Rights and responsibilities in the accreditation process

This article is the text of a presentation for the plenary session of the October 1981 meeting of the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation (CAHEA) and its panel of consultants and special advisors. The legal, philosophical, and practical aspects of rights and responsibilities in the accreditation process are examined from the institutions' perspective. Excerpts from the various CAHEA review committee's Essentials and Guidelines are cited as examples of how accrediting agencies unwittingly infringe on institutional prerogatives. The article suggests the need for institutions, allied health professions, and accrediting agencies to collaborate and to establish more realistic accreditation standards.