The Commission on Accreditation (CoA) approved a revision to the form used by site visitors regarding the confidential nature of information obtained and reviewed in the accreditation process. This change is subsequent and supplemental to the changes that were made in CoA policy earlier this year that preclude site visitor exposure to records containing Protected Health Information.
The changes made to the current form arise from the roles and responsibilities of a site visitor, as described in Implementing Regulation (IR) D-3.3 Roles and Responsibilities of a Site Visitor. IR D-3.3 specifically recognizes that an accreditation site visit requires access to information that is confidential in nature, be that information about a program or the individual students enrolled. This is emphasized in the new Confidentiality Form. Specifically, since site visitors serve as observers representing the CoA, information that site visitors obtain remains confidential among the program, the site visitors, and the CoA. Site visitors are to inform those with whom they interact of this relationship and explain that as an observer, a site visitor is obligated to report without withholding any information gained during the site visit to the commission.
Forms containing this information are being integrated into the online portal system for site visitor use in 2018.