Structured Academic Categories
Based on its review of student performance, the program director or the APRB may place a student in any one of structured academic categories for remediation and/or sanction. Ordinarily, remedial and/or sanction programs will be implemented by the student’s Program and be monitored by the APRB. The seven structured academic categories include the following:
1. Formal Notice
2. Monitored Academic Status
3. Academic Probation
4. Suspension
5. Requirement to Withdraw
6. Dismissal
7. Expulsion
Note that Formal Notice and Monitored Academic Status are programmatic sanctions. Academic Probation, Suspension, Requirement to Withdraw, Dismissal and/or Expulsion are voted on by the APRB and may be applied for either academic or disciplinary sanctions.
1. Formal Notice
Formal Notice status indicates that a student requires closer monitoring by the program director. Formal Notice is designed primarily as a program for remediation tailored to an individual student’s specific challenges and/or needs. Students on Formal Notice are strongly encouraged to work with the program director to remediate academic difficulties and to employ all available resources of the school to address issues that may have contributed to their academic difficulties. Students are placed on Formal Notice by their program and this designation does not require a vote of the APRB, although the APRB will be notified and may be consulted in the decision.
Ordinarily students will be placed on Formal Notice status for one or more of the following reasons:
• Serious comments of concern from a course director or other individual;
• Unsatisfactory or failing grade on an exam in a required/core course
• Failure to meet initial milestones for the mentored research or capstone project; or
• Any deviation from the student's initial plan of instruction because of leave of absence, or requirements to remediate.
Formal Notice is not reported on the student’s official HMS record. It is, however, reported to the APRB, and the Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education.
2. Monitored Academic Status
Monitored Academic Status (MAS) indicates that a student requires closer monitoring by the school. MAS is designed primarily as a program for remediation tailored to an individual student’s specific challenges and/or needs. Each student on MAS is strongly encouraged to work with the program director to remediate academic difficulties and to employ all available resources of the school to address issues that may have contributed to the student's academic difficulties. Students are placed on Monitored Academic Status by their program and this designation does not require a vote of the APRB, although the APRB will be notified and may be consulted in the decision.
Ordinarily students will be placed on Monitored Academic status for one or more of the following reasons:
• Continued serious comments of concern from a course director or other individual;
• Unsatisfactory or failing grade in a required/core course;
• Requirement to discontinue participation in a course for academic reasons;
• Continued failure to meet milestones in the mentored research or capstone project; or
• Failure to meet HMS standards of professional conduct and responsibility.
Students on MAS are required to limit their extracurricular activities in order to focus more on their course of study and will not be granted a leave of absence for other than medical reasons.
MAS is not reported on students’ transcripts; however, it will be included in your record and reported to the APRB and the Dean for Graduate Education.
Program directors will determine when students are eligible to be taken off MAS. Any MAS period is likely to be a minimum of one term, to allow sufficient time for close monitoring of student performance (although disciplinary sanctions can be elevated beyond MAS at any point if warranted by these policies). Any MAS period may be extended past the original period if the program director determines that the student requires continued monitoring and the situation does not require more intensive oversight.
During this period, the program director will report to the APRB regularly concerning the student's progress.
3. Academic Probation
Academic Probation is a formal action by the APRB that changes a student’s status in the School from “good standing” to “academic probation.” Academic Probation is noted permanently in the student’s official HMS record and places a student on notice that the student’s academic performance or behavior has created considerable cause for concern and is subject to critical and ongoing evaluation and monitoring.
Ordinarily students will be placed on Academic Probation for one or more of the following reasons:
• Failure to remediate issues raised by the program director as part of Formal Notice or MAS as described;
• Requirement to repeat a term;
• Two or more failing grades in courses;
• Failure of a course while on Formal Notice or Monitored Academic Status;
• Failure to comply with conditions specified by the APRB or program director;
• Serious or repeated failure to meet the HMS standards of professional conduct and responsibility;
• Continuing pattern of Formal Notice or Monitored Academic Status (3 or more terms).
Students on Academic Probation are not allowed to serve on appointed committees at the School, are required to discontinue their extracurricular activities, and are not granted a leave of absence for other than medical reasons. Students are eligible to be taken off Academic Probation when they have completed all conditions specified by the APRB. Any probation period will be a minimum of one term, to allow sufficient time for correction and close monitoring of student performance (although more severe sanctions can be imposed at any point).
4. Suspension
When the health, safety, or welfare of students, patients, or other members of the HMS community are deemed to be at risk due to the behavior or presence of the student, the Dean for Graduate Education, independently, or at the request of the APRB, will suspend the student from the school or take any other protective action pending the outcome of APRB or other administrative review. Suspension may also be warranted when a student is accused of serious misconduct that requires further
investigation and/or when a student’s behavior raises significant concerns regarding the student’s suitability for a career in the student’s chosen health profession.
A suspended student must discontinue all academic and extra-curricular activities at HMS and may not access the resources of HMS and the University.
Lifting of the suspension is at the discretion of the APRB. The student may appear before the APRB to present the student’s account of the case. If allowed, when a suspended student returns to HMS, the student will be placed on Academic Probation for a period of time to be determined by the APRB.
5. Requirement to Withdraw
Students may be required to withdraw in situations involving repeated failures, when attempts of academic remediation have been unsuccessful, or when students have failed to meet APRB requirements while subject to Formal Notice, Monitored Academic Status, or Academic Probation, or during an APRB-imposed LOA. Students also may be required to withdraw if found to have committed an act of academic dishonesty or for the repeated or gross failure to meet professional standards of conduct. In addition, as set forth elsewhere in this Handbook, students will be considered withdrawn automatically if they:
• Students who have a balance of $1,000 or more on their term bill at the beginning of the term.
• Students who do not arrive within 10 days of the start date of classes in any given term.
• Students who fail to adhere to time to degree requirements;
• Students who are on a LOA for more than two years (whether consecutive or not);
• Students who fail to register with the Registrar’s Office for each term of study; or
• Students who fail to attend classes or work on a mentored research/capstone project for a period of 10 business days, without prior approval.
• Students who fail to respond to requests from the program director, administration, or Office for Graduate Education for a period of 10 business days, without prior approval and while actively enrolled.