Referral of Students to Services Addressing Personal Issues: 

The FMU Physician Assistant Program has defined and published written procedures for timely access to services addressing personal issues that may impact student progress. These procedures are consistently applied and readily available in the PAP Student Handbook (Student Services Section, page 36-37). All students receive this handbook and are informed of these policies during new student orientation.

The Francis Marion University – Office of Counseling and Testing offers free counseling services by qualified psychologists to all FMU students upon request. Students may contact the counseling office at any time from the provided link. For more information, visit https://www.fmarion.edu/counselingandtesting/counseling/.

Faculty and Staff of the FMU Physician Assistant Program may contact University Human Resources for direction on counseling contacts at any time from the provided link below: https://www.fmarion.edu/hr/

PA Program & University Link – Student Services / Counseling / Testing / Referrals / Accommodations – Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/counselingandtesting/counseling/

Harassment and other issues – Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/policies/ and

Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/administration/sexualmisconduct/

Policy and Procedure for student mistreatment, and harassment:

The FMU policy and procedure for student mistreatment may be found at this link: https://www.fmarion.edu/studentservices/

Scroll to the middle of page for “Mediation Services” or to the bottom of page for “Student Documents”.

Services and Resources Related to distant/main Campus:

Student services and resources relating to the main campus: Academic Resources –  https://www.fmarion.edu/academics/academicresources/

Faculty Procedure Guidelines for Student Counseling Referrals:

  1. When students express interest in or need for counseling services, faculty will provide:
    1. University Counseling Services contact information
    2. Names of relevant counseling staff
    3. Website link for additional resources
    4. Document resource recommendations in the student advising record.
  2. With the student’s explicit consent, faculty will:
    1. Forward the student’s name and contact information to University Counseling Services contact.
  3. Upon request, faculty will provide information about local community counseling resources,  including but not limited to:
    1.  McLeod Behavioral
    2. Hope Health Behavioral Services
    3. Other accredited local providers

Faculty Grievance and Harassment:

The FMU site for Faculty and Grievance may be found at this link: https://www.fmarion.edu/policies/#1637681211409-0a0e9949-e02f

Review title areas in “Human Resources” then click on the desired link.

Policies and Procedures for Student Grievances: 

The University and PA Program deems it essential that members of the campus community be provided an adequate opportunity to bring concerns, complaints, suggestions and/or referrals to the attention of the administration with the assurance they will be treated promptly, professionally, fairly, and without fear of reprisal. If anyone believes he or she has been mistreated by any member of the campus community, refer to the link below and follow the outline procedures. These procedures are intended to simplify the proper route in which to follow to report any perceived mistreatment by a University employee or student and is not intended to replace any existing policy or process for matters that may be grieved (i.e. sexual harassment, grade appeals, etc.).

Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/studentservices/#1568920608337-1b342ebd-5c4e

Policies and Procedures for Student Appeals:  

Program policies and procedures for student appeals may be found in the PA Program Student Manual on page 35-36.

Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FMU-PAP-Student-Manual-2025-1.pdf

Grade Appeal Policy:

Grade appeals follow the Francis Marion University Grade Appeal Policy which can be found in the Academic Catalog page 55 from the link below.

Link: https://www.fmarion.edu/catalogs/

General Appeal Policy:

The General Appeal Policy may be found in the student handbook on page 36-37.