The CoA relies on the contributions of countless volunteers to carry out its mission, and accreditation site visitors are especially essential to the accreditation process. They function as critical information gatherers who visit training sites around the country and report back on what they see and hear.
One of the Commission on Accreditation's (CoA) most active volunteers, Dr. Glenace Edwall, has completed more than 40 site visits in her tenure as an APA site visitor, which began in 1991. She holds a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota and completed a PsyD in clinical psychology at the University of Denver with an emphasis in children and families. She has served as training director at two different APA-accredited training programs, including the PsyD program at Baylor University and the internship program at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Most recently, Edwall retired after 15 years serving as director of Children’s Mental Health for the state of Minnesota.
Fueled by her training in educational and professional psychology and her fascination with curriculum development, Edwall is invested in the training of psychologists. When asked what she enjoys most about participating in site visits, Edwall said that “It’s clearly the people. The people who are involved in training are the best in the world; they have a level of dedication to growth and development in their students that is phenomenal.”
Over the past few years as the CoA has ramped up its recruitment efforts for new site visitors, Edwall has noticed that she has more pairings with site visitors from a broad range of career stages that span from early career to retirement. Edwall said that “It’s been wonderful to feel like I have something to give back to those at earlier stages of career development that will continue on.” Edwall shared that, since the implementation of the Standards of Accreditation, there is increased consistency and a greater sense of objectivity in the areas in which programs are evaluated. She also noted that the advent of the CoA's online CoA Portal has simplified the site visit process significantly, with major improvement in the process for writing site visit reports.
Despite having been on so many visits, Edwall has had only a few challenging or complex experiences. She shared how she once contracted food poisoning on the first night of a visit, but she and her team were able to structure the visit in such a way that there were no serious delays after seeking guidance from the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation. Edwall also commented that situations often arise that require flexibility in terms of rapidly changing logistics or unforeseen issues that come up in site visitor interviews. “You have to have an extraordinary ability to be sensible and roll with the punches, which I’d like to think is part of my personality anyway,” she said. Edwall also stated that visitors should “have really good and clear boundaries so that you can approach every setting [in a way that] allows you to maintain the professionalism required to look for exactly what you need to know about that program.”
Edwall was clear about the significant personal and professional value associated with being a site visitor. For early career psychologists. Edwall stated that participating in visits helps foster an understanding that young psychologists are part of a broader community of professional peers. For later career or retired psychologists, Edwall said that “It’s about giving back.” It is a way for those who have thrived in the profession to share their knowledge with trainers around the country and to advance the legacy of high quality graduate training in psychology. Regardless of professional situation, Edwall stated that “The more people you meet, the broader your perspective becomes. Being a site visitor deepens your appreciation for trainees’ growth over the relatively small amount of time they spend in a program.”
When asked where in the world she would choose to complete a site visit, Edwall named Sweden (whose professional competencies she admires) and Hawaii (perhaps due to the meteorological differences between it and her home state).
It is only through the indispensable contributions of site visitors like Edwall that the CoA can complete its charge and continue to serve the discipline and profession of psychology. Are you interested in becoming an accreditation site visitor? If so, the CoA is actively seeking new visitors for all levels of training. In particular, the CoA has a significant need for those who can visit internship and postdoctoral programs, as well as generalist site visitors (i.e., individuals from areas of psychology outside the scope of accreditation). For more information on how to become a site visitor or to nominate yourself or a colleague, please visit website.