Jan M. Winn, MEd, RT(N), CNMT Executive Director, JRCNMT
The spring meeting of the JRCNMT was held April 15–16, 2011, in Chicago, IL. During this meeting, the board of directors reviewed requests for personnel and program changes at 62 programs. The board considered 5 substantive change requests, 1 program closure, and 7 progress reports from accredited programs.
ACCREDITATION ACTIONS
Extended accreditation was granted to the following nuclear medicine technology programs:
Triton College, River Grove, IL (resurvey, 2015)
Mercy College of Health Sciences, Des Moines, IA (resurvey, 2015)
Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Lexington, KY (follow-up report, 2013)
Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA (progress report, 2013)
Continued accreditation was granted to the following nuclear medicine technology programs:
GateWay Community College, Phoenix, AZ (1-year accreditation)
Southeast Technical Institute, Sioux Falls, SD (1-year accreditation)
Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, WV (final decision pending)
The committee has 17 nuclear medicine technology programs seeking continued accreditation in 2011. Written third-party testimony may be submitted to the JRCNMT regarding any nuclear medicine technology program undergoing review. Persons desiring to present third-party oral testimony at a board meeting must submit a written request. Third-party testimony, written and oral, must be limited to compliance of the educational program with the Accreditation Standards for Nuclear Medicine Technologist Education.
The following programs are undergoing review in 2011:
Santa Fe College, Gainesville, FL
Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA
University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, IA
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health, Boston, MA
Salem State College, Salem, MA
UMass Memorial Health/Worcester State University, Worcester, MA
Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
SUNY at Buffalo, NY
Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH
University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX
Houston Community College, Houston, TX
Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI
UPDATE TO ACCREDITATION STANDARDS
A revised version of the Accreditation Standards for Nuclear Medicine Technologist Education has been uploaded to the JRCNMT Web site. Though the JRCNMT attempts to avoid making revisions to the standards after publication, it is sometimes necessary. One additional standard was approved by the board at its April meeting because of recently revised requirements of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the national agency that recognizes the JRCNMT. The impetus for this standard results from increased expectations at the national and federal levels, and from the general public, for greater availability of information on the quality of higher-education programs.
The new standard is “D2. Public Information on Program Outcomes” and is on page 9 of the standards. It states: “The program is responsible for accurately stating, routinely publishing and making available to the public program outcomes reflecting student achievement and program performance.”
Programs should plan to meet this new standard by September 1, 2011, by publishing program outcome data on their Web site or in printed brochures and recruitment materials if they do not do so already.
Because this change is mandated by the agency that recognizes the JRCNMT, a period for public comment is not required. Questions about this change should be directed to the JRCNMT office.
2011 FALL MEETING
The next meeting of the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology is scheduled for October 28–29, 2011, in Oklahoma City, OK.
