The Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP) now outlines training requirements for programs at the master’s, doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. Following the approval of the AOP with additions for master’s-level programs by the APA Board of Directors in February of 2022, the APA Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA) began working to develop corresponding documents.
Implementing Regulations (IRs) are official policy documents that “elucidate, interpret and operationally define” the Commission on Accreditation’s (CoA) policies and procedures. IRs are divided into several different sections (A through E), which are subject to regular review and revision by the CoA. While the IRs for doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral residency programs are already developed, the CoA, through the CoA Master’s Work Group, has made edits to several IRs in Section D, which correspond to the AOP-M.
The following Implementing Regulations (IRs) were changed following the approval of the AOP-M and are being put forth for public comment:
- D.2-4. Policy on Scheduling Site Visits
2. D.3-1. Site Visitor Nomination
3. D.3-2. Site Visitor Selection
4. D.3-3(b). Providing Site Visit Team with Programs’ Responses to Reports
5. D.3-10. Special Site Visits
6. D.3-11. Site Visit Team Composition
7. D.4-1. CoA Executive Committee
8. D.4-5. Monitoring of Programs on “Accredited, Inactive” Status
9. D.4-9. Addressee and Distribution of CoA Decision Letters
10. D.8-1. Confidentiality and Public Disclosure of Information
11. D.8-2. Procedures for Notification of CoA Actions in Accordance with the Secretary of Education’s Standards for Recognition of Accrediting Agencies
12. D.8-3. Policy on Regard of Actions by Institutional Accreditors and State Agencies
13. D.8-5. Implementation Procedure for Notification by the Commission on Accreditation of Final Decisions of Denial/Revocation of Accreditation, Denial of a Site Visit, or Probation to the U.S. Secretary of Education, Appropriate State Licensing Agency, and Appropriate Institutional Accrediting Agency
In accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and U.S. Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA has made the proposed revisions available for a sixty (60) day period of public review and comment with the comment period scheduled to close at 5:00 p.m. EDT on May 31, 2022. Information about the proposed standards and public comment is available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment/.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
Phone: (202) 336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Website: http://www.accreditation.apa.org/