Accreditation Policies and Procedures of the AVMA Council on Education (COE)

September 2020

PDF version of entire policies and procedures

Table of Contents

  1. Staff Roster
  2. Council on Education Roster

  3. Commonly Used Abbreviations

  4. The AVMA and Accreditation
    4.1. History
    4.2. Scope and Purpose
    4.3. Charge of the COE
    4.4. Function

  5. Fundamental Principles of Accreditation
    5.1. COE Mission Statement
    5.2. Integrity
    5.3. Confidentiality
    5.4. Avoidance of Conflict of Interest
    5.5. Quality Assurance
    5.5.1. Third Party Comment/Complaints
    5.5.2. Complaints Directed at a College and its Accreditation Status
    5.5.3. Complaints Directed at the COE and its Accreditation Activities
    5.6. Programmatic Advertising and Student Recruitment

  6. Accreditation Evaluation
    6.1. General Policies
    6.1.1. Procedures for Accreditation Evaluation
    6.2. Reasonable Assurance
    6.3. Provisional Accreditation
    6.4. Foreign Veterinary Colleges
    6.4.1. General Information
    6.4.2. Educational Improvement
    6.4.3. Procedures
    6.4.4. Site Visits
    6.4.5. Fees for Foreign Veterinary Colleges
  7. Requirements of an Accredited College of Veterinary Medicine
    7.1. Standard 1, Organization
    7.2. Standard 2, Finances
    7.3. Standard 3, Physical Facilities and Equipment
    7.4. Standard 4, Clinical Resources
    7.5. Standard 5, Library and Information Resources
    7.6. Standard 6, Students
    7.7. Standard 7, Admission
    7.8. Standard 8, Faculty
    7.9. Standard 9, Curriculum
    7.10. Standard 10, Research Programs
    7.11. Standard 11, Outcomes Assessment
  8. Off-campus and Distributive Sites
    8.1. Off-campus Clinical Education Sites for Colleges with Teaching Hospitals
    8.2. COE Guidelines for Implementation of a Distributive Veterinary Clinical Education Model
  9. Required Reports from Colleges
    9.1. Reports of Substantive Change
    9.2. Interim Reports
    9.3. Self-study Reports
    9.4. Reporting to the Community
  10. Accreditation Classifications
    10.1. Reasonable Assurance
    10.2. Provisional Accreditation
    10.3. Accredited
    10.4. Accredited with Minor Deficiencies
    10.5 Probationary Accreditation
    10.5.1. Procedures for Colleges with the Classification of Probationary Accreditation
    10.6. Terminal Accreditation
    10.6.1. Procedures for Colleges with the Classification of Terminal Accreditation
    10.7. Accreditation Outcomes
    10.8. Reviews and Return Visits
    10.9. Adverse Outcomes
    10.10. Withholding Accreditation
    10.11. Reevaluation
    10.12. Appeals of Adverse Outcomes
    10.13. Reconsideration of Accreditation Classification
    10.14. Loss of Legal Authority to Provide Postsecondary Education
    10.15. Loss of Institutional Accreditation
    10.16. Decisions of Other Accrediting Agencies
    10.17. Policies on Reporting to USDE
  11. The Site Visit
    11.1. Objective of Site Visit
    11.2. Cost
    11.3. Site Visit Team
    11.4. The Self-study
    11.4.1. Format of the Self-study
  12. Elements of the Self-study
    12.1. Organization
    12.2. Finances
    12.3. Physical Facilities and Equipment
    12.4. Clinical Resources
    12.5. Library and Information Resources
    12.6. Students
    12.7. Admission
    12.8. Faculty
    12.9. Curriculum
    12.10. Research Programs
    12.11. Outcomes Assessment
  13. Site Visit Agenda
  14. Reports of Evaluation
  15. Overview of the Council on Education
    15.1. Public Member Selection
    15.2. Meetings
    15.3. Officers
    15.4. Member Responsibilities
    15.5. Travel Expenses
    15.6. Reports Made to the Council
    15.7. Committees and Liaisons
    15.7.1. Standing Committees
    15.7.2. Associated Committees, Commissions, and Boards
    15.8. Conduct of COE Meetings
    15.9. Resignation of a Member of the COE
    15.10. Removal of a Member of the COE
  16. Standard Operating Procedures
    16.1. Consistency of Application
    16.2. Database Retrieval
    16.3. Training
    16.4. Records
    16.5. Sharing Information
  17. Quality Assurance
    17.1. Development of Accreditation Standards
    17.2. Review of Established Standards
    17.3. Adding or Revising a Standard
    17.4. Assessment of Revised Standards
    17.5. Application of Standards
    17.6. Ongoing Review of Standards
    17.7. Annual Review of Standards
    17.8. Survey Process
    17.9. Review of NAVLE Scores
    17.10. Survey of Site Visit Participants
    17.11. Data Collection
  18. Site Visits
    18.1. Site Visit Team
    18.2. Conflict of Interest Statements
    18.3. Object of Site Visit
    18.4. Site Visit Overview
    18.5. Code of Conduct for Site Team Members
    18.6. Site Team Modus Operandi
    18.7. Guidelines for Site Team Visitors to Foreign Veterinary Colleges
    18.8. Reports of Evaluation
  19. Training and Support
    19.1. New Member Training
    19.2. On-site Training
  20. Training and Orientation Materials
  21. Appendices
    21.1. Appendix A – Conflict of Interest/Confidentiality Statements
    21.2. Appendix B – Interim Report Primer
    21.3. Appendix C – Accreditation Decision Tree
    21.4. Appendix D – Good Cause Justification
    21.5. Appendix E – Participation of Site Visit Observers
    21.6. Appendix F -- Distributive Model - Off-site Inspection Guidelines
    21.7. Appendix G - Guidelines for COE Site Visit Teams: Isolation Facilities Procedures
    21.8. Appendix H - Philosophy and Interpretations of COE
    21.9. Appendix I - Site Team Evaluation Rubric
    21.10 Appendix J - COE Code of Conduct