Applying for Accreditation
Development of a New O&P Program
NCOPE should be notified when consideration is being given by an institution to the development of an orthotic and/or prosthetic educational program. To initiate the accreditation process, a Letter of Intent should be submitted to NCOPE three to six months prior to admission of students into the program. The Letter of Intent must be signed by the chief executive officer of the institution and the orthotic and/or prosthetic program director and must include the following:
- A declaration of the intention of the institution to seek accreditation for the orthotic and/or prosthetic educational program.
- A request for initial review of the self-study report.
- The type of program (i.e., practitioner, assistant or technician).
- The type of the program (i.e., professional master's degree, baccalaureate degree or post-baccalaureate certificate).
- The month and year the first class will enter the program.
- The month and year the first class will enter the program.
- The month and year the first class will graduate.
- Projected date the first students will sit for the ABC certification examination.
The Initial Application/Self-Study Report
The initial application is a requested from the chief executive officer (CEO) of the sponsoring institution of a program submits a written request for accreditation to CAAHEP. For practitioner level programs the CAAHEP application must be submitted. For all other programs (assistant and technician) only the Letter of Intent is required to initiate the accreditation process.
Self-Study Report
The program faculty and staff are required to conduct a self-evaluation and submit a Self-Study Report to NCOPE. This report is an analysis of the degree to which the program meets or exceeds the published accreditation Standards by outlining the program's sponsorship, curriculum, committed resources, operations, student policies and practices and any plans for addressing program enhancements and factors that fall below standards.
Programs should use the Guidelines for the Self-Study Process (below) to assist in preparing the Self-Study Report. Although it is understood that all aspects of the program may not be in place at the time of the initial review, information provided should be as complete as possible.
Guidelines for the Self-Study Process
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Self-study Guidelines for Practitioner [PDF Format]
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Self-study Guidelines for Technician [PDF Format]
The curriculum design and sequencing should be complete and course syllabi, including objectives, a topical outline, teaching/learning experiences and evaluation methods and an estimate in percentage of each subject taught in each of the courses must be provided.
Although no outcome data will be available at the time of the initial application, a full plan for program evaluation, including an assessment of outcomes, should be included.
Five (5) copies of the Self-Study Report should be prepared and submitted to NCOPE.
A list of schools is available in the Information for Students section.
Standards
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