Student Performance Review Committee

Authorizing Body:

Student Performance Review Committee

Date Issued:

August 1, 2011

Last Update:

February 16, 2026

Rationale:

It is the Student Performance Review Committee’s (SPRC) responsibility to protect the health of the public and ensure competent physicians once they graduate.

The committee will ensure that all enrolled students are competent, professional, and are performing at a level that is consistent with the School of Medicine’s mission, vision, and goals.

Scope and Applicability:

All students enrolled in the School of Medicine.

Standard Practice Guideline:

The Student Performance Review Committee (SPRC) operates in accordance with established institutional policies and ensures that its recommendations and decisions are made based on objective and documented criteria.  The committee consists of a minimum of fourteen (14) faculty members from Foundational Medical Studies and clinical departments, appointed by the Dean.

The Committee shall:

1. Review and make recommendations on policies regarding student progress, dismissal, or graduation.
2. Make specific recommendations concerning the graduation of students who have met all academic, professional, and clinical requirements.
3. Make specific decisions regarding the advancement of students to the next academic or clinical stage, adhering to established institutional criteria.
4. Report dismissals and reinstatements of students to the Dean with a clear rationale for each action.

The SPRC shall work closely with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Enrollment Management, the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education, and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Clinical Education, who all serve as ex-officio members. The Director of Student Professionalism provides input on significant professionalism deficiencies as a guest of the committee.

As standing guests representing the school administration, the associate deans hold responsibility for informing necessary parties within the School of Medicine of committee decisions and overseeing their implementation.

The SPRC Secretary oversees the committee’s administrative processes. The Secretary serves as a non-voting ex-officio member of the SPRC.

Guests of the SPRC:

• The Committee Chair may invite other guests with information pertinent to committee decisions.
• Invited students are not permitted to bring guests to SPRC meetings.

Procedures:

I.        Schedule:

The committee meets monthly on a predefined schedule and as needed. Meetings may be conducted either virtually or in person.  The schedule may be modified as necessary to address extraordinary circumstances, accommodate examination schedules, or address time-sensitive matters.

II.       Quorum and Voting:

The SPRC follows Robert’s Rules of Order.  For either in-person or virtual SPRC meetings, a quorum is 50% of the voting membership plus one additional voting member.

Voting members are expected to attend all scheduled in-person and virtual meetings. It is requested that the Committee Secretary be informed of planned member absences. In the absence of a scheduled committee meeting, the Committee Chair may request email voting on routine or time-sensitive matters other than student dismissals.  All SPRC decisions shall require a majority vote. The Committee Chair only votes to resolve a tied vote from membership.

III.      Conflict of Interest:

A potential conflict of interest arises when a member of the SPRC has a personal, health care provider, or employment relationship with a medical student, is a member of a student’s immediate family, or is an instructor/course director responsible for assigning a grade or professionalism notice which contributed to the action being considered by the SPRC. To manage this conflict of interest, it is incumbent upon the committee member to take the following steps:

• Notify the chair of the committee of the potential conflict of interest.
• Abstain from the student's presentation of facts and findings.
• Abstain from voting.

IV.      Review of Students:

• The SPRC is responsible for the promotion of each student cohort to progress to the next academic year based on the recommendations of the Associate Deans for Preclinical and Undergraduate Clinical Education. The SPRC is also responsible for certifying the graduating class each year.

• Students may also be reviewed on an ad hoc basis in the event of poor academic performance, failure to progress/advance in accordance with policy through the medical program, lapses in professional behavior, or if a student is unable to meet the technical standards. There may be additional student reviews outside of those indicated for matters specific to an individual.

• To ensure due process, if a student will be discussed and considered for action by the SPRC, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development or their designee will notify the student they are on the meeting agenda and provide the reason(s) leading to them being placed on the agenda. The Associate Dean will also review with the student the potential outcomes and the process for appealing an SPRC decision should the committee take an action when the student is discussed.

• If a committee action would cause a delay of academic progression, the student will be given an opportunity to provide a written statement and any supporting documentation to be included in the agenda packet for the committee’s review prior to the committee deliberations.

• Students must submit any written documents to the SPRC secretary no later than five (5) business days before the set committee meeting. Information submitted to the SPRC Secretary less than five (5) business days or after the adjourned SPRC meeting when the student was discussed may or may not be accepted or reviewed for voting. Information selected and presented to the SPRC by the student will be used during the deliberations.

V.       Following Student Notification: Review Process for Adverse Academic or Professionalism Action:

1. Timely Notice of Impending Action and Disclosure of Evidence

• All SPRC reviews occur after a student has been notified by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development or their designee, prior to SPRC involvement.  Students will be provided the facts regarding the nature and consequences of possible actions.

• Documents discussed and shared with the student will then be placed in an agenda packet for review by committee members without the student being present. For potential actions that may result in an interruption to the student’s program of study, the student may provide their side of the case in a written statement and supporting documentation to be included in the agenda packet.

• If a student earns three (3) or more Corrective Professionalism Feedback Forms for low- to mid-level professionalism lapses or one (1) egregious professionalism lapse, the student will be automatically invited to meet with SPRC at the next scheduled meeting. If the matter up for consideration poses an immediate safety concern to faculty, staff, students, or patients, the SPRC may act without the student present.

• All discussions will follow Robert’s Rules of Order, and all appropriate actions will be based on the outcome of a majority vote by the voting members in attendance. 

2. Committee Action on Agenda Items

• Students who are recipients of SPRC actions will receive a preliminary notification of the committee’s decision from the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development or their designee within five (5) business days of the meeting. As part of the preliminary notification process, the Associate Dean will inform students of their right to have a hearing with the committee to request reconsideration of the action taken.

• The official written notification of the committee’s action will be emailed to the student within ten (10) business days. The letter will contain the findings of fact and the nature and consequences of the voted action(s).

3. Student Request to meet with the SPRC

• A student who is the recipient of an adverse action has the right to request a formal hearing with the SPRC to reconsider the decision. The student must request a formal hearing with SPRC in writing via email no later than within five (5) business days after receiving the official written notification from the SPRC. Requests for a hearing with SPRC action must be submitted to the SPRC chair at [email protected].

• Since academic probation status is automatically triggered by pre-defined criteria without the SPRC’s involvement, requests for reconsideration of academic probation status must be accompanied by a clear and convincing justification as to why the academic probation policy should not apply to the student.

• The SPRC chair and Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development will work with the student to identify an appropriate meeting date.

VI.     Committee Actions Regarding Academic/Professionalism Lapses:

The SPRC has the authority to act regarding a student. The committee’s actions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Letter of Concern: The committee may issue a letter of concern. This letter will not be referenced on the student’s academic record or in the student’s Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE).

• Remand for Remediation: The committee may require the student to participate in an academic remediation approved by the Associate Dean for Preclinical Education, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Clinical Education, or a professionalism remediation program. School of Medicine policy limits students to one opportunity to repeat a course or clerkship. If the Remand for Remediation creates a gap in the student’s academic record, it will be referenced in the MSPE.

• Repeat an Educational Experience: The committee may require a student to repeat some or all of the components in an academic year. School of Medicine policy limits students to one opportunity to repeat a course or clerkship. The repeat of an educational experience is always noted in the student’s academic record and will be referenced in the MSPE.

• Probation: Probation is a formal action from the committee to the student that gives notice to the student that they are at risk regarding the successful progression of their medical education. The letter is noted in the student’s academic record and will be referenced in the MSPE.

• Letter of Reprimand: In the event that a student has been found to have acted in a manner contrary to academic, professional, and clinical standards or behavior, the committee may issue a formal letter of reprimand. A letter of reprimand will be noted in the student’s academic record and referenced in the MSPE.

• Suspension: The committee may suspend a student from the medical education program for a period of time.  This action is taken in the event of egregious or chronic misconduct or due to a concern that the student poses a significant safety concern to the student themselves or others. A student who is the subject of a criminal investigation or a “person of interest” in a criminal investigation may also be placed on suspension until the matter is resolved. This will be noted in the student’s academic record and referenced in the MSPE.

• Dismissal: The committee may dismiss students who do not meet satisfactory academic progress (with or without the time limitation), have demonstrated egregious conduct, have repeated patterns of a lack of professionalism, or have failed to meet the School of Medicine’s Technical Standards for the MD degree. Dismissals will be noted in the student’s academic record.

Summary of SPRC Actions

VII.     Procedures for requesting reconsideration of an SPRC Decision to the SPRC:

• The student is granted an opportunity to have the SPRC reconsider any adverse decision related to advancement, graduation, or dismissal. The student may request reconsideration of an SPRC action within five (5) business days after receiving the official notification of the SPRC decision. Requests for an appeal to an SPRC action must be submitted in writing, via email, to the chair of the SPRC at [email protected].

• With the exception of materials restricted by the current Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and related regulations,  the student is allowed to inspect all of the material in their academic record; specifically their grades, test scores, and narrative evaluations that were collected as part of a course; registration, attendance, and disciplinary actions that were handled internally by the School of Medicine including portion(s) of the minutes of the SPRC meeting pertaining only to them.

• The student will be notified of the time and place of the SPRC meeting. Students will be notified at least five (5) business days in advance of their requested meeting.

• The student will work with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development or their designee to prepare for the meeting. If the student has questions or needs documents to assist their preparations, the Associate Dean will communicate with the committee on the student’s behalf. Information that was not originally selected by the student to be shared with the SPRC when the initial voting for action occurred (See Section VI., b.) may or may not be taken into consideration during any of the student’s reconsideration process.

• Under no circumstances should a student who is scheduled to meet with the SPRC contact past or current voting members of the SPRC.

• Apart from the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development, under no circumstances should an SPRC member contact a student regarding the matter unless directed by the Committee Chair.

• After the student presents their case, the student must leave the room during SPRC deliberations.

VIII:    Procedures for Appealing an SPRC Decision to the OUWB Dean:

A student may appeal the SPRC’s decision to the Dean.

The procedures to request a review of an SPRC decision by the OUWB Dean are as follows:

1. The request must be made via email to the Dean of the School of Medicine within ten (10) business days of the official notification of the most recent SPRC decision.

2. The request for a review of a decision must identify in detail a deviation from policy or procedure, with an explanation of how this variation adversely affected the decision.

3. The request must include the outcome sought.

4. The Dean may or may not choose to accept the request for review.

5. The Dean may or may not meet with the student before making a decision.

6. If the Dean determines that sufficient information exists to warrant a review of policy and procedure, they will form an ad hoc committee made up of faculty members; ad hoc committee members may not be current SPRC members.

   • The ad hoc committee will review all documents, policies, procedures, and other relevant materials associated with the SPRC decision.

   • The ad hoc committee may or may not meet with the student, the SPRC chair, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Career Development, or other relevant parties as part of the review process.

   • The ad hoc committee will make a recommendation to the Dean based on their review.

7.  Every effort will be made to respond to an appeal request within thirty (30) business days.

8.  The Dean’s decision is final.

9.  The Dean will communicate their decision to the SPRC along with an explanation of the findings leading to the decision.

IX.      Committee Action on Approval for Leave of Absence:

A student requesting a leave of absence (LOA) from the curriculum for greater than six (6) weeks must petition the SPRC. Please see the School of Medicine’s Leave of Absence guidelines for complete details.

Definitions:

• Business Days are Oakland University workdays.
• Guests are individuals invited to attend SPRC meetings by the committee chair.
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE): Also known as the Dean's Letter.
• Remediation: (academic) taking the failed course in its entirety during the summer; (professionalism) completing a required professionalism mentorship program.
• Repeat: repeating the entire academic year; coming back the next fall to try again with the new matriculating class.

Related Policies and Forms: