Doctor of Physical Therapy Academic Policies
Class Attendance Policy
The faculty holds that class attendance must be both regular and punctual to provide the necessary academic experiences and develop the habits of responsibility required of a physical therapy professional. In this curriculum many learning experiences are predicated upon group and partner activities. Each student, therefore, shares responsibility for the success/failure of others. Absences will be deemed excused, planned excused, or unexcused.
If the student cannot attend class due to illness or emergency (excused), the student should notify the departmental Office Manager immediately. Anticipated multiple excused absences from class due to illness or personal situations must be discussed with the faculty advisor and course manager of classes absented so that a plan of action can be implemented for securing missed content (a written medical note for repeated absences may be warranted).
If the student anticipates or needs to plan for an excused absence, e.g., required medical appointment, a written request should be submitted to the Department Head in advance for consideration/approval by the faculty. Approval of requests for excused absences will require the inclusion of a plan from the student for making up missed content. Request for excused absences for activities other than health issues, family emergencies, etc., will be scrutinized closely by the faculty and will be judged individually and on their own merits relative to the value of content to be missed and probability of recreation of missed content.
Finally, should the student wish to submit a request for a future excused absence from either the classroom or the clinic that is other than health issues and family emergencies, it should be submitted to the Department Head at least three weeks in advance for consideration and approval by the faculty. The faculty will fully discuss all requests for excused absences and decide upon appropriateness of requests and submitted plans for (and/or provide supplementary assignments necessary for) adequate make-up of missed content. The student should not assume approval of a request for excused absence until having received notification of faculty approval. If a learning experience cannot be recreated in order to provide the missed content, approval of a requested excused absence may not be able to be granted by the faculty. A grade reduction may result from unexcused absences in any or all courses, and may include conduct and/or additional academic sanctions.
Examinations and Assignments
All scheduled examinations and course assignments are expected to be performed/submitted at the scheduled time. Those students who, for legitimate and verifiable reason(s), are unable to meet these requirements will be provided suitable opportunity to make-up missed work with no penalty. However, work not completed by the end of the term in which the missed work was assigned will result in a grade of Incomplete or In Progress. If the missed work is not completed by a negotiated date within the following term, the grade of Incomplete or In Progress will be replaced by a grade of F or U and will result in automatic suspension from the program.
Grading Policy and Academic Performance Requirements for the DPT Program
The following grades are used to specify levels of academic performance:
Percentile |
Alpha |
100 - 90 |
A |
89 - 80 |
B |
79 - 70 |
C |
69 - 60 |
D |
< 60 |
F |
For purposes of retention and promotion in the DPT Program, a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (Cum GPA) of 3.0 must be maintained within the professional curriculum. This GPA is constructed for the average of all courses earned and from which final grades were assigned. Grades less than a B in any professional course are unacceptable. Students who do not maintain this level of performance will not be allowed to progress in the curriculum and will be immediately suspended pending results of any approved course re-examination. If not successful with course re-examination, the student will be dismissed and may not be reinstated.
Transfer Residency Requirement
In the DPT program, transfer credit for DPT courses must be equivalent to courses in North Georgia’s program and must be from a regionally-accredited institution. The transfer courses must reflect the content, learning outcomes, and experiences (labs) equivalent to North Georgia courses. When in doubt, students are requested to submit course syllabi for further evaluation by the department’s faculty. Since DPT curricula have such variability, transfer credits are seldom if ever awarded.