Doctor of Physical Therapy Academic Retention and Remediation Plan

Principles

  1. Each individual enrolled in the DPT program at North Georgia should be provided with every reasonable opportunity to succeed in their academic endeavors while in pursuit of the education necessary to become a practicing physical therapist.
  2. The faculty of North Georgia has the obligation to provide the most appropriate education in terms of both rigor and content to assure that individuals graduating from the DPT program are prepared to meet the demands of the profession of Physical Therapy with the highest degree of competence, ethics, and social obligation.
  3. All individuals enrolled in the DPT program have been provided a record of required prerequisite courses and other indicators of academic ability that predict they should be able to prosper and learn in the manner required by department objectives.
  4. All students enrolled in North Georgia's DPT program must assume responsibility for their personal learning success.
  5. All students enrolled in the North Georgia's DPT program are required to achieve a minimum grade of 80 percent (B) in every course to remain enrolled in the program. Students not receiving a minimum grade of 80 percent (B) in any course will be suspended or dismissed from the program as appropriate.

Remediation Policy

  1. Each individual identified as receiving a grade, in any assignment (course component), below the required 80 percent standard will be required to meet with their course instructor(s) and advisor to determine an action plan to assist the student in mastery of that material.
    1. Suggested activities and strategies to be used for remediation include, but not limited to
    • Information Sessions and individualized tutoring.
    • Additional reading.
    • Appropriate activities to enrich the content such as clinic time with an instructor.
    • Counseling concerning appropriate study habits and learning resources.
    1. Only at the discretion of the course manager will students be retested on a course component in which initial evaluation yielded deficient performance. A course component is defined as any assignment or exam (or quiz) that is graded within a given course.
    2. Only at the discretion of the course manager will students be provided a cumulative course re-examination if a deficient final course grade of 80 percent or higher was not achieved at the conclusion of a course. A course re-examination is defined as a cumulative course final examination. Only three course re-examinations total will be allowed throughout the nine semester curriculum. If students do not achieve an 80 percent or higher on a course re-examination, they will be suspended or dismissed from the program. Refer to Principle #5.
    3. The reassessment, if successfully completed, will allow students to improve grades received on that component re-examination or course re-examination to grades of no higher than 80 percent.
    4. Course managers will report to the Promotion and Retention (P & R) Committee, in writing, students' names, course names, and specific course re-examinations.
  2. If consistent remediation is required for multiple courses across the curriculum, students' abilities to successfully become competent members of the profession of physical therapy must be considered. Students' advisors should refer students for P & R committee consideration of appropriateness of continued enrollment in the program.
  3. It is the responsibility of students enrolled in the DPT program at North Georgia to ensure their own academic success. With respect to this statement, the faculty expects students to contact appropriate instructors at the first sign of difficulty with mastery of academic material.

Academic Sanctions for DPT Program

Graduate physical therapy students of in the DPT program whose academic performance is or has been unsatisfactory will be subject to the following academic sanctions:

Academic Letter of Notice: Students who fail to achieve a grade of B or better in any course and who have been afforded the opportunity to take a course re-examination by the course manager will be provided a Letter of Notice from the respective course manager. The intent of the letter is to remind the student that a maximum of one course re-examination within the specified course and maximum of three course re-examination across the curriculum are allowed. The letter will also clearly state that if the student does not achieve a course re-examination grade of 80 percent or better, the student will receive the earned grade and be dismissed from the program.

  1. Academic Final Warning: Students who have taken three course re-examinations approved by course managers across the curriculum will be formally evaluated by the P&R committee and provided a Letter of Final Warning as appropriate indicating that no additional re-examinations will be allowed hence forward.
  2. Academic Dismissal: Students who fail to achieve a final grade of B or better in any course (or S in the case of S/U courses) will be dismissed from the program. Students who are unsuccessful following a Letter of Final Warning and are not able to achieve a final grade of B or better in the course will be dismissed from the program [permanent].

Grade Appeal Policy

Students in the DPT program have the right to appeal all academic sanctions. All appeals must be submitted in writing within 3 days from grade reporting: problems within individual courses may be submitted to the instructor of record and follow the chain-of-command thereafter. Problems that are programmatic in scope may be submitted to the Promotion and Retention (P&R) Committee via the Department Head. The P & R Committee will convene and hold a hearing if necessary and make a recommendation to the Department Head within five days of receipt of the grade appeal. If a student wishes to appeal beyond the departmental level, the student may submit an appeal following the grade appeal process outlined in the North Georgia Graduate Bulletin.

OSCE Examinations

In all clinical skills courses (patient care skills, interventions, orthopedics, neurotherapeutics, etc.), students will take Objective Structured Clinical Exams in the lab portions of those courses to demonstrate mastery of the specific clinical skills learned. This Graduate Program is obligated to insure each student is well prepared and safe to administer evaluative tests and treatment interventions prior to clinical experiences. Therefore, every student is expected to earn a minimum score of 80 percent on every OSCE in order to "pass" the course and be eligible to proceed in the curriculum or begin a Clinical Education experience. Those who do not earn a score of 80 percent on an OSCE, even though having strong performance in all other components of the course, may be given an arranged OSCE re-exam at the discretion of the course manager. Immediately following a deficient performance on an initial course OSCE, the course manager will provide a letter to the student stating clearly that the student was deficient with the initial attempt, that the student must meet with an advisor and course manager, and that a remediation plan of action needs to be developed. All OSCE re-exams will be videotaped. Students who are unsuccessful in ultimately achieving a minimum OSCE score of 80 percent through the re-exam process will receive a course grade of F and be dismissed from the program. The re-assessment, if successfully completed, will allow the student to improve the grade received on the initial OSCE to a grade of no higher than 80 percent.

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Doctor of Physical Therapy Academic Policies