Dismissal Appeal Process
Overview
In accordance with University of Washington Scholastic Regulations 107.9 and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standards for Accreditation 9.9, the School of Medicine has instituted a 3-step process to enable a student who is recommended for dismissal from the School of Medicine by the Student Progress Committee (SPC) to appeal the recommendation before being dismissed. Each step is described in more detail below.
Students are usually allowed to continue in the curriculum during the dismissal review process. If you are allowed to continue in the curriculum while under dismissal review, SPC will have oversight over what blocks, courses, or clerkships may be scheduled. Any restrictions imposed by SPC or Student Affairs or Curriculum Deans will continue to apply, including those related to mandatory leave of absence and/or fitness for clinical contact.
If the dismissal consideration or recommendation is based on fail grades, you will not be allowed to remediate those blocks, courses, or clerkships until the dismissal consideration is resolved by SPC or the dismissal recommendation is overturned through the academic review process.
You may withdraw from UWSOM at any point up until the Dean sustains the dismissal.
If SPC’s dismissal recommendation is overturned by DAC, FCAA, or the Dean, SPC will determine the appropriate academic program and curricular schedule. This may include:
- Requiring you to retake blocks, courses, or clerkships that you previously passed
- Requiring you to be endorsed by WPHP before continuing in the curriculum
- Placing you on Advance Information status
- Placing you on probation
- Other requirements that SPC deems necessary to enable you to make satisfactory progress toward graduation
DAC Review
If SPC recommends that you be dismissed from the School of Medicine, you can appeal the recommendation by requesting that the Dismissal Appeal Committee (DAC) review your case. DAC is a group comprised of three faculty members appointed by the Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs and delegated responsibility by the Dean of the School of Medicine for providing a fair and formal review of dismissal recommendations made by SPC. DAC members do not participate in regular SPC meetings and have adequate knowledge of UWSOM’s standards to independently assess whether a student is meeting those standards.
IMPORTANT: You must submit a written request for appeal to the Chair of DAC within 10 days of receiving notice that SPC has recommended you for dismissal. If you do not submit a request for appeal, SPC’s dismissal recommendation will automatically be forwarded to FCAA.
DAC will consider your case at a meeting that includes you, your faculty advocate, a Student Affairs Dean, and the Chair of SPC, all of whom will present information about the events leading to the dismissal recommendation. DAC does not reconsider whether the stated deficiencies are appropriate grounds for dismissal. The purpose of DAC’s review is to:
- Consider new information that was not reasonably available during the initial SPC deliberation
- Consider any evidence that discrimination or bias impacted your academic participation or evaluation
- Consider any evidence that SPC’s decision-making was arbitrary* or capricious**
A DAC member who has a relationship with you that presents a conflict of interest will recuse themselves as soon as they know the identity of the student to be discussed. You will be provided with a list of DAC members in advance and may request that a DAC member recuse themselves based on a direct relationship with that member. If the faculty disagrees with your request for recusal, the Vice dean for Academic, Rural, and Regional Affairs will make the final decision. When there is a recusal, the Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs will select an alternative faculty member to serve for that meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the three DAC members will vote to affirm or overturn the dismissal recommendation. The decision is by simple majority. The decision will be communicated to you in writing within 5 days.
*Arbitrary is defined as “an unreasonable or unpredictable use of one’s authority in accordance with one’s will or desire”.
**Capricious is defined as “implying an instability or irregularity that seems to be the product of whim or erratic impulse”.
FCAA Review
If DAC affirms the dismissal, or if you do not request an appeal within 10 days of receiving notice that SPC has recommended you for dismissal, the Faculty Council on Academic Affairs (FCAA) will review your case to ensure proper procedures have been followed in the process leading up to your dismissal recommendation.
Dean Review
If FCAA determines that UWSOM process has been followed, your case will be forwarded to the Dean of the School of Medicine for review. You may request to meet with the Dean to speak with them directly about your case before a dismissal is finalized. The Dean will review your entire medical school record, including SPC’s and FCAA’s decisions, before informing you of their final decision. The Dean’s decision is final and may not be appealed.
IMPORTANT: You must contact the Dean within 10 days of receiving FCAA’s decision to request a meeting to discuss the dismissal.