Nov. 28, 2016

The CAATE has received many questions regarding the process of withdrawal following the February 2016 accreditation actions that placed professional programs non-compliant with Standard 11 on Probation. Prior to that meeting, the Commission released the plan of action for non-compliant programs that included an algorithm to assist programs with future planning regarding compliance with Standard 11. A program wishing to request a voluntary withdrawal of accreditation must notify the CAATE Office in writing of its desire to discontinue the program’s accreditation status. The notification must be signed by the chief academic officer of the institution and must include a teach-out plan for currently enrolled students among other documentation. The teach-out plan will be mutually agreed upon by the institution and the CAATE, and the plan must include provisions for how the program will maintain compliance with the Standards until the date of closure. Instructions for voluntary withdrawal may be found HERE. A program in voluntary withdrawal of accreditation can still have its accreditation withdrawn (non-voluntary) by the Commission prior to its closing date if compliance with the Standards is not maintained. The Commission will next review compliance with Standard 11 at its February 2017 meeting. If the CAATE moves to Withdraw Accreditation (non-voluntary) due to noncompliance with Standard 11, the program would continue to be accredited through the remainder of the current academic year. Upon the completion of the academic year, accreditation would end. The graduating cohort would be eligible to sit for the BOC exam, but all remaining students who have not graduated will not be eligible. The program would be required to advise these non-graduating students that they would need to transfer to another academic institution with a CAATE accredited professional program if they wished to gain BOC exam eligibility. A program whose accreditation has been withdrawn by the CAATE is no longer eligible to submit a voluntary withdrawal of accreditation. Therefore, the deadline for programs who are currently on probation for Standard 11 to submit notice of voluntary withdrawal of accreditation documentation to the CAATE to be considered prior to the Commission’s February 2017 meeting is January 10, 2017. Questions about this process can be directed to the CAATE Office at support@caate.net or 1-844-GO-CAATE.