NOTICE: Dismissed students with valid extenuating circumstances may submit an appeal. The Appeal form is available in the Office of Academic Services, Pharmacy Building Room 102A and must include apropriate medical or other documentation. Appeals (including all supporting documentation) of January 2018 Scholastic Standing Committee decisions are due in the Office of Academic Services (Pharmacy Building Room 277A/B) no later than 5 PM on January 17, 2018, NO EXCEPTIONS. Please be aware that submitting an appeal does not guarantee the decision will be changed.
Academic Progression Requirements
Academic Review. Student academic performance is reviewed each semester by the Scholastic Standing Committee, which is composed of appointed faculty of the school. The faculty must ratify any recommendations made by the committee before a student’s academic status is changed.
Standards. In general, students are expected to earn a GPA of 2.800 in the pre-professional years, 2.500 in the professional years, with no grades of D or F. Students failing to achieve this GPA and grade expectation will be evaluated as described below. Failure to maintain the school’s academic progression standards is grounds for dismissal, suspension, or placement on academic probationary status. A dismissal recommendation also may be based upon poor academic performance during any single term, regardless of any prior scholastic status, or after a student has spent prior terms on probation. The review by the committee will look both at GPA and poor grades. Students may be dismissed who are meeting the GPA requirement but have accumulated a significant number of D or F grades.
Satisfactory academic progression is defined as:
- achieving a minimum 2.800 term and cumulative grade-point average at the end of each academic term for the first two years of the pre-professional program.
- achieving a 2.800 cumulative grade-point average at the end of the second year prior to progressing to the professional portion of the curriculum.
- maintaining a minimum 2.500 term, cumulative and professional grade-point average throughout the professional portion of the program. The professional grade-point average is the average based on courses offered in Schools 30 and 31.
- achieving grades of C or better in the core science courses and labs during the pre-professional years. Core science courses include general chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, and systems physiology.
- achieving grades of C or better in Expository Writing I and a second approved writing course.
- achieving grades of C or better in Introductory/Intermediate Pharmacy Practice Experience or Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience coursework.
- not accumulating a significant number of poor grades (D and F).
Entry into the first professional year (third year) of the program requires a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.8 and completion of all course work from the pre-professional portion of the curriculum, including humanities, social sciences, core mathematics, science, and writing courses. The School of Pharmacy does not allow E prefixing unless a course is designated as remedial. Thus both original and repeated grades and credits are included in the GPA for repeated courses. Successful completion of an interview and writing assessment is required for entry into the first professional year.
Students who earn a grade of D or F in a course may be required, at the discretion of the Scholastic Standing Committee, to repeat the course; however, both the original grade and the new grade are counted in the grade point average and degree credit calculations. Grades in any repeated courses must be a C at a minimum. Grades of D in any of the core science courses in the pre-professional year or Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences must be repeated for a grade of C at a minimum. Grades higher than a C in repeated courses may be stipulated by the Scholastic Standing Committee or be necessary to achieve the GPA progression standard. Students are generally only allowed to attempt repeating a course once. Accumulation of several grades of D or below may result in any of the actions below. Students are expected to meet the above academic progression standards at the end of each academic term and by the end of the academic year. The above standards are applied to students based on courses completed and the sequence of courses outlined in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. Students may be allowed to complete course work in the following Summer Session in order to meet the above academic progression standards if equivalent summer courses are available at Rutgers. Students must have prior approval from the Scholastic Standing Committee before initiating summer course work related to curricular deficiency (see the section on Academic Progress). Students pursuing course work during the summer are expected to meet the above academic progression standards.
Academic Progress. Students are expected to follow the sequence of courses specified in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum approved by the faculty. Failure to follow the approved curriculum will result in a dismissal or placement on academic probationary status. Students may be allowed to depart from the curriculum based on placement exams, Scholastic Standing Committee actions, disciplinary actions, technical errors, and/or extenuating circumstances.
Students must receive prior approval from the academic dean before deviating from the curriculum.
Probation. Placement on probation means that the student is scholastically deficient and is continuing his or her education with the understanding that he or she must improve the level of work and meet the conditions of probation set by the Scholastic Standing Committee and approved by the faculty of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, such as:
- maintaining a specific term, cumulative, or professional average for one or more terms
- repeating certain courses
- carrying a reduced load for one or more terms
- curtailing certain extracurricular activities
In addition, students on probation must attend all scheduled classes and laboratory sessions (unauthorized absence may lead to immediate dismissal) and carry no more than the normal class and curriculum course load. Students are removed from probation after they have achieved a satisfactory scholastic record.
Academic Suspension. A student may be suspended for one or two terms based upon academic reasons. This action may be used when a term’s academic performance requires that work be repeated before progressing in the program. Remaining out of school for the intervening period may be required either due to the lack of availability of professional courses or simply because it is in the best interest of the student. Through the readmission procedure, this student may return at the end of the designated period of suspension earlier described.
Dismissal. Students are informed in writing of academic dismissal if they fail to meet the conditions of probation or if they have an exceedingly poor term record even though they may not have been previously on probation. Dismissed students wishing to pursue a degree in another field at Rutgers may be allowed a “carry” semester during which they can take non-pharmacy courses and must apply to another unit by the School-To-School Transfer process. Dismissed students who are not accepted by another unit at the end of the carry semester will be permanently dismissed from the University at the end of the semester. Students dismissed may submit an appeal to the Scholastic Standing Committee if there are documentable, extenuating circumstances (see below).
Appeal. Students dismissed from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy by the faculty may appeal by completing an appeal form available in the School of Pharmacy Office of Academic Services. Appeals must be received in the Office of Academic Services within five business days of the date of the letter notifying students of the decision. Grounds for appeal include technical error, grade changes, documented extenuating circumstances, and/or additional information not previously available to the committee. Appropriate documentation must be included with the appeal. Students are notified of the committee’s decision by mail. This formal appeal process is the sole and exclusive course of action for students dismissed from the program.
General Guidance. The above policy is designed to give the Scholastic Standing Committee latitude in determining the appropriate action in a given set of circumstances. Given the variety of courses, credit hours, grades, and GPA that come into play for a given student, it is not possible to pre-determine the committee’s action in all circumstances. However, the situations below provide the student reasonable expectations to the specific situations described. Note that there are other actions possible (including dismissal) and these are not the only exclusive actions. This information describes certain common circumstances but not all circumstances and does not supersede the standards listed above.
Pre-Professional Years
- First semester, first pre-professional year – students with a GPA below 1.500 will be dismissed.
- Second semester, first pre-professional year – students with a GPA below 2.400 will be dismissed.
- Second pre-professional year – students earning 2 grades of D or F in the 3 core science courses Organic Chemistry I (01:160:307), Organic Chemistry II (01:160:308), and Systems Physiology (01:146:346) will be dismissed.
Professional Years
- First professional year – students will be dismissed in the following situations:
- 2 or more F grades
- 1 F grade plus one or more D grades
- 3 or more D grades
- First professional year – students earning a single grade of F with no additional grades of D or F will be suspended and required to repeat coursework as determined by the Scholastic Standing Committee.
- Professional years – students accumulating 3 grades of D or F will be suspended and required to repeat coursework as determined by the Scholastic Standing Committee.