BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE – October 2013

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by  Dianne M. Cearlock, PhD, Chief Executive Officer

At the September 20, 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 Board voted not to change requirements for program director credentials for HTL programs in the 2012 Standards. A proposal was made to allow program directors with either HT or HTL credentials to serve as program directors for HTL programs. This proposal was released to the public for 30 days with a request for comment. After consideration, the Board chose to uphold the current Standards without change.
• The 2012 Standards calls for annual reporting but does not specify the content. Approved was a process for annual reporting by all accredited and approved programs that includes student outcomes for graduation, placement and certification exam pass rates as well as significant changes in program enrollments and resources. Collection of these data will be helpful in identifying national trends in clinical laboratory sciences programs and graduates.*
• Benchmarks for Standard II B were adopted for graduation, placement and certification exam pass rates. As previously announced, programs that do not meet benchmarks in a rolling three-year average may be required to undergo additional review.*
• Standard VIII calls for additional review of curricular materials in situations when benchmark outcomes are not achieved on a rolling three year average but does not delineate the process. Approved was a process for additional review of materials in those circumstances.*
• Approved was an interim (5 year) reporting process for programs that achieve accreditation awards for 10 years.*
• As a result of the maturation of diagnostic molecular science as a professional field, updated entry level competencies were added to the preamble to the specific Standards for DMS programs. Significant changes include the deletion of references to research techniques and activities at the entry level of practice.
• The new Guide to Accreditation and Approval and the Standards  Compliance Guide were adopted. These documents were developed to accompany the 2012 Standards and to be user-friendly with fresh formatting. These documents will soon be posted on the NAACLS website.*
• The Board elected officers for 2013-2014. Beginning a 2-year term as President is Fred Rodriguez (ASCP representative). The following Board members were elected to 1-year terms: Yasmen Simonian (ASCLS representative) as Vice President, William Hunt (ASCLS representative) as Treasurer, Sondra Flemming (2-year educator) as Secretary, and Hugh Bonner (4-year educator) as Member-at-Large. Continuing on the Board in the role of immediate Past-President is Jerry Phipps (AAPA representative). Leaving the Board after serving two consecutive 4-year terms are Paula Garrott (ASCLS representative) and Brian Andrew (public member). Marcia Armstrong (ASCLS representative) and Elton Richards (public member) were elected to the Board in April and began serving 4-year terms.

 

* NAACLS will soon post the approved Guide to Accreditation and Approval and the Standards Compliance Guide on the NAACLS website at www.naacls.org. In addition, articles will appear in the NAACLS News blog detailing major changes in documents and processes as the 2012 Standards are implemented. If you have not already, become a NAACLS News blog subscriber and never miss an important notice!