THE PROCESS OF ACCREDITATION IN DETAILS

Introduction

The scope of the UNPAA accreditation extends to different Associations and Guilds coming from different legal, economic, and academic backgrounds.  The UNPAA validation is an ambitious project as it aims at finding a way to bypass differences and find common denominators.

Some selection criteria are applied by the UNPAA for all Institutions regardless of their origins, areas of business etc...  Such criteria are called “Basic compliance guidelines” (BCGs from now on in the text) and they are not subject to any kind of waiver by any Institutions.  This is also part of the Institutional Accreditation.

Once the BCGs have been submitted and approved by the CAP the second step of the Accreditation process takes place.  This is the Internal Review of Operations which is carried out by the applicant following the guidelines of the UNPAA.  This part is a self review and self assessment and it implies the preparation of very detailed documents. 

These documents are then examined by the CAP and, if the standards (both essential and supplementary ones) look in order, then phase three of the Accreditation procedure takes place.   In this phase the Specialized Accreditation is carried out by the EP on the basis of the documents submitted in the prior phase.  Their judgment is passed on to:

a)     The applicant institution
b)     The CAP of UNPAA

Two are the situations at this point.

1.     All documents look in order and a visit is then authorized by the CAP to the EP panel to carry out a Peer review on site with the Institution, or

2.     Documents s do not satisfy the CAP and the Applicant is advised of the necessary steps to correct the substantial matters behind them prior to re submitting the documentation.  If everything is in order then the process picks up at stage 1. of this paragraph.

At this point the Accreditation of the Institution is approved and made valid for one year duration subject to the payment of annual fees. 

Basic Compliance Guidelines

 Phase one.

All these information will have to be presented by the applicant to the RO together with the request for Accreditation.  Should they fail to do so, their application will not be taken into consideration.

A meaningful statement clearly describing the Mission of the Institution and the goals it intends to achieve. (This means that its purpose is clear to any stake holder in the organization, Governing bodies and members). 

Accurate information on the Institution’s set up (This means what type of Institution it is – profit, non profit, cooperative, privately owned etc.  )

Accurate information on its organizational structure and its Governing Board (This means flow charts of the structure with clearly described roles and responsibilities.)

Accurate financial statements (This means that the Institution is able to supply a copy of the latest financial sheet, possibly certified)

Accurate description of its supporting services to the individual members (This means what are the benefits offered to the individual members.)

Internal Review of Operations

Phase two

This phase is almost entirely managed by the applying Institution with the support, aid and consultancy (when and if requested) of UNPAA staff, UNPAA guidelines and all the necessary information.

This phase calls upon the co operation of all the members of the Associations and Guilds as it is an assessment and evaluation of their mission, performances and benefits to the members, best practice etc...  The success of this phase depends very much upon the honesty and impartial judgment of the applying Institution itself.  It is by far the most important step in the whole process and it has to be carried out impartially without forgetting that it is a free and voluntary decision to ask for accreditation and there are no obligations whatsoever to comply with these requirements unless the Institution wants to achieve its goal.

This phase of the Accreditation process is made up of:

-         Self assessment of mission and objectives
-         Policies for candidate members assessment
-         Services rendered to members
-         Support systems

Self assessment of mission and objectives

The Institution must submit the following:

A Mission statement

The history of the Association/Guild, its founders, date of foundation, place of foundation, possible official registrations

A detailed description of the motivations that brought the Association/Guild to life.

A detailed description of its structure and operating procedures.

Any changes that have been made in the last ten years in the Mission and motivations of the Association/Guild

Policies ruling membership status

The Institution must submit the following:

A copy or a statement detailing the policy of admission to the Institution.  This policy must be fair and not discriminatory in the way of age, sex or race
.
A copy of the standards requested by the Association/Guild to be admitted as a member into the original association.
 . 

A statement confirming or not confirming the fact that the Institution accepts/not accepts to be part of UNPAA and have equal status to the one of other associated members.

Accreditation Assessment

Phase three

Once the applicant has gathered all the material requested the same needs to be sent to the UNPAA Registrar’s Office.  The material is catalogued and passed onto the attention of the CAP. Normally the CAP requires four working weeks to assess the material and decide if the general content of the same is in line with the expectations.  The programs and curricula are passed onto the EP for further perusal.

EP will then report clearly in writing the findings of the documents sent to its attention and  highlight the areas of concern if any.  The report is filed in three copies : one to CAP, one to the applicant address and a third is filed in the UNPAA filing system.

CAP takes note of the report and it advices the Institution and the EP of the need for a visit and a peer review on site or on the amendments to be made by the applicant to the procedures, programs etc.  In both cases a deadline is given to the applicant for these events.

Once there is clear proof that the requested amendments are carried out or will be carried out within a reasonable period of time to be agreed upon with the applicant  the request for validation is accepted on probation.