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COMMISSION ON DENTAL ACCREDITATION
Posting
Form for Policy on Third Party Comments
The Commission currently publishes
in its accredited lists of programs the year of the next site visit for each
program it accredits. In
addition, the Commission publishes in its spring and fall newsletter,
Communications Update, those programs being site visited January
through June or July through December.
Developing programs submitting accreditation eligible applications
may be scheduled for site visits after the publication of Communications
Update; thus, the specific dates of these site visits will not be
available for publication.
These programs will be listed in Communications Update with a
special notation that the developing programs have submitted accreditation
eligible applications and may or may not be scheduled for site visits. Parties interested in these specific
dates (should they be established) are welcomed/encouraged to contact the
Commission office. The United
States Department of Education (USDOE) procedures now also require
accrediting agencies to provide an opportunity for third-party comment,
either in writing or at a public hearing (at the accrediting agencies'
discretion) with respect to institutions or programs scheduled for
review. All comments must
relate to accreditation standards for the discipline and required
accreditation policies. In
order to comply with the department's requirement on the use of third-party
comment regarding program's qualifications for accreditation or
pre-accreditation, the following procedures have been
developed.
WHO CAN
SUBMIT COMMENTS: Third-party comments
relative to the Commission's accredited programs may include comments
submitted by interested parties such as faculty, students, program
administrators, Commission consultants, specialty and dental related
organizations, patients, and/or consumers.
HOW
COMMENTS CAN BE SOLICITED: The Commission will
request written comments from interested parties in the spring and fall
issues of Communications Update. In fairness to the accredited programs, all comments
relative to programs being visited will be due in the Commission office no
later than 60 days prior to each program's site visit to allow time for the
program to respond. Therefore,
programs being site-visited in January through June will be listed in the
fall issue of CU of the previous year and programs scheduled for a
site visit from July through December will be listed in the spring issue of
the current year. Any
unresolved issues related to the program's compliance with the accreditation
standards will be reviewed by the site visit team while
on-site.
Those programs scheduled for review are responsible for
soliciting third-party comments from students and patients by publishing an
announcement at least 90 days prior to their site visit. The notice should indicate the
deadline of 60 days for receipt of third-party comments in the Commission
office and should stipulate that comments must pertain only to the standards
for the particular program or policies and procedures used in the
Commission's accreditation process.
The announcement may include language to indicate that a copy of the
appropriate accreditation standards and/or the Commission's policy on
third-party comments may be obtained by contacting the Commission at 211
East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, or by calling 1/800-621-8099,
extension 4653.
TYPES
OF COMMENTS CONSIDERED: All comments submitted must pertain only to the standards relative to
the particular program being reviewed or policies and procedures used in the
accreditation process. Comments
will be screened by Commission staff for relevancy. For comments not relevant to these
issues, the individual will be notified that the comment is not related to
accreditation and, where appropriate, referred to the appropriate
agency. For those individuals
who are interested in submitting comments, requests can be made to the
Commission office for receiving standards and/or the Commission's
Evaluation Policies and Procedures (EPP).
MANAGEMENT OF COMMENTS: All relevant
comments will be referred to the program at least 50 days prior to the site
visit for review and response.
A written response from the program should be provided to the
Commission office and the site visit team 15 days prior to the site
visit. Adjustments may be
necessary in the site visit schedule to allow discussion of comments with
proper personnel.
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