1. APA Commission on Accreditation Update: Highlights from 2016 and Plans for 2017
Stephen McCutcheon, PhD, Chair
Kurt Freeman, PhD, Associate Chair, Program Review
David Smith, PhD, Associate Chair, Quality Assurance
At various meetings remember to acknowledge the organization’s current and outgoing (as relevant) CoA representatives. Can list here and also highlight on slides.

2. Primary Learning Objectives
Attendees will be able to:
list key 2016 CoA activities.
describe the transition to the new Standards of Accreditation.
explain revisions to key Implementing Regulations for the new Standards of Accreditation, with emphasis on DSK, PWC, and demonstration of programmatic outcomes.
describe program use of the new online self-study submission system.

3. Q&A will follow presentation​
General questions about accreditation or questions about your program:​
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation​
(202) or

4. CoA Leadership and Representation from CCPTP - 2017
Leadership Team
Stephen McCutcheon, PhD, Chair
Kurt Freeman, PhD, Associate Chair, Program
Review
David Smith, PhD, Associate Chair, Quality Assurance
Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs
Cindy Juntunen, PhD
Aaron Jackson, PhD

5. Outgoing Commissioners – 2016
APPIC: Henry A. “Gus” Buchtel, PhD
APPIC: David B. Mather, PhD
BAPPI: Randall J. Cox, PhD
BPA: James A. Mulick, PhD
CCPTP: Kathleen J. Bieschke, PhD
CoS: Nina W. Brown, PhD
NCSPP: Philinda Hutchings, PhD
Public: H. Garland Hershey, Jr., DDS, MS, ABO
Public: Karl Koob, MMIS, RHIA, FAHMIA, CPHEHR
APAGS: Allison Abrahamson, MA

6. Commission Appointments – 2017
APPIC: Jason Williams, PhD
APPIC: Eugene D’Angelo, PhD
BAPPI: Maria D. Cimini, PhD
BPA: Judith Patterson, PhD, MN
CCPTP: Aaron Jackson, PhD
CoS: Mary Ann Norfleet, PhD
NCSPP: William Hathaway, PhD
Public: Teresa O’Donnell
Public: Greg Manship, D.Bioethics, M.Div.
APAGS: Elizabeth Louis, MA

7. CoA Membership Appointment
Nominated from stakeholder groups (who represent diverse interests in accreditation)
Appointment by APA Governance
Primary fiduciary responsibility to CoA
CoA “hat” vs. stakeholder “hat”
Stakeholder voice remains with stakeholders
Via public comment

8. CoA – Highlights from 2016 Program review Web presence
Standards of Accreditation implementation – Supporting Documents and Procedures

9. 2016 Program Review Activity
Reviewed 215 programs:
77 doctoral, 108 internship, 30 post-doctoral
164 (77%) granted continued or initial accreditation
    2 (1%) granted "full accreditation" from “accreditation, on contingency” status
15 (7%) granted “accreditation, on contingency” 
19 (9%) programs “deferred for information”
13 (6%) programs “deferred for cause”
1 (.5%) program “accredited on probation” 
1 (.5%) program “denied accreditation”
75 programs reviewed by CoA were new applicants
An additional 2 programs acknowledged as eligible or now having the “intent to apply” 
226 program responses to specific concerns raised by the CoA

10. Applicant Programs by Level:

11. Programs Seeking Full vs. Contingent Accreditation: 2013 - 2016
NOTE: There was 1 doctoral program that submitted a SS for accredited on contingency. These numbers are a combination of G&P and SoA.

12. Number of Accredited Programs As of November 22, 2016
  Doctoral
Clinical (172 PhD, 68 PsyD) 240
Counseling (66 PhD, 7 PsyD)
School (60 PhD, 8 PsyD)
Combined (6 PhD, 4 PsyD)
Internship
Postdoc (74 Clinical, 50 Specialty) 124
Total ,075

13. Accredited Postdoctoral Programs As of November 22, 2016
Clinical Psychology
Specialty Areas
Clinical Child Psychology
Clinical Health Psychology 9
Clinical Neuropsychology 24
Forensic Psychology
Geropsychology
Rehabilitation Psychology 7

14. Number of Accredited Programs by Level of Training: 1948 - 2016

15. SoA: Transition and Implementation
SoA became effective January 1, 2017
All programs are to be compliant and affirm in 2017 (annual reaffirmation)
Information on current status of SoA, focusing on Implementing Regulations
Updates on training and use of the new online self-study submission system.

16. Supporting Documents – Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP)
Programs reviewed under SoA:
Can have next periodic review scheduled for time frames lasting up to 10 years
All levels of programs can submit an intent to apply application (not accredited)
All programs can submit for contingent accreditation status
Two (vs. 3) review cycles for internships and postdocs
CoA will select Chair of site visit team
SV will not request PHI

17. Supporting Documents – New Implementing Regulations (IRs) – Section C
​Outcome Data for:​
Doctoral programs (C-18D)​
Internship programs (C-16I)​
Postdoctoral residency programs (C-16P)​
Training, Admissions, Support, and Outcome Data for:​
Internship programs (C-27 I)​
Postdoctoral programs (C-23 P)​
Consortium programs (all levels)

18. Implementing Regulations presented for Public Comment (12/5/16-2/5/17)
Discipline Specific Knowledge (C-7 D)
Profession Wide Competencies (C-8 D)
Assessment Competency
Direct Observation (C-14 D)
Use of Annual Reports for Reaffirmation of Accreditation Status and Monitoring of Individual Programs (D 4.7a)
Use of Narrative Annual Reports for Reaffirmation of Accreditation Status and Monitoring of Individual Programs (D 4.7c)

19. Discipline Specific Knowledge (DSK)
Cornerstone to establish identity as a psychologist
Orientation to health service psychology
Areas: history and systems of psychology and basic content (Aspects of behavior in affective, biological, cognitive, developmental, and social domains). Research methods, quantitative methods, psychometrics, and advanced integrative knowledge of basic content areas
Must be graduate level, but may partially be acquired pre-matriculation
For doctoral programs only

20. Discipline Specific Knowledge (DSK)
Programs must present:
Education and training activities for each area of DSK
Methods of evaluation
Minimum levels of achievement
Outcome data that demonstrates knowledge acquisition
For doctoral programs only

21. Competencies
Educate / train in profession-wide competencies (or PWCs) for health service psychology practice
Consistent with professional values
Are specific to level of training (9 for doctoral and internship, 2 for post-doctoral residency)
Evaluated with an MLA at the element level; reported at the competency level
Program specific competencies (PSC)– these are optional; if used should align with program aim(s) and the professional standards and practices of health service psychology
How should programs describe methods of evaluation for PWCs and PSCs? 
It is incumbent upon each program to determine how they will evaluate the profession-wide and program-specific competencies. That said, the same basic hierarchy should be employed when describing the ways in which the program will evaluate PWCs and if used, PSCs (along with specialty competencies for postdoctoral programs to whom those competencies apply) – see Figure 1 for a visual representation of this evaluative hierarchy: 
First, each competency must be articulated in terms of subordinate elements. These elements are preordained for the profession-wide competencies and program-defined for program-specific competencies. All competencies must be associated with multiple elements; some of the PWCs only include a single Commission-defined element, thus the program will have to create additional ones.  
The program must articulate the specific training/experiential activities used to provide training in each element. This could include a course, supervised service delivery, didactic seminars, and any other range of training experiences. 
For each training experience, the program must articulate a specific outcome measure. The outcome measure could be the training experience itself or some more specific project or event contained within the broader experience. Of greatest importance is the fact that these outcome measures be clearly and specifically aligned with the elements and, therefore, the competencies.  
Finally, for each outcome measure, the program must define a specific minimum level of achievement (MLA) that all trainees must meet in order to successfully complete the program. This MLA should be operationalized at a level indicative of preparation for entry-level practice. 

22. Demonstrating Programmatic Outcomes
Evaluation of DSK, PWC and PSC (if any) are required for all programs
Include proximal and distal data collection and presentation
Proximal data:
Collected to demonstrate attainment of DSK, PWC and PSC (if any) by program completion
Distal data is collected at:
2 years – include preparation in terms of PWC and PSC (if any), job placement and licensure
5 years – includes licensure and scholarly/research contributions in a fashion consistent with program aims
For doctoral programs

23. SoA Implementation – Training Plans
Continue trainings on self-study preparation and site visitor training
Methods of training
In person at constituent meetings and APA convention
Webinar-style trainings (doctoral will be available soon)
Online courses as resources
Information on sessions available on the Accreditation website

24. Transition Strategies for Programs
All programs will need to affirm compliance with SoA in 2017 attestation
Includes all aspects of SoA including:
Aims, DSK, PWC, Direct Observation, Outcomes
Review June 2016 Transition document
CoA via the OPCA is able to offer consultation to programs

25. CoA Portal All review is in the portal.
Confidentiality is going to be online.
Print function is now an option. There are recommendations for programs using the print all function that have previously inserted tables into the text of their response – it is suggested that the tables be uploaded as excel files separate from the response entries instead of inserting them into the text.

27. apaaccred@apa.org or call (202) 336-5979
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC
Telephone: (202) TDD/TTY: (202) Fax: (202) (General Questions) (Annual Report Online only)
For questions to the office director (Jacqueline Remondet Wall, PhD), please send to:
For a copy of today’s PowerPoint presentation, please send an to:
or call (202)