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Applicants often have questions about the accreditation process, so we thought it might be helpful to explain how dental accreditation works and the steps that Western University College of Dental Medicine will go through to earn full accreditation status.

Dental schools in the United States are accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, a specialized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The Commission has sole authority for the accreditation of approximately 1,300 educational programs in dental and dental-related disciplines, which include pre-doctoral dental education, dental assisting, dental hygiene, dental laboratory technology, general practice residency, advanced education in general dentistry, as well as the nine recognized dental specialties.

New or developing dental education programs are developed in accordance with the established Accreditation Standards for Dental Education, a copy of which can be found on the Commission on Dental Accreditation s area of www.ada.org at Accreditation Standards for Dental Education Programs .

Dental education programs first are considered for the accreditation classification of "Initial Accreditation". The granting of this status is based on an on-site evaluation of the developing program prior to the enrollment of students and the initiation of the program. The purpose of an "initial accreditation" site visit is to determine, by inspection of facilities, interviews with institutional administrators, the dean, faculty and staff, and reviews of curriculum and documentation, whether the developing program meets the intent of the Accreditation Standards.

In general, the dental Accreditation Standards cover the areas of Institutional Effectiveness, including mission, goals and objectives, and financial resources; Educational Program, including admissions and curriculum; Faculty and Staff; Educational Support Services, including facilities, student services, financial aid; Patient Care Services, including quality assurance; and Research.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation meets twice a year, usually in January and in July. Western University has been working on its initial accreditation application and will submit that application to the Commission during the period of October 2007 to April 2008.

The completed application for initial accreditation is reviewed to determine whether the program appears to have the potential to meet minimum accreditation requirements. If such a determination is made, the initial accreditation site visit will be scheduled in the fall 2008.

Following the initial accreditation site visit, the visiting committee's preliminary report is submitted to the University for review. Subsequently, the visiting committee's report and any institutional response is transmitted to the Commission's Dental Education Review Committee. The Review Committee's report is then forwarded to the Commission at its regularly scheduled January 2009 meeting. The Commission's action regarding accreditation status is transmitted to Western University approximately 30 days after the meeting.

If there are any recommendations that need to be addressed at that time, the University will submit a progress report to the Commission. That progress report will be reviewed at the Commission's regularly scheduled meeting in July 2009.

Once the dental education program is granted "initial accreditation" status, a site visit will be conducted in the second year of the program, and then again prior to the graduation of the first class. The classification of "initial accreditation" is applicable until the program is fully operational. Students who enter a program with the status of "initial accreditation" and who successfully complete the program are considered to be graduates of an accredited program for purposes of licensure, application to specialty programs, etc.

Further information about the dental accreditation process and the Commission on Dental Accreditation can be found at Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)