Presented at CLEARs 23rd Annual Conference

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Public Accountability Best PracticesAccrediting
Your Certification Program

• Roy Swift American National Standards Institute
  (ANSI)
• Michael Rosenfeld Educational Testing Service
  (ETS)

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• MISSION
• To enhance the global competitiveness of U.S.
  business and the American quality of life by
  promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus
  standards and conformity assessment systems and
  ensuring their integrity.

A Private- and Public-Sector Partnership Since
1918
ANSI is not a government agency or a standards
developer.
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A Federation of members representing

• Professional Societies
• Service Organizations
• Standards Developers
• Consumer and Labor Interests and many more

• Academia
• Individuals
• Government
• Manufacturing
• Trade Associations

Bringing the Private- Public-Sectors Together
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Who ANSI Accredits

• Products Certifiers
• Management System Registrars
• Standards Developers
• Personnel Certifiers

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ANSI Accreditation Vision

• Dedicated to developing the highest quality
  accreditation of personnel certification in the
  world
• Continual improvement via quality management
  process
• Creating educational offerings and documents to
  clearly communicate the requirements of the
  ISO/IEC 17024 Standard
• Using technology to optimize efficiency and
  effectiveness

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ANSI Accreditation Vision

• Preparing outstanding evaluators/assessors to
  assure consistency of accreditation decisions
• Ensuring representation of the participating
  occupational sectors in the accreditation process
• Analyzing aggregate data collected in the
  accreditation process to identify
• Best Practices
• Create Educational Offerings

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ANSI Accreditation Vision

• Represent the United States and promote
  recognition in the international accreditation
  community
• International Accreditation Forum
• Providing a unique accreditation process for
  personnel certification agencies
• Using an International Standard (ISO/IEC 17024
• Emphasizing continuous quality improvement
• Conducting audits that facilitates dialogue
  between assessors and the certification body

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What is the Accreditation Standard?
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Objectives of ISO/IEC 17024

• Achieve and promote a globally accepted benchmark
  for organizations managing the certification of
  persons
• Create confidence in certification thru globally
  accepted processes of assessment, subsequent
  surveillance and periodic re-assessment
• Harmonize a system to develop and maintain
  certification programs
• Establish an environment for mutual recognition
  and global exchange of personnel

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Use of an International Standard ISO/IEC 17024

• Policy and Procedures of the Program
• Organization Structure
• Methods to Create the Certification Credential
• Management System Continuous Quality
  Improvement
• Monitoring of Sub-Contracting
• Record Keeping/Databases

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Use of an International Standard ISO/IEC 17024

• Confidentiality and Security
• Staff and Examiner Qualifications/Responsibilities
  
• Certification Process
• Application
• Evaluation of Applicants
• Decision regarding Certification
• Surveillance
• Re-certification
• Use of Logo/Certification Marks

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What is the Accreditation Process?
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(No Transcript)
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Assessor Certification Process

• Attend training on ISO/IEC 17024
• Pass a certification examination on 17024
• Participate in annual training

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Assessor Assignment Activities

• Read application and supporting materials
• Contact applicant
• Develop audit plan
• Conduct site visit
• Opening meeting
• Conduct interviews and review materials
• Identify nonconformities, opportunities for
  improvement, and commendations
• Write final report