I’m glad you’re joining me once more. Today, we’ll finish the list of the ten most common citations, and I’ll provide some personal insights about the accreditation process's near future. I believe there is cause for optimism, so let’s begin!

Standard E1.03 Language

Standard E1.03 states “the program must submit reports or documents as required by the ARC-PA.” Because of the many documents that must be included, mistakes can happen, then citations occur. The best cure for the problem is to use multiple layers of quality assurance, which means completing your application in plenty of time to permit that quality assurance process to occur.

Standard E is moving to the policy manual in the 6th edition of the Standards, so this problem may soon be resolved.

Citation language is simple when a document is missing or filed incorrectly:

“Appendix 4c-CV for the medical director was not submitted on the official password-protected template.”

“Appendix 13 - Preceptor evaluations for the 2024 Cohort were not included in the application of record.”

“Appendix 14F-PANCE performance was not submitted as instructed as the most current annual NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report. Last 5 Years and the PANCE Content and Task Area performance were not included.”

E1.03 Caveats for Success:

• Use many proofreaders and a meticulous process to ensure that every template you submit is part of the original template ARC-PA gave you. 

• Avoid using Google Drive when preparing the final version. Keep your original templates marked in a shared drive, but not Google Drive. For some reason, Google Drive can unlock them, which ARC-PA interprets as noncompliance.

Standard A3.12 Language 

A3.12 states: “The program must define, publish and make readily available to enrolled and prospective students general program information to include:

1. The program’s ARC-PA accreditation status as provided to the program by the ARC-PA

2. Evidence of its effectiveness in meeting goals 

3. The most current annual NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report Last 5 Years provided by the NCCPA through its program portal, no later than April 1 of each year. 

4. All required curricular components including required rotation disciplines

5. Academic credit offered by the program

6. Estimates of all costs (tuition, fees, etc) related to the program

7. Program required competencies for entry-level practice, consistent with the competencies as defined by the PA profession. (These are about the glossary definitions used by the ARC-PA)

8. Whether certain services and resources are only available to students and faculty on the main campus when the program is offered at a geographically distant campus location.

9. The most current annual student attrition information, on the table provided by the ARC-PA, no later than April first each year.”

In summary, this Standard requires your program’s website to provide up-to-date, transparent information about its practices. While this might seem easy to accomplish, problems arise when the website becomes outdated or the information used to assess potential students is not fully or clearly stated.

Here is a comment example: “Although the site visit team did not identify this standard as an observation, the Commission has issued a citation for it based on the following evidence. The application contained discrepancies between the program’s admission screening rubric and the published website admissions information related to education and work experience.” 

Caveats:

• Visitors to your website should not have to click more than twice to reach the desired information.

• Components of the admissions rubrics used for selecting students for interviews and grading interviews must be clearly displayed on the website. Note, I’m not saying you must include the number of points awarded, but those elements must be listed, if you have any preferences whatsoever.

• Conduct regular quality assurance on your program’s website to ensure all elements in this standard are posted and up to date.

• Benchmarks for goals need to be more granular than ever before. For example, just stating “100% of students completed a requirement” does not constitute meeting the Standard  - you need to have a benchmark.  

• If your comprehensive review after submitting the application reveals any discrepancies on the website, please make that 100% clear to the site team chair. Your website will be reviewed weeks before the site visit. 

• Always use the ARC-PA language verbatim.

Final Thoughts

That wraps up our discussion covering the top ten most-cited ARC-PA Standards as of September 2024. I hope this has been helpful and given you some excellent pointers for staying on top of your program’s accreditation requirements. Before I conclude, I’ll just offer these few thoughts about the future of program accreditation.

• New language adopted following the September Commission meeting may result in more observations being eliminated at the Commission level.

• The 6th edition Standards draft has configured Appendix 14 elements into three major categories. The description seemed clear, but more definition is needed to determine if the level of granularity and specificity will continue to be a challenge.

• Unofficially, some programs reviewed at the September meeting had a higher citation count without probation outcomes. This may be a trend that eases the incidence of probation.

• All programs reviewed after September 1, 2025, should seek substantial clarification on whether their program will be reviewed according to the 5th or 6th edition Standards. 

Thanks so much for joining me weekly for these blogs! I’ll be back again next week with more to share.

Coming Soon…

We’re looking forward to our next webinar: “Cross-Walk in the New Year; 5th Edition vs. 6th Edition Standards.” Dates are to be announced soon! Remember, attending our webinars is always free. I hope to see you there.