases at LSU

In short:The code lists these academic integrity violations: unauthorized collaboration, copying, failure to follow course requirements, false information, misrepresentation, plagiarism, unauthorized materials, and other academic misconduct, such as attempting or assisting.

The code lists these academic integrity violations: unauthorized collaboration, copying, failure to follow course requirements, false information, misrepresentation, plagiarism, unauthorized materials, and other academic misconduct, such as attempting or assisting.

AI is named twice. "Misrepresentation" expressly includes undisclosed AI use, and "unauthorized materials" includes AI tools that an assignment prohibits. Because "failure to follow course requirements" is its own violation, the syllabus and the instructor's stated AI policy matter a great deal. Save them.

You can't drop the course. A student found responsible for an academic integrity violation may not drop the course where it happened. A student who drops without SAA's written permission is re-enrolled and given the grade from the outcome. Coursework done while a case is pending is treated as conditional.

Grade penalties have a set range. The outcome can be a failing grade or a zero on the work, partial or no credit, a one-letter drop in the course grade, or a failing course grade. These come alongside an accountability status, such as a Warning or Disciplinary Probation.

Transcript notation is the part most students miss. For behavioral cases, a Warning and Disciplinary Probation stay off the transcript. For academic integrity cases, the code makes an exception: violations are recorded on the transcript unless the outcome says otherwise. When the outcome period ends, the notation can be removed on request, except for suspension or expulsion. A suspended student can petition SAA in writing to remove a suspension notation, and the Dean of Students and SAA decide. If you have an academic integrity outcome, put the end date of the outcome period on your calendar and make the removal request then.

Behavioral cases at LSU

In short:SAA also handles behavioral misconduct, including alcohol and drug violations, coercive behavior, and hazing.

SAA also handles behavioral misconduct, including alcohol and drug violations, coercive behavior, and hazing. The code defines coercive behavior as demeaning or degrading treatment tied to joining or staying in a group, regardless of consent. Its examples include line-ups, scavenger hunts, and personal servitude. Registered student organizations can be charged too. Some can choose a Partnership Process, in which the organization investigates itself and agrees an Enhancement Plan with SAA.

Amnesty. LSU offers Medical Amnesty in some alcohol, drug, physical, and emotional distress emergencies. It can apply to a student who seeks medical help for themselves, a student who seeks help for another student, and an organization that seeks help for a student. It covers alcohol and drug violations only, not other violations from the same incident. To qualify, you have to complete the educational conversation, assessment, and any referrals LSU asks for. The code also has a Non-Medical Amnesty for students who come forward before the university learns of an incident. Amnesty under the code covers university sanctions only and has no effect on any police matter.

Interim measures. If SAA believes a student's presence is an immediate threat of harm, it can impose interim measures before the case is decided, including an interim suspension. Written notice is due within 72 hours. An Interim Measures Hearing, before the Dean of Students and at least one other person, must be held within seven business days unless you waive it. A student who is reinstated after an interim suspension can make up missed work.

Police involvement. If police are involved, speak with a criminal defense attorney about how the criminal case and the school case interact.

Advisors in LSU SAA cases

In short:An advisor can provide support, guidance, and advice in any SAA meeting.

An advisor can provide support, guidance, and advice in any SAA meeting. For a behavioral charge that could lead to suspension or expulsion, the code gives you the right to an advisor, at your own expense, who may fully participate. Full participation means making opening and closing statements and questioning the Case Manager and Material Observers. An advisor can't present information on your behalf, and can't be someone involved in the facts of the case. SAA can also connect you with a trained advisor.

Appealing an SAA decision

In short:You can appeal the outcome of an Accountability Meeting or a University Hearing Panel.

You can appeal the outcome of an Accountability Meeting or a University Hearing Panel. You can't appeal an Informal Resolution.

The deadline. A written appeal form is due within ten business days after the outcome is emailed. It has to name the outcomes you are contesting, rely on at least one ground in the code, and include any supporting documents. Your advisor can submit it for you.

The grounds. The code allows four:

1. A significant departure from the code's procedures, definitions, or standards that could have materially affected the decision.
2. New information that couldn't be obtained in time for the meeting or hearing and would have substantially affected the result.
3. A decision or outcome that substantially disregards the information presented.
4. Substantiated bias or personal prejudice by the hearing officer or a panelist.

What happens next. A timely appeal puts the outcome on hold until the appeal is decided. The Student Conduct Appeals Committee reviews it in closed session. The committee has three to five voting members, including a student and a faculty member. It can uphold the decision, order a new meeting or hearing, or reverse or modify the decision. The Dean of Students can review any appeal decision involving suspension or expulsion, and reviews every degree revocation. The appeal decision is final.

An appeal is not a second hearing. It succeeds when it ties a specific problem in the record to one of the four grounds. A strong appeal starts with the hearing recording, which you can request.

How long SAA keeps records

In short:SAA keeps records of suspensions, expulsions, and violent offenses indefinitely, and other case files for at least seven years.

SAA keeps records of suspensions, expulsions, and violent offenses indefinitely, and other case files for at least seven years. You can review your own conduct records. Others generally can't see them, except as the law allows.

A first-week checklist for an LSU SAA case

• Find every deadline. Read the full SAA email and note each date, especially the five-day window for an Informal Resolution offer.
• Download the current code. Use the version linked in your notice.
• Collect your evidence now. For academic cases, that means drafts, version history, notes, messages, the syllabus, and the assignment instructions.
• Ask to review the complaint at your Educational Conference, and write down what you learn.
• Don't drop the course in an academic integrity case without SAA's written permission.
• Ask SAA in writing how any Informal Resolution offer will appear on your record and transcript before you accept it.
• Plan both phases of a panel hearing. If one is possible, prepare for the responsibility phase and the outcome phase, and line up your advisor, Material Observers, and documents at least five business days out.

AdvocatED works with LSU students and families on SAA cases, from the Educational Conference through hearings and appeals. We help you read the notice against the current code, prepare for the conference or hearing, decide whether an Informal Resolution makes sense, and write appeals that tie the record to the code's grounds. AdvocatED is an education advising service, not a law firm, and this guide is general information about LSU's process, not legal advice.