Marquette University School of Dentistry — Dismissal & Appeals

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed November 4, 2026.

Who decides whether a Marquette dental student is dismissed?

At the Marquette University School of Dentistry, the Academic Performance Committee (APC) decides what happens after a failing grade. The published academic paths to dismissal are a failed remediation, two or more F or U grades in one term, and a U in a clinical practicum. A failed remediation “results in a F grade and APC review to determine the next steps which may include repetition of the course at its next scheduled offering, repetition of the academic year or dismissal” (Dental School Remediation Policy, 2026–2027 Bulletin).

The appeal route is not public. The Bulletin points to “The MUSOD Remediation Policy, which is distributed to all students,” and academic grievances go through the School’s Handbook on Academic Policies and Procedures for Students, on SharePoint behind a Marquette login. The day a letter arrives, get both, and ask the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in writing for the appeal route and deadline.

The numbers: below 75 is an F, and 2.000 is the floor

• No D grade: anything below 75 is an F.
• A C- passes but costs you: a 75–76 is “Minimally passing,” yet “the GPA value of C- grades is less than the 2.0 value required to maintain satisfactory academic standing.”
• Clinic is mostly S/U: most clinical practicums are graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory, and a U means “No credit earned.”
• Graduation: on the faculty’s recommendation and the dean’s concurrence, with a “Cumulative grade point average of 2.000 or above,” “No outstanding grades of F, I, IC, NG, U or WF,” and competency in every listed area.

Remediation is the APC’s call, and two failures in a term take it off the table

A student with an F or U “after retesting” and a term or cumulative GPA of 2.000 “may be eligible” for remediation, “at the discretion of the Academic Performance Committee (APC) and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (ADAA).” Three rules narrow that door:

• “Students with two (2) or more grades of F or U at the end of a term are ineligible for remediation.”
• A “pervasive lack of mastery” means the student “should repeat the course, repeat the year, or be dismissed, rather than be remediated.”
• A course with three or more contact hours a week, or one that conflicts with the next term, cannot be repeated without repeating the whole academic year, with some exceptions for clinical courses.

The policy’s remediation plan includes “An explicit time frame in which the remediation takes place.” Get the plan in writing before you start; a failed remediation goes back to the APC.

The Bulletin states the remediation rule two different ways

The Remediation Policy requires a GPA “(term or cum) of 2.000 or higher.” The course description for DEIN 7550, Remediation in Dentistry, says a “minimum GPA of 1.810 or higher” may be enough, at the “sole discretion of the Academic Progress Committee and the associate dean for academic affairs.”

They also split on clinical grades: the grading policy says a U “does not affect the grade point average,” while the Remediation Policy says F and U grades “are used to calculate the student’s GPA.” For a student between 1.810 and 2.000, or whose GPA turns on a U, that difference decides whether remediation is available at all. I put both texts in the written request and ask which one the School is applying, and why.

Since 2025–26, a remediated F stays in the GPA

Through the 2024–2025 Bulletin, “The maximum allowable grade for any course remediation is a C-,” and the old Repeat Policy counted “only the repeated grade” in the cumulative GPA. Since 2025–26: “Remediated courses receive a final grade of F/A, F/B, or F/C if successfully remediated where credit is earned but the F grade applies toward the GPA.” A failed remediation is an F/F, with no credit.

So a fixed F still counts at 0.000 against the 2.000 floor for remediation and graduation, and “Both grades are visible on the student’s official transcript.” If an earlier failure was graded under the old rules, ask in writing which version the School is applying to your record.

Clinic: a practicum U goes to the APC

Clinical practicums cannot be remediated, except a short list of named D3 and D4 practicums. After a U in one of those D3 practicums, the student “may be required to remediate, repeat the D3 year, or be dismissed.” A U in a D4 (7424-series) practicum can mean Extended Clinical Practice (DECS 7996) “to stay beyond graduation,” a repeated D4 year, or dismissal. If the extra time reaches the fall, students “required to enroll in any fall term course in the School of Dentistry are specifically prohibited from participating in any May Commencement ceremony.”

The clearest public rule on losing clinic privileges is in the Transmissible Disease Policy: “Failure to follow appropriate infection control measures results in restriction of clinic privileges.” Nothing public says whether a student can be pulled from patient care while a concern is reviewed; the clinic manuals are not published. Patient-safety grievances, anonymous ones included, go to Clinical Affairs.

Professionalism and cheating: a School code you cannot read online

Marquette’s Academic Integrity policy binds “All faculty, staff and students,” but the University’s misconduct hearing procedures do not reach dental students: “Courses offered through Health Science Professional programs, the Dental School and the Law School follow separate procedures.” The School’s rule is its Student Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which “is published as part of the Handbook on Academic Policies and Procedures and is available to all students on the School of Dentistry Intranet website (SharePoint).” The misconduct policy says such procedures, “including the appeals process,” are “available in published form in the administrative offices overseeing these programs.” Ask the School for them, in writing, before you answer any allegation.

Two more School rules can end enrollment without a grade. Students must report felony convictions, “including deferred adjudications that violate the Wisconsin Caregiver Law, within thirty days of occurrence to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs,” and “Non-disclosure or falsification of conviction status may be grounds for dismissal or degree revocation.” The Technical Standards, which a student must meet “with or without accommodation to matriculate or continue in the curriculum,” include the ability to “accept criticism and respond by appropriate modification of behavior.”

Conduct outside the classroom: one incident, two tracks

The University’s Student Conduct Code, run by the Office of Student Development, applies to “undergraduate, graduate or professional” students alike. The Dental School’s policy page sets the order: “If there is a conflict between the two applicable regulations or procedures, the School of Dentistry regulation/procedure governs,” and a case’s components “may be separated and reviewed independently by the appropriate authority.” One incident can produce a University finding and a School case. The University process is on the Marquette University page.

A University appeal is due five working days after receipt of the written decision, and “Failure to appeal within the five (5) working day period waives the right to appeal.” The University may also “delay or postpone the conferring of any honor or degree” while a conduct case is pending.

Can a lawyer come to the meeting?

The School’s public documents do not say whether an advisor or attorney may attend an APC review or a Code of Ethics hearing. In a University conduct hearing, the adviser, named in writing two working days ahead, “may not speak for the student,” and “If the adviser is an attorney, a law student or a Law School faculty member, the case will be heard as an administrative hearing and the conduct administrator may reschedule the time and/or date of the hearing so that Marquette University legal counsel may be present.”

I ask the School in writing, before any meeting, whether an attorney may attend and in what role. The written submission is where a lawyer’s work shows regardless.

What follows the student: transcript and Wisconsin license

Transcript. The University’s Transcripts-Official policy lists dismissal notations such as “Required to Withdraw for Academic Reasons” and “Required to Withdraw for Professional Performance,” the latter for poor performance “in a professional setting, such as a clinical or field placement.” That policy is not on the Dental School’s list, so ask the Registrar which notation would apply. A conduct suspension “will be noted on the student’s disciplinary record and academic transcript.”

License. The Bulletin does not require passing the INBDE to graduate. Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) tells Marquette graduates to give their application number to Marquette, “who will certify that you graduated from the program,” and that “You do not need to provide Form 1471 or evidence of successful completion of the regional practical exam.” The School’s certification is the step DSPS relies on, so a delayed D.D.S. can delay the Wisconsin license application. DSPS also requires every National Board result: “Both passing and failing scores are required.” I found no School or University rule requiring Marquette to report a dismissal or professionalism finding to the Dentistry Examining Board.

What the public documents leave out

Not published: who sits on the APC, its standard, whether the Dean must approve a dismissal, the appeal levels and deadlines, how a repeated course now counts in the GPA, what academic probation means for a dental student, attendance rules, and whether a lawyer may attend. The grade-appeal, academic-censure and attendance policies the Bulletin lists for Marquette’s Health Science Professional programs are not on the Dental School’s list. Ask for each answer in writing.

Marquette is private, so the Bulletin is the promise

Because it is private, the Fourteenth Amendment analysis that governs the public campuses does not apply. The relationship is contractual: the student handbook, the bulletin, the Standards of Conduct, the honor code, and the program handbook are the promises the university made, and holding the institution to them is the work. See breach of contract against universities.

At the School of Dentistry most of those promises sit in documents the public cannot read. Save dated copies of every one that governs your case, and get the procedure in writing before the APC meets: the written record should show any gap between the published procedure and what actually happened.

Where the governing documents are

Verified as loading on 4 November 2026:

• Marquette University Bulletin 2026–2027, Dental School policies — policy index, Remediation Policy, grading system, graduation, commencement, licensure information, transmissible disease policy
• Course descriptions — DEIN 7550 Remediation in Dentistry, DECS 7996 Extended Clinical Practice
• The earlier rules, 2024–2025 Bulletin — Repeat Policy, grading system
• University policies in the Bulletin — Academic Integrity, Academic Misconduct, Transcripts-Official
• School of Dentistry — Non-Academic Grievance, Criminal Background Check Policy, Technical Standards
• Office of Student Development — Standards of Conduct, conduct procedures, disciplinary actions
• Wisconsin DSPS, Dentist: Licensure by Examination — dsps.wi.gov

Not public: the Handbook on Academic Policies and Procedures for Students, which holds the Student Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the academic grievance process (SharePoint); the MUSOD Remediation Policy (distributed to students); the Clinic Operations Manual and Comprehensive Patient Care Group Manual; and the ACE Manual (Marquette login). Ask for each in writing.

Related reading

• Dental school dismissal
• Professionalism and fitness-to-practice findings
• Clinical rotation and externship failures
• Breach of contract against universities
• Marquette University
• Wisconsin student defense

Other Wisconsin schools

Every school writes its own dismissal, appeal and conduct rules, and the deadlines are rarely the same. These pages set out the procedure elsewhere in Wisconsin:

• Marquette University Law School — Dismissal & Appeals
• UW School of Medicine and Public Health — Dismissal & Appeals
• University of Wisconsin Law School — Dismissal & Appeals
• University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing — Dismissal & Appeals
• Medical College of Wisconsin

Common questions

How long do I have to appeal a dismissal from Marquette’s dental school?

The public Bulletin does not say; the procedure is in the School’s Handbook and the MUSOD Remediation Policy. Ask the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in writing for the deadline the day you are notified, and work as if it were short.

Can I remediate a failed course at Marquette School of Dentistry?

Sometimes. The Remediation Policy requires an F or U “after retesting,” a term or cumulative GPA of 2.000 and the APC’s discretion; two or more F or U grades in one term rule it out. A course description in the same Bulletin uses 1.810, so ask which applies.

Does a remediated F still count in my GPA?

Yes, under the current Bulletin. A successful remediation earns credit and a grade such as F/B, but “the F grade applies toward the GPA,” and both grades appear on the official transcript.

Do I have to pass the INBDE to graduate from Marquette?

No. The Bulletin says successful completion of the INBDE “is not required for graduation.” Wisconsin’s licensing agency still lists “A national dental examination” among its required examinations and wants “Both passing and failing scores.”

Can I bring a lawyer to a Marquette dental school hearing?

The School’s public documents do not say. In a University conduct case an adviser may attend but may not speak, and an attorney adviser turns the case into an administrative hearing that University counsel may attend. Ask the School in writing first.

Can a lawyer help me prepare the appeal?

Yes. A lawyer can help prepare the appeal or a remediation request, and the work is handled case by case; a flat-fee Full Read + Game Plan is described on the fees and scope of services page.

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