UNMC College of Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 3 September 2026.

Who decides whether a UNMC medical student is dismissed?

The Student Evaluation Committee (SEC) imposes probation or dismissal at the UNMC College of Medicine. An Academic Probation/Dismissal Appeal Board reviews it and the Dean makes the final decision. You have five calendar days from receiving notification — the shortest medical-school appeal window we have found anywhere.

Five days, counted in an unusual way

The published window is “within 5 calendar days (excluding UNMC-sanctioned student breaks and holidays) of receiving notification of academic probation or dismissal from the SEC.”

That is a hybrid, not a true calendar count — you have to consult the academic calendar to compute it. Two practical points. The clock runs from receipt, so the date you actually opened the notification matters and is worth recording. And five days is short enough that the realistic first step is to file a short preserving appeal inside the window and supplement it, rather than waiting until the argument is polished.

Two other deadlines run before the meeting, and both are a full week: the name of your advisor and the name and contact details of your legal counsel must each be given to the Associate Dean at least one week before the meeting. Miss that and you may lose the person you intended to bring. A written statement, if you decline to appear, is due 48 hours ahead.

For contrast, the university-wide UNMC Student Code of Conduct measures everything in “University Day,” defined as a weekday when campus offices are open, and allows seven University days to appeal after a hearing.

You carry the burden, and the review is process only

UNMC publishes its standard, and it is not favorable:

“The student must show by preponderance of the evidence that the initial academic probation or dismissal imposed by the SEC was decided in a manner that was prejudiced, capricious, or contrary to COM/UNMC policies or procedures.”

And the Board’s recommendation “will be based solely on the information presented and discussion at the meeting and restricted to a matter of process.” There is no reconsideration of whether dismissal was warranted on the merits. An appeal that argues the outcome was too harsh, without identifying prejudice, caprice or a departure from policy, is not addressing the question the Board has been given.

Compare the conduct code at the same institution, which allocates the burden the opposite way: “The University has the burden of gathering evidence sufficient to allow the Conduct Board to reach a determination… A Respondent is presumed to be not responsible… until proven otherwise by the greater weight of the evidence. If the evidence is evenly balanced, or if it weighs in favor of the Respondent, then the Respondent is not responsible.”

You may bring a lawyer — and doing so brings the University’s lawyer

UNMC is the only medical school in this five-state group that affirmatively names legal counsel as permitted:

“In addition, legal counsel may also accompany the student. The name and contact information for the legal counsel must be provided… at least one week before the meeting date and time. The role of student’s legal counsel shall be limited to aiding the student. In the instance where legal counsel will accompany the student, the University’s legal counsel will be present to advise the Board on procedural and other matters.”

An advisor of choice may also attend, but “the advisor may not participate in the proceedings.” So counsel may be in the room and may not speak — and bringing counsel adds a University lawyer to the Board’s side of the table. That is a real trade-off to weigh rather than a reason to go alone: the value of counsel here is in the written submission and the preparation, not in the room.

One right worth using: either the student or the Board chair may request that the proceedings be audio recorded, and “The student shall have access to the audio recording.” Deliberations are not recorded. Ask for the recording in writing, a week ahead, with the advisor and counsel names.

Who sits on the Board

The Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs appoints and convenes it: four COM faculty and one medical student, all with equal voting status, excluding current SEC members, faculty with direct oversight of the student’s assessment, and anyone with a conflict. Members and the student sign conflict attestations. The Board votes by anonymous ballot on whether to recommend sustaining, abrogating or modifying the SEC’s action.

The SEC itself has ten elected faculty plus a chair, vice-chair and a student, with a long list of non-voting members — including, notably, the college of medicine conduct officer. That officer sitting on the academic committee is the visible seam between UNMC’s two tracks.

Professionalism is academic here — and the conduct code says so

UNMC is a public institution, so the difference between its two tracks has constitutional as well as contractual weight. The Student Code of Conduct expressly authorizes the academic route and preserves the disciplinary one alongside it:

“In addition, the Code does not prevent an academic program from imposing academic sanctions on students who engage in unprofessional conduct as defined by program specific policies or professional licensure requirements.” And: “imposition of academic sanctions on a student by an instructor or academic program does not prevent the University from instituting proceedings against the student under the Code.”

So a single professionalism episode can produce both an SEC dismissal — reviewable only for process, on the student’s own burden, in five days, with counsel present but silent — and a separate Code proceeding with its own hearing, its own presumption of non-responsibility and its own greater-weight standard. Establishing early which proceeding is running, and whether a second one is coming, changes what you say in the first.

Other rules that decide cases

• Remediation is unappealable. “In cases in which a student is reinstated, a program of remediation or repetition to meet academic expectations shall be developed… The remediation program is not appealable.”
• Not appearing forecloses a later challenge. Declining or failing to appear “are not grounds for an appeal of the Board’s decision,” and if you do not communicate before the start time the Board proceeds without you.
• Dismissal grounds include three Phase 1 block failures; two clerkship or elective failures; failing a repeated block, clerkship or elective; failing during a repeated academic period; failure to improve in academic and/or professional performance by the end of probation; a third failure on USMLE Step 1; and “documentation of a single serious unprofessional behavior event and/or repeated or persistent unprofessional behavior.”
• USMLE Step 1 must be taken and passed before clerkships, with the score sent to the College directly. Blocking score release “may affect their ability to progress to phase 2 and graduate,” and a delay of more than 12 weeks after the ACCT necessitates a delay of graduation.
• Confidentiality allegations run two tracks at once — the matter is also forwarded to the UNMC Compliance Office for a separate and parallel investigation.
• The Board may recommend “sustaining… its abrogation, or modification” — and modification is not directionally limited, so an increase is not textually foreclosed.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 3 September 2026. The appeal policy is stamped “Approved by the Curriculum Committee: July 28, 2026”:

• Academic probation and dismissal appeal policy — catalog.unmc.edu
• SEC charge and structure — catalog.unmc.edu
• Dismissal grounds — catalog.unmc.edu
• Student policy index — catalog.unmc.edu
• UNMC Student Code of Conduct — catalog.unmc.edu

Related reading

• Medical school dismissal, remediation and promotion committees
• Professionalism and fitness-to-practice findings
• Due process at public institutions
• Public or private? A due-process decision tree
• Nebraska student defense

Other Nebraska schools

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the filing deadlines are rarely the same from one campus to the next. These pages set out the procedure at other Nebraska schools:

• CHI Health School of Radiologic Technology
• Creighton University School of Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals
• Myotherapy Institute
• Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture
• University of Nebraska Medical Center

Common questions

How long do I have to appeal a UNMC College of Medicine dismissal?

Five calendar days from receiving notification, excluding UNMC-sanctioned student breaks and holidays. It is the shortest window of any medical school we have reviewed, so filing something inside it matters more than filing something complete.

Can I bring a lawyer to the Appeal Board?

Yes — UNMC expressly permits legal counsel to accompany you, on one week’s written notice. Counsel may not speak, and bringing counsel means the University’s own lawyer will attend to advise the Board.

Will the Board reconsider whether dismissal was fair?

No. The review is restricted to a matter of process, and you carry the burden of showing the decision was prejudiced, capricious or contrary to policy.

Can I get a recording of the hearing?

Yes, if you request it. Either you or the chair may ask for the proceedings to be audio recorded, and you are entitled to access the recording. Deliberations are not recorded. Ask in writing a week ahead.

Can one professionalism incident lead to two proceedings?

Yes. UNMC’s conduct code expressly provides that academic sanctions do not prevent a separate Code proceeding on the same facts, and vice versa.