Phlebotomy Program Policies

Policy on Minor Children

Children are not permitted in classrooms or in the MLT student laboratory.  This is a College-wide rule.  Please make arrangements for your children when schools are closed or when they are sick and cannot attend school.  The College does have a child Care Center on campus that students may use and they offer part-time hours.

Prepared for Lab Policy

Students are required to bring everything they need to each lab session.  This includes gloves, safety glasses, closed toed shoes and a disposable fluid resistant lab coat.  Short shorts, sleeveless tops or sandals may not be worn in the lab.  The Phlebotomy/MLT Program does not supply gloves for student use during lab sessions.  The gloves in the lab are for faculty use.  Students not prepared for lab will not be able to stay for lab.

Academic Grading Policy

The grading policy for the Phlebotmy Program courses is a letter system with an associated percent.  Final grades at the end of each semester become part of the student’s permanent record. 

Students must receive a passing grade (75 minimum) in all 3 areas of the course:  Lecture, Lab, and Clinical to pass.  Receiving a failing or unacceptable grade in any one area will result in a grade of D or F in the course.

Grading Course component breakdown: 

*Additional clinical time may be scheduled if deemed necessary by clinical faculty to ensure competency in phlebotomy skills. Students are required to pass a Venipuncture competency with a grade of 85 out of 100 points during one of the lab sessions prior performing VP at the clinical site.  Clinical grade consist of two evaluation, each worth 50% of the grade. Lecture grade is calculated as follows: 5 exams, Power point presentation and lecture attendance (total of 35 % from the grade). 

Attendance Policy

Attendance at all lectures, labs and clinical rotation days are required.  Students missing a lecture class are responsible for the material presented and should ask a classmate for a copy of their notes and any handouts from class. College policy states that any student who has missed the equivalent of 2 weeks of class may be dropped from the course; therefore, a student who does so without legitimate documentation will be dropped from this class.

Clinical hours requirement is 100 hours (even, not less). Student can miss only two clinical days for a legitimate reason. If you are late or cannot attend a scheduled clinical day, you must notify the MLT clinical coordinator as well as your clinical site and make up the missed hours at a later time. If student fails to inform your clinical sites and your clinical coordinator about being late/missing a day, it will result in dismissal from the clinical site. Repeated lateness or unsafe behavior can result in dismissal from the clinical site as well.  

Students must make every effort to attend class when an exam is scheduled.  If you are not able to attend class when an exam is being given, YOU MUST NOTIFY THE INSTRUCTOR BEFORE THE SCHEDULED CLASS TIME.  Any student that does not notify the instructor as indicated will receive a grade of 0 (zero) for that exam.  Students with a valid excuse to miss an exam, will be given the opportunity to take a makeup exam.

The course syllabus discusses the lab attendance policy – students missing a lab will receive a grade of 0 (zero) unless they make arrangements with the instructor to attend a different lab section that week.  Labs cannot be made up on a different week.

Inclement Weather

In the event of inclement weather, classes and clinical assignments will resume as scheduled, unless the College is officially closed.  The academic and clinical attendance policies are set forth for students who are absent due to inclement weather when the College is not officially closed.     

It is the student’s responsibility to check one of the following for official College closing due to snow:

1. The notice of College closing will be placed on the College’s home page www.ccp.edu  and on the College’s portal log-in page My.CCP.edu. 
2. E2Campus is another option to obtain information regarding school closing due to a weather emergency. E2Campus is a free mass text and email notification system used by the College in the event of a campus-wide emergency. To immediately receive important notifications from the College - everything from a building fire to severe weather closures, students can go to the following website and sign up for E2Campus: http://www.e2campus.com/my/ccp/signup.htm. 

Policy on Student Service Work

At no time are Phlebotomy students to be substituted for regular staff while on clinical rotation.  Students are to be supervised at all times while at the clinical site with sufficient hospital staff to perform the routine duties and supervise students.

Withdrawal Policy

Any student wishing to, or required to, withdraw from the Program during an academic semester must comply with the following procedures:

• Meet with the Program Director to obtain a “Drop” form
• Submit the “Drop” form to the Admissions Office in the Bonnell Building

If these procedures are not followed, the student will remain on the Program attendance lists, and will receive a grade of “F” for the courses in which they are registered during the respective semester.

MLT/Phlebotomy Programs’ Policy on Academic Dishonesty

All members of the College Community are expected to obey all public laws and abide by all College regulations.  Students are expected to be well motivated and constructive in their pursuit of learning.  Attendance at the College is a privilege and not a right; students through their act of registration concede to the College the right to dismiss any student at any time when it is deemed necessary in order to safeguard the College’s ideals of scholarship and character and to secure compliance with its regulations. 

Academic integrity emphasizes fairness and honesty in academic study and communication and is a shared commitment and responsibility of students, faculty, and administrators. See Conduct – Academic Integrity Policy (Memorandum #3 see Academic Integrity | Community College of Philadelphia). Students who commit acts of academic dishonesty will be subject of disciplinary action by the College through due process procedures for student conduct violations. Committing acts of academic dishonesty may result in assignment failure, exam failure, course failure and/or dismissal from the MLT or Phlebotomy program.

Violations of academic integrity can include, but are not limited to, cheating and plagiarism. Cheating is an intentional effort to deceive or gain an unfair advantage in completing academic work. Plagiarism is the act of using the work of another person and passing it off as your own. Any violation may lead to disciplinary action. Here are common examples of academic integrity violations, including but not limited to: 

Academic Dishonesty

1. Cheating behaviors include but are not limited to:

• Examining or copying another student’s answers during a test exam, or lab practical exam.
• Examining or copying another student’s paper or lab report.
• Bringing notes to class during a test (scrap paper, sleeves, hands).
• Using a dictionary or other book during an exam.
• Asking someone for an answer during an exam.
• Having someone else take an exam for you.
• Having in your possession without permission, any materials belonging to or generated from faculty staff or students.
• Purposely missing a scheduled exam to take it at a later date after discussing the exam with other students.
• Using an electronic device such as a cell phone or graphing calculator to look at information or photos during an exam.

Aiding another student to commit an act of academic dishonesty including but not limited to:

• Willfully offering answers or information related to tests or exams.
• Doing another student’s assignment (in or out of the classroom).
• Taking a test for another student.
• Failing to report knowledge of another student cheating. 

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying from any source without quotes and appropriate documentation.
• Re-wording an idea from a source but omitting documentation.
• Having another person write for you or copying another person’s work.
• Having another person correct mistakes on your paper. (suggested revisions are acceptable).

Advising

Faculty members in the Program are student advisors and mentors.  Advisement sessions may be initiated by faculty or students as deemed necessary.  Faculty availability for advising will be made known to the student.  Availability of Program faculty does not reduce the responsibility of the student for academic and clinical success.  

Alcohol and Drug Use

Student use of alcohol, non-prescription or illegal drugs while in the classroom, lab, or clinical education setting is strictly prohibited.  Suspected impairment may result in the request of a drug test and possible dismissal from the Program pending the results.  

Dismissal from the Program

The Phlebotomy Program reserves the right to dismiss any student:

• who fails to observe the regulations of College and its clinical affiliates,
• whose skills, attitude and behavior are viewed as inconsistent with professional standards, 
• whose general conduct is detrimental to the College and its clinical affiliates, 
• whose attendance at the clinical site is unacceptable,  
• who does not meet the competency requirements of the Phlebotomy Program.

Readmission Policy

Students who withdraw from the Program in good standing may apply for readmission only once.  Students dropped from the program because of academic deficiencies will be considered for a second admission to the program after remediation of the deficiencies and recommendation of the MLT faculty.

Program readmission is not guaranteed and is dependent upon program capacity and availability. A student must be eligible for readmission according to the College standards. Students who request to be considered for program readmission must meet the current admissions criteria and requirements at the time the request for readmission is placed.

Students Ineligible for Readmission:

• Students who are dismissed from the Phlebotomy program due to a grade "D" or lower in a clinical portion of the program (course MLT 102).
• Students who are dismissed from the MLT program due to inappropriate conduct and/or violations of the College's academic integrity policy, clinical code of conduct, moral/ethical standards, professional standards or performance standards. 

Student Records

Post-secondary schools allow students the privilege to inspect and review their educational records.  Records kept in the office of the Program Director and MLT faculty for three years from graduation or last date of attendance. 

The academic transcripts are kept permanently by the College’s Office of Students Records and Registration (policy 7.51, last page).  All of the College’s transcripts contain the legal name, grades and credits, admission and completion dates for each student.    

A student desiring to gain access to records kept in the Program Director’s office must submit a written request for an appointment to discuss their files.  This request must include the student’s name, College ID number, and the request must be signed by the student.

Faculty Rights

Sanctions available to faculty include, but are not limited to:

1. requiring a student to re-take an exam or re-write a paper or lab assignment.
2. administratively withdraw the student from the class 
3. require the student to drop out of the MLT/Phlebotomy program.
4. give the student a failing grade for the course.

Student Rights

Students may appeal decisions regarding final grades as per College policy.  Student rights and obligations are available in the College’s Student Handbook, which can be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs (M2-37), the Office of Student Activities (S1-10A) or on the web at www.ccp.edu. See Appendix C. for the Complaint form.

Pregnancy Policy

If a student becomes pregnant while enrolled in the Phlebotomy/MLT Program, disclosure of the pregnancy is entirely voluntary.  However, since potential BBP exposure to the unborn child could be harmful, the student is strongly encouraged to notify the Program Director in writing once confirmation of the pregnancy has occurred.  Upon notification, the student will need to get permission from the OBGYN to continue the program. See pregnancy form in the Appendix B.  

Program’s closure policy

30 day Teach out plan in case of college closure.

In case of temporarily closure of the program due to the damage to the facilities, didactic portion will be moved to Canvas and laboratories to Northeast Regional center.

In case of the program’s closure, current and prospective students would be given 6 months notice prior the closure date. Program closure information will be posted on college website. All current students will be able to finish the program before the closure will take an affect. A college official will be designated to clear students applying for the certification exam. Prospective students will be counseled regarding alternative Majors/Areas of Study.

Policy on immediate closure of the clinical site or discontinuation of a clinical site/agreement with the clinical site.

Upon the effect of any termination of the affiliation agreement between the College and the Clinical sites, students already in clinical training shall be allowed to complete the requirements for satisfactory completion of the clinical course. The Program Director will place the student at a different location to complete clinical requirements in the event of immediate closure or discontinuation of a clinical site/agreement.

COVID-19 addendum to the policy:

In the event of suspension of the clinical practice due to the Pandemic, students already in clinical training shall be allowed to complete the clinical practice as soon as the suspension is lifted before any new students can be placed into the clinical sites. The program will transfer all on-campus educational activities into the online format during the college closure until the permission to return to classes is issued. The program will create or purchase online simulations/activities to replace some of the clinical exercises to test clinical competencies.