Applying for Accreditation
Development of a New O&P Program
NCOPE should be notified when consideration is being giving by an institution to the development of an orthotic and prosthetic educational program.
The first step for any new emerging program is for the program to apply for the candidate accreditation status. NCOPE has in place the Candidacy Policy Program. The purpose for the candidacy program is to help assure that institutions develop O&P education programs with adequate planning and the necessary resources (e.g., leadership, faculty, physical plant and budget). This program allows developing O&P programs the opportunity to establish a formal and publicly recognized relationship with NCOPE. Candidate for Accreditation once granted is not an accreditation status and therefore students graduating under candidacy would not be graduating from an accredited program and would not be accepted by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics.
The basic steps are as follows:
- Submission of an application for candidate status (ACS) no later than ten months prior to the planned enrollment of the first class of students in the professional or technical phase of the program
- Staff and committee review the application
- Written report regarding the program's progress towards compliance with the Standards, judgments concerning institutional readiness to start the proposed program and suggestions related to the findings with respect to the Standards is provided
- If no additional information is required and a new or revised application is not needed then a one and half-day Candidate visit is coordinated
- Site visit report from the Candidacy Visit is prepared and provided to the NCOPE board of directors for review and decision
- Granting of Candidate for Accreditation status must occur prior to the enrollment of students in the program
- The attainment of Candidate for Accreditation status is required for the program to proceed with the accreditation process
Accreditation Process
Initial Application
For programs that have already been granted "candidate status", they are eligible to proceed to apply for initial accreditation through the CAAHEP system. The initial application is requested from the sponsoring institution.
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.
- Self-study Guidelines for Practitioner [PDF Format]
- Self-study Guidelines for Technician [PDF Format]
Five (5) copies of the Self-Study report should be prepared and submitted to CNOPE
A list of schools is available in the Information for Students section.
Standards
- Practitioner [PDF Format]
- Assistant/Technician [PDF Format]
In order to view or print PDF files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat plug-in, which can be obtained free of charge from the Adobe web site.