Increasing Accredited Internships

1. Increasing Accredited Internships The Role of the Commission Susan Zlotlow Commission on Accreditation American Psychological Association

2. The Role of an Accrediting Body • The APA Commission on Accreditation has been recognized as a “reliable authority on the quality of programs it accredits”. • The CoA with significant comment from its publics sets standards for what is “good enough” to be accredited.

3. If the bar is too high – few programs will be accredited. • If the bar is too low, as a profession and as a discipline we lose credibility

4. Accreditation Voluntary internal (Self-Study) and external (Site Visit/CoA review) evaluation in order to: Protect public interest Improve quality of programs Publicly recognize quality programs Foster innovation in education and training

5. CoA Actions • To assist in developing quality internships the CoA created new statuses that would allow internships into the sequence of development earlier to ensure later quality; • To reduce redundancy in the review and process of accreditation, the CoA is out for public comment with new Standards of Accreditation.

6. Statuses for Internships and Postdoctoral Residency Programs • Eligibility Status • Accreditation, on contingency • “Full” Accreditation

7. Eligibility Status • Eligibility status includes documentation related to Domains A – D of the G&P. • Review for eligibility status is a paper review ONLY. • The review and approval of eligibility status serves as a notice to the public that the program will be seeking accreditation in the near future. • Programs can be approved as “eligible” for up to two years.

8. Accredited, On Contingency • Programs that are accredited, on contingency are viewed as consistent with the G&P with the exception of the outcome data. • Such programs must provide outcome data for trainees in the program and program graduates by the time two cohorts have completed the program. • Programs can be “accredited, on contingency” for at most two years for full-time internships and four years for full-time residency.

9. Accredited, On Contingency • A program that fails to provide these data will lose that accreditation status. The loss of status will be following completion of the program by the interns/residents currently onsite at the program at the time of the decision. • Programs that are “Accredited, on contingency” may be eligible for a second term of “Accredited, on contingency” only under extenuating circumstances. The maximum amount of time a program can be “Accredited, on contingency” is four years in total.

10. “Full” Accreditation • A fully accredited program is consistent, substantively and procedurally, with the G&P. • Accredited programs are scheduled for their next review every 3-7 years. • Programs that were previously “accredited on contingency” are eligible for three years of accreditation, following receipt of adequate and appropriate outcome data.

11. Increase in accredited programs

15. Other Changes • In terms of ensuring quality while making the accreditation process more understandable, it is important for you to read the proposed standards of accreditation and make comments at each level.

16. Conclusions • Although there looks as though there is an increase in applicant internships, the ratio of student slots in accredited doctoral programs to slots in accredited internships highlights the fact that ….

17. We have promises to keep and miles to go…..