Section 163.22. Accreditation procedures.

 

(1)   Determination of eligibility for contingent accreditation. The department shall review all information and materials submitted under s. DHS 163.21 for compliance with this subchapter. Within 60 days after the department receives all required application information and materials, the department shall either grant contingent accreditation or deny the application. If contingent accreditation is granted, the department shall send the training manager a contingent accreditation certificate under sub. (5) . If the application for accreditation is denied, the department shall notify the training manager in writing. The notification shall include the reason for the denial and shall inform the training manager of the right to appeal that determination under s. DHS 163.33 .

(2)   Conducting a course with contingent accreditation. The training course may be conducted once the training manager has received the contingent accreditation certificate for the course and confirmation that the principal instructor is approved under s. DHS 163.24 (3) , and has notified the department under s. DHS 163.25 (3) that the course is to begin.

(3)   Length of contingent accreditation. Contingent accreditation is a temporary approval to conduct training. When the department grants contingent accreditation, the expiration date on the contingent accreditation certificate under sub. (5) shall be 2 years after the date the certificate is issued. Contingent accreditation may be renewed for a maximum of an additional 2 years at the discretion of the department.

(4)   Determination of eligibility for full accreditation. The department shall conduct an accreditation audit under sub. (6) of a training course with contingent accreditation to determine eligibility for full accreditation. After notifying the training manager of the audit results, and based on those results, the department shall take one of the following actions:

(a) Grant full accreditation. The department may grant full accreditation. If full accreditation is granted, the department shall send the training manager an accreditation certificate under sub. (5) . Full accreditation may be granted for up to 2 years or 4 years from the date of issuance, depending on the amount of time left on the course's contingent accreditation and the amount of the fee paid under s. DHS 163.21 (9) (b) . A training course may renew accreditation under the provisions of s. DHS 163.23 .

(b) Renew contingent accreditation. The department may renew contingent accreditation for an additional 2 years, may require changes to the course in order to obtain full accreditation and may conduct additional on-site audits. If the department continues contingent accreditation, the department shall notify the training manager in writing. The notice shall include the reason for continuing contingent accreditation, requirements for achieving full accreditation and the right to appeal the action under s. DHS 163.33 .

(c) Suspend or revoke contingent accreditation. The department may suspend or revoke contingent accreditation at any time or take another enforcement action under s. DHS 163.32 . If the department suspends or revokes contingent accreditation, the department shall notify the training manager in writing. The notice shall include the reason for the suspension or revocation and shall inform the training manager of the right to appeal that action under s. DHS 163.33 .

(5)   Certificate of accreditation. The department shall send a certificate of accreditation to the training manager when a training course has been granted contingent or full accreditation. The training manager shall maintain the certificate of accreditation at the address listed on the application or later changed with notice to the department under s. DHS 163.25 (7) (a) and shall make the certificate available for review upon request by the department or the public. Only the most recent certificate of accreditation for a training course is valid. The training manager shall not allow another person to copy the certificate of accreditation for fraudulent or misleading purposes or to use the certificate.

(6)   Accreditation audits.

(a) On-site audits. Department staff may conduct on-site accreditation audits of a training course to review for compliance with this chapter. A training manager, instructor or other staff for an accredited training course may not deny department staff entry to conduct an audit. An audit may include a review of all the following:

1. Records.

2. Facilities.

3. Instructional curriculum.

4. Course test administration and security procedures.

5. Classroom instruction.

6. Audio-visual materials.

7. Course content and learning objectives, including whether classroom instruction is based on the learning goals and objectives submitted to the department under s. DHS 163.21 (6) (c) , as demonstrated by using learning objectives to introduce topics, focusing topics on the learning objectives, reviewing learning objectives in topic reviews and testing for student comprehension of the learning objectives through class discussions, class activities, hands-on training and the course test.

(b) Records audits. The department may conduct audits of training course records, including records required under s. DHS 163.25 (10) , and may require a training provider to submit records to the department for purposes of determining compliance.

(c) Notification of audit results. Within 60 days after completing an accreditation audit, the department shall notify the training manager in writing of the audit results.

CR 00-172 : cr. Register February 2002 No. 554 , eff. 3-1-02; EmR0928 : emerg. am. (4) (b), eff. 10-16-09; CR 09-085 : am. (4) (b) Register March 2010 No. 651 , eff. 4-1-10.