College of Veterinary Medicine

Academic Policies

Each professional veterinary student's official academic record is used to establish academic status for the purpose of evaluation of progression to graduation. Students not meeting requirements for progression and/or graduation will be informed of their status by the Dean or the Dean’s designate.

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Program Timeline

Students will normally complete the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree within four calendar years. The maximum time allowable is six calendar years from the date of first enrollment. Failure to complete the program in the allotted time will result in dismissal from the program. Exceptions may be considered by the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee for circumstances unrelated to academic performance.

Grades

Grades assigned in the evaluation of professional veterinary student performance follow the guidelines of the Kansas State University Handbook (section F80) and are described as follows:
A signifies excellent performance
B signifies good performance
C signifies fair performance
D signifies poor performance
F signifies failure to perform at a passing level
I signifies required work has not been completed
CR signifies satisfactory performance in non-graded courses
NC signifies non-satisfactory performance in non-graded courses

The responsibility to assign grades is left solely to the faculty member (course coordinator) in charge of each course.

Extra Credit Activities
Extra credit activities for CVM course work must be relevant to course content and equally available to all students. Opportunities for extra credit are not compulsory and are provided at the discretion of the course coordinator.

Incomplete Grade

The grade of Incomplete (I) may be given by a faculty member upon request of the student for personal emergencies verified by the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success. The faculty member has the responsibility to provide a written plan of work required to remove the grade of “I”, including pertinent deadlines for submission of work. The student must sign the written plan of work. A copy of the agreed upon plan of work must be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success.

Students in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year of the curriculum must complete required work within the subsequent semester (including summer semester) after receiving the grade of “I”. Students receiving a grade of “I” in the semester prior to 4th year must resolve the “I” prior to beginning clinical rotations. If the student does not make up the incomplete during the subsequent semester after receiving it, a grade of “F” will be recorded in accordance with the University Handbook (section F83).

Fourth year students who receive a grade of “I” in a clinical rotation must complete the required work within one calendar year and prior to receiving their diploma. If the student does not make up the incomplete within one calendar year after receiving it, a grade of “F” will be recorded.

In the case of illness or unforeseen circumstances, the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success may extend the deadline for resolving a grade of “I”.

Requirement for Progression

To be eligible for progression to each succeeding year, each student must have:

  • a cumulative GPA of at least 0
  • resolved any grades of “NC”, “D”, or “I” through completion of course work, remediation activities, or repeating the course or rotation
  • if on academic probation, demonstrate continued compliance with academic probation requirements

Requirement for Graduation

To be eligible for graduation with the degree, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, each professional veterinary student must earn at least a "C" or "CR" grade in all professional courses.

Remediation

Students who receive a single “NC” or “D” grade in a semester may have the opportunity to remediate deficits in knowledge. A successfully remediated “NC” or “D” grade can only be converted to a “CR” or “C”.

Upon notification of a student earning a “NC” or “D” grade in a course, the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success will determine a student’s eligibility for remediation and notify the course coordinator. The course coordinator will make the decision to offer the student the opportunity to remediate knowledge deficits, or to repeat the course. Individual remediation plans should be designed for each student to address their specific knowledge, skill and/or behavior deficiencies. Remediation activities could include a content specific or comprehensive exam, reports, problem sets, or projects. Remediation activities should not be attempted during a time when the student is enrolled in another course, except in special circumstances approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success and with the consent of the concurrent course coordinator.

Remediation is not available for students receiving a “NC” or “D” in a clinical rotation. In these instances, students must successfully repeat the entire rotation.

A student must finalize a remediation plan with the course coordinator and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success within 20 business days of the “NC” or “D” grade being recorded. Finalizing a remediation plan may involve scheduling an examination date, finalizing learning activities, and determining when performance products will be due.

Remediation activities must be successfully completed prior to progression into the subsequent curricular year. Due to the short timeframe of the winter intersession, remediation of a “NC” or “D” grade received in fall semester may occur during the subsequent summer semester at the discretion of the course coordinator. In these instances, students would progress into spring semester curriculum under academic probation.

Students remediating a “NC” or “D” grade earned in the 1st, 2nd year curriculum must successfully complete remediation activities by July 15th for the student to progress into the subsequent curricular year. Students remediating a “NC” or “D” grade earned in the 3rd year curriculum cannot begin clinical rotations until remediation activities have been successfully completed.

Academic Probation

A student who receives a single “NC” or “D” grade in a semester or is found in violation of the Honor Code may be placed on academic probation. Academic probation will be permanently noted in the student’s academic record and reflected on the student’s official university transcript. Students placed on academic probation for non-academic reasons must meet with the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success to create a professional remediation plan.

While on probation, a student:

  • must meet monthly with the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success and complete required documentation
  • must successfully complete academic or professional remediation plan
  • cannot receive a grade of “F”
  • cannot serve as an officer in a student organization nor serve as a student representative for a corporation

A student will remain on academic probation for at least one academic semester and no longer than their length of time in the professional program. To be removed from probation a student must:

  • successfully complete remediation as outlined in the student academic or professional remediation plan, or successfully retake the course(s) and obtain a “C” or higher grade or “CR”.
  • provide documentation of monthly meetings with an academic advisor or the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success

A student may not receive their diploma unless all requirements for removal from probation have been fulfilled. Students placed on academic probation within six months of the date of graduation may be delayed in receiving their diploma.

Academic Dismissal

Immediate dismissal from the DVM program will occur if the student:

  1. Preclinical Curriculum (1st, 2nd, and 3rd year)
    1. Earns a grade of “F” in any course in the preclinical curriculum
    2. Earns a combination of more than one “NC” or “D” grades in any single semester in the preclinical curriculum
    3. Earns a combination of more than two “NC” or “D” grades within the preclinical curriculum
    4. Earns a second “NC” or “D” grade in the same course in the preclinical curriculum
  2. Clinical Curriculum (4th year)
    1. Earns a grade of “F” in any rotation in the clinical curriculum
    2. Earns a combination of more than two “NC” or “D” grades within the clinical curriculum
    3. Earns a second “NC” or “D” grade in the same rotation in the clinical curriculum
  1. Fails to enroll in coursework without an approved leave of absence
  1. Fails to attend all classes on the first day of any semester without an excused absence
  1. Fails to complete the degree requirements within six calendar years.

Disciplinary actions up to and including dismissal from the DVM program may occur if the student:

  1. Neglects their academic or professional responsibilities at any time. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to, required attendance in lectures, laboratories, discussion periods, patient care, rounds, and other activities where participation is deemed by the faculty as an essential part of the professional student’s educational
  2. Displays unprofessional behaviors including, but not limited to, telephone or sexual harassment, disruption of class or regularly scheduled activities on the CVM campus by disorderly conduct, posting of inappropriate materials to the internet, threatening behavior, or alcohol or substance abuse resulting in disruption of the academic environment. The Dean will charge the Student Board of Ethical Behavior to adjudicate cases of professional and academic misconduct as defined by the guidelines under the constitution of the Student Board of Ethical

Readmission

A student dismissed from the professional degree program may petition the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee for readmission. Students are not eligible for readmission if they will be unable to complete degree requirements within 6 years of matriculation.

Petition initiation
Students seeking readmission must contact the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success to begin the petition process. The petition must include:

  1. date and term in which student wishes to resume enrollment
  2. reflective description of situation which lead to unsatisfactory academic or professional performance and actions taken to address factors contributing to unsatisfactory performance
  3. description of plan for success should the student be readmitted
  4. The petition should be addressed to the Chair of the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee. Submission of the petition is made to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success no later than June 1 for readmission into fall semester and November 1 for readmission into spring semester.

Petition review
The Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Student Success and the Chair of the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee will serve as a preview panel to review the petition and determine if:

  1. the petition should be forwarded directly to the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee for review/recommendation to the Dean
  2. the petition should be forwarded directly to the Dean with a recommendation that the petition not be considered further
  3. additional information is needed from the dismissed student prior to review
  4. review and input are needed from others (e.g., Student Board of Ethical Behavior, Disability Support Services, psychologic of psychiatric professionals, the Office of Affirmative Action, and others deemed appropriate)
  5. The Chair of the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee will call a meeting to consider petitions referred for a committee review. The petitioning student may be called to participate in the review meeting to present their petition and answer questions posed by the committee. Participation by the petitioning student may be in person or via phone or video conference. Committee members will consider the merits of the petition and any supporting documentation provided by others deemed necessary by the preview panel. A recommendation in support of readmission, conditional support for readmission, or permanent dismissal from the program will be forwarded to the Dean for consideration.

Petition decision
Based on recommendations received from either the Committee or the preview panel, the Dean may or may not readmit a student who has petitioned for readmission. Any student readmitted must retake all courses from the previous semester or clinical rotation in which a “NC”, “D”, or “F” was earned and satisfactorily complete any other recommendations made by the Academic Standards and Readmissions Committee that are approved by the Dean.

The Dean’s decision will be final within the University.

Approved April 12, 2019, Effective May 6, 2019. All students matriculating after May 6, 2019 will be subject to this policy. Students within the DVM program who matriculated prior to May 6, 2019 may have the option to fall under the new policy in the event of earning a “NC” or “D” grade in a course or remain under the previous academic policy effective September 16, 2005.

Revised September 27, 2019. EC Omission correction December 23, 2021. Revised September 9, 2022. Revised clarification of 6 year limit May 13, 2023.