Public Comment: Proposed Standards/Criteria for Chinese Herbology Certificate Programs [Jul. 1, 2018]
The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (“ACAOM” or “Commission”) has the authority to establish and promulgate criteria and rubrics for the evaluation and accreditation of acupuncture and Oriental medicine institutions and programs. These take the form of accreditation standards and criteria, as well as various policies and procedures. ACAOM uses these standards as assessment measures to help ensure that institutions/programs pursuing and maintaining ACAOM accreditation meet acceptable levels of quality.
As required by the U.S. Department of Education, ACAOM maintains a systematic program of review that demonstrates that its standards are adequate to evaluate the quality of the education or training provided by the institutions and programs it accredits and relevant to the educational or training needs of students.
In order to approve and/or accredit programs within its scope of accreditation, ACAOM must adopt related standards and criteria. The Commission has approved modifications to its Comprehensive Standards and Criteria that address Chinese Herbology Certificate Programs, pending receipt and review of public comment.
Before finalizing any changes to its standards, ACAOM must provide notice to all of the agency’s relevant constituencies, and other parties who have made their interest known to the agency, of the changes the agency proposes to make; give the constituencies and other interested parties adequate opportunity to comment on the proposed changes; and take into account any comments on the proposed changes submitted timely by the relevant constituencies and by other interested parties.
Persons, institutions and organizations with an interest in the Commission’s accreditation standards and policies are invited to comment on the revised accreditation standards and criteria.
The proposed modifications to the Comprehensive Standards and Criteria may be accessed at: https://acahm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Proposed-Std-Crit-Chinese-Herbology-Cert.pdf
Interested persons, institutions, and organizations will be given 30 days to provide comments, through one of the three following methods:
1. Electronically, at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ChineseHerbologyCert
2. By electronic mail, in the form of a letter (document attachment is acceptable), sent to info@mikes140.sg-host.com [subject line must include “Public Comment – Herbology Certificate Standards”]
3. By surface mail, in the form of a letter, sent to:
ACAOM
8941 Aztec Dr., Suite 2
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
Attn: Public Comment – Revised Standards
Comments must be received no later than 5:00pm US Central Time on Thursday, August 2, 2018. Comments must be limited to the proposed change; comments that do not pertain specifically to the proposed change will not be considered at this time.
A constructive, information-rich comment that clearly communicates and supports its claims is more likely to have an impact on Commission decision making. There are many resources available on the Internet regarding writing effective public comments, including https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/thought-leadership/taking-the-mystery-out-of-filing-comments-proposed-rules.
The Commission, after considering written comments, may adopt the revised accreditation standards, policies and procedures as proposed, adopt with changes or modifications, defer action until further study and consideration is given, or discard the proposed changes altogether.