9.4 Reporting Requirements
(a) Official written notification from the program administrator or appropriate institutional official of the changes that do not require pre approval must be provided as described in this section. Except for the information required to be reported in the Annual Accreditation Report as delineated in §9.4(f), all reports of changes must be provided independent of other formal reports (i.e. self-study reports, compliance reports, annual reports).
(b) Notification of the following changes must be submitted no later than one (1) week following the change and must include the listed information.
(1) Change in leadership (temporary or permanent) of the program.
(i) the name, credentials and contact information for the new person responsible for the program, whether permanent, interim or acting, accompanied by the individual’s curriculum vitae.
(ii) If the change is not permanent, also provide information about the processes being used to put a qualified leader in place on a permanent basis.
(2) Change in program director’s workload distribution or allocation of time to non-program related duties greater than 20%.
(i) description of the program director’s new responsibilities, including the amount of time that that has been reallocated
(ii) information regarding how the program director’s obligations to the program are being met (iii) for PTA programs, information regarding how the program is maintaining the required
complement of 2 FTE faculty dedicated to the program.
(3) Change in physical therapist assistant program core faculty composition, when the change results in either of the following situations: fewer than 2 full-time core faculty dedicated to the PTA program or no PT on the full-time faculty in the PTA program.
(i) information regarding how the program is meeting its obligations during the situation (ii) the program’s plan for remediation of the situation.
(4) Relocation of the program or reassignment of dedicated program space
(i) a description of the new space with a floor plan drawn essentially to scale (ii) information about the impact of the change on the program.
(c) Notification of the following changes must be submitted no later than one (1) week following the decision to implement the change and must include the listed information.
(1) Decision to not admit a cohort of students
(i) the reason(s) for this decision and an indication of whether this action is limited to one cohort or will be extended to further cohorts
(ii) information regarding projected total student enrollments resulting from this action (iii) information regarding the impact of this action on the program, including number and
workload of faculty.
(2) Closure of an additional program offering (e.g., expansion program)
(i) a copy of the official decision, including the planned closure date, and the teach-out plan for any students who will still be enrolled in the program at the time of closure
(ii) information regarding the expected impact of this decision on the remaining program relative to faculty, budget and other resources.
(iii) notification when all students have completed the program is also required (3) Plans for permanent program closure
(i) copies of official approval to close the program, a description of the teach-out plans, and the date that the last class of students will graduate.
(ii) evidence that the institution will abide by CAPTE’s Statement on Academic Integrity Related to Program Closure [see §1.3 (c)] and evidence that the program has informed enrolled students of the statement. As noted in the statement, failure to abide by it will be reported to the institutional accreditor.
(iii) also provide notification that all students have completed the program immediately following graduation of the last student(s).
(4) Change of institutions involved in a consortium arrangement to offer a PT or PTA program (i) description of any changes in the program that will result from the change in the
composition of the consortium, including information regarding which institution(s) will be awarding the degree
(ii) contact information for the administrative officials at any new institution that joins a consortium.
(5) Dissolution of a consortium arrangement
(i) documentation of official agreement to dissolve the consortium
(ii) information that describes the effect of the dissolution on the program, including on enrolled and prospective students
(iii) if the dissolution will result in program closure, provide the information described in
§9.4(c)(3), above.
(iv) if the intent of the dissolution is that two or more consortium members will each have its own program, then an Application for Approval of Substantive Change will be required.
(6) Change in the administrative structure in which the program is housed (i) information regarding the proposed new structure
(ii) information about the effect of the change on the program, if any.
(7) Change of ownership of the institution that sponsors the program (i) contact information for new institutional owners
(ii) information about the effect of the change of ownership on the program, if any.
(d) Notification of the following changes must be submitted no later than three (3) months prior to implementation and must include the listed information
(1) Implementation of another program not subject to accreditation by CAPTE for which the program director or core faculty have responsibility or involvement (e.g., a transition DPT program, a post-professional education program for domestic or foreign students, a program offered in another country, or another program housed in the same academic unit as the accredited program).
NOTE: CAPTE’s interest in such programs is related solely to its responsibility to assure the quality of the program(s) that it accredits and the accuracy of information about the accreditation status of programs offered by the institution. CAPTE is not interested in limiting the ability of physical therapy academic units to develop new offerings not subject to CAPTE accreditation.
(i) provide a description of the impact of the new program on the professional program accredited by CAPTE, including but not limited to alterations in core faculty workload (teaching, scholarship and service), curriculum, and resources.
(ii) provide a copy of planned advertising (brochures, website, etc.) for the new program that clearly indicates the program is not accredited by CAPTE.
NOTE: When appropriate, CAPTE will annotate its master list of accredited programs, which is provided to all state licensure boards twice a year, to indicate the existence of physical therapy programs offered by the institution that are not accredited by CAPTE.
(2) Change in the number of credits required (± 5% or more of the professional/technical course credits), the number of courses required (± 2 or more), or the number of terms students are required to be enrolled, including changes of types of terms (quarter/semester/trimester) (i) a rationale for the proposed change
(ii) information about the implications of the proposed change on the following:
(a) the number, qualifications and workload of the faculty, especially as it relates to the proposed change
(b) the curricular plan, content and delivery methods (c) expected student outcomes
(d) resources (finances, space, equipment, library, clinical sites, etc.) necessary to implement the planned change
(e) anticipated effects on students
(e) Notification of the following must be submitted no later than one (1) week following receipt of the decision and must include the listed information
(1) Change in the accreditation status of the institution or other action taken by the institutional accrediting agency
(i) information about the reasons for any decision that changes the institution’s accreditation status adversely (i.e., probation or withdrawal) or that signals the potential for such a change (e.g., show cause, warning)
(ii) information about the effect of the reasons for the institution’s accreditation status change on the program, if any.
(2) Change in the status of the institution’s license/authorization to operate in its jurisdiction.
(i) information about the reasons for any decision that negatively affects the institution’s license/authorization to operate in its jurisdiction
(ii) information about the effect of the reasons for the institution’s licensure/authorization status change on the program, if any.
(f) Evidence provided in the Annual Accreditation Report of the following changes will be reviewed by staff and may result in a request for additional information or, if the program is clearly out of compliance with a standard/element, a citation:
(1) A decrease in the total program budgeted operating expenses (excluding salary and benefits) of 10% or more from one year to the next or 25% or more over the most recent three (3) years;
(2) A decrease in the total program budgeted salary expenses (excluding benefits) of 10% or more from one year to the next or 25% or more over the most recent three (3) years;
(3) A decrease in the square footage of teaching laboratory space dedicated to the program of 25%
or more;
(4) A delay in any student(s)’ graduation due to lack of available student clinical education placements;
(5) A decrease of 25% or more over the most recent three (3) years of the FTEs of core faculty positions allocated to a PT professional program;
(6) Evidence that 30% or more of the core faculty positions allocated to a PT professional program are vacant or are filled temporarily with adjunct faculty;
(7) A one-time temporary increase (greater than 25%) in the size of a matriculated cohort (e.g., to teach out students from another program). (See §9.8 for expectations related to permanent increases in class size.)
9.5 Review of Reportable Changes
(a) Reportable changes will be reviewed as follows:
(1) Official written notification of changes will be reviewed by staff and, when appropriate, placed on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled CAPTE meeting following receipt of the notification.
(2) If necessary, notification of changes that signal a serious concern for the ongoing viability of a program can trigger the need for a CAPTE meeting by conference call.
(b) Review by CAPTE of reportable changes, regardless of the source of the information, may result in a status decision and/or a request for additional information in the form of a Compliance Report.
(1) If CAPTE determines that the information provided about the substantive change is valid and clearly reveals that the program is out of compliance with one or more of the
standards/elements, a status decision including citations will be made.
(2) If CAPTE determines that the information provided about the substantive change reveals that the program may be out of compliance with one or more of the standards/elements, additional information will be requested for review at CAPTE’s next meeting.