THE COUNCIL ON CHIROPRACTIC EDUCATION (CCE)

Reed B. Phillips, D.C., Ph.D., President

Message to the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards
March 20, 2001

During the past year, the CCE Board of Directors and its Commission on Accreditation have been active in addressing our accreditation standards and in conducting assessments for accreditation of programs and institutions offering the doctor of chiropractic degree. Emphasis on continued strengthening and clarification of the requirements for accreditation, especially the clinical competencies required for graduates, has been a significant part of this work. CCE continues its work toward effective review and accreditation of post-graduate education programs and looks forward to further cooperative efforts with the Federation as you address the challenges associated with certification of continuing education offerings in the field.

Having received and considered recommendations from virtually all constituencies during the past two years, the CCE Board took final action in January 2001 to approve a strengthened and updated iteration of the CCE Standards for Doctor of chiropractic Programs and Institutions. Committed to periodic review and improvement, we believe these CCE Standards make a strong statement expressing our expectations for the highest quality in educating doctors of chiropractic. We encourage you to review the CCE Standards at our website, www.cce-usa.org, and, as always, invite the Federation to comment and suggest means for further improvement as part of our periodic review processes.

In the past year, the CCE Commission on Accreditation (COA), led by its Chairman, Dr. Joseph Brimhall, has conducted three site visits toward status review actions. The programs/institutions involved in these reviews will, no doubt, affirm the thoroughness and rigor of our accreditation process. The COA has further delineated the data and reports required in annual reports from the accredited entities, and has piloted the use of student outcomes and achievement benchmarks in the assessment of performance by the programs/institutions. The COA recently conducted a detailed information session for college academic and clinical personnel key to the educational process in order to help insure understanding of, and adherence to, the revised accreditation requirements.

At the request of a licensing board in one state, the COA recently wrote to all the CCE accredited programs/institutions urging them to notify state licensing boards about prospective student preceptor program assignments in their jurisdictions.

During the months ahead, the COA will conduct intensified training activities for anticipated members of upcoming site visit teams, and experienced field practitioners will be involved in these training activities. The COA also will introduce new approaches in leadership for the site visits. All of this preparation will be based on implementation of the recently revised accreditation requirements, and especially the clinical competencies.

The COA will be presenting information and some preliminary training for potential site team members during the FCLB conference and, in the next few weeks we will be soliciting nominations from FCLB and other organizations toward election of a field practitioner for a seat on the COA.

In summary, CCE has been very active in its ongoing efforts to help strengthen the programs for education of doctors of chiropractic. In doing so, we have been attentive to the related issues in the regulatory aspects of the profession, and we have appreciated our continuing and mutually supportive relationship with the Federation.