ACCPAS Conflict of Interest Policy: Visiting Evaluators

ACCPAS works to avoid conflict of interest or the appearance of conflict of interest in any aspect of its accreditation activities and in its other operations. All individuals involved in any relationship with ACCPAS or CAAA are expected to declare potential conflicts of interest as they appear. In the accreditation process, potential conflicts of interest may arise based on personal associations, past or projected affiliations, past or current financial relationships, geographic proximity, or for other reasons. Questions concerning conflicts of interest should be addressed to the office of the Executive Director. No member of ACCPAS shall participate in any way in accrediting decisions in which he or she has a pecuniary or personal interest (or the appearance of same) or with respect to which, because of present institutional or program association, he or she has divided loyalties or conflicts (or the appearance of same) on the outcome of the decision. This restriction is not intended to prevent participation and decision-making in a general run of cases which do not directly or substantially affect the institution or program with which the ACCPAS member is associated or its competitive position with a neighboring institution or program under review. If a conflict of interest issue arises, the matter shall be forwarded to the Executive Director, who shall gather information, solicit advice as appropriate, and attempt to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of all concerned, consistent with the published policies and procedures of ACCPAS and with consideration of standard practice within the arts accreditation community. Should the Executive Director be unable to achieve resolution, he or she shall bring the matter to CAAA. CAAA shall seek resolution through procedures developed to address the specifics of each case.