FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals

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

Who decides whether an FAU medical student is dismissed?

The Medical Student Promotions and Professional Standards Committee (MSPPSC) decides at Florida Atlantic’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. An appeal runs to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, then to a five-member Appeals Committee, then to the Dean, whose decision is final agency action. Every step carries five business days.

Read this before you appeal

At FAU, appealing can make the outcome worse. The handbook says so three separate times:

  • A request for appeal or reconsideration “reopens the review and may lead to a new decision by the MSPPSC.”
  • The Appeals Committee’s recommendation “may include the imposition of additional or more severe sanctions.”
  • “The Dean may also impose additional or more severe sanctions.”

There is no cap and no protection against a worse result on appeal anywhere in the document. That does not mean an FAU student should not appeal — it means the decision to appeal is a real decision, taken with the downside understood, rather than the automatic next step it is at most schools.

The bypass, and why it matters here

After the first written appeal, a student may either ask the MSPPSC for a rehearing or skip it and go straight to the Appeals Committee. Because it is the rehearing that “reopens the review” before the same people who decided against you, bypassing it avoids handing that committee a second opportunity — at the cost of losing a chance to persuade them directly.

Note the clock if you bypass: the five business days then run from the original MSPPSC determination, not from a rehearing outcome. Choosing the route and calendaring it are the same decision.

The deadlines

  • Appeal of an MSPPSC penalty: five business days from receiving notice of the decision.
  • MSPPSC notifies of a rehearing outcome: five business days from the hearing.
  • Appeal to the Dean or Appeals Committee: five business days from notice of the rehearing decision, or of the original determination if you bypassed.
  • Appeal of misconduct sanctions: five business days from notice of the MSPPSC sanctions.
  • Conduct track under Regulation 4.007: five business days from the Notice of Decision and Sanction. An attorney advisor must be declared at least three business days before the hearing.

Regulation 4.007 defines business days as Monday to Friday excluding official University holidays.

The grade-appeal conflict FAU has not resolved

The handbook “strongly encourages” raising a grade concern within five business days of receipt, warning that grades go to the Registrar a week later. The governing procedure, FAU Regulation 4.002, sets fixed calendar dates instead: 1 October or 1 February for the first step, 1 November or 1 March for the second.

Those two frameworks cannot both be right for a medical student on a year-round block and clerkship calendar. A student who follows the handbook may believe they are out of time when the regulation still gives them months; a student who follows the regulation may find the grade has already propagated. Both documents are FAU’s own. Preserve the position under both, and note that the ambiguity is of the College’s making.

Who is in the room

University Legal Counsel sits on the MSPPSC as an ex officio non-voting member, alongside the Vice Dean for Medical Education, the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, the Director of Student Success Services and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions. Counsel is present from the first instance, before any appeal.

And on the student’s side, the handbook provides: “The advisor may consult with the student but may not participate in the hearing directly. If the student’s advisor is an attorney, the University will have an attorney present as well.” Your lawyer is silent, and retaining one adds a second University lawyer to the room.

Regulation 4.007, the conduct track, is the mirror image. An advisor there is defined to include “an attorney chosen by the student at their own expense,” and “the advisor may directly participate in all aspects of the Hearing, including the presentation of relevant information and questioning of witnesses” — language that tracks Fla. Stat. § 1006.60(3)(g) almost word for word. FAU is a public institution, so that statute applies to its conduct proceedings, along with § 1006.60(3)(b), which places the burden on the University to prove a violation by a preponderance.

Fighting to characterise a matter as a Regulation 4.007 conduct case rather than an MSPPSC professional-standards case converts a silent advisor into a participating advocate. That is the highest-leverage early move in an FAU matter.

The impartiality screen is weaker on the misconduct track

The handbook disqualifies six categories of person from the Appeals Committee on the academic track, including anyone who provided health care to the student and anyone with an official mentoring or close personal relationship. On the misconduct track the same handbook lists only four, dropping the health-care and mentoring disqualifiers, with no stated reason. A student appealing a misconduct sanction gets a demonstrably weaker screen than one appealing an academic action.

Other rules that decide cases

  • USMLE: four attempts each at Step 1 and Step 2; a fifth failure means dismissal. But a student who fails either step on any attempt must appear before the MSPPSC, and a first Step 1 failure means removal from Year 3 and a mandatory one-year leave of absence, with a retake by 30 September.
  • Six years, then automatic dismissal. Failure to complete all requirements in six years “will result in the student’s automatic dismissal,” excepting MD/PhD students and circumstances the MSPPSC approves.
  • No progressive discipline is required. “Under appropriate circumstances, the MSPPSC may dismiss a student without prior probation or other sanction.”
  • A conduct finding is independently a dismissal ground at the MSPPSC, on top of whatever the University imposed — the dismissal grounds include any violation of University regulations, policies or procedures.
  • Emergency measures may be imposed at any time before the conclusion of proceedings, including during the appeal.

Two practical points

Request the minutes. “Summary minutes of the appeal and relevant attachments shall be provided to either party upon request.” They are available on demand and they are your record. Ask in writing.

Address the appeal to both deans. The handbook names the recipient inconsistently — “Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions” on the academic track and “Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Admissions” on the misconduct track. Copying both removes the argument.

What standard of proof applies?

None is published for MSPPSC academic or professionalism matters — the words preponderance, clear and convincing, burden of proof, standard of proof and more likely than not appear nowhere in the handbook. Regulation 4.007 does state one, and puts the burden squarely on the institution: “The University bears the burden of gathering evidence and the burden of proof.”

“Final agency action”

FAU is unusually direct about what comes next: the Dean’s decision “is final agency action,” and “the student has a right to appeal the Dean’s final decision to an external judicial forum.” That is the point at which review by petition for writ of certiorari opens, and what a court reviews is the record built inside the College. Hearings are closed, the process is expressly not adversarial, and the formal rules of evidence do not apply — which makes the written submissions and the minutes the record that matters.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 3 September 2026:

  • Medical Student Handbook 2026-2027 — fau.edu
  • MSPPSC committee page and membership — fau.edu
  • Regulation 4.007, Student Code of Conduct — fau.edu
  • Regulation 4.002, grade reviews — fau.edu

Related reading

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 health-professional programs:

Common questions

Can appealing an FAU dismissal make things worse?

Yes. The handbook states three separate times that a review may be reopened and that the Appeals Committee or the Dean may impose additional or more severe sanctions. There is no protection against a worse outcome, so the decision to appeal should be taken deliberately.

How long do I have to appeal?

Five business days at every stage, from receiving notice of the decision being appealed. If you bypass the MSPPSC rehearing, the clock runs from the original determination.

Can my attorney speak at the MSPPSC hearing?

No. Your advisor may consult with you but may not participate directly, and if your advisor is an attorney the University will have its own attorney present. In a Regulation 4.007 conduct hearing your attorney may participate fully, on three business days’ notice.

How many times can I fail USMLE Step 1 at FAU?

Four attempts are allowed at each of Step 1 and Step 2, but any failure requires an appearance before the MSPPSC, and a first Step 1 failure means removal from Year 3 and a mandatory one-year leave of absence.

Can I get a record of the appeal hearing?

Yes. Summary minutes and relevant attachments must be provided to either party on request. Ask in writing, and keep the response.