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Guidelines for the Accreditation of Graduate Programs in Behavior Analysis

Policies and Procedures: Methods of Review

Responsibilities of the organization requesting accreditation:

• The organization applying for accreditation shall obtain the Accreditation Guidelines (this document) via downloading from the website, email, or postal mail, as requested by the program.
• The organization applying for accreditation shall adhere to all timelines indicated within the Accreditation Guidelines. The accreditation process is initiated when the program returns the completed self-study form. To ensure adequate time for logistical arrangements, etc., the it is recommended that the self-study form be submitted to the Chair of the Accreditation Board at least 4 months before the annual ABA International convention, (e.g., by January 15th) or 4 months prior to the Fall Council meeting (e.g., mid-July) of any given year if the program desires a site visit and a decision by the Executive Council.
• A Representative of a program of studies contacts the Chair of the Accreditation Board to indicate the intent to begin the ABA International Accreditation process.
• The organization applying for accreditation shall complete a “Self-Study” (as detailed in the Accreditation Guidelines) including certain factual and demographic information, syllabuses of curriculum topics including reading lists, examinations or other written standards for grading, and curriculum vitae of all faculty members teaching in the program, to support the application.
• The organization applying for accreditation shall submit a paper version of the completed “Self-Study” to the Chair of the Accreditation Board. Once the Chair of the Accreditation Board has reviewed the self-study and deemed it complete (without comment on the eligibility of the program for accreditation), the program shall send identical copies of the study to the site-visitors selected for that program, and to the ABA International Office for the purposes of maintaining a public file.
• The lead contact for organization applying for accreditation will coordinate site visit dates and all travel arrangements with the members of the site-visit team.
• The organization applying for accreditation will, if requested, provide a laptop computer or a work-space with a desktop computer for the site-team to use while on-site, during the course of the site visit.
• The organization applying for accreditation shall bear the costs of the accreditation process, including shipping the materials and all costs associated with the site-visit (including travel, lodging and meals). Arrangements regarding payment of travel expenses for the site visitors are negotiated between the visitors and the program. The Chair of the Accreditation Board or the ABA International Office may assist if required.
• If accreditation is granted, the organization shall inform the ABA International Office of the University administrators (and the corresponding addresses) to which the organization would like notification of ABA International Accreditation sent. The letter(s) will speak to the success of the program, the program’s importance to the field of behavior analysis, and the international reputation and status earned as an ABA International accredited program.
• If accreditation is granted, the organization applying shall post its program description(s) in the ABA International Graduate Training Program Directory, and maintain current information by updating the posting annually.
• The Education Board of ABA International, which maintains a syllabi bank, may request electronic copies of syllabi to include in the bank. It is the sole discretion of the applying program and its faculty whether or not to participate, and participation will not have any impact (negative or positive) on the accreditation recommendation and decision.

Responsibilities of the Chair of the Accreditation Board, Accreditation Board, and Site-Visit Team:

• The Chair of the Accreditation Board will assign two members from the list to site visit the applying program of study. The site visit team and the program will establish a date that is mutually convenient for the visit.
• The members of the team conducting the site visit will inspect all relevant training facilities, will interview administrators, will interview students enrolled in the program, and will inspect library holdings in behavior analysis to ascertain whether they are appropriate for the requested accreditation.
• The members of the team conducting a site visit will prepare a written report describing the findings of the site visit.
a) The report will be sent to the program within 30 days of the completion of the visit. The report will contain a recommendation of the accreditation status to be awarded the program. This recommendation is advisory to, but not binding on, other bodies that will consider the program for accreditation. b) The program shall acknowledge, to the site-visitors and the Chair of the Accreditation Board, receipt of the report and may file with the Chair a written response to the report. The response shall be filed within 15 days of the receipt of the report however, upon written request, the period for responding may be extended for an additional 15 days. The program shall include in its response any objections, corrections, additional facts, exhibits or comments it has to the report. Any statement of facts in the report which are not disputed in the response shall be deemed by the committee to be undisputed. c) The final version of the site visit report shall be submitted to the Chair of the Accreditation Board at least 60 days prior to the annual ABA International convention or 60 days prior to the Fall Council meeting of any given year the program desires a decision by the Executive Council. The site visitors shall consider any objections raised by the program when they prepare the final version of the report; if objections have been raised, they shall be included with the final version of the report.
• Within 1 week of receiving the final report and recommendation(s) the Chair of the Accreditation Board will send to a copy to each member of the Accreditation Board.
• The members of the Accreditation Board shall review the site-visit report and recommendation(s), and forward his or her own recommendation(s) regarding accreditation to the Chair of the Accreditation Board. If any member requires additional information (the materials used during for the self-study or during the site visit), the Chair shall provide or arrange with the program provision of the materials in a timely fashion. Board member recommendations for accreditation must be received at least 45 days prior to the annual ABA International convention or 45 days prior to the Fall Council meeting of any given year the program desires a decision by the Executive Council.
• The Chair of the Accreditation Board shall tally the recommendations, forwarding the unanimous or 5/6’s majority decision, and the final site visit report, to the Executive Council for review at either the Spring or Fall Council meeting. This material shall be submitted at least 30 days prior to the annual ABA International convention or 30 days prior to the Fall Council meeting of any given year the program desires a decision by the Executive Council.
• In the event of a less than 5/6’s majority recommendation the Chair of the Accreditation Board will conduct an accreditation hearing. Participants shall include one or more representatives of a program of studies, one or both of the site-visitors, at least two members of the Executive Council and at least two members of the Accreditation Board. These positions shall not overlap within individuals.
• Accreditation hearings are held only in conjunction with the annual ABA International convention in May.
• The accreditation hearing will focus on whether a program of studies meets the minimum standards and what would strengthen the program of studies.
• The six-member hearing team will consider the recommendations, suggestions, and appeals to date will then conduct a formal vote on the application for accreditation.
• By majority vote (with the Chair of the Accreditation Board voting only in the case of a tie) the accreditation hearing shall lead to one of two recommendations to the Executive Council:
a) that the program of studies be accredited for five (5) years; or b) that the program of studies be denied accreditation.
• In all cases, the hearing team shall function to guide and educate the representatives of the applying organization. This mission shall especially include advising and helping the representatives of any program that has been denied accreditation.
• The Chair of the Accreditation Board, with the assistance of the hearing team, will prepare a list of suggestions aimed at strengthening the program of studies.
• The Chair of the Accreditation Board will make a hearing report, summarizing the votes, recommendations and suggestions of all of the teams (site visit team, the Accreditation Board, and the hearing team) for submission to the ABA International Executive Council.
• If a hearing team votes that a program of studies should not be accredited, the representative of that program may further appeal the decision in writing directly to the Executive Council.
• The Executive Council will determine which programs of study are approved for accreditation or denied accreditation.
• All accreditation shall be renewed every five (5) years.
• Applications for renewal of accreditation shall be handled the same ways as applications for original accreditation.
• The ABA International Office, under the direction of the Executive Director, will prepare letters of notification regarding accreditation and denial of accreditation and the letters will be sent, over the signatures of the Chair of the Accreditation Board and the President of ABA International, to the representative of the program of studies and the President of the University. In addition to the notification about the accreditation hearing, this letter will provide detailed suggestions about ways in which the program of studies may be strengthened.
• The Chair of the Accreditation Board will ask a representative of a program of studies to post and update the program description each year that a program of studies is accredited before it is due a re-accreditation hearing. If there have been any changes in program faculty, students, facilities, or curriculum topics that could compromise accreditation, the program should notify the Chair of the Accreditation Board in writing. Failure to do so may result in a loss of accreditation.
• If the Chair of the Accreditation Board judges that there have been sufficient changes in a program of studies that standards may no longer be met, the Chair, with the approval of the President of ABA International, may require a site visit and a hearing at the next ABA International convention to decide, subject to the procedures described above, that the program should remain accredited or will lose accreditation. Alternatively, the representative of a program of studies may request the termination of accreditation.
• If a representative of a program of studies requests termination of accreditation or fails to request re-accreditation at the end of the five year period of accreditation, the Chair of the Accreditation Board will write to the President of the University to request administrative affirmation that the accreditation of the program of studies will be allowed to lapse.
• Complaints against the actions, as distinct from the decisions, of the site visit team should be sent to the Chair of the Accreditation Board. The complaints should be:
a) written and signed, b) sent before receipt of the site visit report, c) provide a clear description of the critical incident(s) in question; and d) grant permission to send the complaint, in its entirety, to the site visit team.
• The Chair of the Accreditation Board will notify the ABA International Executive Council of the complaint. The complaint will then be considered, and one of the following decisions rendered:
a) To deny the complaint, thereby sustaining the site visitor(s); b) To sustain the complaint, thereby requiring action be taken toward the site visitor(s); c) To pursue the matter further, either by further correspondence with the parties involved, or by means of a special fact-finding group, to provide additional information on which to reach a decision.
• The ABA International Office will maintain a file of syllabi used in the self-study of accredited programs of study. The representative of a program of study may request that syllabi or examination material for a curriculum topic not be made public. The list of available syllabi shall be accessed via ABA International’s online syllabi bank.

The procedures outlined above were initially taken primarily from two sources, with minor amendments. The first source is the Final Report of the Task Force on Accreditation, accepted by ABA International Executive Council on May 27, 1991. The second source is the literature on “Accreditation Procedures” of the American Psychological Association. In spring of 2005 additional modifications were made to gain closer compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Secretary of Education’s procedures and criteria for the recognition of accrediting agencies, as published in the Federal Register (http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation.html#Overview)]

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