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 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 a signed 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)
Students who have been placed on the agenda by the SEPC Chair, the Associate Dean of Medical Education, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, the Registrar, or the Director of Academic Enhancement do not need to submit a petition, but do have the right to submit a petition, using the above procedure to submit the petition.
Students may petition for additional time in the medical curriculum beyond the normal four-year curriculum. There is a limit of two years permitted beyond the four-year curriculum, 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 request the additional time, and to return from the additional time.
Additional time can be taken for:
- Leave of Absence for personal or family reasons.
- Leave of Absence for research
- Modified Curriculum – completing one curricular year over a period of two years — students need to petition to enter the Modified Curriculum, but do not need to petition to return from the Modified Curriculum.
- Entrance into a Boston University dual-degree program
- School of Medicine Research Year
- Outside degree program
- Medical Leave of Absence:
- prior to your Leave, your health care provider must provide a letter to Dr. Angela Jackson recommending a Leave.
- You must petition the SEPC to return from a medical leave, and in addition, you must submit the Student Health Services required paperwork and forms, http://www.bu.edu/shs/getting-started/too-sick-to-keep-up-with-course-load/; once the these documents are submitted, you must schedule an appointment with SHS for evaluation. Please allow 6 weeks for this process.
Students may also be required to take, or to be placed on, 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.