Typically more questions are posed than can be addressed during the time allotted during the live Chair Chat sessions. We have developed responses or provided links to recent key topics as outlined below.
The CAA proposed changes to its Standards for Accrediitation and conducted multiple rounds of peer review. The CAA reviewed the comments from the December 2020 peer review at its February 2021 meeting, which included proposed changes for the organization of the professional practice competencies (Standard 3.1), the language used to reference institutional accreditators (Standard 1.1), the proposed elimination of employment data as a required student outcome (Standard 5.7) and publication of the employment data (Standard 1.9), and proposed the restriction to use the Praxis exam as a summative assessment (Standard 5.2). The second round of peer review in May 2021 focused on revisions to Standard 3.4 – Diversity Reflected in the Curriculum, which the CAA approved final revisions. All revisions will go into effect January 1, 2023.
See also: Praxis as a Summative Assessment; 2023 Revisions to Accreditation Standards
The CAA defines ‘distance education” as education that uses one or more of the technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously. The technologies that may be used are broad, including the Internet and video conferencing, and are determined by the program. At its February 2021 meeting, the CAA approved an updated definition to comply with USDE's updated definition that will take effect July 1, 2021. The expanded definition now defines and requires documentation to support substantive and regular interactions between students and their instructors. Refer to the Ask the CAA guidance, glossary of the Standards for Accreditation [PDF], or the CAA’s Policy on Substantive Change for details.
The CAA’s accreditation of a graduate program is inclusive of all modalities used to deliver the education program, including on-campus/residential setting as well as distance education. However, when a program offers at least 50% of the academic coursework through distance education on a permanent basis, it can seek approval by the CAA for that modality. The program is then designated with “Distance Education” on its listing on the CAA’s directory of programs.
During the pandemic, the CAA has not required programs to seek approval for a temporary increase to 50% or more of the academic courses being taught remotely. If the program plans to make distance education a permanent delivery option, then it must seek approval by the CAA through the Substantive Change procedures. The CAA is temporarily waiving some of the timelines to file the substantive change request for approval. For more information, contact the Accreditation office at accreditation@asha.org.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, programs throughout the country were forced to make changes in programming to accommodate the needs of students. In an effort to continue to monitor the activities of programs, the CAA required accredited and candidate programs to provide information via the COVID-19 Impact Survey annually in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Programs were asked to respond to questions and note changes they made during the pandemic. The report summary is posted on the CAA's website.
At its July 2020 meeting, the CAA approved modifications to the Program Completion Rate Calculator worksheet for use beginning October 1, 2020 with the next round of accreditation reports. In response to Standard 5.5 (Program Completion), programs must include those individuals who either did not yet complete or have taken longer to complete the program in the data provided for this standard. The approved changes allow for programs to note students graduating late due to the pandemic, and does not factor those students into the completion rates. Read more about these changes on the CAA’s COVID-19 webpages under Reporting Student Completion.
See also: Reporting Student Completion during COVID-19
The CAA and the CFCC continue to respond to questions about how programs can ensure students receive quality supervised clinical experiences during the pandemic.
The CFCC has issued statements and guidance about clinical simulation, teletherapy, telesupervision, and other accommodations for supervised clinical practicum hours during the pandemic. The CFCC will continue to monitor the pandemic conditions and adjust the date as necessary.
Specific questions about CFCC’s guidance can be sent to certification@asha.org.