ISSUE 26

By Jim Pearson and Dr. Scott Massey

We’ve been presenting our three-part series on remediation in PA education. In the first two Issues, we discussed the need for remediation measures at the graduate level, and the implementation of a Study Skills Seminar, pre-matriculation classes or modules, and the Student Success Coaching Model. In today’s issue, we’ll conclude our series with a discussion of the Academic Success Coach.

Before we begin this final piece of the puzzle, let’s review the ARC-PA standards on remediation policies.

Remediation Policy (A3.17f)

A remediation process is designed to help the faculty and students identify areas of difficulty or challenge with respect to academic or clinical performance. The nature of the remediation process is tailored to address deficient learning areas in need of improvement. Several factors are considered in determining how the remedial option will be implemented. Entering an individualized remedial program is a privilege, not automatically granted.

The remediation program is developed based on:

1. Student’s academic performance in all other courses
2. Amount of time ascertained as necessary for the student to achieve competence
3. Schedule of student and faculty member assigned to supervise and conduct the remedial work
4. Extenuating circumstances that may hinder or impede the remediation process

After considering these factors and the student’s overall performance, the faculty will determine how best to provide a remediation process that will improve the student’s outcome. The remediation coordinator is responsible for oversight of the designed remediation plan and the assignment of a remediation advisor to the student. The advisor meets with the student, completes the Remediation Forms, interviews the student, reviews submitted remediation work, and assesses completion of the student’s remediation study.

The Academic Success Coach

Providing good academic support for your students begins with a robust advising system; faculty advisors must be trained to ensure that the same messages are given to each student. The foundation of effective support is longitudinal advising sessions that address ongoing student progress. Students identified as at-risk due to lower academic performance must be placed on a specific Academic Improvement Plan (AIP), which assures that students will receive support and mentoring at critical times.

Training one of your faculty members to be the Academic Success Coach can pay dividends.

Not all faculty members can be Academic Success Coaches – it requires a dedicated instructor with particular skills. The training involves in-depth understanding of learning theory, application of skill-building exercises, and strategic coaching. The Academic Success Coach should be able to diagnose student challenges and provide recommendations for improvement. Those who take on the role of an Academic Success Coach must be willing to learn educational theory and apply proven practices in student counseling sessions. It requires diligence and logistical thought. Because this work involves a considerable amount of time and energy, Academic Success Coaches should receive workload release for this responsibility.

This process can markedly reduce attrition and improve student retention. Exam Master has developed it over 20 years of academic remediation experience. Unless students are unwilling to make the effort, or for some reason they are incapable of improvement, this process is successful virtually 100% of the time.

The Student Success Coach Model persists throughout the program, in didactic- and clinical year coaching. The clinical year coaching process uses longitudinal test scores like PACKRAT I/II, EORE, and SUMMATIVE scores to determine student stratification of risk and to intervene on their behalf. This kind of intervention can result in a 100% pass rate on the PANCE each year if employed properly.

Rather than siphoning labor resources, the Student Success Coaching Model saves considerable time for individual faculty members because it avoids duplicating academic mentoring and tutoring services. The accountability model is deeply embedded within the Academic Success Coach process, increasing chances for success. A critical factor in using accountability to achieve success is treating students with dignity and respect.

Outline of the Academic Success Coach’s role:

1. All faculty receive basic training in student success principles.
2. Adopt a protocol-driven approach that involves intake interviewing of students at the beginning of the semester.
3. Students who experience academic difficulties can be referred to the Academic Success Coach for more specific diagnostic evaluation.
4. The Academic Success Coach will refer students to college or university services if this is beyond the scope of program resources.
5. The Academic Success Coach will meet with students on academic improvement plans to monitor ongoing progress.
6. Careful documentation of study skill methodology recommended for each student is essential

How can the faculty improve their skills in academic remediation?

Improvement in academic remediation skills requires a desire to focus on specific skillsets. Not all faculty members are keen on expending significant energy in this area. Many feel it is not their responsibility to hold students’ hands when they should theoretically already have the skills to succeed in graduate-level education. It’s a common refrain, particularly in programs trying to practice diversity and inclusion; this kind of support is essential. Your program has taken on the responsibility for educating these enrolled students, and mentoring is a powerful testament to your program’s dedication to the success of its future PAs.

Faculty training in academic remediation can successfully improve and reduce attrition rates. Faculty members must be able to help students build their metacognitive skills — the student’s ability to understand their own limitations. Not all faculty will serve as Academic Success Coaches, but faculty development is essential to ensure that everyone understands how student skill development can be incorporated into student counseling and advisement throughout the program. Faculty development is also an opportunity to ensure that faculty members follow a standardized approach to the remediation program. This development process builds protocols that will guarantee that all students are provided the same support and recommendations as they proceed to the program.

Keys to improving your faculty’s skillsets in this area:

1. Faculty members participate in student success seminars at the beginning of the academic year.
2. The program incorporates a protocol-driven approach to student skill development and remediation, resulting in consistent interactions with the students.
3. Consider implementing a test self-analysis process. Faculty can review mistakes with students who perform poorly on the specific exam. This provides an excellent opportunity to improve the student’s metacognitive skills.
4. Appoint specific faculty to be assigned to faculty remediation during the clinical year. Using statistical modeling will enhance your ability to identify students at risk based on PACKRAT/EORE. Students scoring below a specific stratification require additional follow-up and skill development.

Summary: Key Points in Remediation

It’s fairly intuitive that you should set up best practices and standard procedures for your remediation services, but there will be times when you will need to deliver customized one-on-one remediation solutions to help an individual student succeed.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned through from many years working with educators and admissions, it’s that successful remediation starts before enrollment. The better your admissions department can identify changing trends in incoming students’ pre-requisite knowledge, the sooner you can deliver pre-matriculation resources to help strengthen their knowledge gaps.

We invite you to:

• Consider how your PA program’s didactic outcomes can improve if you had a strong pre-matriculation system up and running at your program. What didactic courses do your most recent remediation students struggle with?
• Evaluate your current resources for effectiveness of remediation and support for students who may present more risk for attrition and deceleration.
• Ask whether your current faculty can handle your PA program’s remediation needs. If not, where is the greatest weakness?

Thank You…
Thank you for joining us over the past 26 issues of the PA Admissions Corner Newsletter. We hope you found this series insightful and beneficial. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts and feedback.

To your admissions and program success,

Jim Pearson, CEO
Exam Master

Dr. Scott Massey Ph.D., PA-C
Scott Massey LLC

ISSUE 25

By Jim Pearson and Dr. Scott Massey

Welcome back to PA Admissions Corner. We’re right in the middle of our three-part series on remediation. In our last Issue, we discussed the value of early intervention in preventing student performance challenges. Many of those challenges can see significant improvement by implementing pre-matriculation classes or modules a Study Skills Seminar at orientation or during the first few weeks of classes. The next phase is the Student Success Coaching Model, which promotes active involvement of advisors and students when problems arise.

All PA programs have an advising structure that provides support for students, the Student Success Coaching Model leads advisors to immediately refer students when academic difficulty is detected. A careful documentation process must exist on the academic counseling sheets. An Academic Success Coach (Check back next time for more details on this important role!) then creates a brief summary of the interaction with the advisor.

Key elements of incorporating a Student Success Coaching Model include:

• Facilitating the pre-matriculation program. Identify students who need to complete this program before the first day of classes. The success coach will help identify these students in collaboration with the admissions process.
• Facilitating and overseeing the test self-analysis process. All students who score less than 75% on an exam will be required to self-analyze their test. After analyzing the incorrect responses, students will meet with a specific faculty member to process the results (Further details below).
• Providing training for new faculty. They will need to be familiar with student success remediation skills.
• Reviewing the program’s remediation process for effectiveness. This data point can change each year based on analyzing student performance longitudinally.
• Annually providing a series of sessions on student study skills. Helpful sessions like these are especially important in a student’s first semester. These sessions will cover learning styles, organizational skills, time management, metacognitive skills, high-impact study skills, and test-taking skills.
• Providing skills sessions about formative independent study skills and test-taking techniques. Before the clinical year, these sessions are intended to facilitate students transitioning to clinical year testing for nationally standardized examinations like EORE, PACKRAT, and the PANCE.
• Meeting with each student categorized as “at risk,” “critical risk,” or “fail.” PACKRAT I categories will require developing an academic improvement plan as a student begins the clinical year.
• Meeting with each student not achieving the minimum score on EORE. Sessions after each rotation provide test-taking remediation and focused study methods to enhance success rates.
• Developing and implementing academic improvement plans. Students on academic probation must meet with the success coach at least three times per semester to monitor their progress toward achieving compliance.
• Facilitating study plans during the second year. Prepare students to immediately take the PANCE after graduation.
• Reviewing the parametric analysis of nationally standardized examinations to develop a risk modeling process. Allow the program to identify students who require intensive tutoring before graduation. This proven system can result in 100% pass rates if properly implemented.

These services are not intended to replicate specialized institutional services for students needing accommodation, counseling, or other professional services beyond the scope of an academic program.

The Test Self-Analysis Process

When we encounter a student struggling with coursework, it is usually because they have recently failed a test or are currently failing a class, and the student has already been referred for remediation.

We have a chance to make a difference at this juncture. We can bring them into a system of supportive (not punitive) assistance. One particularly helpful method we have found for identifying and solving problems is having these students participate in assessing their own situation.

A highly effective method of self-assessment is the Exam Review, particularly useful in cases where a student receives a poor grade on a test (lower than 75%). The evaluation form asks the student to honestly describe the amount of time studied for the examination and the techniques used to study. It then requires that the student take a careful inventory of the questions missed on the test and why they may have been missed.

The student is asked to list each question missed on the test, and if applicable, how many points were taken from the total question points. The student then delineates the question’s place in Bloom’s taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis) and selects the reason(s) why the question was missed, including options like:

a) I ran out of time.
b) I’m unfamiliar with material.
c) I didn’t understand question.
d) I changed my answer.
e) I misread or misinterpreted the question.
f) I made a careless mistake.
g) I didn’t know the material because I didn’t study it, or I’m not sure we ever talked about it in class.

Using this form and these instructions can help students identify the types of questions that challenge them the most, which can direct future study habits.

Exam Self Reflection

To further promote understanding of testing difficulties, students may also answer the following questions to increase the mindfulness of their note-taking, studying, and test-taking habits. The answers to these questions should be discussed and reviewed with the student’s Academic Success Coach or advisor.

Classroom

1. Do you read the textbook before going to class and attempting assignments?
2. How much time do you estimate you spend reading and completing assignments?
3. Do you think you are preparing well for class overall?

During Class

1. Where do you sit in class, and do you think where you sit impacts your attention or performance?
   (Distance-learning alternative: Where do you set up to attend class, and do you think this impacts your attention or performance?)
2. Do you attempt all activities in class even if you are unsure?
3. Do you leave class with questions that you write down for yourself?
4. Are you taking the most complete and effective notes you can be?

Post Class

1. Are you asking yourself about the “why” of the “what” that you are doing?
2. Do you review the PowerPoints and class notes routinely after each class?
3. Do you revisit or reread challenging material to answer the questions you have from class?
4. Are you completing assignments as effective practice or only for the score?
5. Are you taking advantage of all the help and resources offered to you?
6. Do you have study partners to review class notes with? Are these study sessions active and effective?

Exam

1. When did you start studying for the exam? (Hint: Two days before the exam is not enough time)
2. Did you finish with time to check over questions?
3. Could you teach someone else how to approach and answer each question?
4. Did you practice answering all questions again from PowerPoints and online homework assignments without help or notes?
5. Explain what your studying “looks like” as if we could watch a video of your study methods.
6. Are your study habits active and engaging or passive and automated?
7. Have you reviewed each question of the exam to see why you got each one right or wrong?

Moving Forward

1. What do you think you could do to improve your success in this course?
2. How can you learn from this exam?
3. What active study strategies do you want to start incorporating?
4. How do you learn best? What study methods are working well for you?
5. Are you using all your resources?
6. Are you learning the material thoroughly or just “studying”?
7. How will you know when you’ve mastered the information?

Summary

In this Issue, we introduced some ways to facilitate the remediation process with active participation from the faculty and the students of your program. These methods work best as a combined effort between the two parties, and when it is not seen as a punitive measure but as an opportunity to create success. Your program has made an investment in this student, and vice versa – there is no reason to allow solvable problems to interfere with that relationship.

NEXT TIME…
In our next Issue, we’ll conclude our series on effective remediation methods by discussing the implementation of an Academic Success Coach and the need for a general paradigm shift for all faculty members when it comes to remediation for struggling students.

To your admissions and program success,

Jim Pearson, CEO
Exam Master

Dr. Scott Massey Ph.D., PA-C
Scott Massey LLC

ISSUE 24

By Jim Pearson and Dr. Scott Massey

Welcome back to PA Admissions Corner. Whether you are the dean of a pharmacy school with 600 enrolled students or running a PA program with 72 enrolled students, remediation is a necessary part of academic life.

You’re probably familiar with some of the reasons:

• Lack of incoming student prerequisite preparedness for didactic education. You may recall back in Issues 7 and 8 of PA Admissions Corner, we discussed two major difficulties facing graduate-level educators:
  • Grade Inflation – Students often receive grades that don’t accurately reflect their knowledge of the material.
  • Lack of Didactic Preparedness – Even students with high GPAs and plenty of experience can struggle with a didactic environment with greater demands on their time and attention than they’re used to.
• Difficulty of newly enrolled students to handle the rigors of graduate-level health science education. This can happen to anyone; PA education is demanding.
• Struggles within specific didactic courses when prerequisite courses haven’t been sufficiently thorough, successful, or well-remembered.
• Lack of adequate pre-admissions screening of an applicant’s pre-requisite knowledge.

Introducing the Study Skills Seminar

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is an expression that’s just as applicable to medical education as it is to medicine. As incoming cohorts of students prepare for matriculation, you have an excellent opportunity to intervene on behalf of your program. Take this time to remind students of the importance of effort and dedication to improving their study skillset. It can make a major difference in student performance during the didactic year.

The first component of this early intervention is to incorporate a student Study Skills Seminar at your program. The list below provides the basic framework of a study skill workshop that can be incorporated at orientation or during the early didactic weeks of the program.

• Assessment of study skills
• Learning styles
• Metacognitive skills
• Becoming an independent learner
• Time management skills
• Managing stress for success
• Collaborative and cooperative learning
• Academic reading skills
• Note-taking skills
• Getting the most out of lectures
• Effective exam preparation
• Sound test-taking skills

Once your PA program has incorporated a study skill workshop into its framework, your faculty can use the resources provided within this framework to reinforce student development skills.

This model emphasizes the importance of students acquiring the success skills to ensure that they thrive in your program early on. Many of the core reasons that students fail academically stem from an inability to acclimate to a highly accelerated learning environment. These skills have been proven to prevent failures and transform students from failing to earning Bs and As.

How can we provide pre-matriculation support to our students to enhance academic success?

The Study Skills Seminar is an excellent idea that will promote better habits among students and give them an edge, but it will not be of much use to a student who lacks the requisite knowledge or experience to handle the didactic year. Instructors and faculty frequently argue –for good reason – that it is not their responsibility to “babysit” students. At this education level, shouldn’t we expect students to be able to handle their courseload? If they can’t, how much do they belong in the program?

It’s a valid point, but the perspective may be skewed. Problems arise when we consider your PA program’s desire to promote diversity and inclusion. Programs often wrestle with the question of whether students from underrepresented populations have had the same opportunities as the “traditional” 26-year-old white woman applicant with a model GPA. Are all of your students coming from a level playing field? Probably not. Opening our doors to exciting new prospects means giving them every chance to succeed – because we know that they can. Leveling that playing field is our responsibility.

Proactively identifying students who may be at higher risk for attrition and academic difficulty provides an opportunity to better prepare them before the first day of classes. There are several PA programs conducting research studies involving the efficacy of pre-matriculation modules — typically an online class, usually conducted by a qualified third party. In the interest of transparency, we at Exam Master offer a program like that; we’ve seen similar programs used successfully for pre-pharmacy students for several years. Some solutions to common problems are on the table when implementing a pre-matriculation program as a requirement for incoming students:

1. Notify the students that they are given a seat in the program contingent upon completion of the pre-matriculation program.
2. Consider offering the module at no charge to the student to reduce the burden before entering the program.
3. If your institution requires a legal standing to require pre-matriculation study material, consider a one-credit module called, “Free PA Preparation,” for example The student signs up for the module approximately 12 weeks before the beginning of the PA program. Completion of the module results in a passing grade.

How can we identify students at risk for attrition and intervene effectively?

The only way to reliably identify students at risk for attrition and effectively intervene is to use some critical data early on to guide your decision-making.

1. Retrospective data on student performance in specific academic classes can be used to predict future performance, through simple descriptive analysis or more complex parametric analysis.
2. Analyzing prerequisite performance and subsequent academic performance in the PA program can be an effective tool if conducted annually. With sufficient numbers, protocols can be built into the system. For example, if students receive a lower grade in a highly predictive course, then the student can be started on an academic improvement plan.
3. If a retrospective analysis demonstrates that a science GPA less than 3.10 is highly correlated with low performance or attrition in the program, the correlation may give you pause in accepting students with this profile. In some cases, candidates who meet this profile can be started in a pre-matriculation program.
4. Admissions exams like the GRE or the PA-CAT can be analyzed for their predictive strength. Student scores from these instruments can be correlated with performance, academic courses, and critical nationally standardized examinations like PACKRAT and PANCE. Over time, performance on these instruments can better inform decision-making involving admission or pre-matriculation intervention.

Summary

A Study Skills Seminar and pre-matriculation support modules for at-risk students are two ways your program can help its incoming students prepare for the difficulty and stress of their didactic year. Implementing these preventative measures can make a big difference in your program’s outcomes, helping students from all walks of life enter your program equipped with the tools they need to succeed.

NEXT TIME…
We’ll continue our three-part series on remediation in the next Issue of PA Admissions Corner by discussing the Student Success Coaching Model and introducing ways that struggling students can work alongside advisors to make great strides.

To your admissions and program success,

Jim Pearson, CEO
Exam Master

Dr. Scott Massey Ph.D., PA-C
Scott Massey LLC

ISSUE 23

By Jim Pearson and Dr. Scott Massey

Welcome back to PA Admissions Corner. In our previous Issue, we began discussing the ARC-PA Standards that apply to the admissions process. In this Issue, we’ll conclude the topic by examining the most frequently misunderstood standard: A3.13.

Some ARC-PA Standards can be easy to misunderstand on their face. The greater challenge often lies in gauging the level of commitment required to meet the Standard. ARC-PA Standard A3.13 is especially challenging in this regard, which is why it’s the most frequently misunderstood Accreditation Requirement.

Standard A3.13 can make or break your admissions process if not correctly addressed. Let’s examine each of the requirements of the standard, then look at some key concepts to clarify how to interpret and achieve each one.

Your program’s website will be the primary resource for applicants to review and gain a thorough understanding of your program’s practices. Clearly link those practices on your landing page. Remember, your policies are not meant to be a puzzle for your applicants to solve. Be clear, concise, and straightforward.

A3.13 (a) through (e)

✔ The program must define, publish, consistently apply, and make readily available to prospective students, policies, and procedures to include:

a) admission and enrollment practices that favor specified individuals or groups (if applicable)

PA program directors often do not properly apply the spirit of this standard. It doesn’t say that you can’t favor specific groups of students, but you have to properly communicate the fact that you are favoring these groups of people in your admissions process.

For example, if you have a matriculation agreement with a specific institution to accept a designated proportion of its graduating students each year, that arrangement needs to be stated on your website. If you are emphasizing diversity, that needs to be adequately defined on the website, too. Other favored groups may include those with military experience, patient contact hours, and GPA. This way, you can seek out more of your “ideal applicants” by letting specific groups know that your program is interested in their experience.

b) admission requirements regarding prior education or work experience

Prior work/education requirements, like healthcare experience hours needed for qualifying for your program, must be adequately specific. It’s in your interested to display the minimum with enough specificity for prospective students to understand.

By the same token, be clear that meeting the minimum requirement does not automatically guarantee consideration. Most programs have students that exceed the minimum, and most programs define required prior education in terms of a baccalaureate degree and specific prerequisite courses. This also needs to be specific enough for prospective students to fully understand the requirements. For example, does your program require labs for science courses? Is there a specific expiration date for your prerequisite courses?

If your program undergoes a policy change like new admissions requirements, this change should promptly be incorporated into your program’s accessible information. Always allow sufficient time for applicants to capably meet the new requirement before the application submission. It would be unfair to expect applicants to have achieved a new GPA requirement, number of credit hours, or a particular amount of experience that your website only began including in its accessible information a month ago. PA programs often forget to include admissions changes on their website.

c) practices for awarding or granting advanced placement

Failing to apply this aspect of the Standard properly has resulted in significant consequences for programs. Carefully consider whether you are granting advanced placement to any students, like accepting students from medical school and fast-tracking them into your program. Successful advanced placement needs to have significant equivalency processes and assessment in place to ensure that the students are meeting all the learning outcomes in your program.

Your program must explicitly state that advanced placement is NOT an option if this is the case

d) any required academic standards for enrollment

Proper delineation of your minimum academic standards must be prominently displayed and easily understandable. Some key metrics include overall admissions GPA, prerequisite science GPA, last 60 GPA, CASPA science GPA, and required admissions exams. Just like in Standard subsection (b), programs can experience changes in policies: for example, removing or adding additional admissions requirements like an admissions exam. This information must be readily available. These website changes don’t have to occur a year in advance of your admissions cycle; the interpretation of reasonable access implies that students have the ability to meet the requirements for this prerequisite course before the deadline of application submission.

e) any required technical standards for enrollment

PA programs determine the technical standards required for admittance and for graduation based on the program’s competencies. There can be pitfalls when prospective students have disabilities that can preclude them from admissions. There have been groundbreaking cases like blind medical students admitted to and graduating from medical school. The onus is on the program to ensure that there is adequate support for a student who requires additional assistance. There have been PA programs who have accepted deaf students and successfully accommodated them. Without sufficient accommodation resources, however, you are not required to accommodate a student who cannot meet your technical standards.

Further Tips for Compliance

The ARC-PA Accreditation Manual for Standards, 5th Edition defines “readily available” information as that which is “made accessible to others in a timely fashioned via defined program or institution procedures. Navigation to digital content should take little effort or time.”

Whenever possible, use the precise wording used by the ARC-PA. Providing language that allows for flexibility is sometimes necessary. For example, if you are occasionally willing to accept a student who does not meet your minimum requirements, this information must be accessible on your website: “Students who do not meet the minimum requirements may be considered for admissions on a case-by-case basis.”

The term “consistently apply” regarding the above policies requires = your program to follow its policies exactly as written. If your senior administration is asking you to make exceptions to a rule, you are violating a standard.

Summary

Compliance with ARC-PA Standards is not a punishment; it’s an opportunity to make your PA program stand out among the competition and prevent time-consuming citations. Make the effort to understand the requirements of ARC-PA Standard A3.13 and to ensure that your program’s website includes that information. Clarifying these requirements in a way that ensures applicant comprehension will streamline your entire admissions process by welcoming more of your ideal candidates to apply and reducing applications from unqualified candidates.

The processes we have outlined here will help your admissions process remain safely in compliance with ARC-PA Standards. Once you’ve reached compliance, you can save yourself the stress of the uncertainty that you are making mistakes. Take the time to consider whether your program fully in compliance with ARC-PA Standards. If not, form an action plan that takes compliance off your worry list.

NEXT TIME…
In our next issue, we’ll begin a three-part series concerning academic remediation. We’ll discuss helping students meet the challenges of PA education, and we’ll present proven methods for assisting struggling students with the Study Skill Seminar and the Academic Success Coach.

To your admissions and program success,

Jim Pearson, CEO
Exam Master

Dr. Scott Massey Ph.D., PA-C
Scott Massey LLC

ISSUE 22

By Jim Pearson and Dr. Scott Massey

Welcome back to PA Admissions Corner. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) is in charge of protecting the interests of the public and the PAs receiving training from programs in the United States. ARC-PA’s goal is to encourage sound educational practices, innovation, and continuous improvement, not to penalize institutions. Unfortunately, many PA administrators, program directors, and faculty live in fear of receiving citations for being out of compliance with specific standards related to their admissions practices. Remember, the commission has the right to review your website at any time. Ensuring your compliance will save you the stress of worrying about it later.

We approach Accreditation Standards with a different attitude. Clear understanding and compliance with ARC-PA standards protects your program, its students, and their future patients, and it can benefit your program by ensuring that you have the funding and staff required to fulfill your roles. Compliance is necessary to prevent headaches and citations, and it has distinct benefits if it is maintained promptly and thoroughly.

Let’s define and interpret the meaning behind the ARC-PA Standards 5th edition related to admissions practices and clear up some common misconceptions. Accurate knowledge of the standards is essential to ensure that your admissions process remains compliant.

ARC-PA Standard A1.11 – Diversity and Inclusion

✔ The sponsoring institution must demonstrate its commitment to student, faculty, and staff diversity and inclusion by:

a) supporting the program in defining its goal(s) for diversity and inclusion,
b) supporting the program in implementing recruitment strategies,
c) supporting the program in implementing retention strategies, and
d) making available resources which promote diversity and inclusion.

This standard has profound implications for admissions practices. The ability to achieve your specific goals regarding diversity and inclusion requires dedicated labor resources to strategically review, interview, and admit students. This means that your managing institution should provide adequate support to satisfy the spirit and interpretation of the standard.

The retention standard aspect speaks to remediation practices and has legal implications in terms of fair practices involving advertisement. If you are favoring a specific group of individuals, you must advertise as such to be clear to all prospective students.

ARC-PA Standard A2.05 – Process and Procedure

✔ Principal faculty and the program director must be responsible for, and actively participate in the processes of…b) selecting applicants for admission to the PA program.

The main takeaway from this standard is that principal faculty and the program director must actively participate in the selection of applicants for admissions. Here are some important considerations related to the standard.

1. The institution cannot make these decisions independent from the program.
2. The faculty must have adequate time and workload to be able to perform this important function.
3. The program must have adequate staff to be able to perform the clerical related tasks that will enable the faculty and program director to focus on the key aspects of selection.

ARC-PA Standard A3.03 – Fair Practice

✔ The program must define, publish, make readily available and consistently apply a policy for prospective and enrolled students that they must not be required to provide or solicit clinical sites.

Programs must publish policies on their website that state students must not be required to provide or solicit sites or preceptors. This does not imply that students cannot identify potential preceptors from their original geographic region.

ARC-PA Standard A3.12 – Fair Practice

This standard has multiple facets to examine. Each of the components of A3.12 will be separately reviewed with key concepts to ensure that your program is fully in compliance, preventing future citations or administrative actions.

✔ The program must define, publish, and make readily available to enrolled and prospective students general program information to include:

a) the program’s ARC-PA accreditation status as provided to the program by the ARC-PA

Always include the exact language provided by ARC-PA. For provisional applicant programs, this does not mean that you can’t launch a website, but you must include the language provided in the correspondence from the commission when your program entered the provisional pathway.

b) evidence of its effectiveness in meeting its goals

Measurable data sets must be gathered, tabulated, and displayed on the website providing evidence that the program is achieving its established goals. Prospective students will review these goals for evidence of the program’s quality and outcomes.

c) The most current annual NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report Last 5 Years

One of the first things prospective students will review is the first-time-taker pass rate on the PANCE. Students will have valid concerns if your program is consistently below the national average. The commission continuously monitors websites to ensure that this report directly downloaded from NCCPA is displayed promptly and is easily accessible on the main landing page.

d) all required curricular components, including required rotation disciplines

Programs must display the curriculum prominently on the website. Once visitors arrive on the landing page, this information should be available within one click. If the commission feels that this information is not readily available (requiring multiple clicks), the page will be deemed non-compliant.

e) academic credit offered by the program

The number of credit hours must be displayed prominently on the landing page within one click. The number of credit hours is directly connected to the cost to the student; any discrepancies between correspondence to students and the website will result in an immediate citation during an on-site visit.

f) estimates of all costs (tuition, fees, etc.) related to the program

This is a frequent cause of citations because of discrepancies among materials providing cost structure to prospective students. Ensure that your admissions department has the latest information, including tuition and fees. This information must be specific and updated annually. Do not rely on your admissions department to display this information. This is another item that must be displayed prominently on your landing page, accessible within one click.

g) program required competencies for entry level practice, consistent with the competencies as defined by the PA profession

The program determines what competencies are measured upon students graduating from the program. Providing adequate measurability with data demonstrating that graduates are achieving these competencies provides key evidence for prospective students. This is another item that must be readily available within one click.

h) whether certain services and resources are only available to students and faculty on the main campus when the program is offered at a geographically distant campus location

The number of PA programs with distant campuses is growing. The program must provide adequate information about services that students will need to acquire on the main campus. Prospective students might have reservations about attending a distant campus program. This transparency can make a huge difference in students’ willingness to matriculate to your distant campus.

i) the most current annual student attrition information, on the table provided by the ARC-PA, no later than April first each year

There is a required template that must be displayed on the website. Prospective students will immediately notice if the program has high attrition rates. Experiencing higher than national average attrition rates must be addressed with robust remediation and careful admissions practices.

ARC-PA Standard A3.14 – Fair Practice

✔ The program must make student admission decisions in accordance with clearly defined and published practices of the institution and program.

Providing clear information is the key. Making it easily accessible on your website and all in all other materials is paramount for maintaining compliance. This accreditation standard encompasses all the admissions practices that you advertise to prospective students. The institution may have specific standards for admission to the institution. For example, the graduate school may have a specific requirement for PA students to be admitted to the university. Consistency and clarity are key. Following your policies is non-negotiable.

NEXT TIME…
Issue 23 of PA Admissions Corner will be entirely devoted to ARC-PA Standard A3.13, which we have found to be the most frequently misunderstood of the many standards programs must follow. We’ll cut through the confusion about complying with this important standard.

To your admissions and program success,

Jim Pearson, CEO
Exam Master

Dr. Scott Massey Ph.D., PA-C
Scott Massey LLC