Student Promotions Policy
The mechanism accepted by the Ponce Health Sciences University for the promotion, suspension or dismissal of a student is described below. For practical purposes, the process will be divided according to the level of decision: Academic Department, Promotions Committee, corresponding Dean, Vice President for Academic Affairs and President.
Departmental Level
Every department will establish a mechanism of student evaluation following the institutional policies. It is the responsibility of the Director to assess the academic, behavioral (attitudinal) and ethical performance of students. All information, evaluations and observations about students must be documented.
Department directors must take immediate action upon a marginal or failing performance by notifying the student. The student should be allowed to provide an explanation as to the reasons for poor performance. Students in need of special help must be referred immediately to the Office of Students Affairs, who will try to identify the prevailing problem, provide help, or refer the student to whomever is needed for help.
Efforts will be made by each program or department to report regular examination grades within four (4) working days after the examinations. This is extremely important for the Promotion Committee to do its work on time.
Promotions Committee Level
A standing committee will evaluate student performance as they progress through each academic year and is empowered to act in case of poor academic progress or unacceptable behavior or attitudes.
The committee will analyze the information received from the programs or departments and at its discretion will obtain the students’ version of the situation.
After each evaluation, the members of the Committee will determine the action they understand is the most suitable for each specific case. To do so they will follow the “Guidelines for Student Promotion” and the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy of each academic program.
Program Level
The chair of the Promotions Committee will refer its decision to the corresponding dean or delegate as stated by the schools and programs. The corresponding dean or delegate will notify the student about the action of the committee and remind the student about the right to appeal.
Students notified that they are to repeat the whole year or to be dismissed, have the right to appeal the case the corresponding Dean within five (5) working days after receiving the notification.
The appeal or Due Process for Dismissal presented below must be followed.
Due Process
The Corresponding Dean will evaluate the appeal and the student’s academic record. Rejection of the appeal by the Dean is final. If the case does not merit dismissal, the Corresponding Dean can overturn the decision. If the Dean has reasonable doubts about the student’s capacity or academic record, he/she can appoint three members of the Ad Hoc committee to re-evaluate all evidence.
The Ad Hoc committee will notify the student in writing of the date and time when the case will be heard. Following the student presentation, the committee has forty-eight (48) hours to submit to the Dean their report.
The Dean will consider the Ad Hoc committee recommendations and make the final decision within forty-eight (48) hours.
All decisions, favorable or unfavorable, will be reported to the student in writing. All decisions by the Dean are final.
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