ASHA Executive Board Reaffirms CAA

In a letter [PDF] to Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD) President Celia Hooper, the ASHA Executive Board recently affirmed the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology's (CAA) accreditation model as the single nationally recognized accreditor for the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology within the discipline of communication sciences and disorders.

The affirmation stemmed from the fact that in recent months, ASHA-along with the CAA, the American Academy of Audiology (AAA), and the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE)-participated in a series of meetings at the invitation of the CAPCSD.

The meetings were designed to address CAPCSD's concern that audiology programs may face two accrediting agencies and to discuss a possible revised structure and accreditation process for graduate education programs in audiology and speech-language pathology.

As a result of its active participation in these facilitated meetings and follow-up discussions, ASHA determined that: the principles of accreditation identified during the CAPCSD facilitated meetings were consistent with the principles under which the CAA has been operating since its establishment; and, that the new accreditation models proposed during the meetings provided no significant improvement or advantage over the model now used by the CAA.