Academic Progress
To achieve satisfactory academic progress leading to promotion in the Physician Assistant Program, the student must achieve a GPA of 2.80 in each term (summer, fall, spring). In addition, the student may receive no single grade in any course less than a C. The PA program considers a grade below C to represent unsatisfactory academic progress. Unsatisfactory academic progress may result in conditional promotion, withdrawal, or dismissal.
In the clinical portion of the program, the semester GPA is compiled from an aggregate of clinical rotation grades completed in that semester (summer, fall, spring).
Students may not participate in Physician Assistant Preceptorships until they have successfully completed all the required courses in the didactic professional curriculum.
At intervals during each semester and at its conclusion, the Progress and Promotion Committee will review the progress of each student. The Committee determines whether the student shall be unconditionally promoted; promoted with recognition; promoted with conditions (as described below); or be subject to other action as described earlier.
Counseling: Directing a student to seek appropriate counseling is within the purview of the P&P Committee. While it is advisable for students to seek assistance from instructors and faculty as a course proceeds, there may be circumstances where support is needed to understand certain concepts and to make up work lost for extraordinary reasons such as illness. The P&P Committee can recommend the student establish a collaborative plan with the faculty to complete selected course objectives and incomplete work. Students will be notified of this recommendation by letter from the program director. This letter will remain a part of the student’s permanent file. In specific situations involving financial or personal elements, the Committee may recommend outside resources, including psychological support, be utilized to satisfy this category of promotion. When medical or psychiatric consultation is required or recommended, the P&P Committee will respect patient/provider confidentiality. However, documentation of enrollment and/or completion may be required by the Committee.
Probation: The purpose of placing a student on probation is to formally notify the student that he/she has a serious academic problem which may lead to dismissal from the program. The student is informed of probation status by letter from the program director; this letter becomes part of the student’s permanent file.
Probation may be invoked by the P&P Committee for unsatisfactory academic progress. A student who fails to maintain a term average GPA to the required level (2.80) maybe subject to dismissal for poor scholarship.
The P&P Committee will require a student placed on probation to establish a collaborative plan with the faculty for definitive improvement in the quality of academic work. This may include enrollment in particular courses; repetition of selected courses; meeting a specific quality point average in the following term; or other specific requirements or conditions. The progress of a student on probation is reviewed during and at the end of the semester of probation. At this time the committee reviews the students progress and the student may be either taken off of probation, placed on probation again, or dismissed.
A student may be placed on probation and promoted. A student receiving a single deficiency may be placed on probation. A student on academic probation will not be endorsed for clinical rotations or graduation until the conditions of the probation are met. A student who is on 2 successive or 3 aggregate terms of academic probation may be dismissed.
A student may be placed on professional probation at any time as detailed in the policies regarding professional decorum and ethical behavior.
Withdrawal: The intention of this option, to be used in situations when the P&P Committee judges that the student deserves special consideration even though dismissal is in order, is to provide the student with a less onerous notation in the student’s record than a dismissal. This option applies only to situations of dismissal for academic reasons, and does not apply to situations of dismissal for professional misconduct. Note: Certain time constraints, outlined in the schedule of classes published by the University apply to students requesting a withdrawal on their transcript.
Dismissal: A student may be dismissed for reasons including the following:
- One or more failures in any one term.
- Two (2) successive or three (3) aggregate terms on probation.
- Unprofessional conduct or unethical behavior.
- Failure to meet the conditions of a P&P Committee decision, or terms of a collaborative remediation agreement.
Leave of Absence: Students who find it necessary to request a leave of absence must submit a written request to the Program Director.
The P&P Committee may recommend, and must approve, a leave of absence. A leave may be indicated under circumstances unique to specific problems of a given student, however, the leave of absence shall extend no longer than a single calendar year.
Normally, a student will be readmitted to the program at the end of his/her leave if the P&P Committee, believes the purpose of that leave of absence has been successfully achieved. The Committee may require the student to repeat course work before reentry after a prolonged leave.
Re-entry Policy: Students who find it necessary to withdraw from the professional program may reenter at that level only with concurrence of the P&P Committee and the program director and on a space-available and case-by-case basis.
Letter of Warning: A warning is a written letter to a student for non-acceptable academic progress during the semester (usually at mid-semester). A warning may come from the course instructor or the program director on behalf of the course instructor and its purpose is to make the student aware of impending academic jeopardy. Warnings are reported to the Progress and Promotion Committee and program director for informational purposes.
