BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE – April 2013

At the April 11, 2013 meeting of the NAACLS Board of Directors, in addition to accreditation and approval awards recommended by the RCAP and PARC, the following items were addressed:

• The CHEA Committee on Recognition recommended that NAACLS be granted recognition by the CHEA Board. The CHEA Board is expected to make its’ decision in late April 2013.
• To ensure that programs outside the United States or its’ territories are sponsored by institutions that meet standards for quality, Standard I.A was amended to include I.A.4 “an Institution recognized by the national government or a regional/national accrediting agency for higher education of the country in which it is located as a post secondary academic institution with degree granting authority (for programs outside the United States)”. Most countries do not utilize a system of regional accreditation or state licensure as does the United States. The Standard change requires foreign-based programs to be recognized by the analogous system used by the country in which the program is located.
• The NAACLS Annual Volunteer Report is posted on the website for review. The NAACLS Annual Volunteer Report contains a statistical performance analysis of volunteers for programs reviewed in 2012. The report also contains a volunteer information packet, and a public recognition of outstanding volunteers that are acknowledged through the Volunteer Recognition Program. The report indicates a high level of program satisfaction with NAACLS and its services. To consistently improve the quality of NAACLS services, beginning this year volunteer site visitors will receive individualized feedback. It is noted that the Annual Volunteer Report was lauded as a model at the recent meeting of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA).
• Elections to Board, RCAP and PARC positions were held. Re-elected for a second term to the Board is Margaret Fritsma (ASCP representative). Elected for a first term to the Board are Elton Richards (public member) and Marcia Armstrong (ASCLS representative). Re-elected to the RCAP for a second term are Cheryl Davis (4 year educator) and Mary Ann Sens (anatomic pathologist). Elected to the RCAP for a first term are Janelle Chiasera (MLS Educator), Audrey Hentzen (MLT Educator), and Andrea Rhodes (cytogenetics educator). Re-elected to PARC for a second term are Colette Schrank (phlebotomy educator), Andrea Gordon (clinical assistant educator), and Sally Pestana (clinical assistant educator). Elected to PARC for a first term are Mary Ellen Tancred (phlebotomy educator) and Dawn Tripolino (phlebotomy educator).
• Standard IV.A.1 was edited for clarity to better denote that program publications must be available to the public as well as potential students.  Also clarified was that the institution has the prerogative to choose the method of publication, such as flyers, websites or other materials available upon request.
• The proposal to add HT(BOC) certification, in addition to the current HTL(BOC) certification, as acceptable to meet the required credentials for Program Director and Education Coordinator for HTL programs will be disseminated to stakeholders for a public comment period for 30 days. The proposed changes refer to 2012 HTL Standard 7A1B and 2012 HTL Standard 7B1B. The rationale for the proposed changes is that in practice there is little distinction between the job descriptions of the HT and HTL and there are too few programs to educate the needed number of HTL certified educators to meet program positions. The request for public comment will appear in the NAACLS News blog and be posted in the CLS educators’ listserve.
• The draft Compliance Verification Guide (CVG), developed and submitted by the Users Guide Task Force, was discussed and forwarded to the NAACLS review committees for editing and further suggestions. The CVG with suggested changes will be deliberated by the Board when available.
• Recommendations from the Accreditation Paradigms Task Force for the new Standards were adopted by the Board:
  • New preliminary report requirements with an expanded section focusing on program assessment;
  • A method for counting citations;
  • Replacement of the term “marginal compliance” with “partial compliance” to better express that a Standard has not been adequately met;
  • Maximum awards of ten (10) and five (5) years for accredited and approved programs, respectively, that meet a written set of requirements.

Dianne M. Cearlock, PhD

Chief Executive Officer