NAACLS Board of Directors Update – April 2020

(Last Updated On: )

by Dianne M. Cearlock, CEO

At the April 23, 2020 meeting of the NAACLS Board of Directors, in addition to accreditation and approval awards recommended by the Review Committee on Accredited Programs (RCAP) and the Program Approval Review Committee (PARC), the following items were addressed:

• Elections for the review committees were held. Re-elected for a second term to the RCAP were Jeanne Isabel (MLS Educator), Andrea Gordon (MLT Educator), Eric Elsinghorst (DMS Educator), and Jun Gu (CG Educator). Elected for a first term on the RCAP were Elizabeth Gockel-Blessing (MLS Educator) and William F. Ahlfeld (Path A Practitioner). Re-elected for a second term on the PARC was Andrea Stone (Clinical Assistant Educator) and Marilyn McCain (Phlebotomy Practitioner). Elected for a first term on the PARC was Michelle Hill (Phlebotomy Educator). Re-elected for a second term on the Doctoral Review Committee (DRC) was S. Renee Hodgkins (Doctoral Level Educator) and elected for a first term was Nadine Lerret (Doctoral Level Educator). Congratulations to the elected review committee members
• Elections for the Board of Directors were also held. Re-elected for a second term were Joel M. Shilling (ASCP Representative), Mark Bailey (NSH Representative), and Lynn Brodeur (Two Year Educator). Elected for a first term was Karen Brown (ASCP Representative). Congratulations to the elected Board of Directors members.
• Proposed changes to Standards to II.B, IV. A. 1.d. and V.D. were adopted after all public comments were reviewed.
• For Standard II.B –

A review of the results of the following outcomes measures from at least the last three active years must be documented, analyzed and used in program assessment and continuous quality improvement of the program to include an annual submission to NAACLS.

This change clarifies that only the last three most recent active years are to be addressed.

• For Standard IV.A –

A. Publications and Disclosures

1.The following must be defined, published, and readily available to prospective and enrolled students:

a. program mission statement;

b. program goals and graduate competencies;

c. programmatic accreditation/approval status including the name, address and contact information for NAACLS;

d. results of the external certification outcomes, graduation rates outcomes, placement rates outcomes of at least the last three active years.

This sentence replaces “d. results of the program outcome measures as identified in Standard II.B” and the change clarifies the outcomes that are required to be published.

For Standard V.D –

V. Operational Policies

Fair Practices

D. A general plan must be provided, addressing temporary and permanent program closure. In the event of such closure, a detailed plan must be submitted to NAACLS within 30 days of the official announcement.

This sentence replaces “D. A teach out plan must be developed and submitted to NAACLS within 30 days of the official announcement of the closure of the program” and clarifies requirements in the event of temporary or permanent program closures.

These standards have been updated to comply with the Board’s directives and are available in the 2012 Standards published on www.naacls.org .

• Approved for release for 30 days with a request for public comment were proposed changes to Standard VI that expand and clarify the administrative requirements with which programs must comply. Please monitor the NAACLS News for the request for comment on the proposed Standard VI changes and instructions on how to submit comments.
• NAACLS’ policy on inactive status states a program is considered inactive if it does not enroll students in the professional sequence for a full academic year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some programs may not have enrolled students for that period of time but wish not be placed on inactive status. Should requests for exceptions to the inactive status policy come forward, they will be forwarded to the Board Executive Committee for consideration on a case-by-case basis.
• Effective August 1^st, NAACLS will only be accepting electronic documents for review materials. Several other additional minor changes to NAACLS’ forms and review procedures were also adopted. We recommend you review the Guide to Accreditation and Approval for the most up to date policy changes.