The Medical Withdrawal policy allows students who are experiencing severe, acute and unexpected mental health or medical episodes an opportunity to withdraw from their current semester of study. The Medical Withdrawal process allows for case management support of the student throughout the experience with the goal of creating a path towards readmission when the student is healthy enough to continue at Marquette. This policy has been created purposefully to allow students to prioritize their mental/medical health when a condition significantly impairs their ability to function successfully and/or safely as students. Medical withdrawal applies to all courses in a given term, cannot be used on a class-by-class basis, and initiates withdrawal regardless of approval or denial.

The Medical Withdrawal policy is effective for all undergraduate and health science professional students. The Dental School, Graduate School, Graduate School of Management and Law School have independent policies.

Process

Students who wish to withdraw for mental or medical health related reasons must complete:

• The Medical Withdrawal Request form
• Healthcare Provider Release form,
• A letter from their licensed mental-health or medical treatment professional which substantiates the acute medical episode and supports medical withdrawal from the University.

With the submission of the first piece of paperwork, a student begins the medical withdrawal process that cannot be stopped. Whether medical withdrawal is approved or denied, the student is withdrawn from their current courses. All necessary paperwork must be received by the Medical Withdrawal Committee within 20 calendar days of the submission of the Medical Withdrawal Request Form (allowing time for students to collect appropriate clinical documentation or other necessary support for their request). When students are unable to participate in the medical withdrawal process, the student's parent, spouse, or other designee may ask the Medical Withdrawal Committee to act on the students' behalf; documentation of complete incapacitation or submission of power-of-attorney is necessary in these cases.

When a student begins the medical withdrawal process (or before, if requested), they are assigned a case manager from within the Division of Student Affairs. This individual helps to ensure that the student is supported by Marquette throughout the process. First, if requested, the case manager is available to help the student explore what options might be available to the student before requesting a medical withdrawal. If the student moves forward with requesting medical withdrawal, the case manager remains in contact with the student throughout the process, including during the withdrawal period and after the student returns to Marquette, to support the student.

The university does not grant retroactive medical withdrawals of any kind for previous sessions/terms. In addition, all previously graded courses at the time of the request remain on the academic record, regardless of the session/term in which the courses were taken. Students who take a standard withdrawal during the term may not convert that standard withdrawal to a medical withdrawal at any time.

The window for medical withdrawal begins immediately after the Add/Drop deadline for the term/session, and extends to the deadline for the student’s last submission of graded material in the term/session or the last day of the term, whichever comes first.

An approved medical withdrawal results in a grade of W for any ungraded course in the term of withdrawal, unless an administrative withdrawal (ADW) grade is warranted. A medical withdrawal does not appear as a specific reason for withdrawal on the official transcript. Incomplete medical withdrawal requests are converted to standard withdrawals on the 21^st day after the process is begun. Denial of a medical withdrawal request results in the processing of a standard withdrawal before the published withdrawal deadline for the session, and the provision of a WF grade if beyond it. Denial may be appealed only in limited circumstances (see below). Students are refunded tuition per the Office of the Bursar’s standard refund schedule. 

When a student is ready to return from an approved medical withdrawal, their case manager assists them in understanding the steps involved in requesting readmission to the university, though it remains the student’s responsibility to initiate the readmission process. Students who have taken a medical withdrawal, and would like to begin the process of readmission must:

• Submit an updated letter from their licensed mental-health or medical care provider which substantiates their readiness to engage in their academics, describes what improvements have been made during medical withdrawal, and supports their decision to return to the university
• Maintain an open release of information between this care provider and the university during the process of readmission.
• Submit a completed Medical Withdrawal: Return to Marquette University form
• Submit a completed Request for Readmission form

Clinician feedback collected during the readmission process informs but does not dictate the decisions of the Medical Withdrawal Committee. Satisfactory paperwork must be submitted at least 30 calendar days prior to the start of the session/term in which students desire to return to the university. Failure to meet the 30-day deadline results in deferment of committee and college decision making, and readmission. 

Readmission to the university is not guaranteed and is based on both the Medical Withdrawal Committee’s recommendations, and the student’s college’s ability to re-admit the student. An approved medical withdrawal exempts students from academic censure, although students are subject to Satisfactory Academic Progress as required by federal financial aid regulations. A medical withdrawal results in a registration hold placed on students' record until such time they are cleared to return and is renewed once for the first term of re-enrollment to ensure compliance with the conditions of readmission. Students are required to meet with the CARE team case manager during the first session of readmission to facilitate their connection with appropriate resources across campus, and to confirm that the conditions of readmission have been met. The registration hold is removed by the case manager after consultation with the Medical Withdrawal Committee.

Federal financial aid regulations require the university to submit notification of all changes in status (full-time to half-time, etc.), to the U.S. Department of Education within a prescribed period. The university therefore reserves the right to withdraw students from a class or classes when it is evident the students never attended a class/classes (grade of UW assigned); students stopped attending a class/classes (grade of WA); or, due to incapacity, students must be withdrawn from a class/classes (grade of W). This policy is in effect for all students, regardless of any financial aid award.

Medical Withdrawal Requests when Not Enrolled

Students may request a medical withdrawal if they are not actively enrolled. The process stipulated above applies to these requests, except students continue to be subject to academic censure related to performance in their last term of enrollment at Marquette.

Medical Withdrawal Committee

The Medical Withdrawal Committee is comprised of members representing the Office of Student Affairs, the Marquette Medical Clinic, the Marquette Counseling Center, the Office of Disability Services and the Office of Student Educational Services. There is one ex-officio member representing the Office of the Registrar, and the committee identifies ad-hoc representation from within each college. The committee may consult with other appropriate parties on campus, in compliance with FERPA, to ensure that the decision-making process is appropriately informed.

Medical Withdrawal Appeal

The decisions of the Medical Withdrawal Committee are final, and may only be appealed when a requestor or their designee believes that the Medical Withdrawal policy was not followed appropriately.

Students have the right to appeal the Medical Withdrawal Committee's actions by submitting, in writing, a request for appeal to the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs within five business days of the date of the committee's letter.

When appeal is warranted, the appellate officer directs the Medical Withdrawal Committee to revisit the initial request, addressing any concerns that warranted the appeal.

Withdrawal vs. Medical Withdrawal

	Standard University Withdrawal*	Medical Withdrawal*
Grade(s) Issues	Withdrawal (W) grades for each course in the term with the exception of any courses in which final grades have already been posted, including previous withdrawal grades, or the grade of ADW (administrative withdrawal) is warranted.	Withdrawal (W) grades for each course in the term with the exception of any courses in which final grades have already been posted, or the grade of ADW (administrative withdrawal) is warranted.
Official Transcript	No notation on the transcript	No notation on the transcript
Tuition Refund	Follows normal withdrawal schedule, as posted on the Marquette Central website.	Slightly extended refund schedule. No refund provided after the tenth week of the term.
Academic Censure	Subject to university censure (RWAR) and college academic censure (probation and CAA).	Not subject to university academic censure (RWAR) or college academic alert censure (CAA).
Financial Aid	Subject to financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements. Any additional financial aid implications (loan repayment, scholarship eligibility, etc.) are based on students' aid package and should be confirmed through Marquette Central.	Subject to financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements.; Any additional financial aid implications (loan repayment, scholarship eligibility, etc.) are based on students' aid package and should be confirmed through Marquette Central.
Withdrawal Paperwork	Withdrawal from All Courses and/or the university form.	Medical Withdrawal form, which includes: personal statement outlining the rationale for the request; a licensed health care provider's statement on letter head confirming the need for withdrawal and dates of the medical condition; Medical Withdrawal-Healthcare Provider Release information form.
Eligibility for return to MU	Eligible to enroll in the term immediately following, unless subject to academic or other censure.; No paperwork is required; see the Readmission section of this bulletin.	Submission of paperwork required at least 30 days prior to return. Paperwork includes the Medical Withdrawal Return to Marquette University form, Healthcare Provider Report forms and Request for Readmission.

1	After the deadline to Add/Drop, as published in the University Academic Calendar.

All forms, withdrawal refund schedule and the Academic Calendar can be located on the Marquette Central website.