FAMU College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 26 September 2026.

Who decides whether a FAMU pharmacy student is dismissed?

Two College committees, and the difference between them matters. The Admissions and Academic Standards Committee (AASC) levies the academic sanctions — probation, suspension and permanent dismissal — and reviews readmission petitions. The Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) hears grade appeals, complaints, and allegations of academic dishonesty or professional misconduct. The College’s handbook gives a PCC decision a written appeal to the Dean. It publishes no appeal or hearing procedure at all for an AASC suspension or dismissal. If your letter comes from the AASC, that gap is the first thing to confront in writing — not a reason to wait.

The handbook changed on September 22, 2026

The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences posted a revised PharmD Student Handbook for 2026–2027 with an effective date of September 22, 2026, and it states that it supersedes earlier handbooks where they conflict. The superseded Learner Handbook dated May 12, 2025 is still online, and the two editions differ on points that decide cases:

• Cheating. The 2025 text dismissed a student caught cheating automatically. The 2026 text requires review and a hearing by the PCC first, and makes dismissal discretionary: a student found responsible receives an F and “may be permanently dismissed,” subject to the College Appeal Process.
• Academic dishonesty generally. “Will be permanently dismissed” became “may be permanently dismissed.”
• Grade complaints. The old 48-hour window was absolute. You still contact the faculty member within 48 hours of a grade posting, but a formal grade appeal may now be filed within 10 business days.
• The comprehensive examination. The passing score dropped from 75 percent to 70 percent.
• Suspension. A suspended student no longer waits a year to reapply and may petition for readmission while still suspended.

If your matter began before September 22, both editions may be in play, and which one the College applied is a question worth asking in writing. The handbook also reserves the College’s right to apply changes to a student without regard to the date of application, admission, or enrollment — a clause that deserves scrutiny when a change works against you.

The ladder: probation, suspension, permanent dismissal

Every pharmacy course requires a C or better and a minimum 70 percent average. A D is a failure, and the University’s forgiveness policy does not erase it: a D or F in a professional course still counts as a failure even when its grade points drop out of the GPA. From there the ladder is a count.

• Probation follows two failures (D or F) in any semester, or a cumulative GPA below 2.0. You keep taking classes, under a performance improvement plan built with your academic advisor.
• Suspension may follow three failures in professional courses, a cumulative GPA below 2.0 for three consecutive semesters, or a second failure of the same professional course. A suspended student cannot continue in the program.
• Permanent dismissal follows four or more failures in professional courses. A finding of academic dishonesty after PCC review may also end in permanent dismissal.

The College has no academic-warning step of its own; the phrase appears only in its advising rules. And the handbook warns that a single failed course may extend a student’s progress by at least two semesters because of how the curriculum’s prerequisites are sequenced.

Withdrawals and remediation are rationed

Two limits catch students by surprise. First, only one term or retroactive withdrawal is allowed during the professional program, and a later one will not reverse any sanction the AASC has imposed. Second, remediation is described as a privilege, not a right. Under the College’s remediation policy — approved in 2020 and still the one it posts — post-course remediation is offered only to students who finished a course with an average between 60 and 69.9 percent and who attended the recommended supplemental instruction. It is capped at twice a semester and four times in the program, the best grade available is a C, and a student who withdraws from the course is ineligible. None of it applies to rotations: the College’s APPE manual (the 2019–2021 edition, the latest it posts) provides no remediation for a failed APPE, which must be repeated at a different site with a different preceptor.

The comprehensive examination and the rotation gates

Every student must pass the College’s comprehensive examination at 70 percent, with five attempts in total. After a third failed attempt the student will not graduate on time and must enroll, at the student’s own expense, in the in-person Directed Individual Study program. After a fifth, the student may never apply for graduation from the PharmD program; the only exception is an appeal to the Dean for an extreme event. Eligibility for the examination itself depends on passing every experiential course, including the APPEs and the Clinical Seminar and Research Methods series. On the experiential side, the handbook requires at least 300 hours of IPPE before a student progresses to APPEs, and 1,680 experiential hours in total for graduation certification.

Hearings, advisors and lawyers

A PCC hearing comes with written procedures. You may inspect the information that will be presented at least three business days before the hearing, and you may bring an advisor of your choice who has access to your academic file under a signed FERPA release. But the College’s rules say the advisor may not address the committee, and a student who brings legal counsel must give written notice to the University’s General Counsel and the College’s Office of Student Affairs at least three business days before the hearing, with a copy to the Office of the Provost.

FAMU’s University-wide due process regulation reads differently. Regulation 2.013 applies to academic dishonesty cases and alleged Code of Conduct violations, and it sets minimums for the University’s schools and colleges: at least seven business days’ notice of a hearing, the chance to inspect the information at least five business days before it, and one advisor, advocate or legal representative who may participate in all aspects of the proceeding but may not testify. Where the College’s handbook gives less than the University’s own regulation, raise the difference in writing before the hearing, not after it.

Appeals: ten business days to the Dean

A PCC decision may be appealed by a formal letter to the Dean delivered within 10 business days of the PCC resolution letter. The handbook limits the grounds to four — a due process violation under Regulation 2.013, new information, a decision the information presented does not support, and a disproportionate sanction — and it places the burden on the student, with deference to the hearing body. The Dean acknowledges the appeal and schedules a meeting within 10 business days, then decides within 10 business days of that meeting; the proximity of an APPE or the NAPLEX is listed as a reason to move a student ahead in the queue. The 2026–2027 handbook names no appeal above the Dean, although an older College misconduct checklist still online describes a further appeal to the Provost within 10 business days of the Dean’s decision.

Readmission after suspension or dismissal

A permanent dismissal is permanent. A student permanently dismissed from the PharmD program may not apply for readmission, and readmission to the University does not change that. A suspended student may petition while still suspended, at least six weeks before the term of return, with a letter, a signed typewritten statement and an unofficial transcript. The AASC reviews the petition and recommends approval or denial to the Dean or the Dean’s designee, the decision is final, and the AASC sets the conditions for each readmitted student. Those conditions cut hard: a readmitted student who does not follow them will be dismissed without further consideration for readmission. A suspended student must also apply for readmission to the University.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 26 September 2026:

• PharmD Student Handbook 2026–2027, effective September 22, 2026 — the College’s Policies and Procedures page, pharmacy.famu.edu
• Pharmacy Learner Handbook dated May 12, 2025 (superseded, still posted) — pharmacy.famu.edu
• Remediation Policy (approved April 23, 2020) and APPE Manual (2019–2021) — pharmacy.famu.edu
• FAMU Regulation 2.012, Student Code of Conduct, and Regulation 2.013, Due Process, Other Rights and Responsibilities — famu.edu

Save a dated copy of every document and letter the day your matter begins. With two handbooks online and a revision this recent, the version in force when the College acted is the one your case turns on.

Related reading

• Pharmacy school dismissal
• Academic misconduct and honor code charges
• Readmission after dismissal
• Grade disputes and grade appeals
• Florida A&M University — student discipline overview

Other Florida health-professional programs

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 Florida programs:

• Florida Pharmacy Schools — Dismissals & Appeals
• UF College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals
• USF Taneja College of Pharmacy — Dismissal & Appeals
• Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals
• FAMU College of Law

Common questions

How many failed courses end a FAMU PharmD?

Four failures in professional courses result in permanent dismissal. Three failures, a second failure of the same course, or a cumulative GPA below 2.0 for three consecutive semesters can lead to suspension, and a D counts as a failure.

Can I appeal an AASC suspension or dismissal?

The 2026–2027 handbook publishes no appeal or hearing procedure for AASC academic sanctions; the written appeal to the Dean it describes is for PCC decisions. Ask in writing what review is available, and do it immediately, before any deadline in your letter runs.

Will I be dismissed automatically for cheating?

Not under the handbook effective September 22, 2026. A student found responsible after PCC review and a hearing receives an F in the course and may be permanently dismissed, subject to the College Appeal Process. The earlier handbook made dismissal automatic.

Can my lawyer speak at a PCC hearing?

The College’s rules say an advisor may attend but may not address the committee, and a student bringing counsel must give three business days’ written notice to the General Counsel, the Office of Student Affairs and the Provost. FAMU Regulation 2.013 allows an advisor or legal representative to participate in all aspects of the proceeding.

Can I come back after a permanent dismissal?

No. A student permanently dismissed from the PharmD program may not apply for readmission to it, even if readmitted to the University.