Call for Public Comment: Proposed Revisions to Standards 3 and 5
Comments must be received by May 7, 2021
At its February 2021 meeting the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (“ACAOM” or “Commission”) considered modifications to Criterion 3.05, 5.02 and 5.04 of its Comprehensive Standards and Criteria (“Standards”) as noted below.
Before making any substantive changes to its Comprehensive Standards and Criteria, it is ACAOM’s long-standing practice to provide notice to all relevant stakeholders and constituencies (“interested parties”) of proposed changes; give the interested parties adequate opportunity to comment on the proposed changes; and use the input received to help inform proposed changes.
The Commission proposes the following substantive changes; new/added text appears in red, and removed text appears in strikethrough:
STANDARD 3: GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION, Criterion 3.05: Administrative and Academic Leadership, Institutional Components:
A. The institution must employ a president/chief executive officer (CEO) whose principal employment and responsibilities are to the institution and its program(s). responsible for the entire operation of the institution.
B. The president/CEO must be responsible for the entire operation of the institution and must serve as the liaison between the governing body and institutional staff.
C. The president/CEO must be appropriately qualified as document by education, training, and professional experience.
D. An individual may not simultaneously serve as the president/CEO for more than one institution offering an ACAOM-accreditable program.
STANDARD 5: ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT SERVICES, Criterion 5.02: Admissions, Programmatic Components, subcomponent D.2 (Master's level programs):
A maximum of 30 semester credits (or 50%) of the prerequisite two-year education requirement may be earned through prior learning assessment using either, or a combination, of the following assessment techniques: (1) credit by examination using recognized, independently administered and validated standardized tests and/or (2) assignment of credit for military and corporate training based on recommendations established by the American Council on Education.
STANDARD 5: ADMISSION AND STUDENTS, Criterion 5.04: Non-Matriculated Students, Programmatic Components:
ALL PROGRAMS
A. Non-matriculated students who are enrolled in courses must meet all of the corresponding program's admission requirements and course prerequisites, or they must demonstrate sufficient prior education and experience to successfully complete those curses.
B. The program must ensure that participation by non-matriculated students in program courses does not adversely affect the quality of instruction.
MASTER'S LEVEL AND PROFESSIONAL DOCTORAL [DAc] PROGRAMS
C. Credits from ACAOM-accredited entry level programs that are earned as a non-matriculated student may not be used to fulfill the corresponding program's admissions requirements as stipulated under Criterion 5.02: Admissions.
PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS
Interested parties are invited to comment on the proposed revisions to the Standards outlined above, using any of the following methods:
1. Via online survey instrument at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ACAOMPubCmt210407
2. Via electronic mail, in the form of an attached PDF document with the signature of the commenter, sent to info@mikes140.sg-host.com [Email subject line must include “Public Comment – Standard 3 and 5 proposed revisions”]
Comments must be received no later than 4:30pm US Central Time on May 7, 2021. 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.
Comments timely submitted will be considered by the Commission in accordance with ACAOM’s Standards Revision Policy. ACAOM cannot guarantee that comments relating to this matter received after the due date and time will be considered.