The APA Commission on Accreditation (CoA) Master’s Accreditation Work Group, formed in 2019, has continued the process of establishing procedures and supporting documents (Implementing Regulations) for the evaluation of master’s degree programs in health service psychology. The Accreditation Operating Procedures (AOP) were amended in 2021 to include educational programs at the master’s level and have been termed, the AOP-M. Following CoA approval, these documents were also approved for use by the Association, having been given final approval by the APA Board of Directors in February 2022. Since the acceptance of the AOP-M, Section D of the Implementing Regulations (IRs) has also been revised. Section D IRs are provided for the AOP and offer more detailed explanations and definitions. Thirteen IRs from Section D were prepared for master’s level accreditation and approved by the CoA to be presented to the public for comment at their February 2022 policy meeting. The IRs were provided to the public for a period between April 1, 2022 and May 31, 2022. Comments received regarding these IRs will be discussed at a forthcoming CoA meeting.
The Master’s Accreditation Work Group is currently discussing communication strategies to keep accreditation publics informed about the work that is being done. One item that is being discussed is a webpage that will maintain copies of accreditation documents for master’s program accreditation, such as the Standards of Accreditation for Programs in Health Service Psychology: Master’s Programs (SoA-M) (PDF, 194KB)opens in new window, the AOP and the IRs for master’s programs and a frequently asked questions page. In addition, the work group will continue to discuss ways to keep the publics updated on the development of accreditation procedures for master’s programs.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at (202) 336-5979 or by emailopens in new window.