Evaluation of diversity recruitment and retention efforts

By Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation

With the implementation of the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (SoA)opens in new window in 2017, each accredited program is responsible for making systematic, coherent, and long-term efforts at the program level to attract (i.e., recruit) and retain students/trainees and faculty/staff from diverse backgrounds. The December 2019 CoA Update provides a helpful Q&A on commonly asked questions regarding the SoA’s diversity recruitment and retention guidelines.

One of the most crucial aspects of these diversity recruitment and retention efforts is the assessment of such efforts. In other words, not only must programs describe specific actions they take to achieve and maintain diversity, they must also have a plan in place for evaluating how such efforts are carried out. Note that merely describing the outcomes of these efforts is not sufficient; the focus should be on the process by which programs evaluate their recruitment and retention plans.

The table below identifies the information that programs at all levels (i.e., doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral residency) must provide in their self-studies in regards to reporting diversity recruitment and retention efforts:

*Note that retention strategies are not required at the internship level, as these are one-year programs.

More detailed information about these reporting requirements can be found in Implementing Regulations (IRs) C-21 D, C-19 I, and C-6 P on the accreditation websiteopens in new window.