All cell phones should be turned off during class. If a student has a need to be notified during an emergency situation during class, he/she should leave the telephone number of the Office of Student and Professional Affairs, 318-342-3800, with the person who may need to contact him/her. A member of the Office of Student and Professional Affairs will come to the class, ask the student to step outside, and give them the message. This procedure is to be used only in the case of an emergency where the student would have to be notified immediately and would have to leave class after notification. Otherwise, the caller should leave a message on the student’s cell phone for the student to retrieve between or after classes. Cell phones and other portable devices or not allowed in the classroom during examinations or quizzes. Students found to be in possession of a cell phone during an examination or quiz will be considered to have committed an act of academic dishonesty and will be charged and brought before the committee on ethical and professional conduct.

Excused Absences

Excused Absence Procedure

Excused Absences Appeals

In the event that a student disagrees with a course coordinator’s decision concerning an excused absence, they may appeal that decision using the same pathway and timelines outlined for a grade appeal (Department Head, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dean, Provost). Any appeal should include a copy of the validated excuse and a letter outlining reasons the excuse should be granted based on the College and University guidelines for excused absences.

Leave of Absence

On occasion, it may be necessary for a student to take a leave of absence from the College of Pharmacy. In such cases, the student must apply to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. If the student is enrolled in classes, they will also fall under the withdrawal from classes policy. Students may seek a leave of absence for a medical condition of the student, or an immediate family member, or for military deployment of the student. Students requesting a leave of absence should send a letter to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs requesting the leave. The letter should contain the reason necessitating the leave, the inclusive dates of the leave and appropriate documentation supporting the necessity of the leave should be attached. Students granted a leave of absence will sign a letter of agreement from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs which states the reason for the leave, the inclusive dates of the leave and any remediation or developmental programs that must be completed upon return to the program. Students granted a leave of absence will remain under the six-year time limit for completion of degree requirements unless this requirement is explicitly waived in the letter of agreement. Students wishing to appeal a decision on a leave of absence request may do so by sending a letter of appeal to the Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

The College understands that there are opportunities for groups of students to attend professional meetings and/or professional development activities, and likewise, opportunities develop that contribute to a faculty member’s professional development; however, flexibility of rescheduling courses for these opportunities is limited. Therefore, when the instructor is absent from class, College policy dictates that if at all possible, the faculty member will arrange to have another faculty member substitute for him at the regular scheduled class time. If this is not possible, make up classes may be rescheduled at another time or future class times lengthened, provided that the rescheduled class time does not interfere with any of the enrolled student’s regularly scheduled courses.

On rare occasions, a faculty member may have to cancel class for personal reasons (e.g. illness) without an opportunity to schedule a substitute. In this case, the class may be rescheduled as defined above. Cancellation of a class without rescheduling a class time is not an option. It is also policy of the College that classes that meet in close proximity to the beginning or end of an academic break are not to be cancelled to permit an earlier or extended vacation.

In the event of a University closing, natural disaster or emergency, classes that are missed will be rescheduled at another time, or class times will be lengthened in accordance with the previous policy. In the instance where a complete distance education class is cancelled due to electronic or connection problems, the class will be rescheduled in accordance with the above policies.

P4 students on rotation at one of the COP satellite campuses will be dismissed at the discretion of the Assistant Dean based on the above criteria and information from the COP Monroe campus.  Due to the medical staffing needs of the host facility, faculty deemed essential to the function may be required to work and the procedures of the host facility should be followed.

Course syllabi are to be provided to students by the faculty of record for each course at the beginning of the semester. Information on the syllabus is to contain at a minimum the course title, prerequisites, course objectives, textbook or other requirements, topical outline, and grading policy. The latter is to include an indication of the numerical average or total points needed to obtain the various letter grades for the course and the mechanism for calculating that grade. Attendance policy and other policies pertinent to that particular course, i.e., mechanisms for access to graded examinations and expectations of classroom behavior, should be included.

Initial Exam Schedule

Prior to the beginning of each semester, faculty are asked to provide exam dates to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to create a master exam schedule. It is the goal of this schedule to help arrange exams for a particular class of students (e.g., P1, P2, P3) in a manner that only one major exam in a required course is given in an academic day during the semester or during final exam week. To this end, the Associate Dean will work with individual faculty to rearrange conflicting exams when possible. It is not the purpose of this schedule to ensure a maximum number of exams in a week, nor to schedule every graded exercise.  Exam dates are usually based on the amount of material covered in a course. For this reason, students should expect to have multiple major exams over a one to three week period several times during the semester. Students are encouraged to prepare in advance for periods of assessment with the assumption that student assessments other than scheduled major exams may occur on the same day or in close proximity to major exams.

The College of Pharmacy creates its own final exam schedule. The final exam schedule is created in a manner in which the College believes will maximize student performance for the majority of students within a given class of students (e.g., P1, P2, P3). Students taking classes outside the College of Pharmacy may have conflicts with the College of Pharmacy final exam schedule, and should address that conflict with the instructor of the course outside of the College of Pharmacy. If the student cannot resolve the conflict, they should seek assistance from the Director of Student Success. It is the policy of the College of Pharmacy not to alter its final exam schedule to accommodate other exams for courses taught outside of the College.

Students should be advised that exams might be scheduled outside of normal class times and on Saturdays, including the Saturday before or following final exam week. Students should be prepared to arrange their schedules to attend exams scheduled at these times.

Rescheduling of Exams

Rescheduling of exams occurs through the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and in general, once the exam schedule is published, exam dates will not be changed unless there is a University closing, a natural disaster, or emergency. In the event that an exam is cancelled due to a university closing, natural disaster, or emergency, students should be prepared to take the exam at the next regularly scheduled class period. In some cases, the exam may be rescheduled outside of the normal scheduled class time.

All examinations and quizzes are given in accordance with the College of Pharmacy Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct. Students are expected to behave in a manner such that no doubt could possibly exist about their academic integrity and must follow guidelines imposed by the faculty member.

Students must:

Show up on time for the exam. Students showing up late for the exam will not be allowed to take the exam unless the late arrival was due to an excuse listed at Excused Absences.

Space themselves evenly in the exam room or sit in pre-assigned seats;

Leave all books, papers, coats, purses, book bags, etc., in their lockers, unless it is to be an open-book exam.

Leave the test area and the hallway outside of the classroom being used for testing immediately after finishing the exam. If you are waiting for someone still in the exam room, you must wait in the student lounge, the student locker room or the student resource center;

Wear ULM identification badges, which are also used to access the COP building;

During exams as well as during any grade-generating activities, the use of programmable calculators and electronic devices capable of storing, receiving or transmitting data are prohibited unless expressly authorized by the course instructor.  Such devices must be turned off and placed in a location that is not readily accessible to you during the activity. If calculators are allowed, they may not be shared between students. Immediately stop writing and put all pens and pencils away when time is called at the end of the exam. Failure to respond immediately will result in a grade of “0” for the exam or quiz;

Put all pens and pencils away before getting up to turn in papers;

Wear appropriate attire as defined in the dress code; and/or

Quietly move seats if requested to do so before or during the exam;

Failure to comply with the above items will result in the student being dismissed from the exam. Examinations may be given outside of regular class hours in the evening or on weekends.

Classes taken in the professional program will appear on the student’s Professional transcript. The College of Pharmacy uses a typical lettered grading system with the caveat that only grades of “C” or better are considered passing.  A student must have a grade of “C” or better in all coursework prior to entering the Advanced Practice Experience component of the program. The University of Louisiana Monroe, nor the College of Pharmacy use a plus or minus grade point scale. Grade point averages are used in determining a student’s academic standing. Based on a four-point system, averages are computed by: multiplying the number of semester hours of each course by the number value of the letter grade earned; totaling quality points earned; totaling quality hours pursued and dividing the quality point total by the number of quality hours attempted. In such computation, semester hours are also considered for all courses with grades of “F” and “I.” The University is on a 4.0 grade value where A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0, and I=0.

Procedure for Appealing a Grade

It is the policy of the College of Pharmacy that, following each examination, students are to be notified of their performance and also the class average for that exam. In general, posting of grades is done on a secure web site such as Moodle™, which allows students to access only their individual grades. If done outside this secure website, the written or electronic posting of grades cannot be done by name, social security number or any partial sequence of the social security number or by any other method in which the posting is by alphabetical order. It is the prerogative of an instructor to choose to post course grades and/or test results. If an instructor chooses not to post this information, it is the responsibility of the instructor to securely provide via alternative means the student grade and class average. Students have the right of access in some form to graded examinations and exam keys. The instructor determines the method of access.

It is suggested that faculty not report final grades to the students until all final course examinations have been completed. This procedure is recommended in order to prevent the performance on an earlier exam and notification of resulting course grade from having a detrimental effect on a final examination occurring later during the examination period.

Students are not to bring children, pets or others to class or exams due to the potential for disrupting the class or examination.  A student may bring an adult visitor to class if the course coordinator previously approves it.