Fall 2011 Board of Directors Update

(Last Updated On: October 2, 2012)

At the September 23, 2011 meeting of the NAACLS Board of Directors, in addition to accreditation and approval awards recommended by the RCAP and PARC, the following actions were taken:

• The change to NAACLS Standard 7, adding item N, was adopted.  Item N adds the requirement that an outcomes measure be included in publications available to students, potential students and the public.  This change was initially considered at the April 2011 Board meeting and approved for release for public comment.  The Board considered the comments received.
• The updated NAACLS Strategic Plan was received and discussed. The Strategic Plan is a living document intended to change over time.
• The charge for a new task force on International Accreditation is to be developed and members appointed by the President. This task force will develop and recommend a policy for international accreditation activity to be considered by the Board.
• Elections for Board officers were held. Moving from President-Elect to President was Jerry Phipps (AAPA representative). Elected as Vice-President was Jennifer MacDonald (NSH representative).  William Hunt (ASCLS representative) and Fred Rodriguez (ASCP representative) were elected as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.  Yasmen Simonian (ASCLS representative) will continue as Member-at-Large.
• Adopted was the new policy regarding unsatisfactory progress reports that clarifies the award given. Progress reports found unsatisfactory on a previous citation of Noncompliance will be placed on probation for 6 months, while a progress report found unsatisfactory on a previous citation of Marginal Compliance will be placed on probation for one year.
• Adopted was a policy requiring NAACLS to publish the accreditation and approval status (initial, continuing or probationary) on the NAACLS website.
• Adopted was a policy of accepting the ASCP(i) credential as a recognized national certification for program directors of non-US NAACLS accredited and approved programs.
• Two policies for Doctoral programs were adopted.  The first allows up to three reviews for candidacy status before turning down an application, and the second clarifies that each review will be sent to the program as a request for further documentation.  These policies are parallel with the process for other levels of accreditation and approval.
• Draft Standards were reviewed and returned to the Task Force with additional feedback. A timeline for continued development was put into place.
• The Board commended the Online Education Task Force and the Standards Revisions Task Force on their progress.

In addition to Board actions, reports from NAACLS’ sponsoring and participating organizations and current task forces were received and discussed.