Evaluation of Professional Graduate Student Progression to Graduation

Policy

1. Students are expected to perform at a B (83.0%) or above for all courses. A grade of B- or lower will not be acceptable and the student must repeat the same course at the earliest offering. The course(s) may be retaken one time and the student must achieve a grade of B or higher, or the student will be dismissed.
2. A maximum of two separate courses can be retaken. A student may only be enrolled twice in any required nursing course. For example, if a student withdraws from a course, this counts as one enrollment. The timeline clock/time of completion does not get adjusted/altered to allow time for completion of the necessary retaken courses.
3. To retake a course, a student must obtain the approval of the student’s advisor/supervisor, course instructor, and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs. A student reregistering for a course must notify the Office of Academic Records. Both grades will appear on the transcript but only the retaken course grade will be used in determining the grade point average (GPA).
4. A student whose overall GPA is below 3.0 will be placed on academic probation and have two semesters to meet the 3.0 GPA criteria. At the time that a B- or below is received, a student is not in good academic standing until the student remediates by retaking the course and achieving a grade of B (83.0%) or higher.
5. Scholarly activities comprise a major part of the graduate curriculum endeavors, excellence is expected of all students. Therefore, a failing grade in any portion of the scholarly activities (DNP scholarly project or clinical) may be grounds for dismissal.
6. Grading:
   1. Students must maintain a cumulative average of 83.0% in courses that use examinations with 50 or more multiple choice questions as a method of evaluation. The weighted average of all examinations will be calculated first without rounding. If the average of the examination grades is less than 83.0%, that resulting value will be the final course grade.
      If the examination average is greater than or equal to 83.0% (without rounding), then other course assignments will be included in the final student course score.
      1. The additional graded items for assignments and group work scores will be added to create the final student course score.
      2. The final student course score must be an average of 83.0% or greater to successfully complete and pass the course.
      3. Only the final course score will be subject to mathematical rounding to the nearest whole number. This whole number will be based on consideration of the numeric value of the first decimal number only (i.e.: final student course grade 87.4 = 87%; 87.5 = 88%).
7. A student’s progress will be reviewed each semester by his/her faculty advisor, and academic concerns will be submitted each semester to the Professional Graduate Nursing Affairs Committee.
8. The MSN, Post MSN DNP, and Post Graduate Certificate programs must be completed within 5 consecutive calendar years. BSN to DNP program must be completed within 7 consecutive calendar years.
9. All students must apply for candidacy one semester before filing for graduation.
10. The following criteria for candidacy have been established by the Professional Graduate Nursing Affairs Committee:
    1. Completion of one year of graduate study or its equivalent
    2. Grade Point Average of 3.0 or above
    3. Full graduate standing
    4. Completion of one course in their nursing specialty area
    5. All deficiencies removed
11. No less than 50% of the course work must be completed at the University of Nebraska campuses after being formally admitted to UNMC College of Nursing. Appropriate courses may be taken within other departments of the University of Nebraska under guidance of the specialty coordinator or advisor. Graduate certificate course work requires a minimum of 12 credits with the option of one third of the coursework in collateral departments of relevant disciplines.

Procedure

1. Student Services will run a query each semester to identify students with semester course grades below 3.0 and overall GPAs below 3.0. Faculty advisors will be notified.
2. If the above situation occurs or a grade of C is received in a course, the faculty advisor in conjunction with the specialty coordinator and specialty faculty will make recommendations to the Professional Graduate Nursing Affairs Committee on the progression of the student, with rationale, to 1) continue in the program; 2) repeat the course when next offered; or, 3) dismiss the student.
3. If the student has an overall GPA below 3.0 a plan for self or directed remediation must be included and a letter from the Associate Dean of Academic Programs will be sent to the student.