Although the Undergraduate Judicial Board has convicted Trinity sophomore Greg Newton of academic dishonesty, it is unclear how long it will take for his case to complete the appeals process.
Administrators said Thursday that UJB regulations do not mandate a specific timetable for a final decision on an appeal. A student convicted by the UJB has exactly seven days to file an appeal with an appellate dean, but the dean has no deadline to file a decision.
"Appeals don't tend to languish on desks, [but] there is no time constraint one way or another," said Paul Bumbalough, assistant dean of student development in charge of judicial affairs.
On Jan. 17, the Undergraduate Judicial Board convicted Newton, a member of the men's basketball team, of academic dishonesty. The alleged dishonesty incident occurred last semester in Computer Science 001. University officials confirmed Wednesday that he is appealing the decision.
On Thursday, the Duke Sports Information Department would not comment on the case, which was reported in The Chronicle.
"It's a private matter and there's no way to comment on it until it's a resolved issue," said Mike Cragg, director of sports information. "It's not a resolved issue."
If the UJB issues a guilty verdict, a defendant may appeal twice, first to the appropriate dean and then to the University president. Academic dishonesty defendants in Trinity College appeal to Gerald Wilson, associate dean of Trinity College.
Wilson said Thursday that he has received an appeal this semester. He did not comment on the specifics of the appeal.
Typically, officials spend one to two weeks reviewing appeals, Bumbalough said. If Newton's case goes through both tiers of the appeals process at that rate, it could take four to five weeks to reach a final decision--placing the final verdict in the last two weeks of the regular basketball season.
"[Appeals are] not situations where either the deans or the president would, in my experiences, have dragged their feet," Bumbalough said. "I know they like to have time to go over everything from start to finish."
The Undergraduate Judicial Code does not address with deadlines for reviewers, Bumbalough said.
"I just don't think it's ever been put into the code," he said. "Personally, I think if the court has to have [time tables], and if I have to have them, and if the defendants have to have them, then it seems it would make sense that the [reviewers] also have some guidelines."
During an appeal, the dean reviews testimony from the initial hearing, as well as the written and oral arguments of the appellant.
Bumbalough said he thought a student's history or campus prominence would not affect the process.
"My expectation would be that a student is a student is a student," Bumbalough said. "Despite whatever position or profile one would enjoy, they would be treated fairly and consistently."
Wilson estimated that during his five years of dealing with appeals, he has handled 20-25 academic UJB cases. He said that he usually spends no more than two weeks on an individual appeal.
"It just depends on how complicated it is--what I need to do and so forth," Wilson said.
When asked if he had ever felt any pressure from an outsider to delay the review of an appeal, Wilson said, "Absolutely not. That's never been a problem."
Students who are not acquitted in the first stage of the appeals process have up to seven days from the time of receiving the decision to file an appeal with the University president.
Reviewers are expected to focus solely on the evidence of the case and not base their decision on public discussion, Bumbalough said.
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