The College of Pharmacy’s Student Affairs Office is invested in your education and making sure that you have all of the information and resources possible to be successful in accomplishing your academic and professional goals.
- Faculty Advising
- Academic Related Services
- Academic Assistance & Tutoring
- Academic Performance Standards
- Frequently Asked Questions
Faculty Advising
All students entering the College of Pharmacy are assigned a faculty advisor to assist in achieving academic and professional goals through a proactive student-faculty relationship. Faculty advisors can help you through a number of issues, including the transition in to a professional advance degree program, setting and achieving academic and professional goals, understanding course content, and can connect you to additional resources and support for personal/financial issues. Student are encouraged to meet with their faculty advisors at least once a semester. Students who are on an academic status (warning or probation) are required to meet with the faculty advisor each semester to review their Academic Success Action Plan.
Faculty Advisor Tips for Students
- Be proactive and schedule meetings with your faculty advisor at least once per semester
- Be prepared with questions and concerns ahead of your meeting
- Be open and honest with your faculty advisor
- Be respectful of your faculty advisor’s time
Additional Advising Resources
Academic Related Services
Please email pharmdsa@cop.ufl.edu for assistance with any of the following…
- Degree Audit Checks
- Revised Plans of Study
- Course Enrollment Issues
- Enrollment/Academic/Degree Verifications w/IPPE and APPE hours*
The enrollment verification letter will be provided once a semester by the College of Pharmacy. Additional letters can be obtained through the Registrar’s Office. All verifications from Registrar’s Office contain the student’s name, class and college, major, dates of attendance, enrollment status by term, and honors and awards received from UF. A cumulative grade point average can be provided if requested. Additionally, unofficial and official transcripts are available at https://one.uf.edu.
Students with disabilities
Please visit the UF Disability Resource Center for more information about accommodations and other arrangements that can be made to help you be successful.
Please remember to submit your new accommodation letters every semester. Letters can be requested here: https://disability.ufl.edu/students/accommodations/accommodation-letters/
Academic Assistance & Tutoring
Helping students achieve their educational and professional goals is one of the college’s top priorities. The college uses a number of approaches, strategies, and techniques to provide support to students. As a part of our commitment to students’ success we work with classes and student groups to provide tutoring and other academic interventions when necessary. It is our hope that the resources listed below will help all students be more successful in their pharmacy studies.
Supplemental Instruction
Supplemental Instruction (SI), is an academic assistance program that utilizes peer-assisted study sessions. SI sessions are regularly scheduled, informal review sessions in which students compare notes, discuss readings, develop organizational tools, and predict test items. Students learn how to integrate course content and study skills while working together. The sessions are facilitated by “SI leaders”, students who have previously done well in the course.
SI is offered for classes in which students traditionally struggle. More information and the schedule is on Canvas.
Rho Chi Tutoring
Rho Chi is a national honor society for pharmacy. Membership is based on academic achievement and high standards for character and conduct. The Rho Chi Society encourages and recognizes excellence in intellectual achievement and advocates critical inquiry in all aspects of pharmacy. In support of their scholarly mission, Rho Chi members provide free tutoring and mentoring to their peers in addition to hosting scholastic events on all 3 campuses. To request tutoring services from your campus’ local Rho Chi chapter, please use the links below.
- Gainesville
- Jacksonville
- Orlando
Click Here for the Rho Chi Tutoring Request Form
Additional Tutoring Resources
You can also contact Ms. Anedria Williams, Academic Performance Specialist at anedriawilliams@cop.ufl.edu for additional academic support and assistance.
Academic Performance Standards
Guiding Principles
These academic standards are based on two primary principles: 1) early identification of students encountering academic challenge is in the best interest of the student and the faculty and 2) when students do not meet a minimum academic standard (C‐), the sooner they can remediate the content, the better.
General Academic Policies
- A cumulative GPA of 2.0 in required courses is necessary to begin Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience.
- A student who has been dismissed or has withdrawn from the College of Pharmacy and subsequently readmitted will be subject to the current curriculum and regulations on academic warning, probation, suspension, and dismissal.
- A student who is on academic probation is not permitted to withdraw or drop pharmacy classes unless approved to do so by the Academic and Professional Standards Committee.
- A student must repeat all required pharmacy courses, exclusive of elective courses, in which an E grade was received. Students must earn a satisfactory grade (i.e. C‐ or better) for all repeated course work prior to consideration for graduation.
- A student will not be allowed to graduate until the conditions of academic or conduct probation have been satisfied.
- A student who has completed the professional curriculum but who does not attain a minimum 2.00 cumulative grade point average in required pharmacy courses as well as a minimum 2.0 grade point average for all courses while enrolled in the College of Pharmacy shall not be considered for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
Academic Accolades
Pharmacy students who achieve a 3.5 GPA in required pharmacy courses during a semester will be listed on the Dean’s Honor Roll. Students must take at least 12 semester credits of required courses (excluding electives) to qualify for the academic honor. Students receiving an I, N or U grade during the semester will not be considered for the Dean’s Honor Roll. Students in the third professional year in the spring semester are eligible for the Dean’s Honor Roll with a minimum of 12 credit hours inclusive of two credits of pharmacy elective coursework.
Academic Honors Graduation with Cum Laude
- Completion of all pharmacy coursework in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.
- A grade point average of 3.50 or higher in required pharmacy courses.
Graduation with Magna Cum Laude
- Completion of all pharmacy coursework in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.
- A grade point average of 3.60 – 3.79 in required pharmacy courses.
- Completion of a project, submission of a report, and presentation via adherence to College of Pharmacy guidelines.
- Approval by the student’s supervisor, the supervisor’s department chair, and the Graduate Studies Council.
Graduation with Summa Cum Laude
- Completion of all pharmacy coursework in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.
- A grade point average of 3.80 or higher in required pharmacy courses.
- Completion of a project, submission of a report, and presentation via adherence to College of Pharmacy guidelines.
- Approval by the student’s supervisor, supervisor’s department chair, and Graduate Studies Council.
Academic Standings
Good Academic Standing:
Good Academic Standing is defined as current term and cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in required courses and successful completion of milestones at predetermined points in the curriculum.
Academic Warning:
Warning occurs after any of the following:
- Earning a semester GPA below 2.0 in required courses
- Earning less than a C in an individual required course
A student on academic warning is required to submit a self‐directed academic action plan to their faculty advisor for how they will improve their academic performance in the following semester. The student is also required to meet with their faculty advisor and discuss their plan for improved academic performance.
Academic Probation
Probation occurs after any of the following:
- Earning a grade of E
- 2 or more grades of D+, D, or D‐ in required courses
- Cumulative GPA below 2.0 in required courses
A student on academic probation cannot represent the college by holding office in a student organization nor through college‐associated travel. A student on academic probation is required to submit a self‐directed academic action plan to their faculty advisor and meet with them to discuss and revise the plan. The student should then submit the self‐directed academic action plan to the Office of Student Affairs and meet with them to discuss their plan for improved academic performance.
Students on probation due to earning a grade of E will be cleared from academic probation after repeating the course, earning a grade of C‐ or better in the repeated course, and completing two subsequent full‐time semesters with no additional grades of D+, D, D‐, or E. Students on probation due to earning 2 or more grades of D+, D, or D‐ may be cleared from academic probation after two subsequent full‐time semesters with no additional grades of D+, D, D‐, or E. Failure to be cleared from academic probation will result in dismissal from the college. Students on probation due to a cumulative GPA below 2.0 may be cleared from academic probation when their cumulative GPA is increased to at least 2.0. Failure to increase the cumulative GPA to at least 2.0 after two subsequent full‐time semesters will result in dismissal from the college.
Academic Dismissal
Dismissal from the College occurs after any of the following:
- Failure to clear academic probation after two full semesters
- Earning 2 grades of E in the same course
- Receiving a third grade of E in any combination of courses in the PharmD curriculum
- Failure to successfully pass a course after taking it for a second time in its entirety or during remediation.
- 7 years after beginning the program (if all degree requirements have still not been met).
Students who are dismissed from the College for any of these reasons may request readmission by submitting a petition to the Academic and Professional Standards Committee.
Remediation
Focused Reassessment
If a student achieves a D+, D, or D‐ in a required course and this grade is due to a failing grade on a single assessment within the course, the faculty member will offer an assessment retake in the weeks immediately following the term, unless it is not relevant to the pedagogy and/or assessments used in the course. The student will complete a self‐directed study and take the assessment. The student will need to achieve > 70% on the reassessment and the final grade for the course would be recorded as a C‐. If the student does not achieve > 70% on the reassessment, their original grade will be the final recorded course grade and this will lead to required course remediation.
Course Remediation
If a student achieves a D+, D, or D‐ in a course and this grade is based on more than one failed assessment, the student will be given a second opportunity to successfully pass the course with a C- or better. The student may choose to either retake the course in its entirety at the next class offering or remediate during the summer. No more than two courses may be remediated in a summer term. The process for course remediation is dependent on the original course, type of pedagogy used, etc. The number of assessments should be similar to the number in the original course and will be based on pre‐ defined student learning outcomes. Students would register for the course to be remediated in the summer. Remediation would proceed according to the plan outlined in the syllabus.
Student learning in course remediation is self‐directed; the student should initiate contact with the faculty member regarding course remediation. The maximum length of course remediation is 6 weeks or no longer than the original duration of the course, if less than 6 weeks. If a student does not achieve > 70% average on assessments in course remediation, it will result in dismissal from the College.
In most courses, the self‐directed remediation process will involve the student independently re‐studying the course materials and taking the assessments at date established by the instructor. Some courses (e.g. Personal and Professional Development, Professional Practice Skills Lab) will have remediation dependent on the learning needs and assessment methods.
Course Failure
If a student receives an E in a course, he/she will be required to retake the course at the next full term offering. This will lead to a modified plan of study for the student. In rare instances, a student who fails a course but has excelled in other coursework may be allowed to remediate the failed course in the summer at the discretion of the Academic and Professional Standards Committee. As a general rule, a student will only be allowed to repeat one year of the four year curriculum due to poor academic performance. An exception to the rule may be made if 80% of the voting members of the APSC approve.
Petitions
A student may petition the Academic and Professional Standards Committee for an exemption from the academic standard applied. Each student is responsible for submitting his/her own petition. The Academic and Professional Standards Committee of the College of Pharmacy will act on all petitions concerning internal matters within the College of Pharmacy. The University Senate Committee on Student Petitions acts on all other matters. Students may seek guidance from the Office for Student Affairs in all matters concerning petitions. The Dean may review appeals on the decisions of the Academic and Professional Standards Committee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Academic Performance Standard apply to all courses?
The Academic Performance Standard applies only to required courses. The GPA that is considered is based on required courses only; elective courses are excluded from the GPA calculation. Similarly, elective courses will not be remediated if a student earns a grade lower than C‐.
Specifically, what are the “milestones” that are required for good academic standing?
Examples of milestones are OSCEs, PCOA, etc. A complete list may be found at http://pharmacy.ufl.edu/education/student‐affairs/doctor‐of‐pharmacy‐curriculum‐2015/
If students don’t have to remediate a C‐, then why does a C‐ trigger a student to be placed on Academic Warning?
A C‐ triggers Academic Warning to caution the student that they are nearing a threshold for minimum competency. The purpose is to force the student to reflect on their academic action plan and identify potential changes they could make to improve their academic performance.
What is a “self‐directed academic action plan”?
A self‐directed action plan is a reflection by the student on what factors, actions, and behaviors led to their poor academic performance and what strategies does the student plan to implement to improve their academic performance. The action plan will serve as a basis for discussion with the faculty advisor and/or the Office of Student Affairs where they will receive feedback on their plan and additional suggestions for academic success. A guide for a self‐ directed action plan will be developed for students.
How will the student know they need to meet with their faculty advisor or the Office of Student Affairs?
The student will receive a letter from the Office of Student Affairs noting their academic standing with instructions on the self‐directed academic action plan and a date by which they need to meet with their faculty advisor or Office of Student Affairs, depending on the level of academic standing.
If a student receives a D+, D, or D‐ in a course and this grade is due to a failing grade (< 69.5%) on a single assessment, and the student completes a focused reassessment, how is the new grade calculated?
If the student completes the focused reassessment and this elevates their course grade to a 70% or better, the final grade recorded for this course will be a C‐.
If a student receives a D+, D, or D‐ in a course and this grade is due to a failing grade (< 69.5%) on a single assessment, will they retake the same, original assessment they performed poorly on?
Faculty are encouraged to develop a new assessment based on the same student learning outcomes tested on in the original assessment.
If a student receives a D+, D, or D‐ in a course and completes course remediation, is the original D grade replaced with what the student earned in remediation?
When a student completes remediation of a course in which they earned a D, the original grade will not be changed. The grade they earned in remediation will be recorded as a Pass (> 70%) or Fail grade.