All accreditation applications and annual reports must be submitted to the CAA using the Armature Fabric ("Fabric") online reporting system. Programs are provided access to the system four (4) months prior to the submission due date, which are based on the program’s accreditation cycle anniversary date:
The CAA will consider extension requests to allow additional time to complete and submit required reports. More information about the request for submission extension policy can be found in the Accreditation Handbook (Chapter XI.C.). Failure to submit a required report to the CAA may result in Administrative Probation or Lapse of Accreditation.
Eligible programs that do not currently hold an accreditation status (Candidacy or Accredited), but have students enrolled in the program may file an Application for Initial Accreditation. The program must provide a Notice of Intent to the Accreditation Office no later than September 1 for a February 1 submission or March 1 for an August 1 submission. Written notification should be sent to caareports@asha.org.
The amount of time required to compile information, prepare, and submit your CAA report is dependent on the type of report you are completing (Accreditation Application or Annual Report) and the amount of faculty and staff support used to contribute to the completion of the report. You are provided a 4-month time period to submit your report, regardless of the type of report to be completed.
The Application for (Re)Accreditation is a comprehensive report that is submitted every five (5) or eight (8) years depending on your program’s accreditation cycle; the report addresses each aspect of the accreditation standards. It is the product of your program’s initiative to complete a comprehensive self-study. You should plan to initiate documentation to your accreditation application shortly after you have been granted access to Fabric. Data collection forms are available on the Resources webpage to assist programs in gathering and organizing faculty, course, and clinical site data to be entered in the system.
The Annual Report is an abbreviated report, submitted annually, which documents the program’s progress in addressing prior concerns and changes since the last reporting period. Although your program is expected to begin addressing concerns regarding compliance with accreditation standards immediately, you will document the steps that were taken to address any concerns and improvements achieved when you complete the Annual Report. Typically, the Annual Report takes less time to complete than an accreditation application.
The CAA typically communicates to programs the results of its annual report reviews approximately five (5) months after submission.
The CAA typically provides its Initial Observations to programs for a response approximately three (3) months after submission. Final decisions are made by the CAA approximately 12 months after the application is submitted.
Candidacy applications are not completed as an online submission through Fabric. However, annual progress reports are completed using the online platform and follow the same timelines and review periods as described above for annual report submissions. Please see Candidacy Reporting Procedures for guidelines.