College Policies & Regulations

Academic Warning:  Students earning a term GPA below 2.0 for any given semester in all required professional courses will be issued an academic warning. Any student on academic warning is required to receive academic counseling and to write an action plan for how they will improve their personal performance for the following term.

Academic Probation:  A student whose cumulative GPA (including the fall semester GPA for first professional year (PY1) students) drops below 2.0 in required professional courses will be placed on probation. Students will be continued on probation until their cumulative GPA in required professional courses is raised to at least 2.0.

A student who receives a course grade of incomplete (I), withdrawal (W) (without approval), or failure (F), in a required course will be placed on probation.  Students will continue on probation until the course in which they received the I, W, or F has been successfully completed. 

Any student on probation is not eligible to hold office, act as a representative of the College of Pharmacy or the University, or graduate with the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Any student who does not achieve good academic standing upon completion of the academic probationary period is subject to suspension.  The suspension period will be determined by the academic performance and hearing committee .

Academic Suspension: Any student receiving a second failing grade of “F” in a required course in the same or any subsequent semester will be subject to suspension.  

A failing grade in any required course in addition to a current or previous course withdrawal (W) without a leave of absence will result in suspension. 

Any student who does not achieve good academic standing upon completion of an academic probationary period is subject to suspension.  The suspension period will be determined by the academic performance and hearing committee.

Academic Dismissal:  Dismissal results when a student’s performance warrants suspension for a second time.  Dismissal constitutes a final permanent separation from the College of Pharmacy.  Readmission of a dismissed student will not be considered.  

Remediation:  A grade of “D” (e.g. D+, D, or D-) denotes unacceptable performance, but is “non-failing”.  The D grade will require mandatory remediation.  A grade of “D” will allow a student to move to the next course(s) as long as a plan for remediation is approved by the Course Director in conjunction with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  Students requiring remediation will register for the remediation course during the next term offered.  Material to be remediated within a course and assessment methods will be determined by the Course Director. Successful remediation requires the student to earn at least a ”C” in the remediation course.  All grades earned in both the original course resulting in a “D” as well as the remediation grade are counted toward the student’s cumulative GPA.  Failure to successfully remediate a course is considered equivalent to course failure.

Any student who receives a grade of “D” in three courses within the same academic year will not be permitted to remediate the courses.  Instead, the student will be required to retake the courses in their entirety the following academic year and may not progress in required professional courses until the courses have been successfully passed.  Any student who receives three “D” grades within the same semester will not be permitted to progress to the next semester. 

Course Withdrawal (W) – Any student who withdraws from a required course, who has not requested and received an approved leave of absence, will be placed on probation.

Incomplete Grade ( I ) –A student who receives an incomplete grade in a required course will be placed on probation until the grade is converted. A student who receives an incomplete grade will have one year to convert the I grade before it is automatically changed to “I/F” (Failure).

Course Failure (F):  Any student who receives a failing grade, “F”, in a required course will be placed on probation.  Any student receiving a second failing grade, “F”, will be suspended for a period determined by the academic performance and hearing committee. Failure to successfully remediate a course is considered equivalent to course failure.

Course Completion:  A student must retake any professional required course in which he/she has received a failing grade (F grade).  The student will be required to retake the course in its entirety the next scheduled course offering and earn at least a “C-” or better in order for the course requirement for graduation to be satisfied. This grade does not replace the previous failing grade for the calculation of GPA.  Any student who receives a failing grade (“F” grade) will not be permitted to progress in required professional courses.

All students must successfully complete all pre-APPE requirements prior to beginning APPE.  Any student who needs to remediate a core required course will begin APPE after successfully completing the course.

Students with a cumulative GPA in required professional courses of less than 2.5 may not progress to APPE. Students with an average GPA of less than 2.0 in the therapeutics sequence (Therapeutics I-V) may not progress to APPE. Individual Performance Plans will be developed for students as part of pre-APPE remediation. This remediation will begin in May and may continue longitudinally during rotations based upon assessment of student.

Assignment of rotations may be adjusted to benefit and support student learning.

Academic Counseling:  Each semester a student is placed on academic warning or continues on academic probation, they will be required to meet with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  Students receiving a “D” in a course will meet with the Course Director for academic counseling and to discuss the remediation plan.   

Suspension Exit Interview:  Any student who is suspended is provided the opportunity to participate in an “exit interview” with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for the purpose of resolving any questions about their suspension status and the eligibility for filing a petition for readmission.

Appeal Process:  A student may appeal the academic action on the grounds that correct procedure was not followed or on the grounds that the decision was based on errors in fact.  An appeal may be submitted via a letter of petition to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs as Chair of the Academic Performance and Hearing Committee.  The letter should state the specific action being appealed and give specific information, circumstances, and reasons in support of the appeal within ten working days of notification of academic action.  The appealing student will be granted the opportunity to appear or may be called before the committee for the purposes of elaboration and clarification of the petition.  The committee will meet within ten working days of the receipt of the appeal petition and shall notify the student in writing of the action taken by the committee in regard to the appeal.

Readmission from Suspension:  Any suspended student has the right to request readmission to the College of Pharmacy.  To be considered for readmission, the student must petition the College of Pharmacy Academic Performance and Hearing Committee via a written letter when notified by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and appear in person before the committee at the time the petition is given consideration.  The petition will be subject to the decision of the Academic Performance and Hearing Committee. Reinstatement from suspension is not granted automatically. 

Academic Performance Following Readmission:  Any student readmitted from suspension will be placed on academic probation and must achieve a minimum term GPA of 2.0 in required professional courses in all subsequent terms or is subject to dismissal.  

• Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA): GPA calculated based on required professional (non-elective) courses taken while matriculated as a Doctor of Pharmacy student.
• Grade Point Average (GPA): The total number of quality points divided by the total number of credit hours. 
• Individual advising plan: Output from a degree audit for the PharmD outlining courses to be successfully completed for graduation.
• Successful Course Completion:  Completion of a course with a grade of “C-“ or better in the original or retaken course. 
• Successful Course Remediation: Completion of a remediation with a grade of C or better