VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

while emphasizing community, collaboration, and a spirit of unity and enjoyment for the people that we interact with on a daily basis. SGA is excited to be able to do great things for fellow classmates and join with administration to make medical education a great experience. The Class Officers are elected each year by the members of their class. Class Officers represent the interest of their class to administration, faculty, and Student Affairs. Class Officers also represent individual members of their class to administration, when requested, through Promotion Board and PESB. To hold an officer position with a VCOM student organization or committee, students are required to be in good academic and behavioral standing with no failing course grades and a minimum 3.4 GPA. Student officers of the Student Government Association (SGA), Class, and Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) are required to be in good academic and behavioral standing with no failing course grades and a minimum 3.5 GPA due to the increased time commitment that these positions require. As all officer positions require a substantial dedication of time to the duties of an officer, a minimum GPA is required. Individual student organizations may have an academic requirement above these minimum limits. If an officer's GPA falls below the required minimum, they will be given one block to raise it to the required level. Failure to do so will result in removal from their officer position. Students who are on academic probation, who are not making good academic progress, or who do not pass COMLEX will be required to resign in order to dedicate full efforts to their academic program. Students who are found guilty of an honor code violation are not eligible to hold an officer position. After being elected, officers will be reviewed for continued eligibility to continue to hold office and may be required to resign if academic or behavioral concerns arise. The Class President and Vice President for the third-year class must be located at a rotation site in a region within one hour of the main VCOM campus for which they are representing in order to maintain their position. Students who will not be in a nearby region should not run for a class officer position in the OMS 3 or OMS 4 year. Student officers may also be asked to serve at the time of the Promotion Board and the Professional and Ethical Standards Boards and; therefore, must be within easy driving distance. Typically, students may not hold more than one officer position at a time. If a student desires to run for a second officer position (including an official committee chair position), he/she must seek approval from the Associate Dean for Student Affairs before doing so. Student Organizations VCOM promotes an environment where students balance curricular, extra-curricular, and professional experiences. Therefore, the total number of student organizations and committees are limited to those that are professional in nature and that fall under career interests or profession related organizations. Student organizations with leadership positions have been established for each campus and there are many opportunities for students to exercise their professional interests within the approved and established student organizations and committees. Since there are already a broad array of existing organizations and committees available at VCOM and since VCOM wishes to maintain strong participation and membership in the existing student organizations, there are no plans to establish additional new organizations and committees. Organizations are limited to primary care fields and/or first entry residency fields. Special interest groups may exist within those organizations (i.e. Surgery Club, Anesthesia Special Interest Group). Groups of students who have professional interests they feel are not currently available at VCOM should meet with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in person for ways to collaborate and work within VCOM’s existing student organizations and committees to meet the student’s goals. To learn more about VCOM student organizations, please visit the VCOM website at: https://www.vcom.edu/students/campus-life/student organizations

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