ACEN Accreditation Manual – Policy 6

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ACEN Accreditation Manual – Section II Policies

POLICY #6 Delay/Advancement of Continuing Accreditation Visit

The nurse administrator may formally request a delay or advancement of a site visit for continuing accreditation. The ACEN Chief Executive Officer makes the decision to grant or deny the request based on the reasons provided. Denial of a delay or advancement of a site visit for continuing accreditation is not appealable.

The ACEN Chief Executive Officer may also initiate the delay or advancement of a site visit for continuing accreditation.

Delay of a Site Visit for Continuing Accreditation

Delays are granted only when circumstances beyond the control of the nursing program occur; typically, these involve a major disruption (e.g., natural disaster, catastrophic fire) that interrupts the education of currently enrolled students. The timeframe considered for a visit delay is six months (one accreditation cycle). A change in the nurse administrator or implementation of a substantive change is not considered beyond the control of the nursing program.

Delays are not granted to nursing programs:

  1. That were granted a delay in the most recent accreditation cycle.
  2. That have a current status of continuing accreditation with warning or continuing accreditation for good cause.
  3. That have an outstanding Follow-Up Report as requested by the commission1.
  4. That are on stipulation (including but not limited to conditional, provisional, and probationary status) by the program’s state regulatory agency for nursing.
  5. That have a review following the granting of initial accreditation by the commission1.

If a nursing program does not submit the Follow-Up Report by the date requested, the program will be presented for action to the ACEN Board of Commissioners at the next Board of Commissioners meeting. The ACEN will deem as a voluntary withdrawal from accreditation any refusal or failure of an accredited program to submit to a required Follow-Up Report. See Policy #7 Voluntary Withdrawal from ACEN Accreditation.

If the request for a delay is made six weeks or less prior to the site visit, the reprocessing/rescheduling site visit fee is applicable.

A nursing program that is granted a delayed accreditation visit will be returned to its original visit schedule for the next accreditation visit.

Advancement of a Site Visit For Continuing Accreditation

Advancements are granted when circumstances facilitate the review of two or more nursing programs offered by a governing organization/nursing education unit. For the nursing program(s) seeking advancement, the request for an advancement must be made no later than 18 months prior to the next comprehensive continuing accreditation site visit for the nursing program(s) that the nursing program(s) seeking advancement desires to synchronize with. A nursing program that is granted an advancement of a comprehensive continuing accreditation site visit will not be returned to its original comprehensive continuing accreditation site visit cycle; instead, the comprehensive continuing accreditation site visit cycle for the advanced nursing program will be reset in accordance with Policy #4 Types of Commission Actions for Initial and Continuing Accreditation.

Policy #6 History
Revised July 2015
Edited March 2019
Revised July 2020
Edited June 2023

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