Academic Affairs

Academic Policies

Attendance:  Attendance is expected at all instructional activities for students at the Baltimore campus.  Students at the Shady Grove campus are expected to view Mediasite presentations within 24 hours of posting.  At both campuses, attendance is required for non-recorded activities. Students are expected to arrive promptly for all activities and exams, or present a legitimate excuse.  Course masters may choose to track attendance at required activities via roll call, sign-in sheets, Blackboard, audience response system or other technology; and may choose to allocate points for active participation during these sessions. The relationship between attendance and grading will be stated in the grading policy of the syllabus. The coursemaster will deduct an amount of points specified in the syllabus for each instance of unexcused absence or lateness. Excused absences or lateness will be determined by the coursemaster.  Professional behavior is expected for all academic experiences within the PharmD curriculum.  Signing in for other students, or signing in and leaving before completion of the activity (without permission) is considered a breach of academic integrity.

Communication: Students should expect responses from electronic communication (e-mail) with faculty or their designee within 1 to 2 business days unless otherwise notified by faculty. Students are expected to respect posted faculty office hours.  Professional behavior is an expectation for students in all activities at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Such behavior includes communication within all forms of electronic based technology (e-mail, discussion boards, etc.) associated with academic and extracurricular activities.

Copyright and Fair Use

  • UMB School of Pharmacy - a basic overview
  • HS/HSL Library - test your own understanding of copyright and fair use, teach students about copyright, apply online for permission to reproduce copyrighted material

Course Evaluations:  All students are required to complete a course evaluation for all didactic and experiential, required and elective courses at the time the course evaluation is made available, typically during the last two weeks of the semester. Course evaluation by students is an important factor in the ongoing formative assessment of course success by faculty. Student registration for subsequent didactic or experiential courses may be withheld if course evaluations have not been completed.

Discussion boards related to course content may be overseen by course masters, lecturers, GA’s or others designated by the course master, OR may simply be provided as an unmonitored forum for students. Course masters do not guarantee the quality or accuracy of information within discussion boards. Material within discussion boards will not be accepted as the basis for challenging examination questions or other assessments.

Elective registration and attendance will be constrained to the home campus (i.e., USG students can only register for USG sections and attend at Shady Grove), except for electives that are only offered at one campus.  80-90% of electives, focusing on the highest enrollments, will be provided to Shady Grove via some manner of instructional technology as space and staff limitations permit. Wait lists for elective registration will not be used.  Students may not enroll in electives that are offered at the times of required courses.  The School reserves the right to cancel any elective section for underenrollment.

Exam Policy (05/01/08): 

  • Students must arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the examination, and place all personal belongings either in the front or the rear of the examination room.
  • Students must utilize the last eight digits of their UMB One ID card number on all assignments and examinations as a means of proper identification. At the discretion of the course master, students who fail to place their correct UMB One ID number on assignments or examinations are subject to receiving zero credit or a credit (point) reduction on any assignment or examination not properly identified.
  • Personal needs (rest room) must be cared for prior to the examination. No more than one student will be allowed to leave an examination at a time. 
  • Students will be seated in every other seat beginning on the aisle. 
  • Students may not wear a hat, cap (except for religious observance), visor, sunglasses, etc. during the exam.
  • Unless instructed otherwise, students may not have any telephone, calculator, PDA, or any other electronic device in their possession during the exam. Phones must be turned off and left with belongings.
  • Only a watch or the room clock may be used to keep time. Use of a telephone for such purpose is not permitted. Students should see the proctor if they need to remain available for any potential emergency calls.
  • Students may not place the exam or answer sheet on the empty seat next to them. 
  • Students may not ask content-related questions during the examination. Challenges related to examination questions should be handled by the process established by the course master. 
  • Examinations (if requested) and answer sheets must be handed in at the time specified by the examination proctor. Course masters have the prerogative of penalizing students who hand in their answers late. 
  • Behaviors which attract the attention of proctors or peers during the course of the examination raise the suspicion of academic dishonesty.
  • Test taking advice for students

Exam Procedures: 

  • Exams must be emailed by coursemasters to Dr. Congdon at Shady Grove no later than 10am of the working day before it is to be administered, to allow for copying. 
  • All assessments/exams will occur simultaneously at the Baltimore and Shady Grove campuses to the extent possible.  Alternatively, different versions of the assessment will be utilized to minimize any unfair advantage students may create by providing exam information to other students. 
  • Coursemasters will provide a method for challenge in the course syllabus. 
  • The role of proctors is to maintain academic integrity during the exam. At least one proctor must be present in each room where an exam is given.  The proctor may be a faculty member, graduate student, resident or an employee contracted for this purpose. 

Exam Procedures for PROCTORS

Exam Return: The results of all student assessments will be made available to students at all locations simultaneously to the extent possible.  After an exam is administered at Shady Grove, it will be copied and sent to the Baltimore coursemaster for grading.  Coursemasters should email Dr. Congdon a receipt of confirmation.  Except for skills based assessments, all written and computer graded assessments will be graded centrally.

First Year Quizzes

Grade Appeal Form

Process for grade appeals / informal faculty member grievance:

  • Didactic: Coursemaster --> Vice Chair of Education --> Department Chair --> Associate Dean Academic Affairs

  • Experiential: Coursemaster --> Experiential Learning Director --> Associate Dean Academic Affairs

Group Activities:  Attendance may be required by coursemasters.  Students may not switch groups between campuses.  Students may complete an activity for a required course at their non-home campus only under special circumstances (such as attendance at a professional meeting) and with prior permission from the coursemaster.  Switching groups within the home campus is only allowed with prior permission of the coursemaster.

Inclement weather:  When either one or both campuses are closed in the event of inclement weather, quizzes and examinations will be cancelled and rescheduled for a later date.  The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Assistant Dean for Shady Grove receive notification of campus closing by 6:00 AM. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs immediately notifies all students and faculty by e-mail. Every effort will be made to identify "snow dates" in advance.

In the case of a campus emergency or weather situation, the most accurate source of information for Baltimore campus is the campus web page http://www.umaryland.edu/alerts. The same information is available on the Campus Emergency Information Phone Line at 410-706-8622.  In the event of inclement weather or other emergency conditions at Shady Grove, delays and closures are announced on local radio and television news stations for the "Universities at Shady Grove or USM Shady Grove Center," rather than any individual participating USM institution. Closures and delays will be posted on the website http://www.shadygrove.umd.edu/about/public-safety/index.cfm?tab=CampusAlerts, sent over the e2Campus notification system, or available via recorded message at 301-738-6000.

PharmD Student Honor Code

Schedules, before web posting:  Before the academic schedule is released to the web, PDFs of schedules by course and by class year are housed on the m-drive in the Faculty folder under Scheduling.  Coursemasters must assure that all lecturers are aware of the dates/times of their teaching commitments.  Faculty must confirm the instructional technology needed, as well as dates in Baltimore and Shady Grove for all assessments, labs, presentations, case discussions, review sessions, etc.  Faculty should also familiarize themselves with the exams and activities in other courses that have an impact on student workload, by glancing through the class year schedules.

Schedules, after web posting:  After the academic schedule ‘goes live,’ any changes affect not only the students but several technology staff and academic coordinators at both campuses.  Therefore, all changes must be submitted according to the policy for academic schedule changes.  The online schedule change form must be used in order to notify all appropriate personnel. 

Scheduling Around Professional Meetings: The academic schedule will only be cleared for 3rd year students during part of the ASHP midyear meeting during which residency recruitments take place, although other professional meetings are taken under advisement.  Students are responsible for making up assignments/assessments at the discretion of the coursemaster.  Coursemasters have sole discretion as to whether an absence is excused and whether any makeup work will be accepted.  When there are multiple sections of a live activity, students may (with coursemaster permission) switch to other sections - see Group Activities above. 

Shady Grove Travel Reimbursement Policy for Faculty & Staff: Employees are eligible to receive travel reimbursement when traveling between Shady Grove and UMB on a given day for regular work related activities. Travel reimbursement will not normally be made when employees travel from home to Shady Grove or from home to UMB on a given day. Both locations are considered SOP campuses and therefore will not normally be eligible for travel reimbursement. Travel reimbursement requests are due within 45 days from date of travel and must be processed through the employee’s business office. It is highly recommended that requests are made no more frequently than monthly or bi-weekly depending upon the frequency of travel. Please note that individual department processes regarding prior approval, etc. should still be followed.

USM Textbook Affordability Policy: Faculty should be encouraged to order new editions of textbooks only if necessary and if older editions are not of comparable educational content.  Faculty should permit students to purchase electronic versions of textbooks when available.  Faculty members should incorporate into course instruction the use of online resources wherever feasible and prudent.  Institutions shall include in course evaluations, questions concerning the use and value of assigned textbooks and other course materials.

Teaching Assignment Policy for Graduate Assistants rev. 2008

Transfer Credit Policy for PharmD students

How to Find MediaSite Lectures:

  1. click on Portal link in the yellow bar at the top of the homepage; log in using your SOP log in (your email name + password)
  2. click on Mediasite link in the gray bar on the left side of the main page
  3. log in on the right side of the page using your eUMB log in (your user number + password)
  4. lectures are listed by course number on the left side of the page