University of New Mexico School of Medicine — Dismissal & Appeals

Q: Who decides whether a UNM medical student is dismissed?

The Committee on Student Promotion and Evaluation (CSPE) imposes the dismissal at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine — it decides, it does not merely recommend. A Student Appeals Committee hears the first appeal, then the Dean, then the EVP for Health Sciences. You have fifteen calendar days from receiving the CSPE letter, and missing it waives the appeal.

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

Who decides whether a UNM medical student is dismissed?

The Committee on Student Promotion and Evaluation (CSPE) imposes the dismissal at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine — it decides, it does not merely recommend. A Student Appeals Committee hears the first appeal, then the Dean, then the EVP for Health Sciences. You have fifteen calendar days from receiving the CSPE letter, and missing it waives the appeal.

Professionalism is defined as academic — in so many words

Most schools achieve this by routing. UNM does it by definition:

“Acceptable final grades, narrative evaluations, and ethical and professional behaviors are all considered academic requirements for the MD degree and will be considered in making promotion and graduation decisions.”

The consequences are concrete. “Students who receive a grade of FAIL due to professionalism concerns may be dismissed by CSPE from medical school without the opportunity for REMEDIATION,” and “a pattern of recurrent lapses in professionalism may result in a referral to CSPE for dismissal.”

What that definition costs you

UNM is a public university, and its university-wide student conduct policy — Faculty Handbook D176 — provides two things the School of Medicine’s own policy does not:

An advisor right: “both parties have the right to be accompanied by an advisor at a hearing, who may or may not be an attorney” — though the advisor may not participate.
A standard of proof: “preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the evidence, considered in its entirety, indicates that, more likely than not, the accused student violated UNM policy.”

And D176 expressly steps aside for the health-sciences programmes: “it is recognized that HSC academic programs may have adopted policies and procedures that govern the adjudication of student conduct and student grievance matters. Such policies and procedures supersede this policy.”

The School of Medicine’s Due Process Policy contains neither an advisor provision nor a standard of proof. We searched it: the words attorney, counsel, advisor and representative do not appear anywhere in it. It says only that “CSPE will decide whether or not a violation of the UNM SOM policies and/or procedures occurred.”

There is an argument worth preserving here, and we put it as an open question rather than a settled answer. D176’s supersession clause is conditional — it yields “to the extent these Procedures differ from” the programme’s. The SOM policy is silent on advisors and burden rather than different. So there is a real argument that D176’s advisor right and preponderance standard survive as a floor, because silence is not a conflict. We found no authority resolving it. It is worth raising early and in writing rather than assuming the answer either way.

The deadlines, and where the units change

UNM publishes its units precisely — and mixes calendar days with working days inside one policy:

Appeal of a CSPE action to the Student Appeals Committee: 15 calendar days after the student receives the CSPE letter. Missing it “shall be considered a waiver of his/her/their right to an appeal.”
Appeal of that decision to the Dean: 30 calendar days from receipt. Missing it likewise waives.
Appeal to the EVP for Health Sciences: 15 calendar days from receipt of the Dean’s decision.
Appeal to the University President: ten working days — the one step measured in working days, and discretionary in any event, normally accepted “only in extraordinary cases.”
CSPE must notify the student of its action within 15 calendar days of the meeting.

Note the triggers are receipt-based throughout the student-facing steps, which is more generous than schools that run the clock from the date on the letter.

Dismissal can take effect while you are appealing

“Pending final resolution of an appeal or a corrective action review, CSPE’s decision may take effect in the interim if CSPE so decides.” There is no automatic stay.

Before the CSPE decides, the position is better but carries a carve-out: the student “should continue attending all scheduled activities and assessments until they have met with CSPE and CSPE has rendered its decision, UNLESS the student has been placed on leave for professionalism issues.”

Several things simply cannot be appealed

Corrective actions cannot be appealed — only “reviewed.”
Temporary enforced leaves cannot be appealed.
Denial of a policy exception cannot be appealed.
Continuation of an emergency suspension “is not subject to appeal or review under this Due Process Policy and Procedure.”

One provision runs the other way and is worth knowing: the appeal cannot make it worse. The Student Appeals Committee’s authority is binary — “The final decision will be to uphold or overrule the decision of CSPE.”

You are excluded from the evidence-gathering

“These interviews will be recorded and the student will be offered the option of listening to the recording. The student will not attend the actual interviews.”

You may hear what witnesses said, afterwards, but you cannot be present to hear it said or to respond in the moment. Request the recordings, listen to all of them, and put any correction in writing before the committee decides.

Note also that you may object to the composition of the Appeals Committee, but “the UNM Associate Dean of Medical Student Affairs’ decision is final” on those objections.

Other rules that decide cases

USMLE: Step 1 and Step 2 CK must be passed “with not more than three attempts at each exam”; a student failing the first attempt is “allowed only two additional attempts.” Step 1 must be passed within six months of the start of the original deadline for the class — though a different section of the same document measures that six months from the end of Phase I-2. Both appear in the policy; work to the earlier.
Six calendar years to the degree, and time spent preparing for and awaiting USMLE results counts against it. Leaves are capped at twelve consecutive months; exceeding twelve consecutive or eighteen cumulative months triggers referral to CSPE for dismissal. MD/PhD and MD/MPH students are exempt from the six-year limit.
Fitness for duty: CSPE may require evaluation by an independent forensic psychologist or psychiatrist, a substance-abuse evaluation, and random drug monitoring.
Two escape valves for the School: “Minor deviations from these procedures are permitted as long as they do not amount to a denial of due process,” and time limits “for committee decisions” may be extended for good cause. Note the good-cause extension is written for committee deadlines, not the student’s filing deadlines — the flexibility runs one way.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 3 September 2026:

Due Process Policy and Procedure, revised 17 July 2024 — hsc.unm.edu
Student Promotion and Awarding the MD Degree Policy — hsc.unm.edu
Roles and responsibilities of OMSA and CSPE — hsc.unm.edu
Promotions and due process landing page — hsc.unm.edu
UNM Faculty Handbook D176 — handbook.unm.edu

One practical note: the Promotion policy PDF has a broken font encoding, so copying text out of it produces nonsense. It has to be read visually. If you are quoting it in a submission, quote from the page as displayed and cite the page number.

Other New Mexico 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 New Mexico schools:

Common questions

How long do I have to appeal a UNM CSPE decision?

Fifteen calendar days from receiving the CSPE letter, then thirty calendar days to reach the Dean. Both are waiver deadlines — missing either ends the appeal.

Can I bring an advisor or attorney to CSPE?

The School of Medicine’s policy says nothing at all about advisors. The University’s D176 does provide one, and there is an argument that it survives the School’s silence. Raise it in writing early rather than turning up with someone unannounced.

Will I be dismissed while my appeal is pending?

Possibly. CSPE’s decision may take effect in the interim if CSPE so decides. There is no automatic stay, so ask expressly for one.

Can the appeal make my outcome worse?

No. The Student Appeals Committee may only uphold or overrule the CSPE decision.

Does a leave of absence pause the six-year clock?

No, and it can create its own problem: more than twelve consecutive months or eighteen cumulative months of leave triggers referral to CSPE for dismissal.