Committee on Student Progress Guidelines

1.1 The Committee on Student Progress (CSP) is responsible for monitoring and evaluating student progress. The CSP, composed of faculty and senior administrative staff members, makes decisions regarding students pursuing the D.O. degree for purposes of promotion, graduation, program alteration, remediation, retention, repetition, and dismissal, and other matters related to progress.

1.2 It is the responsibility of the Heritage College to assure the Ohio General Assembly and the Ohio Department of Higher Education that Ohio University Heritage College graduates have demonstrated the competencies necessary to enter graduate medical education. The faculty, staff, and administration are committed to providing academic support to help students successfully meet the institution's academic standards and to ensure the citizens of the state of Ohio and beyond of the quality of graduating physicians.

1.3 The CSP shall formulate and periodically review and revise these guidelines to carry out its responsibilities.

Appointments shall be made in accordance with the by-laws of the faculty of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

2.1 The Voting Membership: The voting membership of the CSP shall be composed according to the Committee By-laws of the following 7 members:

• A minimum of 3 non-clinical faculty appointed by the Senior Dean
• A minimum of 3 clinical faculty appointed by the Senior Dean

2.2 The Nonvoting Membership: The nonvoting membership of the CSP shall be composed according to the Committee Bylaws of the following 2 members:

• An Associate Dean from the Office of Medical Education
• The Senior Director of Student Affairs.

2.3 The Chair of the Committee will be appointed by the Senior Dean from the voting membership of the committee. The CSP Chair may appoint a member of the Committee to run the meeting on dates when the Chair is not available to attend. The Senior Director of Student Affairs will serve as secretary for the CSP and will be responsible for coordinating minutes, all records, and most correspondence with students.

2.4 Faculty members will be appointed on a staggered basis and serve for a term of 3 years to improve continuity and efficiency in monitoring student progress over the full four years of the curriculum.

2.5 CSP members will not vote in instances where they are the Instructor of Record or Course Director for a course in which the student is registered.

The CSP shall oversee the review of records of students pursuing the DO degree for purposes of promotion, graduation, program alteration, remediation, retention, repetition, or dismissal.

3.1 The CSP will review the academic record of students referred for academic failure. In these instances, the CSP will consider decisions including, but not limited to, the following:

• Extend, shorten, supplement, or otherwise alter the student’s course of study
• Place the student on academic probation
• Dismiss the student

3.2 The CSP will review cases of unprofessional conduct that are linked to academic progress and in these instances will consider decisions including, but not limited to, the following:

• Referral to the ad hoc Professionalism Committee for consideration;
• A letter of reprimand placed in the student’s file;
• A notation on the student’s Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE);
• Dismissal of the student;
• Completion of supplemental coursework.

3.3 In situations where the CSP is informed of allegations of misconduct that violate the Ohio University Student Code of Conduct, including, but not limited to, academic dishonesty, the CSP will consider referral to the Ohio University judicial process, in consultation with the Associate Dean of Student Affairs and the Ohio University Director of Community Standards, as outlined in Section 12.

The College may choose to conduct an investigation into the allegations through the CSP. In cases of academic misconduct, the CSP may consider decisions including but not limited to the following, in addition to any sanctions imposed by the Ohio University Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility:

• Completion of external coursework
• Academic Probation
• A letter of reprimand placed in the student’s file
• A notation on the student’s Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
• Dismissal

3.4 The D.O. Degree is granted on the authority of Ohio University’s Board of Trustees and based on the recommendation of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s faculty, delegated to the Committee on Student Progress (CSP) per faculty bylaws. It is the responsibility of the CSP to review the list of students who have completed all graduation requirements and to vote to recommend that list of students to the Ohio University Board of Trustees for conferral of the degree.

3.5 The CSP will review circumstances in which a student cannot be placed on rotations for any reason not pertaining to rotation availability. In these instances, the CSP will consider the following decisions:

• Administrative leave of absence
• Dismissal

3.6 Immediate Suspension

Any time the actions of a medical student pose a threat of imminent danger due to an alleged violation(s) of professional standards, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs of the Heritage College may immediately suspend the student from any and all activities of the Heritage College as well as the property controlled by the Heritage College pending a prompt meeting of the Committee.

In instances involving sexual misconduct, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs shall confer with the University’s Title IX coordinator prior to suspending a student.

3.7 CSP Recommendations and Outcomes

After meeting with a student and reviewing the student’s information, the CSP will make a determination of action. After the meeting, the Senior Director of Student Affairs shall draft a communication of the student’s outcome. The Committee members shall review the draft for accuracy, with the Chair giving final approval. Upon approval by the Chair, the CSP determination becomes an action of the Heritage College. The Senior Director of Student Affairs will communicate the outcome to the student as well as to the appropriate academic areas.

3.8 Standing: Issues of whether a student is considered to be in good standing will be determined by the CSP on a
case-by-case basis.

The CSP will review and grant or deny student requests for leaves of absence.

4.1 Under exceptional circumstances, a student may request to be granted a leave of absence from the College, with the opportunity to return at a specified date. Requests for leaves of absence are to be submitted to the CSP through the Salesforce Student Portal and will go to the Senior Director of Student Affairs to bring to the Committee for consideration.

The “Leave of Absence” form is located in the “Student Portal Tools” box.

4.2 Following appropriate consultation with instructors and/or college administrative personnel, as well as consideration of any documentation, the CSP will decide whether or not to approve a leave.

4.3 The CSP may also suggest that a student take a leave of absence from the College, with the opportunity to return at a specified date.

4.4 Failure or imminent failure of coursework alone shall not be grounds for granting a leave of absence.

4.5 A student may request a meeting with the CSP to clarify details relating to their leave of absence.

Procedures of the Committee

5.1 CSP meeting dates will be scheduled, and agendas will be prepared by the Senior Director of Student Affairs, their staff and/or the Chair. Additional meetings may be scheduled as needed upon the request of CSP members, the chair, or under special circumstances. Minutes of the CSP meetings will be kept by the Senior Director of Student Affairs and will be provided to all Committee members for comment prior to final approval by the Chair.

5.2 A quorum will consist of a simple majority of the duly constituted voting membership. All matters submitted to vote require a majority of those present who are eligible to vote. The committee may, at its discretion, conduct an email vote so that those not present may participate. In time-sensitive situations not involving repeating of a year or dismissal, the Committee may conduct an email vote without meeting with the student.

5.3 CSP meetings are not open to non-members except by action of the Committee. The CSP Chair or Senior Director of Student Affairs may invite to CSP meetings other university or college faculty or administrative personnel for the purpose of providing additional information helpful to the work of the CSP.

6.1 Year 1 & 2 PreClinical Student Information

For circumstances involving PreClinical coursework, on academics and assessment refer to the “Key Grading Factors” found within each course’s syllabus for reasons why a student would be required to meet with the CSP.

6.2 Year 3 & 4 Clinical Student Information

For circumstances involving rotations or other Clinical coursework, on academics and assessment, refer to the Clinical Student Manual and/or the Year 3 or Year 4 Rotation Syllabus for reasons why a student would be required to meet with the CSP.

6.3 General

The CSP may require a meeting with the student based on (1) concerns about academic performance; (2) concerns about professional behavior (3) referrals from Pre-Clinical Campus Deans/Clinical Campus Assistant Deans; (4) the need for additional information on which to make decisions about a student’s academic progress; (5) referrals from the TCC Director.

The CSP may request a meeting with the student. The Senior Director of Student Affairs will be responsible for notifying the student regarding the reasons for, date of, and time of the meeting.

Students may request a meeting with the CSP.

Students will receive a message from the Senior Director of Student Affairs or their staff instructing the student when and where they are required to meet with the Committee. Depending on the circumstances, the student may be asked to provide information to be shared with Committee members prior to the meeting.

Because CSP members are from all campuses, the meetings will be conducted via videoconference. The meeting will be conducted by the CSP Chair who will start by introducing the student to the Committee members present at the meeting. The CSP may ask the student for information about their situation, whether they have reached out for assistance, how they plan to address the issue, etc.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair will advise the student that the Committee will consider the information discussed at the meeting and make a decision about the student’s outcome. That outcome has a final review by the Committee and the Chair after the meeting. Once the Chair has approved the outcome, the Senior Director of Student Affairs will notify the student in writing of the outcome of the meeting. The process of obtaining final approval of the Committee’s recommendation can take several days to a week or more depending on schedules.

All students will be permitted to progress to each successive year upon successful completion of all course work for the previous year, including reassessments, and all students must pass COMLEX Level 1 before beginning clinical rotations in Year 3.

9.1 COMLEX Requirements for all OU-HCOM Students:

Students are required to pass COMLEX Level 1, COMLEX Level 2 CE and any “Evidence of Clinical Skills Assessments/Activities” currently available from the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME) and required by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) in order to graduate from the Heritage College.

Heritage College COMLEX policy

9.2 No student with an un-remediated F, I, or PR grade in a course needed for graduation or an un-remediated “failing” rating on the clinical evaluation of a required course can be recommended for the D.O. degree.

9.3 The Heritage College Degree Conferral and Commencement Ceremony generally takes place on the second Saturday of May although this is subject to change following Ohio University’s calendar. If a student has not completed all graduation requirements by the date of the Commencement Ceremony, they may participate in the Commencement Ceremony if all degree requirements can reasonably be completed prior to July 1st of the current year. Any student on a modified enrollment plan may only participate at the Commencement Ceremony with the cohort in which they will enter the ACGME match.

All Heritage College students, except those enrolled in a dual degree program or those who are selected for the Primary Care Associate (PCA) program, must complete the D.O. degree program within 150% of the time required to achieve the degree as required by the COCA accreditation standards. Therefore, students must meet all graduation requirements and graduate within the allotted time as determined from their date of matriculation into the program.

Maximum Length to Completion policy

11.1 Appeal of CSP Decisions

In order for a student to request an appeal of a decision made by the CSP and approved by the Chair, the student must be able to demonstrate that their request for appeal meets at least one of the following criteria:

Criteria for an Appeal:

• Sanction or outcome is extraordinarily disproportionate to the issue(s) or violation(s).
• Discovery of new and significant information that could have affected the decision that was not known or could not reasonably have been discovered at the time of the meeting. If the information the student seeks to admit as part of the appeal process was available or known by the student at the time of their CSP meeting and was not presented at that time, it cannot serve as the basis of an appeal.
• A defect in process.

Disagreement with the CSP’s decision cannot constitute the sole basis for an appeal.

11.2 Appeal requests must be written and submitted directly to the Senior Director of Student Affairs within five business (5) days of the date on the letter describing the decision and must document:

• Criteria for the request for an appeal.
• Specifically what the student is appealing.

The Senior Director of Student Affairs will forward the appeal letter to the College’s staff member that manages the agenda for the Deans Council and request that the Deans Council review the appeal at the next scheduled meeting.

11.3 Deans Council will meet and review the appeal request. For appeals that do not involve dismissal of the student, the Deans Council may decide whether they need to consult with the student in person (or via phone, videoconferencing, etc.) or whether they may rule on the appeal based only on the written appeal documentation. For dismissal cases, the Deans Council will arrange to meet with the student.

The Deans Council will discuss the merits of the appeal and vote on whether to uphold the original CSP decision, reverse or revise the decision. The student’s preclinical campus dean may participate in the appeal discussion but may not vote on the outcome of the appeal.

In cases of dismissal, the Deans Council’s decision will be reviewed by the Senior Dean prior to a final decision.

The outcome of the appeal will be communicated to the student by their preclinical campus dean.

11.4 While a student is awaiting the outcome of an appeal, the student may continue to attend coursework but the student is not permitted to sit for summative assessments or reassessments until the outcome of the appeal is determined.

Upon matriculation to the Heritage College, all students become members of Ohio University and are subject to the behavioral expectations outlined in the OHIO Student Code of Conduct.

When a medical student is charged with a violation(s) of the general policies of the Ohio University Student Code of Conduct, the Ohio University Director of Community Standards will notify the Associate Dean of Student Affairs of the Heritage College of the charge. Alleged violations that are received through the Professionalism Committee, Instructor of Record or other means will also result in notification of the Associate Dean of Student Affairs. In cases where the alleged conduct of a medical student appears to be in violation of the Ohio University Student Code of Conduct, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs and the Ohio University Director of Community Standards will jointly reach a decision regarding whether to handle the alleged misconduct through the general university judicial system in accordance with the Ohio University Student Code of Conduct

Procedures, the College in accordance with these CSP Guidelines, or both.

The CSP Guidelines must be responsive to the growth and change of the college and its instructional programs. At the same time, the CSP must maintain stable structure and organizational clarity. To that end, revisions will occur as follows:

All revisions must be approved by majority vote of all CSP members and submitted to the Senior Dean for approval. Such changes are effective immediately on approval by the Senior Dean.

Any CSP member or a non-Committee member (faculty, administration) may propose revisions by submitting them in writing to the Senior Director of Student Affair.

All proposed changes will be reviewed by the CSP in quorum. Changes become effective upon final approval by the Senior Dean. In the event that a quorum is not present, an approved change will be labeled as "tentative" and must be reaffirmed by the full CSP in order to have permanent status.

The Senior Dean will notify all faculty, staff and students of the Heritage College and appropriate university offices of approved changes.

The Senior Dean is empowered to affect any revisions to these guidelines mandated by changes to College policies, university actions, or statutory requirements. Such changes shall take effect immediately and remain in effect until the forgoing revision process can be implemented.