This policy applies to course work taken by SPAHP students that is applied to degrees or certificates awarded by the School.

ACADEMIC PROBATION

Academic Probation – OT and PT Programs

A student will earn an Academic Probationary Event when any of the following occur:

1. The student receives a failing grade (F, WF, or AF) or unsatisfactory grade (UN) in any required or elective course of the curriculum.
2. The student receives a grade of D in any required or elective course of the curriculum.
3. The student earns an academic probationary event sanctioned by the program faculty for repeated or serious incident(s) of unprofessional behavior (See SPAHP Professional Behavior Policy).

Academic probationary events become a component of the student’s academic history, and are not removed secondary to subsequent acceptable academic performance. While a cumulative GPA below 2.00 is not counted as an Academic Probationary Event in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, all are reminded that this performance level must be met or exceeded in order to graduate from Creighton University.

Academic Probation – Pharmacy Program

A student will earn an Academic Probationary Event when any of the following occur:

1. The student receives a failing grade (F, WF, or AF) or unsatisfactory grade (UN) in any required or elective course of the curriculum.
2. The student earns a semester GPA <2.00. If the student earns a GPA <2.00 in the same semester they earn a failing grade, this will be considered one probationary event.
3. The student earns an academic probationary event sanctioned by the program faculty for repeated or serious incident(s) of unprofessional behavior (See SPAHP Professional Behavior Policy).

Academic probationary events become a component of the student’s academic history and are not removed secondary to subsequent acceptable academic performance. While a grade of D is not counted as an Academic Probationary Event in the Pharmacy Program, all are reminded that 

Didactic Component

A student enrolled in the didactic component of his/her professional curriculum who is placed on academic probation will be notified of his/her status in writing by the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This letter will outline School and University sources of academic and/or behavioral support and inform the student of the requirement to meet with his/her academic advisor to develop a mandatory Corrective Action Plan. The Corrective Action Plan must be signed by the academic advisor and submitted by the student to the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs within ten working days of official notification of probationary status. If this time frame cannot be met due to legitimate reasons (e.g., schedule conflicts), the student and his/her academic advisor may jointly request an extension from the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Copies of the Corrective Action Plan will be forwarded to the members of the Academic Review and Support Advisory Committee for review and possible amendment. The student may be required to appear before the Academic Review and Support Advisory Committee after the submission of the Corrective Action Plan. In this event, the student’s academic advisor will be invited to participate in the meeting. Any additional recommendations of the Committee will be summarized and appended to the student's Corrective Action Plan and forwarded to the student, his/her academic advisor and the appropriate department chair(s). Copies of the Corrective Action Plan, and any additional documents generated by the Academic Review and Support Advisory Committee, will be placed in the student's file housed in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.

Experiential Education Component

A student enrolled in the experiential education component of his/her professional curriculum who is placed on academic probation will be notified of his/her status in writing by the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This letter will be sent immediately following the end of the problematic clinical experience and will inform the student of the requirement to meet with the experiential education director for the program in which s/he is enrolled to develop a mandatory Corrective Action Plan. It is recommended that the student’s academic advisor also be involved in the development of the Corrective Action Plan. The experiential education director is responsible for consulting with any faculty s/he deems necessary to address deficiencies and remediate the situation, and to ensure that all pertinent improvement strategies are incorporated into the Corrective Action Plan. The experiential education director has the right to delay the next clinical experience(s), reassign the student to a different clinical site(s), or allow clinical experiences to proceed as previously planned.

Within ten working days of official notification of probationary status by the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the student must submit the Corrective Action Plan that has been signed by the experiential education director and the student’s academic advisor to the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. If this time frame cannot be met due to legitimate reasons (e.g., schedule conflicts), the student and the experiential education director may jointly request an extension from the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

A copy of the Corrective Action Plan will be forwarded to the experiential education director, appropriate department chair(s), and the student's academic advisor. A copy of the plan will also be placed in the student's file housed in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs and will be reviewed by the Academic Review and Support Advisory Committee at the discretion of the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

ACADEMIC DISMISSAL

A student will be immediately and automatically dismissed from the program upon the occurrence of any one of the following events:

1. The student receives two failing (F, WF, AF) or unsatisfactory (UN) grades in any required or elective course(s) of the curriculum, regardless of whether a previously failed course has been repeated for a passing grade.
2. The student receives three grades of D in any required or elective course(s) of the curriculum,
3. The student is officially notified of a third academic probationary event.

Academic dismissal means the student is immediately and automatically terminated from the program upon receipt by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs of written documentation of final grade(s) and/or a dismissal-precipitating probationary event resulting from sanction of unprofessional behaviors from the course or program faculty. The Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs shall promptly notify all dismissed students of their status. A dismissed student who believes s/he has grounds for a grade appeal must pursue that appeal before seeking reinstatement or s/he forfeits the right to appeal the grade. Students who request reinstatement after notification of dismissal without pursuing a grade appeal forfeit their right to appeal any grade earned in their program of study up to the date of the dismissal. Any student who has questions about filing a grade appeal and its effect on any request for reinstatement should confer with his/her academic advisor, the Chair of the department in which the IOR resides, and/or the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

A dismissed student who wishes to be considered for reinstatement must communicate this intent in writing to the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs within 10 working days of the date on which the written notification of dismissal was sent. Dismissal notice and the intent to appeal for reinstatement is permitted via electronic notification. The dismissed student appealing for reinstatement has the right, but not the obligation to continue to attend classes and exercise the privileges of all other students pending the outcome of the appeal except when prohibited by department policy or in cases where there are reasons relating to the physical or emotional welfare of the student or of others, or reasons involving the safety of persons or property. The decision on student status will be made by the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

The dismissed student petitioning for reinstatement will make a written and oral appeal to the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee (Pharmacy) or the program faculty (Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy). The reinstatement hearing will be held as soon as possible after notification of dismissal.  Scheduling will take into account the time needed for the dismissed student to prepare required written and oral statements.  The dismissed student may have a support person present during their appeal, but that individual may not address the Committee/program faculty unless invited to do so by the presiding administrator.  The dismissed student may also provide written statements of support by appropriate individuals (e.g., teachers, counselors, advisors) with the materials submitted prior to the hearing.   These materials shall be submitted to the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who will then forward them to the Committee/program faculty no later than 48 hours before the hearing is to take place. 

PHARMACY REINSTATEMENT APPEALS COMMITTEE

The Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee shall be a standing committee of the Pharmacy program. The Committee shall be comprised of six members from each Pharmacy Department, all of whom must have at least three years of Creighton pharmacy faculty experience. The Senior Associate Dean or designee appointed by the Dean will chair the Committee as a non-voting member. Committee members shall be recommended for service by both Department Chairs and appointed by the Dean in a staggered fashion. Two consecutive terms are permitted for Committee members. The four-year terms of all appointments shall be staggered, with new or returning members being appointed every two years. Each panel adjudicating a reinstatement petition shall be comprised of three Committee members from each Department. Six Committee members shall constitute a quorum. Votes on all motions shall be by secret ballot. Any member of the Committee who serves as an academic advisor for an appealing student must recuse himself/herself from all Committee deliberations for their advisee's appeal.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DISMISSED STUDENT

1. Adhering to all timelines for initiating reinstatement appeals.
2. Preparing written and oral statements of appeal in consultation with the academic advisor.
3. Submitting a written statement of appeal to the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty via the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs no later than three working days before his/her scheduled hearing.
4. Presenting his/her oral statement of appeal to the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

1. Providing written notification of dismissal to the student and to the Office of the Senior Associate Dean.
2. Copying and disseminating pertinent documents from the dismissed student’s academic record, including all Corrective Action Plans, correspondence from the Academic Review and Support Advisory Committee, and the student’s written statement of appeal, to the appropriate faculty in a confidential and timely manner.
3. Serving as a resource for the dismissed student seeking reinstatement.
4. Informing students verbally and in writing of the outcome of their reinstatement appeal, including any binding conditions and recommendations of the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty (see below).
5. Constructing the program of study for reinstated students, including any binding conditions of the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty.  No element of the program of study may be in conflict with a decision officially rendered by the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN OR HIS/HER DESIGNEE

1. Arranging the date, time and place of the hearing and communicating hearing logistics to the dismissed student, the appropriate faculty, and the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.
2. Securing any needed communications equipment (e.g., speaker telephone, technical support).
3. Securing any data, statements, or information requested by the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty.
4. Presiding at the reinstatement hearing.
5. Documenting the outcome of the reinstatement hearing through the preparation of minutes.
6. Disseminating hearing minutes to the program faculty, the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Dean.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PHARMACY REINSTATEMENT APPEALS COMMITTEE AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AND PHYSICAL THERAPY PROGRAM FACULTY

1. Reviewing pertinent elements of the dismissed student’s academic record as provided by the Assistant/Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the student’s written statement of appeal, and any supporting document provided by the student, faculty colleagues, or School administrators.
2. Receiving verbal reports from academic administrators, academic success counselors, the student’s academic advisor, and others as deemed necessary.
3. Hearing the dismissed student’s oral statement of appeal and asking pertinent or clarifying questions.
4. Requesting any additional information needed to make an informed reinstatement decision.
5. Voting on any forthcoming motion to reinstate the dismissed student. A simple majority is required for the motion to pass.  If no motion to reinstate comes forward, the student remains dismissed.
6. When warranted, imposing binding conditions related to the program of study on the reinstated student.  Faculty hearing reinstatement appeals may also recommend that the reinstated student seek personal counseling and/or other health care related services.  Based on privacy and autonomy issues, as well as the need for students to assume responsibility for their academic performance, these recommendations will not be binding unless it can be reasonably predicted that failure to heed them would result in harm to the student or others.

ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL

The dismissed student who is denied reinstatement by the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee or the Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy program faculty has the right to appeal to the Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, and the Provost, in that order.  The timeline for initiating these appeals is outlined in Appendix B (please access Appendix B in the electronic version of the policy, located in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs website).  The University administrators identified in Appendix B shall only recommend a change in the decision made by these bodies if the decision is arbitrary, capricious, clearly unsubstantiated or in violation of other School or University policies.  If allowed by the Readmission Policy, dismissed students who do not seek or are denied reinstatement may apply for readmission through the regular admissions process no earlier than one calendar year from the date of dismissal. 

Any student reinstated by the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions program faculty or their representative Committee, or the Dean as set forth above or in Appendix B will be subject to immediate academic dismissal effective upon the occurrence of any additional probationary event.  The student’s past academic history will be considered when determining if a probationary event is warranted.  

Students dismissed for a second time will not be allowed to appeal to the Pharmacy Reinstatement Appeals Committee (Pharmacy) or the program faculty (Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy), Dean, or University administrator for reinstatement nor are they permitted to reapply to the program.

Failure to comply with any part of this process on the part of the student will result in forfeiture of all rights of appeal as outlined.

The School reserves the right to modify, deviate from, or make exceptions to this policy at any time, and to apply any such modification, or make any such deviation or exception applicable to any student without regard to date of application, admission, or enrollment.  This policy is neither a contract nor an offer to enter into a contract.  Each student is responsible for knowledge of the School’s policies, as well as for changes promulgated by the School as addenda to policies and, by virtue of their enrollment in the School, agrees to be bound by the terms of these policies. This policy supersedes all previous versions of the Scholastic Standing Policy.  Any changes which are made in the University’s Student Handbook will automatically be incorporated into this policy.