Advanced Dental Education

Academic Grievance, Probation and Dismissal Policies

Probation and Dismissal Policy

An advanced education student may be placed on academic probation for reasons of substandard performance in didactic, clinical, behavioral or professional/ethical areas.  A student whose overall grade point average falls below B (3.0) or who receives a final grade of D, F or U for any course during any one grading period will be considered for a recommendation of academic probation by the departmental Residency Oversight Committee of the appropriate program. A recommendation for probation will be made to the Advanced Education Committee’s (AEC) Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee, which is comprised of the program directors of all the advanced education programs in the dental school and the Associate Dean for Students. Only the program directors will be voting members of this subcommittee; the Associate Dean for Students will serve in an ex officio capacity as a non-voting member.  In addition, the departmental Residency Oversight Committee may recommend to the AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee that a student be placed on academic probation for clinical, behavioral or professional/ethical performance that does not meet the standards of the program.

An option to appear before the Advanced Education Committee’s (AEC) Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee will be extended to the student before a vote is taken to recommend academic probation. The purpose of the appearance is to inform the subcommittee of extenuating circumstances which may have contributed to the student's performance.  The student may request that other appropriate verbal and/or written testimony regarding these circumstances be presented at this meeting. Only members of the subcommittee will be present when the vote for probation is taken.

The AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee will formally place the student on academic probation upon majority vote by its members.

The Chair of the Advanced Education Committee will give written notification to students placed on academic probation. This notification will serve as an official warning to the student that her or his didactic, clinical, behavioral and/or professional/ethical performance is below standard and continuation in the postgraduate program is in jeopardy.  The student will have an opportunity to address the substandard performance that resulted in academic probation status during a probationary period determined by the AEC's Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee. At subsequent monthly AEC meetings, the program director of the affected residency will report to the AEC on the status of the probated student’s progress. Upon the student’s successful correction of performance deficiencies, he or she will be removed from academic probation.  A student may be placed on academic probation for professionalism as well as for academic reasons. If a student satisfies the remediation for a professional issue but still has a GPA of lower than 3.0, they will remain on probation. A recommendation to remove the student from academic probation will be made by the departmental Residency Oversight Committee to the AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee, which will remove academic probation status upon majority vote by its members.

If the substandard performance that led to academic probation is not corrected, the student will be subject to dismissal from the program.  A recommendation for dismissal will be made by the departmental Residency Oversight Committee to the AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee.

An option to appear before the AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee will be extended to the student before a vote is taken to recommend academic dismissal.  The purpose of the appearance is to inform the Committee of extenuating circumstances which may have contributed to the student's performance.  The student may request that other appropriate verbal and/or written testimony regarding these circumstances be presented at this meeting.  Only members of the subcommittee will be present when the vote for dismissal is taken.

The AEC’s Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee will consider the recommendation for dismissal and will formally dismiss the student from the program upon majority vote of the members.  A student will be subject to dismissal actions without a probationary period if during a single grading period he or she receives a final grade of D or F for 4 (four) or more credit hours of required letter-graded course work or a grade of unsatisfactory (U) for 4 (four) or more credit hours of Sat/Unsat-graded course work or a grade of unsatisfactory (U) or failure (F) in a required rotation in a program.

During academic probation and dismissal actions, the student may address the AEC Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee in writing or may request permission to appear before the subcommittee to present her or his views. The Advanced Education Committee will transmit recommendations for dismissal through the Associate Dean for Students to the dean. Students may appeal academic dismissal to the dental dean.

Appeals Process

1.    A student may appeal an Advanced Education Committee Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee's decision that recommends academic dismissal.  The student submits written notification of her/his desire to appeal to the dean’s office.  This written request must be received by the Dean’s office within 5 days following the student’s receipt of the written notification of the AEC Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee’s recommendation. 

2.    The dean will consult with appropriate individuals and render a decision to uphold or overturn the AEC Graduate Program Directors Subcommittee's decision.  The student will receive written notification of the dean’s final decision.

Academic Grievance Policies

Due Process Grade Assignment Disagreement

A student wishing to appeal the assignment of a grade must submit her/his grievance to the course director within seven days of the grade assignment. The appeal mechanism for challenging a grade is limited to: (1) possible clerical errors in calculating or recording a grade, or (2) allegation of mistakes or unfairness in application of the published academic standards in the assignment of a grade. It is the responsibility of the student to substantiate her/his assertion that an incorrect grade has been assigned.

If the student’s concerns are not resolved after a meeting with the course director, the student may submit a written appeal to the program director. The written appeal must be made within seven days of the student’s meeting with the course director and must contain information to substantiate the assertion that an incorrect grade has been assigned.

If the student’s concerns are not resolved after a meeting with the program director, the student may submit a written appeal to the appropriate department chair. The written appeal must be made within seven days of the student’s meeting with the program director and must contain information to substantiate the assertion that an incorrect grade has been assigned.

If the disagreement is not resolved at the departmental level, the student may submit a written appeal to the Dean of the School of Dentistry within seven days of the departmental decision. If the dean agrees to review the matter, he/she will review only that the appeal process was conducted appropriately. This School of Dentistry policy supersedes any other grievance policies, and decisions made in this process are final.

Student Concerns

Various mechanisms are available at all levels for student input regarding their concerns. Individuals and groups who respond to these concerns include course directors, advisors, the Associate Dean for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs, and the Associate Dean for Students. Procedures for grievances can be found in the General Section of the catalog.

Student Mistreatment

Mistreatment of students will not be tolerated. Mistreatment, intentional or unintentional, occurs when behavior shows disrespect for the dignity of others and interferes with the learning process. Student mistreatment may take many forms all of which impact student performance. For more information see the Student Mistreatment Policy in the catalog.

School of Dentistry Social Media Guidelines

The purpose of this policy is to promote the safety and privacy of students, faculty, staff, patients and visitors. Students, faculty members and staff must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) when using social media.

No student, staff or faculty may post, release or otherwise disclose photos, identifiable case descriptions, images or records related to the educational, clinical or research activities of the school via social networking sites, non-educational blogs, message boards, Internet websites, personal e-mail or anything other than standard professional means of query and/or dissemination.

No student, staff or faculty may post statements about the School of Dentistry community (employees, staff, students and visitors) that are defamatory, obscene, threatening or harassing.

Failure to comply with this policy may be a violation of legal, professional and/or ethical obligations. Violation will result in disciplinary action by the School of Dentistry up to and including reduction in professional grades, loss of clinical or pre-clinical privileges, additional HIPAA training, probation, termination of employment and/or dismissal from the School of Dentistry.

The School of Dentistry assumes no duty to monitor Internet activity but reserves the right to take appropriate action in accordance with this policy.

Netiquette

The School of Dentistry has developed Netiquette Guidelines which align with the social media policy.

  • Think twice before posting- Privacy does not exist in the world of social media. Before each posting, students are encouraged to consider how the item may reflect both on the author of the post and the School of Dentistry. Something that would not be said in person should not be posted in social media. Imagine your posting on the front page of the local newspaper.
  • Strive for accuracy- Students should be certain that anything they post on a social media site is factual. The posting should be reviewed for grammatical and spelling errors, especially when posting on behalf of the School of Dentistry.
  • Be respectful- Posted responses and comments should be respectful and considerate.
  • Photography- Students should be aware that photographs posted on social media sites can easily be accessed by visitors to those sites. Posting unauthorized photos on a website or social media network site can result in disciplinary action.
  • Rules- It is important to review the terms of service, privacy settings and other policies of the social media network before use.

UT Health San Antonio Social Media Policy

  1. Familiarize yourself with existing UT Health San Antonio’s employment policies and disclaimers. All communication professionals should follow all rules and policies.
  2. Do not engage in any communication or activity that is prohibited under federal, state or local laws. These laws include, but are not limited to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), copyright, libel and false advertising laws.
  3. Do not discuss or disclose any confidential or proprietary information of UT Health San Antonio, or any non-public information on social media.
  4. Acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly. Be professional, use good judgment and be accurate and honest in your communications; errors, omissions or unprofessional language or behavior reflect poorly on UT Health San Antonio and may result in liability. Link directly to online references and original source materials, when possible.
  5. The UT Health San Antonio Marketing, Communications & Media team reserves the right to edit, modify, remove or delete any content or other information or materials on official UT Health San Antonio social media profiles, groups or pages. UT Health San Antonio also reserves the right to delete or suspend official UT Health San Antonio accounts if violations are committed.
  6. Social media platforms are owned by third parties, which have their own policies and rules for operating accounts on the site and, often, specific rules for brands and businesses. It is important that account managers understand the rules or guidelines they agree to abide by in operating any account. Below are links to the brand pages of social media channels, to understand best practices and proper uses of their channel and brand assets.
    1. Facebook Brand Resource Center
    2. Twitter Brand Guidelines
    3. Instagram Brand Resources
    4. YouTube Brand Guidelines
    5. Google+ Style Guide
    6. LinkedIn Brand Guidelines
    7. Snapchat Brand Guidelines
  7. UT Health San Antonio reserves the right to revise this policy at any time.