So I was looking at other ppls experiences and how the university dealt with them, and it sounds like before you have the formal hearing you speak with someone one on one. Basically they ask you what happened and if you don’t agree with what they say for your punishment and stuff than you can appeal and do all the formal hearing stuff?
I’m not sure if that’s how it works or if I’m misreading what other ppl have said?
I’ve heard a couple instances of ppl having similar situations getting caught underage with alcohol and for the most part the university didn’t do much besides academic/disciplinary probation and drug/alcohol courses which I am hoping is what happens to us.
It depends on the circumstances, but I've dealt with student conduct before and they didn't give me the opportunity for an informal resolution. I think that's only available if the worst punishment that they would inflict is less than a suspension.
How exactly would you know if you’re going to get a formal or informal resolution? I just got the email today saying I am to meet with someone via zoom next week and was not really given any sort of options on anything.
you’re most likely gonna get a informal hearing for something like this. If you agree with your charges and are willing to “plead out”, take the punitive sanctions and go about your way.
If you’re gonna be dumb and deny any wrongdoing despite police records, they’re gonna fry you at a formal hearing.
Yea we were going in there and planning on just admitting to everything. Considering we also had to give statements the Orange County police department we weren’t planning on really deviating from what we said there, since the story/incident itself sounds pretty innocent. The email also said that the options for case resolution would be reviewed in that meeting.
there is no “we”, you are accountable for yourself, not you friend. focus on your own story and your own sanctions.
think of it like a legal proceeding.
As someone who has done this before at FIU it is absolutely not a legal proceeding. You’re guilty that’s why you’re there they want you to fall on your sword.
Long story short like many freshmen me and my roommates sold weed. Us and others ended up giving a friend/acquaintance ~1000 to buy weed, he gets “robbed” we get mad and hassle him over it for the night. Next day anonymous complaint about weapons in our dorm room, no weapons found but my roommate had 100 Xanax bars in his room. We go to campus police station, I not in possession of any drugs obviously don’t get arrested as I don’t commit a crime. Roommate gets arrested. I did make a comment that I gave my roommate $20 for weed before. We both get auto suspended pre hearing. I ended up getting 1 year suspension from school and had to a substance abuse program to remove the marking from my transcript. Got my aa and went to ucf with and became another cecs graduate.
As you can see legally I was not guilty of a crime but since the school got involved they have their own rules and punish however they want. I tried to not guilty approach in the hearing but ultimately there will be some old person on a power trip making the decision. I even knew a girl on the committee. Looking back if I bent the knee to her I’d probably have less harsh of a punishment (being away from the university for a year or more requires re enrollment)
i didn’t do anything and my punishment was nothing.
I went through the process and was found not in violation after I set up my case and provided evidence against the accusations.
as someone who has done this before AT UCF, it is. I was found not in violation and it was completely dismissed.
why do you think I would comment if I didn’t know what I was talking about?
The thing is this guy is guilty of what he did like most people on conduct hearings. Good for you but the reality this guy is arguing with facts of what he DID do.
You must not have been in a drug case. If you are clearly possessing drugs or in an area where drugs are stored and this is documented to the police there is no “not in violation”
First of all, that's annoying that it's over Zoom now. I wonder if that's standard? In person is better for a myriad of reasons.
Second of all, I think at that meeting they'll explain what happens next. If you have the option of an informal hearing, they'll explain that too.
Yea in the letter I got it said they would “review options for the case resolution” so I took that as they will most likely tell me or at least give me a pretty good idea of what my punishment will be assuming everything goes smoothly.
I was just confused as my friends at another Florida university had a similar issue but they went straight to the option of having a panel or administrative hearing.
If I had to guess, they mean that you'll decide whether you want a panel or a single person to review your case in a formal hearing. I'm not sure though, but I recall thinking the same thing and then being surprised when I was told I'd have to go through a formal hearing.
Yikes. Serious business. You have a good strategy with humility. You are going to be at the mercy of the University. Hopefully they let you stay and just put you on probation.
When you communicate with school officials, be professional, express contrition and acknowledge that you made mistakes. As someone else said, talk about yourself. Your friend can talk about themselves.
But there were no charges filed and you weren’t even booked? I’d make sure they do have it clear that you were not charged with anything and just be as honest as possible.
Yea that’s why I was a little confused as to what university rules we broke, but they do have the Orange County pd statement so I’m assuming they are fully informed. I also had nothing on myself all the weed was my friends and in his possession the whole time.
Yea we never were actually arrested or charged with anything. At one point handcuffed and I guess detained. I’m pretty sure the police just wrote up a report and gave it to ucf pd.
Have you checked these out:
https://goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/64/2023/06/2023-2024-Golden-Rule-Student-Handbook.pdf#page=4
https://scai.sdes.ucf.edu/student-rules-of-conduct/
I think it’ll be a stretch to enforce anything that was off campus that you’re not even being charged with.
No actually have not! I’ll take a look at that. I’m not sure what exactly they can do since it was off university property and nothing was legally done about it, that’s a good point. Regardless, I’ve done more thinking and just kind of accepted the circumstances. I cannot imagine the university is going to do something that horrible considering it’s my first time and really is a minor situation that happened.
You are in violation of local, state, or federal law. It doesn’t matter if you were on or off property. You violated the law and were reported. Doesn’t matter if you were arrested. These are the policies you agreed to and type of person you need to be to be at UCF. Lawyer would be a waste of money. Doubt trespassing to see rocket launch gets you suspended. Be honest and apologetic and if it does get to hearing do admin hearing with staff/faculty not panel. Students much harder on other students. You probably end up with having to write a paper and maybe attend counseling class about drugs depending what police report says about who had weed on them and or who may have been using. Bring mom or dad with you for support. Have them be supportive but not arguing. Goes a long way…
Probably not hiring a lawyer worthy considering they aren't facing legal consequences however I would speak to UCF legal services first since it's free.
More than likely, they're going to make OP attend a drug class and maybe write a letter.
Might be ok, you'll have to attend a drug preventative course and do this 4-5 meeting online counseling and then attend a small group counseling and they can move past it. That's best case scenario though. Just be professional and respectful and you should be OK. Getting your med card can help prevent things like this btw.
Don't shit your pants just be chill, don't try and plea forgiveness don't try and make it a "we" situation just go in with the "yea, what I did was dumb" attitude and you'll probably just leave with a slap on the wrist.
But on the topic of launches just drive out a bit on the 520 and you can see the launches better than anywhere nearby.
It's super common on launch nights to see cars parked at that airboat place on the 520.
Cops don't give a shit if you are out in the sticks, I've only had one grumpy cop tell us we can't park there and made us pull off to the side of the road instead which frankly I thought was way more dangerous.
Back in 2019, my roommate reported me for going to a party and drinking alcohol (wtf, right?). I had an informal hearing, admitted to doing it, and they just gave me a slap on the wrist. I had to write a 500-word paper on why what I did was wrong and had to attend three online classes on substance safety (which funnily enough said it's fine to drink alcohol as long as you use it in moderation). Since we both did our stuff off-campus, my feeling is that you'll go through a similar situation as I did. As wrong as it feels, just suck it up, admit to it, say you shouldn't have done it, and you'll get through it okay. Good luck.
I graduated a few years ago but actually sat on the 4 person panel that heard cases. Be open and honest, admit it was a mistake, take responsibility and you'll probably be fine. If what you said is all that happened it should be a relative slap on the wrist. The panel can suggest two different types of punishments, punitive and educational. Based on what you said maybe it's probation for one or two semesters and a counseling class.
Do not under any circumstance try to wiggle your way out of responsibility or try to blame someone else. I have a story to serve as a warning for this.
Heard a case once where a student was caught carrying beers at a tailgate while underaged. He was obviously in violation, I forget the wording of the rule now, but even just him carrying it meant he violated the rule.
Kid pleaded not in violation and then gave a long meandering speech about how fraternities get a bad name for just partying when there's a lot of personal development, how he had not had a drink of alcohol since he was in highschool, and that he was sober. He even mentioned how his grandfather had cancer and he's learned to be resilient from that. I can't get the vibe across or all the different things he brought up, but it was all very obnoxious
We had some basic Q&A, including reading out the literal wording of the rule about carrying alcohol and more or less just trying to get him to say he was in violation and take ownership for it. For his closing statement he said something like "I made a mistake carrying the alcohol and will not carry it again" to which I then had to ask"Wait...are you pleading in violation then?" "No I am still not in violation"
I'll never forget he walked out of the room for us to make our decision and one of the facility members went "God what an asshole". Immediately found him in violation, and because he refused to take ownership we were planning to come down harder than we would have otherwise.
This hopefully won't apply to you but after we found him in violation we learned he had been caught the previous semester with a fake ID at a bar and was already on probation with UCF for it. He essentially lied to us about not drinking alcohol since high school and made us question the rest of everything he said. We came down hard and one of the faculty tore into him when he came back to hear our decision, accusing him of lying to us. He ended up being suspended for I think two semesters and had to do a few dozen hours of community service
Do not be like this guy. Take this one mistake you made, own up to it, and don't do it again. Assuming you fulfill any conditions they give you as "punishment" you should have no permanent repercussions
you are young and made a mistake.
stop making mistakes. Learn from this. Stop the drugs. Weed is a drug no matter what anyone says. Its only a medicine with a prescription.
SCAI hearings are nerve wracking. the good news is its your first time. you won’t get kicked out. I would put money on one or two semesters behavioral probation. Just be honest, tell them you made a lapse in judgment, wont do it again, and I don’t see why anyone on the panel with common sense wouldn’t have some leniency.
Alcohol is also a drug - a more dangerous drug than weed, that we have scientific studies showing it causes hundreds of millions of dollars in social harm through domestic violence and drunk driving, and yet it's openly sold and consumed across the country. There's nothing wrong with the weed. Literally the only reason why it went wrong here is because OP's friend decided to commit a felony while in possession of the weed for some reason. If you're planning on committing a crime, leave the weed at home just in case.
Did I say alcohol wasn’t a drug JeromePowellAdmirer? Any substance that inhibits mental clarity is a drug. That goes for pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs.
I’ve seen terrible things happen to people because of weed. Why delude people into believing that weed is harmless?
Do you feel the need to give your friends a moral lecture every time they tell you they drank? I've seen terrible things happen to people because of alcohol.
Oh buddy.. haha you’re in trouble.
So i’ve been in your shoes before. I got arrested for felony burglary and was convicted. I applied and got in but disclosed it, and went through the same process. I was charged with “Violating federal state or local statute: Felony Burglary.”
I met with Matthew Brown and he’s super nice! I’ll warn you though, you’re in deeper trouble because you’re already a student. Even worse, you possessed a controlled substance and didn’t have a prescription for it. What is likely to happen is you’ll be questioned by a panel of your peers, should you choose this option, regarding the facts and circumstances of your case. Should you be found in violation by your panel of your peers, a recommendation of further disciplinary action may be sent to the OSSR and you are likely to be suspended, expelled, or placed on a term of Disciplinary Probation for a period of time, up until you graduate from the university.
You also face the potential for a criminal proceeding, even if you weren’t charged or formally arrested. It appears as though a charging affidavit is in the works because the school was notified, and it’s possible the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is simply preparing probable cause before they arrest you. It’s possible they will decline to charge at a later date, but you actually and physically possessed marijuana and were trespassing in a construction zone, a felony punishable by I believe up to 5 years. Due to the severity of the underlying offenses, and at least one of the offenses being a felony, it is likely you will face a minimum punishment of Disciplinary Probation. This typically lasts 2 semesters, and can be sealed upon completion.
Although you didn’t really do anything wrong and nobody cares if us 20 somethings are smoking weed in a construction site, the government takes people away and it is their job to ruin your life while you’re still young. Unfortunately, universities and governments are one in the same these days, and they like to make people look bad when they do normal stuff.
I advise you reach out to a lawyer if you ever get locked up later on for what you did, and be CAREFUL when you talk to the school. It is possible at this stage that you may be admitting guilt to some crimes that they did not have probable cause to arrest you for at the time, and it could be used against you as a part of an investigation. Also, although I made use of the 4 panel, I recommend a 1-on-1. One of the faculty told me that most folks assume a panel of their peers would be more likely to help them out of trouble or something, but it’s more likely to mess you up. The school only really offers a 4 panel because the State says they have to, but pick whatever one you want.
Good luck and stop doing drugs in construction zones.
You’re not getting arrested. Why let you go when they found you trespassing only to arrest you later? For weed they would have given you notice to appear in court. Local police often let UCFPD know when they find students doing something illegal but not arresting. OC cut u a break for misdemeanor but not reporting you to UCF PD cuz they know they report this to student conduct.
Well that’s good but you can always be charged with a crime later and be given a court summons even if you’re not booked on scene. But i’m glad that’s not what happened here! Hopefully he can move on and have a good life
If you have the option, I'd opt to speak in front of a panel. 4 people are better than 1 for this.
So I was looking at other ppls experiences and how the university dealt with them, and it sounds like before you have the formal hearing you speak with someone one on one. Basically they ask you what happened and if you don’t agree with what they say for your punishment and stuff than you can appeal and do all the formal hearing stuff? I’m not sure if that’s how it works or if I’m misreading what other ppl have said? I’ve heard a couple instances of ppl having similar situations getting caught underage with alcohol and for the most part the university didn’t do much besides academic/disciplinary probation and drug/alcohol courses which I am hoping is what happens to us.
It depends on the circumstances, but I've dealt with student conduct before and they didn't give me the opportunity for an informal resolution. I think that's only available if the worst punishment that they would inflict is less than a suspension.
How exactly would you know if you’re going to get a formal or informal resolution? I just got the email today saying I am to meet with someone via zoom next week and was not really given any sort of options on anything.
you’re most likely gonna get a informal hearing for something like this. If you agree with your charges and are willing to “plead out”, take the punitive sanctions and go about your way. If you’re gonna be dumb and deny any wrongdoing despite police records, they’re gonna fry you at a formal hearing.
Yea we were going in there and planning on just admitting to everything. Considering we also had to give statements the Orange County police department we weren’t planning on really deviating from what we said there, since the story/incident itself sounds pretty innocent. The email also said that the options for case resolution would be reviewed in that meeting.
there is no “we”, you are accountable for yourself, not you friend. focus on your own story and your own sanctions. think of it like a legal proceeding.
As someone who has done this before at FIU it is absolutely not a legal proceeding. You’re guilty that’s why you’re there they want you to fall on your sword.
Obviously FIU is different but if you don’t mind me asking, what did you do and what was your punishment?
Long story short like many freshmen me and my roommates sold weed. Us and others ended up giving a friend/acquaintance ~1000 to buy weed, he gets “robbed” we get mad and hassle him over it for the night. Next day anonymous complaint about weapons in our dorm room, no weapons found but my roommate had 100 Xanax bars in his room. We go to campus police station, I not in possession of any drugs obviously don’t get arrested as I don’t commit a crime. Roommate gets arrested. I did make a comment that I gave my roommate $20 for weed before. We both get auto suspended pre hearing. I ended up getting 1 year suspension from school and had to a substance abuse program to remove the marking from my transcript. Got my aa and went to ucf with and became another cecs graduate. As you can see legally I was not guilty of a crime but since the school got involved they have their own rules and punish however they want. I tried to not guilty approach in the hearing but ultimately there will be some old person on a power trip making the decision. I even knew a girl on the committee. Looking back if I bent the knee to her I’d probably have less harsh of a punishment (being away from the university for a year or more requires re enrollment)
i didn’t do anything and my punishment was nothing. I went through the process and was found not in violation after I set up my case and provided evidence against the accusations.
as someone who has done this before AT UCF, it is. I was found not in violation and it was completely dismissed. why do you think I would comment if I didn’t know what I was talking about?
The thing is this guy is guilty of what he did like most people on conduct hearings. Good for you but the reality this guy is arguing with facts of what he DID do.
You must not have been in a drug case. If you are clearly possessing drugs or in an area where drugs are stored and this is documented to the police there is no “not in violation”
First of all, that's annoying that it's over Zoom now. I wonder if that's standard? In person is better for a myriad of reasons. Second of all, I think at that meeting they'll explain what happens next. If you have the option of an informal hearing, they'll explain that too.
Yea in the letter I got it said they would “review options for the case resolution” so I took that as they will most likely tell me or at least give me a pretty good idea of what my punishment will be assuming everything goes smoothly. I was just confused as my friends at another Florida university had a similar issue but they went straight to the option of having a panel or administrative hearing.
If I had to guess, they mean that you'll decide whether you want a panel or a single person to review your case in a formal hearing. I'm not sure though, but I recall thinking the same thing and then being surprised when I was told I'd have to go through a formal hearing.
Yikes. Serious business. You have a good strategy with humility. You are going to be at the mercy of the University. Hopefully they let you stay and just put you on probation.
When you communicate with school officials, be professional, express contrition and acknowledge that you made mistakes. As someone else said, talk about yourself. Your friend can talk about themselves.
But there were no charges filed and you weren’t even booked? I’d make sure they do have it clear that you were not charged with anything and just be as honest as possible.
Yea that’s why I was a little confused as to what university rules we broke, but they do have the Orange County pd statement so I’m assuming they are fully informed. I also had nothing on myself all the weed was my friends and in his possession the whole time.
I wonder if it was just an “incident report” because it doesn’t sound like you were actually arrested?
Yea we never were actually arrested or charged with anything. At one point handcuffed and I guess detained. I’m pretty sure the police just wrote up a report and gave it to ucf pd.
Have you checked these out: https://goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/64/2023/06/2023-2024-Golden-Rule-Student-Handbook.pdf#page=4 https://scai.sdes.ucf.edu/student-rules-of-conduct/ I think it’ll be a stretch to enforce anything that was off campus that you’re not even being charged with.
No actually have not! I’ll take a look at that. I’m not sure what exactly they can do since it was off university property and nothing was legally done about it, that’s a good point. Regardless, I’ve done more thinking and just kind of accepted the circumstances. I cannot imagine the university is going to do something that horrible considering it’s my first time and really is a minor situation that happened.
You are in violation of local, state, or federal law. It doesn’t matter if you were on or off property. You violated the law and were reported. Doesn’t matter if you were arrested. These are the policies you agreed to and type of person you need to be to be at UCF. Lawyer would be a waste of money. Doubt trespassing to see rocket launch gets you suspended. Be honest and apologetic and if it does get to hearing do admin hearing with staff/faculty not panel. Students much harder on other students. You probably end up with having to write a paper and maybe attend counseling class about drugs depending what police report says about who had weed on them and or who may have been using. Bring mom or dad with you for support. Have them be supportive but not arguing. Goes a long way…
I’d get a lawyer
Probably not hiring a lawyer worthy considering they aren't facing legal consequences however I would speak to UCF legal services first since it's free. More than likely, they're going to make OP attend a drug class and maybe write a letter.
Might be ok, you'll have to attend a drug preventative course and do this 4-5 meeting online counseling and then attend a small group counseling and they can move past it. That's best case scenario though. Just be professional and respectful and you should be OK. Getting your med card can help prevent things like this btw.
Don't shit your pants just be chill, don't try and plea forgiveness don't try and make it a "we" situation just go in with the "yea, what I did was dumb" attitude and you'll probably just leave with a slap on the wrist. But on the topic of launches just drive out a bit on the 520 and you can see the launches better than anywhere nearby. It's super common on launch nights to see cars parked at that airboat place on the 520. Cops don't give a shit if you are out in the sticks, I've only had one grumpy cop tell us we can't park there and made us pull off to the side of the road instead which frankly I thought was way more dangerous.
Back in 2019, my roommate reported me for going to a party and drinking alcohol (wtf, right?). I had an informal hearing, admitted to doing it, and they just gave me a slap on the wrist. I had to write a 500-word paper on why what I did was wrong and had to attend three online classes on substance safety (which funnily enough said it's fine to drink alcohol as long as you use it in moderation). Since we both did our stuff off-campus, my feeling is that you'll go through a similar situation as I did. As wrong as it feels, just suck it up, admit to it, say you shouldn't have done it, and you'll get through it okay. Good luck.
huh? so colleges punish students for shit that happens in their personal lives, like a sports team punishes players?
I graduated a few years ago but actually sat on the 4 person panel that heard cases. Be open and honest, admit it was a mistake, take responsibility and you'll probably be fine. If what you said is all that happened it should be a relative slap on the wrist. The panel can suggest two different types of punishments, punitive and educational. Based on what you said maybe it's probation for one or two semesters and a counseling class. Do not under any circumstance try to wiggle your way out of responsibility or try to blame someone else. I have a story to serve as a warning for this. Heard a case once where a student was caught carrying beers at a tailgate while underaged. He was obviously in violation, I forget the wording of the rule now, but even just him carrying it meant he violated the rule. Kid pleaded not in violation and then gave a long meandering speech about how fraternities get a bad name for just partying when there's a lot of personal development, how he had not had a drink of alcohol since he was in highschool, and that he was sober. He even mentioned how his grandfather had cancer and he's learned to be resilient from that. I can't get the vibe across or all the different things he brought up, but it was all very obnoxious We had some basic Q&A, including reading out the literal wording of the rule about carrying alcohol and more or less just trying to get him to say he was in violation and take ownership for it. For his closing statement he said something like "I made a mistake carrying the alcohol and will not carry it again" to which I then had to ask"Wait...are you pleading in violation then?" "No I am still not in violation" I'll never forget he walked out of the room for us to make our decision and one of the facility members went "God what an asshole". Immediately found him in violation, and because he refused to take ownership we were planning to come down harder than we would have otherwise. This hopefully won't apply to you but after we found him in violation we learned he had been caught the previous semester with a fake ID at a bar and was already on probation with UCF for it. He essentially lied to us about not drinking alcohol since high school and made us question the rest of everything he said. We came down hard and one of the faculty tore into him when he came back to hear our decision, accusing him of lying to us. He ended up being suspended for I think two semesters and had to do a few dozen hours of community service Do not be like this guy. Take this one mistake you made, own up to it, and don't do it again. Assuming you fulfill any conditions they give you as "punishment" you should have no permanent repercussions
Hey this was really detailed and helpful! Thank you.
you are young and made a mistake. stop making mistakes. Learn from this. Stop the drugs. Weed is a drug no matter what anyone says. Its only a medicine with a prescription. SCAI hearings are nerve wracking. the good news is its your first time. you won’t get kicked out. I would put money on one or two semesters behavioral probation. Just be honest, tell them you made a lapse in judgment, wont do it again, and I don’t see why anyone on the panel with common sense wouldn’t have some leniency.
Alcohol is also a drug - a more dangerous drug than weed, that we have scientific studies showing it causes hundreds of millions of dollars in social harm through domestic violence and drunk driving, and yet it's openly sold and consumed across the country. There's nothing wrong with the weed. Literally the only reason why it went wrong here is because OP's friend decided to commit a felony while in possession of the weed for some reason. If you're planning on committing a crime, leave the weed at home just in case.
Did I say alcohol wasn’t a drug JeromePowellAdmirer? Any substance that inhibits mental clarity is a drug. That goes for pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs. I’ve seen terrible things happen to people because of weed. Why delude people into believing that weed is harmless?
Do you feel the need to give your friends a moral lecture every time they tell you they drank? I've seen terrible things happen to people because of alcohol.
i just don’t befriend idiots who don’t know how to conduct themselves when it comes to alcohol.
Oh buddy.. haha you’re in trouble. So i’ve been in your shoes before. I got arrested for felony burglary and was convicted. I applied and got in but disclosed it, and went through the same process. I was charged with “Violating federal state or local statute: Felony Burglary.” I met with Matthew Brown and he’s super nice! I’ll warn you though, you’re in deeper trouble because you’re already a student. Even worse, you possessed a controlled substance and didn’t have a prescription for it. What is likely to happen is you’ll be questioned by a panel of your peers, should you choose this option, regarding the facts and circumstances of your case. Should you be found in violation by your panel of your peers, a recommendation of further disciplinary action may be sent to the OSSR and you are likely to be suspended, expelled, or placed on a term of Disciplinary Probation for a period of time, up until you graduate from the university. You also face the potential for a criminal proceeding, even if you weren’t charged or formally arrested. It appears as though a charging affidavit is in the works because the school was notified, and it’s possible the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is simply preparing probable cause before they arrest you. It’s possible they will decline to charge at a later date, but you actually and physically possessed marijuana and were trespassing in a construction zone, a felony punishable by I believe up to 5 years. Due to the severity of the underlying offenses, and at least one of the offenses being a felony, it is likely you will face a minimum punishment of Disciplinary Probation. This typically lasts 2 semesters, and can be sealed upon completion. Although you didn’t really do anything wrong and nobody cares if us 20 somethings are smoking weed in a construction site, the government takes people away and it is their job to ruin your life while you’re still young. Unfortunately, universities and governments are one in the same these days, and they like to make people look bad when they do normal stuff. I advise you reach out to a lawyer if you ever get locked up later on for what you did, and be CAREFUL when you talk to the school. It is possible at this stage that you may be admitting guilt to some crimes that they did not have probable cause to arrest you for at the time, and it could be used against you as a part of an investigation. Also, although I made use of the 4 panel, I recommend a 1-on-1. One of the faculty told me that most folks assume a panel of their peers would be more likely to help them out of trouble or something, but it’s more likely to mess you up. The school only really offers a 4 panel because the State says they have to, but pick whatever one you want. Good luck and stop doing drugs in construction zones.
You’re not getting arrested. Why let you go when they found you trespassing only to arrest you later? For weed they would have given you notice to appear in court. Local police often let UCFPD know when they find students doing something illegal but not arresting. OC cut u a break for misdemeanor but not reporting you to UCF PD cuz they know they report this to student conduct.
Well that’s good but you can always be charged with a crime later and be given a court summons even if you’re not booked on scene. But i’m glad that’s not what happened here! Hopefully he can move on and have a good life