Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP)

Dear Colleagues,   

The Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP) outline training requirements for programs at the doctoral, doctoral internship, and postdoctoral levels. Correspondent to the AOP are a set of Implementing Regulations (IRs), which 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. Through this iterative process, opportunities for clarification have arisen regarding two IRs in Section D, which relate specifically to the AOP.

Public Comment
Per the AOP (§1.3), an accredited program may request to voluntarily withdraw from accredited status at any time by advising the CoA in writing in advance of the requested withdrawal date. IR D.4-11 has been created to provide APA-accredited programs with clarification regarding AOP-compliant withdrawal procedures for programs who wish to withdraw from accreditation and continue to operate. This IR is out for a third round of public comment.

In accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and US Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA will make the proposed revisions available for a thirty (30) day period of public review and comment. The comment period is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time on May 26, 2022 and will continue through 5:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on June 25, 2022. Information about the proposed standards and public comment will be available at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment/.

Public Notice
IR D.8-4 focuses on the CoA’s procedure for noticing programs of their reason for denial or revocation of accreditation. To maintain compliance with US Department of Education regulations (34 CFR 602 § 602.26), the CoA has clarified that it requires programs to disclose CoA decisions of denial of accreditation and revocation of accreditation to current and prospective students within seven days of receipt of the final decision. 

In accordance with the APA “Policies for Accreditation Governance” and the US Department of Education regulations for notice and comment, the CoA is providing additional information and is making the changes available for a thirty (30) day period of public notice starting on May 26, 2022 at http://apps.apa.org/accredcomment/. On behalf of the CoA, thank you in advance for your review. 

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
Phone: (202) 336-5979
Email: apaaccred@apa.org 
Website: http://www.accreditation.apa.org/

Sincerely,

APA Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation