Academic Standing and Advancement Policy

To be in good standing and to register unconditionally, students must meet the requirements of the College Academic Standing and Advancement Policy, as well as the Program requirements.

College Policy

Academic Standing

Please refer to Bylaw 8: Concerning the Promotion of Academic Success in English or French.

Biomedical Laboratory Technology Program Policy

Academic Standing

Students’ standing is determined at the end of each term and at the end of each year according to the following regulations:

The following circumstances will result in an expulsion from the Biomedical Laboratory Technology Program:

• Failure to pass more than 50% of the Specific Education courses in any one term in Terms 1 through 4;
• Failure of the same Specific Education course twice;
• Failure to complete any year of the program (Specific Education courses) within a maximum of two academic years;
• Failure of two courses based on professional technical competency evaluations in the same term;
• Failure to obtain a grade of at least 50 % in any one course in Term 5;
• Failure of more than 1 course in Term 5;
• Failure of two summative evaluations in the clinical phase in Term 6;
• Failure to complete the Program within five academic years

Students who fail to comply with the terms of this academic standing policy will be expelled from the College. The expelled student retains the right to appeal the expulsion to the College Academic Standing Appeals Committee.

Advancement

Students are allowed to advance to the following term of studies under the following conditions:

• Students must pass all Specific Education courses in a term before advancing to the following term;
• To advance to Term 3, students must have successfully completed 5 required General Education courses;
• To advance to Term 5, students must have successfully completed all required General Education courses;
• Students must have successfully completed all courses in order to advance to Term 6.

Students in the program who are prevented from advancing in their Specific Education courses may continue taking General Education courses and must either:

1. 1. Submit an “Intent to Continue in Current Program” form to the Registrar’s Office by March 1 or November 1, as appropriate, in order to resume taking Specific Education courses in the following semester.

OR

1. Submit an online Program Transfer request by March 1 or November 1, as appropriate, in order to enroll in a different program.

Exceptional Circumstances

In extenuating circumstances, the Biomedical Laboratory Technology Program Coordinator may recommend an exception to the Program Academic Standing and Advancement Policy to the Program Dean for approval. This recommendation must be accompanied by a revised Graduation plan.

Professional Conduct

As health care professionals, Biomedical Laboratory Technologists are governed by a professional code, which demands a high level of integrity, honesty and responsibility. Students are expected to exhibit appropriate behavior for Biomedical Laboratory Technologists hereafter referred to as professional conduct. Students must display consistent courtesy, teamwork and cooperative behavior toward faculty, staff and fellow students. Professional conduct must be displayed in all activities associated with the program. Students who exhibit inappropriate behavior may be expelled from the Program and the College. Sanctions imposed by virtue of Professional Conduct will comply with the College’s Institutional Student Evaluation Policy (ISEP).

Examples of inappropriate behaviors may include:

• violating patient confidentiality;
• falsifying results;
• ignoring established laboratory protocols;
• violating safe work practices;
• exhibiting behaviors which are not consistent with the rules and regulations governing the general operation of the laboratory environment;
• inappropriate communication and collaboration (including on social media) with others, including but not limited to students, teachers, clinical instructors, and other hospital staff;
• failure to demonstrate professional and personal responsibility in all aspects of their training;
• inability to deal with stressful situations in the laboratory in a responsible manner;
• Disrespect for cultural and ethnic diversity;
• Lack of dependability (reliability, punctuality, attendance, follow through on responsibilities, cooperation).

Students expelled on the basis of inappropriate professional conduct may appeal the expulsion to the Academic Dean.

Co-requisite for the Procurement Stage, 140-461-DW, in Term 4

In order to register for the Procurement Stage in Term 4:

• Co-requisite: Student must be currently registered in or have completed the Clinical Hematology course (140-451-DW) in Term 4

Literacy Policy

Preamble

Students in the Biomedical Laboratory Technology Program are expected to develop listening, verbal and written communication skills that are appropriate to the professional practice of medical laboratory science.  Students who have not met a minimum level of appropriate communication skills will have great difficulty functioning at a proficient level in the Clinical Internship. Specifically, students in this program must develop the ability:

• to communicate orally, in a clear and professional manner, in both French and English, with colleagues, other health care workers and patients;
• to write clearly and concisely in English;
• to comprehend and follow oral instructions;
• to comprehend written information, such as reference materials or laboratory protocols;
• to identify and minimize possible barriers to communication;
• to work in a team environment in a collaborative and cooperative way with colleagues and other health professionals;
• to write analytically;
• to use informational technology to facilitate communication.

Evaluation and Assessment

The following evaluation tools will be used in different components of the Program (as appropriate) to promote the development and assess the attainment of literacy skills:

• written portions of lab reports, essays and other course work may include an assessment of literacy (see individual course outlines for details);
•  team situations may be used and evaluated in laboratory exercises;
• reading material from textbooks and laboratory protocols may be assigned and evaluated for comprehension and practical application;
• oral communication skills and the ability to comprehend oral instructions will be evaluated through the Professional Technical Competencies in each laboratory of every course;
• the Comprehensive Assessment will contain both an English and a French written component;
  communication skills will be assessed in the Clinical Internship as part of the professional evaluation of each rotation;
• students will produce laboratory reports and projects using appropriate and relevant computer technologies and following the prescribed format; oral presentation may also be required;
• the competencies of the General Education component will be assessed through the general education courses.

Additionally, students must also pass:

• the English exit exam as a DEC requirement

Students completing their secondary school education outside of Quebec will also be required to pass:

• French written and oral examinations through the Office de la langue française for membership with the OPTMQ (see Program Manual for more details)

Students requiring help in the development of effective literacy and communication skills can seek assistance through the Learning Centre.

Attendance Policy

Attendance at lecture periods is not compulsory. However, it is strongly recommended that students attend all lectures. Students are responsible for all information that is given out during the lecture, i.e., notification of assignments, tests, lab changes, etc.

The laboratory component of the course is essential to your training as a medical laboratory technologist. Attendance in the laboratory is compulsory. The only acceptable exceptions are medical or religious reasons. A medical certificate is required. The student must contact the teacher and is responsible for the material from the missed lab. In most cases, the lab that is missed cannot be redone. The student may be asked to submit an equivalent assignment or report. There will be no impact on the graded work for a laboratory that is missed with an acceptable reason. An absence from the lab without an acceptable reason will result in an unsatisfactory grade and a zero in any graded work for that laboratory. Regardless of the reason for missing any labs, a student who misses three labs will be given a failing grade of 55% in the course, according to the Professional Technical Competencies (see above).

Academic Integrity Policy

Preamble

The Biomedical Laboratory Technology Department will not tolerate any form of cheating, fabrication or falsification of results by students. Any incident of cheating will be dealt with most severely. Medical technologists work in a field where falsified or fabricated results could cause an incorrect diagnosis and treatment of a disease, which could in turn endanger the life of a patient. Because of the extremely serious consequences of any type of cheating, all work done by students in the Biomedical Laboratory Technology Department (i.e., tests, quizzes, home assignments, laboratory quizzes, laboratory reports, final examination, etc.,) must be performed with complete honesty, integrity and seriousness as befitting the profession for which the student is in training.

Penalties

Didactic Portion of the Program
Action in response to an incident of cheating and plagiarism, up to and including the failure of a student in the course, is within the authority of the teacher. The course outline stipulates the consequences of cheating and plagiarism for a particular course. The Department will be informed of all incidents of cheating. A second incident of cheating will result in a recommendation to the Dean to immediately and permanently withdraw the student from the Program. Any incident of cheating which has an impact on the student’s grade will be reported in writing to the Dean; a copy of this report will be given to the student.

In the weekly laboratory work and laboratory examinations and quizzes, cheating includes the following:

• falsification of results (i.e. changing results in order to make values appear within acceptable limits);
  fabrication of results;
• invention of numbers on laboratory reports (i.e., making up results because the student was not capable of finishing work in the allotted time, etc.);
• using another student’s work as one’s own, etc.;
• plagiarism as defined by the presentation or submission by a student of another person’s work as his or her own (including copying, paraphrasing, purchasing or otherwise acquiring published or unpublished work without acknowledging the source).

In class tests and in final theory examinations, cheating includes:

• copying another student’s work;
• bring any form of “cheat notes” into class (this includes the use of watches and calculators that store text);
• talking without permission during tests and examinations;
• having another student write an examination for you; etc.

In any incident involving collusion, all of the people involved will be penalized equally.

Clinical Portion of the Program
Any incident of cheating (falsification or fabrication of results in the hospital) will result in a recommendation to the Dean to immediately and permanently withdraw the student from the Program.

College Academic Integrity Policy

The above academic integrity policy is the Biomedical Laboratory Technology Department’s supplement to the College Academic Integrity Policy. Students are encouraged to inform themselves as to the penalties and procedures of the College policy. This information is included in the Dawson Calendar and the Institutional Student Evaluation Policy.