The following items detail the structure and operating policies that the Accreditation Commission uses in its meetings, which may occur in person, by telephone, or via other electronic technology.
Frequency
There shall be at least two working meetings per year, one at the time of the ACPE Annual Conference and another at the time and place of the annual meeting of the Board and commissions. Other meetings may be held, at the discretion of the Accreditation Commission Chair, at other times, either in person or by video conference telephonic or other electronic means.
Agenda
The Commission chair, in consultation with Commission members and the National Office Staff, sets the agenda. Voting is by simple majority. The chair votes only in the case of a tie.
Commission Review Requirements
The following requests require reviews at the Commission level:
- Ten Year Review.
- Five Year Review if notations are recommended from the regional accreditation committee.
- Request for Accredited Member Center status from satellite program or pre-accredited center.
- Addition of Supervisory CPE.
- Removal of Notations and Deficiencies.
- Requests for Review Postponement.
- Addition of Satellite Program
The following requests do not require reviews at the Commission level but must be reported to the Commission for acceptance:
- Program Changes.
- Requests for Voluntary Withdrawal of Accreditation.
Consent Agenda
The Commission uses a consent agenda process to expedite routine, procedural decisions and decisions likely to need no further action by the Commission. The consent agenda is presented by the ACPE Accreditation Commission Chair at the beginning of a Commission meeting. Any items may be removed from the consent agenda by the request of any member, without question. Items not removed from the consent agenda may be adopted by general consent without debate. Removed items may be taken up immediately after the consent agenda or placed later on the agenda at the discretion of the Chair. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Approval of minutes;
• Approval of requests not requiring discussion (e.g., requests for withdrawal of accreditation, program changes, etc.);
• Approval of reviews not requiring notations, commendations, deficiencies, or discussion, as determined by the Commission reviewer ( reviews of annual reports, five- and ten year reviews, and new requests for accredited membership);
• Final approval of proposals or reports that the Commission has been dealing with for some time and with whose implications all members are familiar;
• Routine matters such as appointments to committees;
• Reports provided for information only; and,
• Correspondence requiring no action.
All other requests which have notations, commendations, deficiencies, or are in need of discussion will not be included on the consent agenda.
The following process is used in creation and use of the consent agenda:
• Regional Accreditation Chairs provide a list of centers for review, and documents requiring review by a Commission reviewer are assigned for a final recommendation to the Commission. Apart from this list, the Regional Accreditation Chairs and the Commission reviewers supply the ACPE Accreditation Commission Chair with a list of other centers needing action, which could be considered for the consent agenda.
• Commission reviewers send the Chair the list of those centers to be recommended for the consent agenda two weeks after having received the material.
• The ACPE Accreditation Commission Chair makes reports and other matters for the meeting agenda known in advance and distributed with an electronic agenda package prior to the beginning of Commission meetings.
• When preparing the meeting agenda, the chair includes for the agenda those items that can be included on the consent agenda as received from the Commission members.
• The list of proposed consent agenda items is e-mailed to all Commission members two (2) weeks prior to the meeting of the Commission.
• The chair ensures that the consent agenda adoption is at a time on the agenda to ensure the greatest number of members possible present for its vote.
• At the beginning of the meeting, the chair polls the Commission to determine if any items will be removed from the consent agenda and discussed individually.
• If a member requests that an item be removed from the consent agenda, it must be removed. Commissioners may request that an item be removed for any reason. Commissioners may wish, for example, to discuss the item, to query the item, or to register a vote against the item.
• Once an item has been removed from the consent agenda, the chair determines at which time in the meeting the matter will be considered. If the item removed from the consent agenda needs discussion by a subcommittee, the subcommittee meets and provides a recommendation to the Commission.
• When no further items are to be removed, and if there is no objection, the consent agenda is adopted. It is not necessary to vote; the items are adopted.
• All items removed from the consent agenda are voted on separately during the course of the Commission meeting.
• The full text of the resolutions, reports or recommendations adopted on the consent agenda are included in the meeting minutes.
• If issues emerge later in the Commission meeting about a center which was part of the consent agenda adoption, the Commission may choose to rescind its previous vote, discuss issues, and vote again, according to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Meeting Minutes
The Commission chair submits minutes of meetings to the Board for review and to ACPE for the record. The record of commission accreditation actions are kept as specified in the 2016 Accreditation Manual, Appendix 7E, “Guide for Policy on ACPE Accreditation Records. Minutes are available to the ACPE and the Commission within 45 days of the end of the meeting. These minutes are not available to the general membership or to the public.
Subcommittees
The Commission may assign a subcommittee(s) of the Commission to review an accreditation request or other issues and formulate recommendations for action by the Commission.
Incorrect or Misleading Information
When the commission determines that a center or a candidacy center has released incorrect or misleading information about itself or its programs, the commission will require the center to publicly correct this information within 30 days with respect to the following three areas:
- The accredited or candidacy status of the program,
- The contents of reports of site teams, or
- ACPE’s accrediting or pre-accrediting actions with respect to the center or program. If the center does not comply, a notation will be assigned to the center.
Authorized Institutions
ACPE accredits only those institutions that are legally authorized under applicable state law to provide a program of education beyond the secondary level. ACPE does not renew, under the conditions described later in this section, the accreditation or pre-accreditation of a center or program during a period in which the institution:
- Is the subject of an interim action by a recognized institutional accrediting agency potentially leading to the suspension, revocation, or termination of accreditation or pre-accreditation;
- Is the subject for an interim action by a state agency potentially leading to the suspension, revocation, or termination of the institution ‘s legal authority to provide post-secondary education
- Has been notified of a threatened loss of accreditation, and the due process procedures required by the action have not been completed; or
- Has been notified of a threatened suspension, revocation, or termination by the State of the institution’s legal authority to provide post-secondary education, and the due process procedures required by the action have not been completed.
In considering whether to grant initial accreditation or candidacy status to a center, ACPE takes into account actions:
- By recognized institutional accrediting centers that have denied accreditation or pre-accreditation to the center, placed the center on public probationary status, or revoked the accreditation or pre-accreditation of the center; and
- By a state agency that has suspended, revoked, or terminated the center’s legal authority to provide post-secondary education.
ACPE does not grant initial or renewed accreditation or pre-accredited center status to a center or pre-accredited center, or a program if the agency knows or has reasonable cause to know that the center is the subject of:
- A pending or final action brought by a State agency to suspend, revoke, withdraw, or terminate the center’s legal authority to provide post-secondary education in the State;
- A decision by a recognized agency to deny accreditation or candidacy center status;
- A pending or final action brought by a recognized accrediting agency to suspend, revoke, withdraw, or terminate the center’s accreditation or pre-accreditation; or
- Probation or an equivalent status imposed by a recognized agency.
ACPE will only grant accreditation or pre-accreditation in the above four situations of pending or final negative action, if within 30 days of its decision, it provides to the Secretary a thorough and reasonable explanation of why the negative action of another agency did not preclude ACPE from making a positive accrediting decision.
If ACPE learns that an institution it accredits or pre-accredits, or an institution that offers a program it accredits or pre-accredits, is the subject of an adverse action by another recognized accrediting agency or has been placed on probation or an equivalent status by another recognized agency, ACPE will promptly review its accreditation or pre-accreditation of the institution or program on probation or show cause.
ACPE will, upon request, share with other appropriate recognized accrediting agencies and recognized state approval agencies information about the accreditation or pre-accreditation status of a center or program and any adverse actions it has taken against an accredited or pre-accredited institution or program.