Student Evaluation & Promotions Committee
The Student Evaluation & Promotions Committee (SEPC) meets monthly to consider student petitions for exceptions to policy and procedure, to review academic performance/professional comportment as requested by the Associate Dean for Medical Education or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, or for any other purpose as determined by the SEPC Chair.
SEPC meetings are generally on the first Thursday of every month. Petitions are due on the Monday prior to a meeting, or Tuesday, if the Monday is a holiday.
Students have the right to address the SEPC, and to be accompanied by a faculty advocate of their choice.
Students who plan to submit a petition, or who have been informed that they are on the agenda, must complete the following steps ahead of the meeting:
- You must meet with a Student Affairs Dean to review your plans and your petition, or to discuss why you are meeting with the SEPC. You may request to review materials considered by the SEPC.
- You must submit an SEPC petition.
- You must meet with the Registrar regarding any change of registration status.
- If you are taking a Leave of Absence, you are responsible for informing the Registrar prior to the start of a semester that you will be on Leave for that semester, to avoid being charged tuition and fees for that semester. For more information, please go to: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/camed/education/registrars-office/
- If you have loans or scholarships and you plan to change your registration status, you must meet with Student Financial Services, to review how any change in registration status may affect your loans and scholarships.
- You may be eligible to request consideration of tuition reimbursement: Request Tuition Reimbursement
Leave of Absence (LOA)
Student may petition for a Leave of Absence (LOA). LOAs are granted for a semester or for a year, and there is a total limit of two years permitted for LOAs, so the student will meet the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine requirement of completing their medical education in no more than six years. Note: students must petition the SEPC both to go on Leave and return from Leave.
Leaves can be taken for:
- personal or family reasons.
- research
- medical reasons:
- prior to your Leave, your health care provider must provide a letter to Dr. Angela Jackson recommending a Leave.
- to petition to return from a Leave, your health care provider must provide a fit-to-return letter to Dr. Angela Jackson affirming your ability to meet the standards and requirements of the medical curriculum, and you must be evaluated by Student Health Services as ready to return to the medical curriculum.
Students may also be required to take a Leave of Absence by the SEPC.
Repeat Year
A student who has failed too many courses in a curricular year to remediate the year by examination may petition to repeat the curricular year. A curricular year may not be repeated more than once.
Decelerated Curriculum
A student who is not in good academic standing may petition to enter the Decelerated Curriculum and spread a curricular year over a period of two years.
Modified Curriculum
A student in good academic standing may petition to enter the Modified Curriculum, to spread a curricular year over a period of two years.
Dual-Degree Programs
A student in good academic standing may petition to enter one of the School of Medicine’s Combined Degree programs: the MD-MPH, MD-MBA, or the MD-JD programs. Time spent in a combined degree program does not count as part of the 6-year limit in medical school, as along as the time in the second degree program does not exceed the standard time in that degree program.