Membership and Certification Manual

ASHA Certification In Accord With ASHA/CASLPA Agreement for Mutual Recognition

Table of Contents  | Introduction | Certification and Membership | Instructions for Obtaining and Maintaining Certification | Clinical Fellowship Requirements and Procedures | Procedures for Appeal

V. Procedures for Appeal

If CCB Determines That Not All Standards Have Been Met

After reviewing an application for certification, the CCB may determine that an applicant has not met all the requirements for the Certificate of Clinical Competence. The chair of the CCB will send an Initial Determination letter to inform the applicant of the Boards decision. If certification is not awarded, the applicant has the option of a) correcting the deficiencies as specified in the chair's letter and resubmitting the application at a later time, or b) requesting Further Consideration and submitting an explanation as well as additional compelling evidence to demonstrate why certification should be awarded. Further consideration procedures are described below.

If the Clinical Fellowship Supervisor Does Not Recommend Approval of the Clinical Fellowship

If the clinical fellowship supervisor does not recommend approval of the clinical fellowship experience, he/she must so indicate in Section 7 of the Clinical Fellowship Report and sign the Report. Within 30 days of making the negative recommendation, the clinical fellowship supervisor must submit to the CCB a) a letter of explanation and supporting documentation, and b) a completed and signed Clinical Fellowship Report and Clinical Fellowship Skills Inventory Rating Form. This information may be shared with the clinical fellow.

Following a negative recommendation, the clinical fellow may complete an entirely new clinical fellowship and/or request a special review by the CCB. To request a special review, the clinical fellow must submit to the CCB within 30 days of the negative recommendation a) a signed and completed Clinical Fellowship Report and Clinical Fellowship Skills Inventory Rating Form, if not already submitted, and b) a letter of explanation as well as compelling supporting documentation to show why the clinical fellowship should be approved. The CCB may share this information with the clinical fellowship supervisor to solicit any additional information the supervisor wishes to provide. The CCB will review all information to determine if the clinical fellowship will be approved. The chair of the CCB shall write an Initial Determination letter to inform the applicant of the Board' s decision.

Further Consideration

To request Further Consideration, the applicant shall write to the CCB within 30 days of the date of the chair' s Initial Determination letter. Along with the letter, the applicant should submit additional pertinent materials as evidence to show why certification should be awarded. The CCB shall review the applicant' s file and reach a decision. The chair of the CCB shall notify the applicant of the Board' s decision. The letter shall be sent by certified, return-receipt-requested mail. If certification is denied, the applicant has the option of a) correcting the deficiencies as specified in the chair' s letter, or b) notifying the chair of the Council on Professional Standards in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (Standards Council) of the applicant' s intent to appeal the decision to deny certification. The appeal shall be based upon the documentation submitted to the CCB. Additional materials will not be considered by the Standards Council. The decision of the Standards Council is final. (See "Rules Governing the Filing and Processing of Appeals" below.) If the applicant does not request Further Consideration within the stipulated time period, the applicant cannot appeal to Standards Council.

Council on Professional Standards in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

General Principles

1. Individuals, institutions, or agencies whose certification or accreditation has been withheld or withdrawn by one of the operating boards (the Clinical Certification Board or the Professional Services Board) may appeal the decision of that board to the Council on Professional Standards. The operating board shall hereinafter be referred to as the Board. The Council on Professional Standards shall hereinafter be referred to as the Council. An individual, institution, or agency appealing a decision of a Board shall hereinafter be referred to as the appellant.

2. An appeal of a Board decision shall be on the Board' s record. All written material that the Board considered in reaching its decision constitutes "the record". The Council shall not receive or consider evidentiary matters that are not included in the record.

3. In the interest of ensuring integrity of the appellate process, the Council, in considering certification and accreditation appeals, should adhere to the following guidelines for avoiding conflict of interest or perception thereof that might impair the objectivity of the Council' s decision.

   • Appellants should be given the opportunity to inform the Council chair of any conflict or potential conflict they are aware of on the part of any Council member and to ask that such member be disqualified from participating in any manner in the appellate process.

   • Any Council member who has a current professional or personal relationship with an appellant whose appeal is to be adjudicated, or who in the recent past has had such a relationship, shall decline to participate in any manner in that appellate process. If a Council member has any doubt as to whether he/she should decline to participate, the chair of the Council should be asked to make the decision.

   • It is incumbent upon all Council members to maintain strict confidentiality at all times with respect to their deliberations and comments during the course of the appellate process. It is also incumbent upon all Council members to maintain strict confidentiality with respect to any action taken for so long as that action, under the rules of procedure, has not become public.

4. The function of the Council shall be to review the record and to consider the statements or arguments of the appellant and the chair of the Board to determine whether or not there was probative evidence before the Board that would justify its decision. Upon such review and consideration, the Council shall affirm or reverse, in whole or in part, the Board' s decision or remand the case to the Board for further proceedings.

Rules Governing the Filing and Processing of Appeals

1. Within 30 days of the date upon which a certified, return-receipt-requested letter of denial from the Board is received by the appellant, the appellant shall submit to the chair of the Council a notice of intent to appeal. The appellant shall transmit a copy thereof to the chair of the Board and shall certify to the chair of the Council that a copy was transmitted.

2. Within 60 days of the date upon which the certified, return-receipt-requested letter of denial from the Board is received by the appellant, the appellant shall submit to the chair of the Council a written explanation of the grounds for the appeal. This explanation should not introduce evidentiary matters not included in the record before the Board. The appellant shall transmit a copy thereof to the chair of the Board and shall certify to the Chair of the Council that a copy was transmitted.

3. The chair of the Council shall assign the appeal for hearing and shall cause the appellant and the chair of the Board to be notified of the time and place thereof. Each shall have the right to appear in person or by designated representative and to present a statement or argument or, as an alternative, to present a statement or argument via telephone conference call.

4. Before the hearing the Board shall furnish to the Council, for review by its members, complete copies of the record made before the Board.

5. The appellant and the Council shall be entitled to be represented by counsel at the hearing. The chair of the Board shall be entitled to the assistance of a resource person at the hearing. That person, at the Council's discretion, may be called to testify and, in this case, shall be subject to examination like any other witness.

6. No additional persons other than the staff archivist and the appropriate Executive Board liaison shall be present at the hearing.

7. Following introductory remarks by the chair of the Council, the appellant shall be heard first, then the Board. Finally, the appellant shall be afforded the opportunity for rebuttal.

8. After the hearing, at a time fixed by the chair, the Council shall meet in closed session, with only the staff archivist and the Council's legal advisor present, to consider its decision, which shall be by majority vote of those Council members who were in attendance at the hearing of the appeal.

9. The Council shall notify appellant and the chair of the Board in writing within 30 days of its decision. The notice shall be mailed certified, return-receipt-requested.

10. At the time of noting the intent to appeal or at any time before the hearing, the appellant, for good cause, may request in writing that the chair grant an accelerated appeal to be heard before a panel of the Council.

• Appellant's request for an accelerated appeal shall be accompanied by a written acknowledgment and agreement that the panel's decision shall be final and in all respects the same as a decision in the matter of the Council as a whole.

• The chair of the Council shall promptly either grant or deny the request.

• If the request is granted, the chair shall promptly appoint a panel of three Council members, naming a chair thereof, to hear and decide the appeal. The panel shall follow, and be bound by, the procedures governing appeals before the Council as a whole, except that the panel may shorten the time for the filing of the appellant's written explanation of the grounds for appeal.

• All personal costs incurred by the appellant in connection with the appeal, including travel and lodging, counsel, and other fees, shall be the appellant's sole responsibility.