Accreditation Notice of Third Party Comments – Pediatric Dentistry Residency Programs

COMMISSION ON DENTAL ACCREDITATION POSTING FORM FOR POLICY ON THIRD PARTY COMMENTS

The Commission currently publishes, in its accredited lists of programs, the year of the next site visit for each program it accredits. In addition, the Commission posts its spring and fall announcements on the Accreditation News area of the Commission’s website for those programs being site visited January through June or July through December. Special site visits and initial accreditation site visits for developing programs may be scheduled after the posting on the Commission’s website; thus, the specific dates of these site visits will not be available for publication. Parties interested in these specific dates (should they be established) are welcomed/encouraged to contact the Commission office.

The United States Department of Education (USDE) procedures require accrediting agencies to provide an opportunity for third-party comment, either in writing or at a public hearing (at the accrediting agencies’ discretion) with respect to institutions or programs scheduled for review. All comments must relate to accreditation standards for the discipline and required accreditation policies. In order to comply with the Department’s requirement on the use of third-party comment regarding program’s qualifications for accreditation or initial accreditation, the following procedures have been developed.

Programs with the status of initial accreditation, and programs seeking initial accreditation must solicit comment through appropriate notification of communities of interest and the public such as faculty, students, program administrators, specialty and dental-related organizations, patients, and consumers.

On occasion, programs may be scheduled for special focused site visits and because of the urgency of the visit, solicitation of third-party comments within the ninety (90) day time-frame may not be possible. However, third party comments must be solicited at the time the program is notified of the Commission’s planned site visit. In this case, the timeframe for solicitation of third-party comments will be shortened.

The Commission will request written comments from interested parties on the CODA website. All comments relative to programs being visited will be due in the Commission office no later than sixty (60) days prior to each program’s site visit to allow time for the program to respond. Therefore, programs being site-visited in January through June will be listed in the fall posting of the previous year and programs scheduled for a site visit from July through December will be listed in the spring posting of the current year. Any unresolved issues related to the program’s compliance with the accreditation standards will be reviewed by the visiting committee while on-site.

Those programs scheduled for review must solicit third-party comments through appropriate notification of communities of interest and the public such as faculty, students, program administrators, specialty and dental-related organizations, patients, and consumers at least ninety (90) days prior to their site visit. The notice should indicate the deadline of sixty (60) days for receipt of third-party comments in the Commission office and should stipulate that signed or unsigned comments will be accepted, that names and/or signatures will be removed from comments prior to forwarding them to the program, and that comments must pertain only to the standards for the particular program or policies and procedures used in the Commission’s accreditation process. The announcement may include language to indicate that a copy of the appropriate accreditation standards and/or the Commission’s policy on third-party comments may be obtained by contacting the Commission at 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, or by calling 1/800-621-8099, extension 4653.

All comments submitted must pertain only to the standards relative to the particular program being reviewed or policies and procedures used in the accreditation process. Comments will be screened by Commission staff for relevancy. Signed or unsigned comments will be considered. For comments not relevant to these issues, the individual will be notified that the comment is not related to accreditation and, where appropriate, referred to the appropriate agency. For those individuals who are interested in submitting comments, requests may be made to the Commission office.

All relevant comments will have names and/or signatures removed and will then be referred to the program at least fifty (50) days prior to the site visit for review and response. A written response from the program should be provided to the Commission office and the visiting committee fifteen (15) days prior to the site visit. Adjustments may be necessary in the site visit schedule to allow discussion of comments with proper personnel. Negative comments received after the established deadline of sixty (60) days prior to the site visit will be handled as a complaint.

Revised: 2/18; 2/16; 2/15; 8/13; 8/12, 8/11, 7/09, 8/02, 1/97; Reaffirmed: 8/13; 8/10, 1/03; Adopted: 7/95

INSTITUTION: East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine

PROGRAM TO BE REVIEWED: Residency Program In Pediatric Dentistry

SITE VISIT DATE: August 23, 2018

60-DAY DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF COMMENTS IN THE COMMISSION OFFICE: June 23, 2018

(Commission on Dental Accreditation, 211 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611)