It is essential for students to understand that academic, clinical, and professional achievements are necessary for the student to progress to the next level of coursework in the OT Program.

It is the position of the faculty that academic and/or clinical achievement without professional achievement is incompatible for competent, compassionate, ethical, legal, and moral clinical practice. This is especially true because the occupational therapy profession serves vulnerable populations. Therefore, students may be recommended for dismissal from the OT Program for less than satisfactory professional achievement regardless of academic or clinical achievement.

Students must demonstrate satisfactory professional abilities and comportment throughout the curriculum. Professional abilities and comportment are assessed in the classroom, the skills laboratories, the fieldwork educational experiences, and in the greater College learning community. Students will receive feedback on their achievement from faculty and from their faculty advisors and will have ample opportunities to assess their own progress. Students having difficulty with professional achievement may be required to develop a written learning plan for improvement with their faculty advisors and in consultation with the Program Director/Department Chair.

If a student persistently demonstrates an inability to satisfy professional achievement standards to the satisfaction of the Program, the student may not be permitted to continue in the OT Program. Egregious breaches of professional comportment and/or College code (e.g., cheating) may result in a recommendation of dismissal from the Program.

The following conditions may be grounds for the Program’s faculty to recommend dismissal:

• Inability to raise overall GPA to 3.0 or higher during the probationary period; and/or
• A second failure of meeting the minimum grade of “C” in the same academic or clinical course; and/or
• Failure of meeting the minimum grade “C” in a second course, academic or clinical, at any time during the curriculum; and/or
• Placement on probation for a second time during the curriculum, and/or
• A cumulative GPA of less than 3.0 at the conclusion of Semester V that, based on the quality point-bearing credits in Semester VI, cannot mathematically be raised to a minimum of 3.0, and/or
• Egregious or unresolved professional abilities or behavioral issues.