CAAHEP Communiqué February 2013

An Open Hearing for the proposed Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Surgical Technology will be held on Sunday, April 14, 2013, at 5:00 PM (EST) at the Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403.

If you wish to comment on the proposed Standards, please do so in writing to Kathleen Megivern no later than 5:00 PM (EST) on January 18, 2013. You can view the proposed Standards on the CAAHEP website.

Annual Meeting Registration Open

Registration material for the CAAHEP Annual Meeting is available online. Be sure to register early and take advantage of the discounted registration rate. Hotel reservations are to be made directly with the hotel. See the Annual Meeting page on the CAAHEP website for the all the details on the CAAHEP 2013 Annual Meeting, April 14-15, 2013, Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC.

Commissioner News

Welcome Rob Wagoner, the newly appointed CAAHEP Commissioner for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Mark Your Calendar

CAAHEP 2013 Annual Meeting

April 14-15, 2013

Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC

CAAHEP Board Meeting Schedule

The CAAHEP Board of Directors takes accreditation actions six times per year (January, March, May, July, September, and November). The following are the remainder of the 2013 meeting dates:

March 15, 2013 - Conference Call Meeting

May 17, 2013 - Conference Call Meeting

July 17-18, 2013 - Boston, MA

September 20, 2013 - Conference Call Meeting

November 15, 2013 - Conference Call Meeting

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From the President

Cameron Harris,
RPSGT

In the last issue of the CAAHEP Communiqué, I discussed the trend of increasing interest by the federal government in the value received for funds spent on student aid. The accreditation community has been analyzing the actions of the administration and reactions in the academic community. While President Obama has been expressing concern about accessibility and affordability of education, he has not previously expressed specific interest in the accreditation system.

Although the President did not specifically mention educational accreditation in his State of the Union Address this month, he did reference it in his Plan for a Strong Middle Class and a Strong America that accompanied the speech. A key component of the Plan is "Equipping Americans with the Skills They Need," which the President, in part, intends to achieve by holding colleges accountable for the cost, value, and quality of education purchased with the more than $150 billion of student aid provided by the federal government annually. The Plan encourages Congress to call upon the existing accreditation system to incorporate measures of value and affordability or to establish a new, alternative system of accreditation to serve as gatekeeper for federal student aid. While the expectation of accreditors acting as gatekeepers for federal funding is not a novel idea, consideration of creating an alternative system is.

The President's Plan also mentions a College Scorecard that the President had called for last year. Within a week of the address, the Department of Education has unveiled the Scorecard to give students and families clear information about college costs and quality as they make decisions about higher education (see article below). Timing of the release of The College Scorecard was clearly intended to underscore the President's determination to address the issue of accountability for education spending.

Outcomes of the President's Plan, as stated, will affect primarily institutional accreditors but any resulting legislation has the potential of affecting specialized and programmatic accreditors, such as CAAHEP. To keep a finger on that pulse and to give a seat at the table, CAAHEP's relationship with the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA) is important.

ASPA came into existence in the mid 1990's when the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation began its transition into the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As an organization with a membership of 60 specialized and professional accreditors, ASPA provides the only unified voice for this constituency. At its meetings, ASPA provides a forum for discussion and analysis of issues related to programmatic accreditation, as well as professional development, current information and networking opportunities for individuals and organizations with accreditation responsibility. ASPA also advocates the interests of its members to the higher education community, government, institutional accreditors, and recognition agencies.

All members and staff of the Committees on Accreditation affiliated with CAAHEP are welcome to attend ASPA meetings as a member. The CAAHEP Board of Directors recently decided to continue offering a subsidy for attendance at ASPA meetings for select staff and members of CoAs. Contact Kathy Megivern for information on this opportunity.

If you have not already done so, please make plans to attend the 2013 CAAHEP Annual Meeting in Charleston South Carolina on April 14-15.

CAAHEP Seeks Practitioner Leader to Serve as Commissioner

At the 2012 Annual Meeting the CAAHEP Bylaws were amended to add a Commissioner position to represent "practitioners" in the professions whose educational programs are accredited by CAAHEP. This Commissioner will also serve on the CAAHEP Board of Directors.

There is information on the Practitioner Commissioner position posted on the CAAHEP website, along with a Nomination Form. The Practitioner's term of office is three years and a person may serve up to two consecutive terms. The CAAHEP Board of Directors will select the individual to fill this slot based on a review of the forms received. Travel expenses to all meetings of the Commission and the Board of Directors will be paid by CAAHEP.

If you know of any practitioner who meets the criteria and who may be interested in this position, please encourage them to fill out the Nomination Form and return it to the CAAHEP Office no later than February 28, 2013. The Board will make its selection at their March teleconference so that the individual can plan to attend the first Board meeting scheduled for July 17-18, 2013 in Boston.

CAAHEP Board Meeting Highlights

The CAAHEP Board met in Tampa, Florida, January 25, 2013, and the following is a synopsis of Board actions and activities:

The Board took accreditation action on 47 programs
The Board approved a Reserves Policy, a refinement of the definition of the Audit Committee's responsibilities, and an edit to the CAAHEP Reimbursement Policy.
Cameron Harris made the following appointments to the Officer Selection Candidacy Committee: Hugh Bonner, Chair, Cynthia Butters, and John Padgett. The Committee will identify individuals seeking nomination as an Officer of the CAAHEP Board of Directors.
The Board approved the Standards Committee recommendation to approve the Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in Personal Fitness Training. In addition, a Policy language revision was approved addressing policies on how to handle Appendix B (curriculum) changes only to Standards.
An Open Hearing for the proposed Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Standards was conducted on January 25, 2013.

Should you have any question regarding the CAAHEP Board of Directors meeting, please contact Kathleen Megivern.

Interative Online

College Scorecard

The US Department of Education announced the release of an interactive College Scorecard, which provides students and families the critical information they need to make smart decisions about where to enroll for higher education. The College Scorecard highlights key indicators about the cost and value of institutions across the country to help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, their budget, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.

The College Scorecard provides students and families with clear information through an interactive tool that lets them choose among any number of options based on their individual needs - including location, size, campus setting, and degree and major programs. Each Scorecard includes five key pieces of data about a college: costs, graduation rate, loan default rate, average amount borrowed, and employment. These data will be updated periodically, and the Department plans to publish information on earnings potential in the coming year.

Consumers can access a College Scorecard for every degree-granting institution at whitehouse.gov/scorecard, and they can email comments or questions about the tool to collegescorecard@ed.gov.

CHEA Has Board Seats to Fill

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), by which CAAHEP is recognized, invites nominations for the 2013-2016 class of its Board of Directors. A majority of CHEA Board Members must be current chief executive officers of degree-granting colleges and universities. The remaining members of the board of directors shall be current or former trustees, faculty members, academic administrators of higher education institutions and members of the public at-large. CHEA is seeking nominations for up to seven members of the class that will serve from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2016.

See the CHEA website for information about the nomination process and access to the nomination form. Please note the deadline for submissions is March 15, 2013.

Accreditation Actions

The following programs achieved CAAHEP accreditation at the January 24, 2013, Board of Directors meeting. Where possible, there are links directly to each program's website.

Cardiovascular Technology

Continuing

Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, PA (Adult Echocardiography, Invasive Cardiovascular Technology) (Associate)

Initial

Sanford Brown College-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX (Adult Echocardiography) (Associate)

Diagnostic Medical Sonography

Continuing

Harper College, Palatine, IL (Cardiac, General) (Associate)

Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL (General) (Associates)

Nebraska Methodist College, Omaha, NE (Cardiac, General, Vascular) (Associate)

University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS (Cardiac) (Certificate)

Initial