Last week, I attended the Association of Specialized and
Professional Accreditors (ASPA) conference in Chicago! ASPA is a membership
organization for specialized and professional accreditors. ASPA’s mission is to
provide “a collaborative forum and a collective voice for organizations that
assure the quality of specialized and professional higher education programs
and schools.”
CEPH was a founding member and continues as an active
participant in ASPA. Approximately 60 specialized accrediting agencies are
members. The spring ASPA conference provides professional development and
networking opportunities for their members. I had a great time, met new people,
and learned some lessons/fun facts along the way!
- Of the accrediting agencies at the meeting, only 10%
used travel planning software, including CEPH! This spring marks our first
season of visits using TripActions. While it can be challenging to begin
using a new software, TripActions has allowed us to take some financial
burden off of our site visitors. Also, TripActions customer service is
phenomenal and has already helped visitors get home after flight
cancellations and delays.
- A panelist with training evaluation expertise
recommended focusing post-training surveys on changes in two to three core
“behaviors” within 30-45 days. We are always trying to improve our
programming and I look forward to implementing best practices like this
one!
- During a group discussion, many accreditors talked
about the importance of relationship building and engagement during the
accreditation process and prefer to have a balance of virtual and
in-person meetings for these reasons. This really resonated with me.
Reflecting on the relationships I build with schools and programs
throughout the accreditation process and with site visitors as we travel
the country, I know we could not do our work without the trust that is
developed as a result of these relationships.
While CEPH staff are public health professionals at our
core, it is great to have an accreditation community to learn from so that we
can continuously improve our own practices.
--Written by Alexandra DiOrio, MPH
