The Ministry of Education has thrown a rope to the troubled accreditor.
In March, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity voted 12 to 0 against renewing the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education’s accreditation, citing a range of issues, including concerns about student outcomes. But on Tuesday the Ministry of Education canceled NACIQI and extended CNME’s recognition for 12 months under certain conditions.
The CNME is the only federally recognized authority on naturopathic medicine, a growing field that emphasizes holistic practices. It has six member institutions, including Canada. If the program’s sponsor had lost state recognition, it is not clear who would have entered.
In a letter he wrote to the CNME expressing its appreciation, Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent spoke of many of the attractive features presented by NACIQI, writing that the organization has struggled “to hold its accredited institutions accountable for quality measures or any levels of success for their students” and has shown “fundamental disregard for licensure passing rates or graduation rates.”
Kent noted that he had “grave concerns” about the CNME as a “reliable arbiter” of educational quality.
The CNME argued before NACIQI in March that its low pass rates for licensing could be explained as many students in naturopathic programs at its member institutions are older students who discuss important matters such as work and family life.
Like NACIQI, Kent didn’t buy that argument. You mentioned it a widespread lack of attention to meaningful quality indicators on the part of the CNME, including areas such as student outcomes, graduate pay and program accountability.
But, in the end, the book ended with good news for the author.
While commenting that the CNME was out of compliance in many areas, including student achievement standards, Kent wrote that the ED would provide it is 12 months to fix those problems. For now, the CNME will operate under restrictions, including not being able to grant accreditation or electoral status to new programs. The organization will also be required to submit monthly reports to the ED.
Failure to comply with Department of Education requirements, including submitting reports on time, “is grounds for immediate termination of the organization’s accreditation,” Kent wrote.
Kent’s letter is posted in full below.
Despite the scathing tone of Tuesday’s letter, it still stands by the agency, which recently hired two outside experts to help it deal with federal compliance issues.
CNME Executive Director Daniel Seitz said Within Higher Ed via email that the accreditor is reviewing the Department of Education’s decision “and developing an action plan” to address its concerns, but said it would be “premature to comment” on the findings.
“The Council on Naturopathic Medical Education is committed to working diligently to address the issues identified by the US Department of Education within the time frame, and we remain focused on our mission to ensure quality in naturopathic medical education,” he wrote.
