Academic Standing and Progression

Academic Standing

The academic standing of students is designated as one of the following at the end of each academic term: fall, spring, summer session I and summer session II.

Good Academic Standing

Students who have successfully completed all coursework with grades, semester and cumulative GPAs that meet or exceed the minimum college-wide and programmatic academic standards, and/or are making appropriate progress on thesis or capstone work are designated as being in good academic standing.

Note: Good academic standing does not assure progression into the professional years of the College’s programs. Students are not officially informed of this status unless they are being removed from academic probation imposed in the previous semester.

Grades and Grade Point Average (GPA)

Faculty are responsible for assigning grades in each course. In the event of an unresolved conflict between an instructor and a student over a course grade, the student should refer to the “Course Concerns” procedure below.

At the discretion of the instructor and department chair, a grade of “I” (Incomplete) may be assigned when a student does not complete the requirements of a course within the semester of enrollment due to extenuating circumstances.
- Instructors may request that a grade of I be assigned to a student using the Incomplete Grade Request Form found on the Registrar’s intranet site. Unless the faculty member submits a final grade, the Registrar’s Office will change an incomplete grade to the grade indicated on the request form when the deadline established by the faculty (no longer than one semester) has passed.
- An incomplete grade does not satisfy the prerequisite of another course.
- Students cannot graduate from the college with an incomplete grade on their record.

Some courses are graded on a pass/fail basis. Grades of “P” are not calculated into the GPA.

Earned quality points for each course are calculated by multiplying the number of credits for that course by the GP equivalent. For example, a student taking Physiology/Pathophysiology I (4 credit course) receiving a grade of B+ (GP=3.3) would earn 13.2 quality points (4 credits x 3.3 GP=13.2). The total (semester, cumulative, or professional) quality points earned is determined by adding the quality points of all courses.
To determine academic standing, GPAs are rounded to the nearest tenth of a point (0.1). Semester, cumulative and professional GPAs are calculated by dividing the total quality points earned by the total credits.

Numerical Grades, Letter Grades, and Grade Point Equivalents *
Numerical Grade	Letter Grade	GP Equivalent
> 97	A+	4.0
93-96	A	4.0
90-92	A-	3.7
87-89	B+	3.3
83-86	B	3.0
80-82	B-	2.7
77-79	C+	2.3
73-76	C	2.0
70-72	C-	1.7
67-69	D+	1.3
63-66	D	1.0
60-62	D-	0.7
< 60	F	0.0

*The above numerical equivalents are provided as a guideline to faculty and students. Please consult individual course syllabi for course grading and rounding policies.

Requirements for Graduation

Candidates for all degrees must have satisfied all of the academic requirements of the program and be approved for conferral of the degree by a majority vote of the faculty. Students must pay all College-related financial obligations and return all material belonging to the College in order to be eligible for graduation. The College reserves the right to change the requirements for graduation.

Master of Science Programs: Requirements for Graduation
Students in any MS program must earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 to be eligible for graduation.

Doctor of Pharmacy Program: Requirements for Graduation
Students in the PharmD program must earn a cumulative professional GPA of 2.5 or better at the end of P4 to be eligible for graduation.

Graduation Academic Honors

Undergraduates
In recognition of distinguished academic achievement, the College awards graduation honors to undergraduate students based on the cumulative GPA calculated from didactic coursework taken at ACPHS at the time of graduation.

Summa Cum Laude 3.9 – 4.0
Magna Cum Laude 3.7 – 3.8
Cum Laude 3.5 – 3.6

Doctor of Pharmacy
In recognition of distinguished academic achievement, the College awards graduation honors to PharmD students based on the cumulative GPA calculated from required professional coursework and professional electives completed during the professional years of P1 to P3 at ACPHS.

Summa Cum Laude 3.9 – 4.0
Magna Cum Laude 3.7 – 3.8
Cum Laude 3.5 – 3.6

Doctor of Pharmacy Program: Experiential Honors
Experiential Education (EE) Honors is a designation awarded to students who have demonstrated excellence in the experiential IPPE and APPE course sequences. Experiential Education Honors will be awarded to up to 10% of the graduating class.

Graduate Honors
ACPHS does not award academic Latin honors for master’s students. The basic requirement for good academic standing for a Master’s student is a 3.0 GPA. If we were to award academic honors at that level, the vast majority of our graduate students would be on the list diminishing the value of the awards.

Good academic standing (GAS) does not ensure entry into the College’s professional programs.

College-wide

(Bachelor’s)

PharmD

Master’s

Must attain and maintain a semester and cumulative GPA of 2.0 in the first two years of the curriculum.

Specific for Bachelor’s in CLS:

Attain and maintain the college standard of semester and cumulative GPA of 2.0 in the first two years of the curriculum.

Starting in year three (the first professional year), students are subject to both College-wide standards and the CLS specific standards below:

Maintain a semester and cumulative professional GPA of 3.0.
Professional courses are defined as required courses bearing a CLS prefix. The professional GPA is calculated based on the grades from all professional courses taken.
Professional courses with a grade below C (73%) must be repeated.

In order to begin clinical practicum rotations students must have:

Passed all required courses numbered 399 and lower.
Completed all professional courses numbered 399 and lower with a grade of C or better. All grades below C must be repeated.
Have a professional GPA of 3.0.
Clinical rotations are considered professional courses and must be completed with a C or better. Any rotation below C must be repeated.
One grade of F results in program probation; two grades of F may result in dismissal from the program.

See Progression into the P1 year and Non-Progression below.

Professional courses are defined as all required courses in the P1-P4 years of the Doctor of Pharmacy Program, including professional electives, regardless of whether they are taken during the P1–P4 years or earlier.

Professional GPA is determined using grades earned in all professional courses.

Professional courses with grades below C- must be repeated.

Progression in Experiential Education: Students must be in GAS to progress into their Community, Institutional, and Team Based Care IPPEs. Students who are not in GAS will use the summer and ensuing months to repeat coursework to attain GAS and will be rescheduled for their rotations, as determined by Experiential Education. Rescheduled IPPEs may result in a delay in graduation.

Students must successfully complete the entire pre-APPE curiculum, including IPPEs, and be in GAS to progress in to the APPEs.

Note: Violations of the Conduct Code, Professionalism Code, and/or Academic Integrity may prevent students from progressing into and through the Experiential Education curriculum.

Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and be free of any probationary status;

Required Courses: Students must earn a grade of B or better in all required graduate courses;

Elective Courses: Students are permitted only one grade in the range of B- to C- in elective courses. If less than a C- is earned, the student must remediate the elective course or take a different elective;

Demonstrate satisfactory progress in thesis research, capstone or clinical practicum as documented by recommendations from the thesis/faculty advisor and the grades of related thesis courses to be considered in good academic standing.

All courses, whether accepted toward graduation credit or not, are recorded on a student’s transcript and count in GPA calculations.

Progression into the P1 Year

Students enrolled in the BSPK with early assurance pre-pharmacy program automatically progress into the P1 year of the PharmD program if the following conditions are met:

Submit application via PharmCas;
In good academic standing;

Completion of the pre-pharmacy program with a cumulative overall GPA of 3.0 or higher;

Completion of all pre-requisite courses in the pre-pharmacy curriculum plus meeting elective requirements.

Students entering P1 require a minimum of 9 elective credits, at least 6 of which must be liberal arts credits. Liberal arts credit requirements may be met by courses in history, civilizations, fine arts, literature, philosophy, religious studies, ethics, foreign language, cultural diversity, performing arts or visual arts.

No un-remediated course failures.

Demonstrate proficiency in writing.

Successful completion of an interview, to take place during the semester prior to progression. Only students who attain a GPA > 2.5 (after three semesters, or after the fall semester of pre-pharmacy year 2) will be invited for interview.

Self-reporting of conduct or academic integrity issues and successful completion, at the student’s expense, of a criminal background check.

ACADEMIC Standing and progression

Doctor of Pharmacy Non-Progression

Review of Non-Progressing Early Assurance Students by the Pharmacy Admissions Committee (PAC)

The academic records of early assurance students not meeting the course or GPA requirements for automatic progression into the P1 year, outlined above, but who have met all of the other criteria are reviewed by the PAC in May for consideration to progress into the P1 year of the PharmD program. For consideration by the committee, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.

The committee reviews applications for special progression consideration. The committee may recommend one or more of the following conditions for progressing into the P1 year:

Remediate one or more courses during the summer months prior to entering the P1 year.
Students may be required to earn minimum grades in remediated courses or to take courses at ACPHS when available.
Take a writing course, retake the writing evaluation or obtain ESL assistance prior to or during the P1 year.

The committee makes a recommendation to the Dean of Pharmacy, who makes the final decision and informs the student of the progression decision. Note that meeting the minimum requirements for this review does not guarantee progression into the P1 year.

Students in good academic standing at the College who do not progress into the P1 year by any of the mechanisms above may remain in the BSPK program or apply for transfer to another program at the College. See Transfer to another Program below.

Doctor of Pharmacy Program Technical Standards

The following attributes represent the skills and abilities required for a graduate of the pharmacy program at ACPHS to function as a practicing pharmacist.1 As such, these skills are required for students matriculating in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at ACPHS. Students unable to meet these requirements with or without reasonable accommodations may not be admitted to the program or may be dismissed from the program.

Observation (Use of the Sense of Vision)

The student must be able to:

Observe demonstrations and experiments
Accurately read information and instructions
Observe a patient accurately at a distance and close-up
Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision and other sensory modalities. Acuity of these senses is important.

Communication (Includes Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Computer Literacy)

The student must be able to:

Communicate effectively and sensitively with patients in the English language
Communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written forms with all members of the healthcare team.

Motor Skills (Physical Ability and Coordination)

The student must have:

Sufficient motor function to execute movements required to provide care.
Coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities, (Ability to Problem-Solve)

The student must be able to:

Measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and interpret data.
Synthesize and apply complex information.
Integrate and process information promptly and accurately.

Behavioral and Social Attributes (Emotional Stability and Stamina)

The student must:

Possess the emotional health required for full utilization of intellectual abilities.
Tolerate physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing workloads and function effectively under stress.
Possess compassion, integrity, interpersonal skills, and motivation to excel in the practice of pharmacy.

1Adapted from Berry TM et al. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2011; 75 (3) Article 50.

Academic Probation

Students whose academic performance falls below the college-wide or program standards at the end of an academic semester will be placed on College-wide academic probation or program academic probation, respectively.

A student on academic probation must improve academically and address the conditions that resulted in probation.
While on academic probation, a student may be ineligible to hold a class and student organization office, join a fraternity, participate in intercollegiate athletics or provide service on College committees.
The summer semester can only be used to address course grades and cumulative GPA deficiencies, not the prior semester’s GPA.
In some cases, financial aid or work study employment may be jeopardized.

College-wide

(Bachelor’s)

PharmD (P1-P4)

Master’s

A student will be placed on academic probation if any of the following conditions exist within a semester:

A semester or cumulative GPA below 2.0;

Two or more grades below C-;

A single grade of F.

Specific for BSCLS:

If semester or cumulative professional GPA drops below 3.0.

Two program probations may result in dismissal from the program.

A cumulative professional GPA below the thresholds listed in the table below, by semester:

End of Fall P1	2.0	End of Spring P1	2.1
End of Fall P2	2.1	End of Spring P2	2.2
End of Fall P3	2.2	End of Spring P3	2.3
End of Fall P4	2.3	To Graduate Spring P4	2.5

Any grade point average (GPA) below 2.0 (semester, professional semester);

a single grade below C-.

Receives a grade less than a B in any required course or more than one grade of less than a C- in an elective course;

Unsatisfactory progress towards completion of thesis research or capstone project.

Specific for MSCLS* students:

If semester GPA falls below 3.0 and/or cumulative professional GPA below 3.0.

*Professional courses are defined as required courses bearing a CLS prefix. The professional GPA is calculated based on the grades from all professional courses taken.

See Probation process below.

Removal from Academic Probation for Bachelor’s and PharmD Programs:

Academic probation will end when the student successfully addresses all of the conditions that placed the student on probation.

Probation Process for Master’s Students

Recommendations for probation are made to the Program Director;
The Program Director forwards the recommendation to the Academic Standards Committee (ASC).
The ASC renders a final decision and consults with the Program Director as to how to proceed with the student’s academic probation.
Students placed on academic probation by the ASC will be informed by the Registrar’s Office via a letter from the Dean.

Note: A recommendation for academic probation due to unsatisfactory progress in thesis research or capstone project may be initiated by the student's faculty advisor if the advisor considers a student’s performance to be unsatisfactory irrespective of a student’s grade point average.

Removal from Academic Probation for Master's Programs

A graduate student placed on academic probation due to a semester GPA below 3.0 must restore their cumulative GPA to 3.0 or above within two semesters for full-time students, or 12 credit hours for part-time students, to be removed from probation.

Students receiving grades less than a B in a required course or more than one grade of less than a C- in an elective course must remediate the course in order to be removed from academic probation.
Students placed on academic probation due to unsatisfactory progress towards completion of the degree may be restored to good academic standing following notification by the advisor or Program Director to the Dean that the student is making satisfactory progress.
Such notification must be received within two regular academic semesters.
A student who is not restored to good academic standing by end of the specified time or credit hour requirement may be dismissed from the program.
Students removed from academic probation will be informed by the Program Director.

Academic Dismissal

Students with significant or multiple academic deficiencies may be dismissed from an academic program (based on program-specific academic standards) or they may be dismissed from the College.

Academic dismissal is usually not invoked until academic probation has been imposed. However, academic dismissal may be recommended before probation when a student’s academic record is significantly deficient.

Students who have been dismissed from a program, but not the College, may consider transfer to another program at the College. See Transfer to another Program below.
Students dismissed from the College can also seek re-admission to ACPHS as transfer students.

College-wide

(Bachelor’s)

PharmD (P1-P4)

Master’s

Dismissal from the College if one of the following conditions exists:

Two instances of probation (whether consecutive or non-consecutive);

A semester GPA below 1.6

Dismissal from the program for any of the following reasons below:

Two instances of probation (whether consecutive or non-consecutive) resulting from didactic or experiential coursework in the Doctor of Pharmacy program;

A semester GPA below 1.6; Failure to successfully complete APPE Performance Improvement Plan

Dismissal from a graduate program for any of the following reasons:

Failure to correct deficiencies of academic probation in a timely manner (see above: “Removal from Academic Probation”)

Two independent instances of being placed on academic probation.

Two failures of the thesis defense or two failures of the capstone project.

Receiving a grade of F in any required graduate course or grades of B- or below in two or more required courses.

Failure to meet Programmatic requirements in the time frame designation for program completion.

Other requirements:

Full-time graduate students must complete all program degree requirements in 3 years or less.

Part-time graduate students must complete all program degree requirements in 7 years or less.

Students dismissed from a graduate program will be informed by the Program Director and the decision will be communicated to the student’s advisors, the Dean and the Registrar’s office.

Academic Appeal Process

Students are permitted to appeal academic standing and progression decisions (except academic probation) by completing a form and supporting documentation. The process and forms can be found below on the page.

The academic standards committee (ASC) is responsible for the oversight of academic standards and the academic standing of students for all programs – bachelor’s (BS), PharmD, and graduate (MS) programs.
- Students are required to maintain minimum course grades, semester, cumulative and professional GPAs as required by the college-wide and programmatic academic standards to be in good academic standing.
The ASC is responsible for reviewing student academic records at the end of each semester and making the decision to place a student on probation or to dismiss the student from their respective program or the college if they fail to meet the respective academic standards. The ASC communicates decisions to the registrar in writing. The registrar then sends a letter to the student on the dean’s behalf.
- at the end of each semester, the registrar’s office prepares student grade reports from the current semester and provides the reports to the ASC
- Grade reports of all students on academic probation from the previous semesters are also provided to the ASC
The ASC makes decisions on the academic standing of students in academic difficulty, i.e., those on probation who fail to meet academic standards, and on students eligible to be removed from probation. The registrar communicates this decision, along with any probation removal conditions, to the students on behalf of the dean.
Students are permitted to appeal academic standing and progression decisions (except academic probation) by submitting a form and supporting documentation to the academic standards and progression committee at academicappeals@acphs.edu. The appeal letter should clearly describe the basis for the appeal and should include:

Explanation/justification surrounding the student’s inability to meet the college-wide or program academic standards;
Appropriate documentation by a competent, qualified professional in the event extenuating life circumstances are identified;
The college reserves the right to require further evaluation and/or documentation.
Student success plan: plan for coping with unresolved issues and for remediating any academic deficiencies.

Appeal forms and documentation must be received by the deadline for the appeal to be considered.
While the appeal is being considered, a student’s academic status does not change. If a student was dismissed, he or she remains dismissed.
The academic standing and progression committee (ASPC) serves in the capacity of an advisory body for the deans for student appeals of academic dismissal (not probation). In such, the ASPC reviews all student appeals for dismissal, including all related documentation and supporting evidence, and for making recommendations to the deans to grant or deny the appeals.
After reviewing the appeal form and related documentation along with input from the student’s academic advisor, faculty advisor and program director and other pertinent student information including academic integrity, conduct and professionalism issues; the ASPC will make a recommendation to the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) and Deans to grant or deny the appeal.
The VPAA in collaboration with both Deans reviews ASPC recommendations and collaboratively makes final decisions. In case of a disagreement, the final determination will be made by the VPAA.
Students are notified of the decision by the Registrar with a letter that includes conditions of the appeal for the ensuing academic year, which must be accepted by the student in writing.

Transfer to Another Program

Students wishing to transfer to another program at the College should:

Contact the program director of the program you are dismissed from, your faculty advisor, and your academic advisor (Triangle of Academic Success) to seek guidance regarding alternative programs;

Meet with the program director of the program you wish to transfer to discuss curricular options, review course credits, and plan your degree path;

Consult with Financial Aid to discuss potential financial aid implications of transferring to another program;

Once an appropriate plan is determined, complete the Internal Transfer into an ACPHS Program form on the Registrar’s intranet page and submit to the Registrar with appropriate signatures.

Re-Admission Policy

A student who wishes to return to the College after dismissal for poor academic performance may apply for admission as a transfer student. Courses taken at other institutions during the dismissal period will be reviewed for approval as transfer credits upon re-admission to the College.

Re-Admission Policy Pharmacy Program

Individuals who have been dismissed from the Pharmacy Program for academic reasons may reapply to the Pharmacy Program through PharmCAS (see http://www.pharmcas.org for details and application deadlines). A supplemental application for readmission will be sent to the applicant following receipt of the PharmCAS application. The same admission standards for the P1 applicants will apply. The Pharmacy Admissions Committee will make a determination regarding admission, including conditional acceptance, and work with the program director for class year placement for students dismissed from the program in the P2, P3 or P4 year. Contact the Admissions office for further information at admissions@acphs.edu.

See the academic appeals process and action timeline.