93 NMT Clinical Penalties for Violation of Clinical Policies

VIOLOATION of CLINICAL POLICIES

Penalties for Failing to Report a Clinical Absence (No Call / No Show) OR Un-Excused Absence

Students are required to report all types of absences (personal days, funeral days, jury duty, etc.) to the clinical site AND the RISP clinical instructor.  Failure to follow the policy for reporting a personal day will be considered a No Call / No Show.

A student who is not in clinic or leaves clinic without permission from the clinical stie will be considered to have and Un-Excused Absence (left clinic without permission).

No-Call / No-Show and Un-Excused Absences will result in the following penalties:

*No Call / No Show and Unexcused Absences are cumulative penalites throughout the entire program

(i.e.; if students charged with a No Call / No Show, and then charged with an Unexcused Absence, it will result in a 2nd offense)

*If the student is already on probation, a first offense of a “no-call/no-show” will result in a recommendation for dismissal.

The following would be considered “No-Call / No-Show” incidents.  This list is not meant to be exclusive:

• Not reporting an absence
• Calling in ‘sick’ more than 60 minutes after your start time
• More than 60 minutes tardy
• Unverified missed punch (missed both in and out)

The following would be considered “Un-Excused Absence” incidents.  This list is not meant to be exclusive:

• Leaving clinic without permission
• No written explanation for leaving clinic early (NO NOTE in E*Value)
• Absent from clinic during your scheduled time without notification to clinical site
• Taking more than one hour for lunch break
• Leaving the assigned clinical area after clocking in and not letting the clinical supervisor know where you are
• Leaving clinic before 3 pm (w/o permission) and/or when there are still exams to be completed
• Unverified missed punch (either clock in or out)

Penalties for an Excessive Tardiness

A student who clocks in late (is tardy) or fails to clock in (misses) more than the allotted number of tardies/misses (>3 times) in a clinical course will be considered to have Excessive Tardiness and will be penalized the following:

*Penalties are cumulative throughout the semester

*If the student is already on probation, excessive tardiness/failure to clock in resulting in any grade reduction will lead to a recommendation for program dismissal

The following would be considered “Excessive Tardiness” incidents.  This list is not meant to be exclusive:

• Clocking in late (tardy) more than 3 times in a semester
• No written explanation for late (tardy) clock in (NO NOTE in E*Value)
• Excessive use of written explanation for late (tardy) clock in
• Unverified missed punch (either clock in or out)

Penalties for a Pattern of Excessive Tardiness

If a pattern of tardiness is occurring, additional penalties will be assessed. “Excessive tardiness” has occurred when a student has received a grade reduction due to tardies in more than one clinical course.  For example:  if a student is late 5 times in R443 and 5 times in R444, written warnings have been issued for both courses and a pattern of excessive tardiness has occurred.  A third occurrence (3rd semester) of this pattern will result in dismissal from the program.

The course grade deduction for a pattern of excessive tardiness will be as follows:

1st clinical course: written warning and/or reduction of clinical grade (as stated above in the Penalties for Excessive Tardiness).

2nd clinical course: reduction of clinical grade and clinical probation

3rd clinical course: recommended dismissal from the program

Penalties for Excessive Absence  

A student who misses more than the allotted number of personal days in a clinical course (>4 days) will receive an automatic grade reduction based on the number of days missed.  There is no appeal mechanism for grade reductions (however extenuating circumstance may allow for make-up instead of grade reductions (see below Failure of Clinical Course).

Number of absences and grade reductions for excessiveness are as follows:

*If the student is already on probation, excessive absences resulting in any grade reduction will lead to a recommendation for program dismissal.

Penalties for a Pattern of Excessive Absence

If a pattern of excessive absences is occurring, additional penalties will be assessed. “Excessive Absences” has occurred when a student has received a grade reduction due to absences in more than one clinical course.  For example:  if a student misses 4.5 days in R443 and 4.5 days in R444, a grade reduction occurs for both courses and a pattern of excessive absences has occurred.  A third occurrence (3rd semester) of this pattern will result in dismissal from the program.

 The course grade deduction for a pattern of excessive absences will be as follows:

• 1st clinical course: reduction of clinical grade as stated above in Penalties for Excessive Absence
• 2nd clinical course: reduction of clinical grade and clinical probation
• 3rd clinical course: recommended dismissal from the program

Grade Reductions and Course Failure Due to Excessive Absences

Grade Reductions / Request for Make-Up Days:

A student who has used more than their allotted number of p-days (>4 days) will incur a letter grade deduction in the course.  At this point the student may request the grade reduction be dismissed if there is documentation to indicate that the attendance problem was due to a compelling situation beyond the student’s control. Students must submit a written request (via email) with documentation of the compelling incident to the program director AND the RISP clinical instructor within 1 week of going over the allowed number of days with date and number of requested make-up days.   A student may use this request process only ONE time a semester (1 time per clinical course).

If the request is granted, the program director or RISP clinical instructor will contact the clinical site to arrange/get approval for requested make-up days.  The program director or RISP clinical instructor will inform the student of the approved make-up days within 48 hours of first arranged/approved make- up day.  Tthe student will have the option to make-up the missed clinical days/rotation and any uncompleted course work prior to the completion of the currently enrolled course.  If the student successfully competes the clinical make- up days then the letter grade deduction in clinic will be dismissed and the student will receive the clinical grade based on all previously and subsequent documented coursework and evaluations as if the attendance penalty in question had never been assessed.

Course Failure / Appeal to Complete Coursework and Remain in the Program

A student who has missed more than the maximum number of absences will fail the course (>8 days).  At this point, the student may appeal the course failure if there is sufficient documentation to indicate that the attendance problem was due to a compelling situation beyond the student’s control.  A student may use this appeal process only ONE time during a calendar year in the professional program.  If the appeal is successful, the student will have options depending on the time remaining in the course.  Students must submit a formal written appeal with documentation of the compelling incident to the program director AND the RISP clinical instructor within 1 week of going over the allowed number of days for the course.  (Details on how to submit an appeal can be found in this handbook.)

• Option 1 would allow the student to remain in the clinical course. The student selecting option 1 would be granted no higher than a “C” for the clinical course provided the student completes all assignments, clinical objectives and meets all minimum competencies for the course.
• Option 2 would allow the student to receive an incomplete grade in the clinical course. This would necessitate repeating a part of the clinical course at the end of the first or second year. This option may result in delaying the date of graduation.
• Option 3 would allow the student to officially withdraw from the course. The student would receive a “W” grade for the enrollment and would need to re-enroll in the course.  All efforts would be made to re-enroll the student in the next available course; however, re-enrollment is not guaranteed and is subject to availability of a clinical spot.  This option would result in delaying the date of graduation.  If the successful appeal occurs after the IUPUI W/F deadline the student would be withdrawn from the course through administrative procedures.

Improper Use of E*Value Documentation System

*If the student recognizes an error and bring it to the RISP clinical instructor’s attention within 24 hours, the error will not be counted against them.

• May result in Rejected Competency: Failure to log procedures within 24 hours of completion
• Will result in Rejected Competency: Improper/inaccurate documentation of: task, site, supervisor, procedure, etc..
• Charged with No Call / No Show or Unexcused Absence: Failure to clock in/out daily (see Violation of Clinical Policies)
• 1 Letter Grade Reduction:
  • Excessive improper/inaccurate documentation of: task, site, supervisor, or course (> 4 per semester)
• 2 Letter Grade Reduction and Clinical Probation:
  • Entering false information into E*Value
  • Clocking in/out from an unauthorized computer (or mobile device)
  • Clocking in/out for someone else or using someone else’s log in and password
• Recommend Program Dismissal
  • Excessive improper use of E*Value System
  • Repeated pattern of issues stated above in multiple clinic courses