LMU-DCOM Orange Park — Dismissal & Appeals

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

Who decides whether an LMU-DCOM Orange Park student is dismissed?

One of three Student Progress Committees reviews the student and recommends to the CAO/Dean, who affirms, amends or reverses. An appeal goes to an Appeals Board and is due within five working days of the Dean’s decision, on the College’s official form. The grounds are extremely narrow, and an outside attorney cannot attend.

A brand-new Florida campus governed by a Tennessee institution

LMU-DCOM Orange Park opened in 2026 as an additional location of Lincoln Memorial University’s DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee. COCA approved it in December 2024 and the inaugural cohort matriculated in late July 2026, into an 82,068 square-foot facility at 335 Crossing Blvd, Orange Park, Florida 32073. (COCA’s directory misprints the postcode as 32703, which is Apopka.)

Because it is an additional location rather than a separately accredited college, there is no Orange Park handbook. The governing documents are the parent institution’s, and the parent holds COCA Accreditation with Exceptional Outcome, granted 9 December 2022 for ten years. Florida oversight runs through the Commission for Independent Education.

Three committees, and none of them promotes you

LMU-DCOM runs SPC-I (matriculation through OMS-I), SPC-II (OMS-II, including COMLEX Level 1 benchmarks and failures) and SPC-III (OMS-III through graduation, including Level 2-CE and COMAT). A separate Community Standards Committee, made up of the Assistant and Associate Deans of Students from all campuses, handles professionalism.

A detail that matters: the progress committees do not promote students — “that is the job of the Faculty Assembly.” Knowing which body took which decision determines what can be appealed and to whom.

The narrowest appeal grounds in the state

“Appeals may only be made in reference to the SPC and/or the CAO/Dean not following LMU-DCOM policies and procedures; no other grounds for appeal will be accepted.” The current online catalog adds a second limb — an alleged error in process or a gross misapplication of facts — and expressly bars appealing a disagreement with a grade.

The Appeals Board applies a purely procedural test and “may, or may not, meet with the student but not with witnesses or other complainants.” Its decisions “will be final and binding. No further option for appeal will be considered.” It is composed of an LMU-DCOM Associate or Assistant Dean, a faculty member, and the LMU Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs — the only Florida osteopathic appeal body reaching above the college into central university administration.

The form requirement is a real trap

The appeal must be submitted on the LMU-DCOM Official Appeal Request form with supporting evidence. The online catalog states plainly: “No other appeals will be considered.” A well-argued letter that is not on the form is not an appeal. Request the form the day you are notified.

Note also that the PDF catalog still circulating for Orange Park is the 2025-2026 edition, effective 1 July 2025. It describes submitting “a letter” to the Dean and omits both the form requirement and the second appeal ground. The online catalog is current; a student following the PDF may file in a way the College will not accept.

Mixed units in a single process

  • Notice of the SPC meeting: at least three calendar days, by University email.
  • The committee’s recommendation reaches the Dean within five working days.
  • The Dean notifies the student within five working days of receiving it.
  • The appeal is due within five working days of receiving the Dean’s decision.

Notice runs in calendar days; everything else in working days. Over a holiday weekend those diverge.

An outside attorney cannot be in the room

“The only individuals allowed to attend an SPC meeting include the student, the student’s LMU-DCOM advisor (at the student’s request), the recording secretary, the committee members, and any pertinent faculty/staff members and/or Deans,” and meetings are “closed to anyone not in the University community.”

Because the advisor must be an LMU-DCOM advisor, an attorney cannot attend. No standard of proof is published, and the Appeals Board’s test is procedural rather than evidentiary — so the written record, the form and the deadline carry the entire case.

One favourable rule, and one useful lever

“The student’s status will remain unchanged until the appeal process is finalized.” Enrolment is preserved while the appeal runs.

And a sequencing lever: “If a student has filed a grade appeal, the SPC meeting will be put on hold until the issue pertaining to the grade is resolved.” Where a disputed grade triggered the referral, filing the grade appeal first pauses the progress committee.

The rules that produce most dismissals

  • COMLEX: three attempts per examination. Level 1 within one year of completing didactics; Level 2-CE within one year of completing OMS-III. Every failed attempt triggers a mandatory SPC appearance.
  • COMAT: two attempts per discipline, all of which must be passed to progress to OMS-IV.
  • Six years from initial programme start, “regardless of the reason behind the interruption.”
  • Failures are cumulative across all semesters and years. Dismissal is available at every tier: one failure plus professionalism concerns; two or three in a year; four or more in a year; or two or more across OMS-I and OMS-II combined.
  • Automatic dismissal with no committee: “Failure to satisfactorily complete the recommended [drug] treatment will result in the student’s immediate dismissal.”
  • A professionalism warning is effectively permanent: “A student remains on professionalism warning for the remainder of their time at LMU-DCOM.”

Where the governing documents are

Verified on 3 September 2026. Cite the online catalog, which is current, rather than the Orange Park PDF:

Related reading

Other Florida colleges

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 colleges:

Common questions

How long do I have to appeal at LMU-DCOM Orange Park?

Five working days from receiving the Dean’s decision, and it must be on the LMU-DCOM Official Appeal Request form — the catalog states that no other appeals will be considered.

Can I bring an attorney to the Student Progress Committee?

No. Attendance is limited to the student, an LMU-DCOM advisor, the committee and relevant faculty, and meetings are closed to anyone outside the University community.

Can I appeal because the decision was too harsh?

No. The only grounds are that the College did not follow its own policies and procedures, or an error in process or gross misapplication of facts. Severity alone is not a ground.

Will I stay enrolled while the appeal is pending?

Yes. The catalog provides that the student’s status remains unchanged until the appeal process is finalised.

Does Orange Park have its own handbook?

No. It is an additional location of LMU-DCOM in Tennessee and is governed by the parent institution’s catalog. Use the online edition, which is current.