American Psychological Association Division 50
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News Date: Sunday, July 18, 2021 - 09:45
Dear Colleagues,
The Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology, Master’s Degree Programs(SoA-M) outlines education and training requirements for the accreditation of health service psychology programs at the master’s level. Following the approval of the SoA-M by the APA Council of Representatives as Association policy in February of 2021, the APA Commission on Accreditation (APA-CoA) began working diligently to develop accompanying Implementing Regulations (IRs) and Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP).
Implementing Regulations (IRs) are official policy documents that “elucidate, interpret and operationally define” the Commission on Accreditation’s (CoA) policies and procedures. IRs are divided into several different sections (A through E), which are subject to regular review and revision by the CoA. While the IRs for doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral residency programs are already developed, the CoA, through the CoA Master’s Work Group, is currently drafting the Section C IRs, which are those that correspond to the SoA-M.
At its spring 2021 program review meeting, the CoA Master’s Work Group presented eleven of these Section C IRs that were approved by the CoA to put forward for public comment. The remaining Section C IRs, the AOP for master’s level programs, and IRs for master’s programs in Sections D and E are still under development and will be put forth for public comment at a future date.
The following Implementing Regulations (IRs) are the first set that are being put forth for public comment:
C-6 M. Record of Student Complaints in CoA Periodic Review
C-7 M. Program Aims and Program-Specific Competencies
C-8 M. Profession-Wide Competencies
C-9 M. Diversity Education and Training
C-12 M. Clinical Experiences Guidelines for Master’s Programs
C-13 M. Telesupervision
C-14 M. Direct Observation
C-20 M. Selection and Admissions of Students into Accredited Master’s Programs
C-21 M. Diversity Recruitment and Retention
C-24 M. Program Names, Labels, and Other Public Descriptors
C-25 M. Accreditation Status and CoA Contact Information
In accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and the US Department of Education regulations for public notice and comment, the CoA is making this first set of Section C Implementing Regulations available for a ninety (90) day period of public review and comment, scheduled to begin on July 7, 2021 and continue through 5:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on October 5, 2021. Information about the proposed standards and public comment will be available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at (202) 336-5979 or apaaccred@apa.org. On behalf of the CoA, thank you for your review and comments.
Sincerely,
APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
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