Nominations Sought for certificate accreditation program.

Press Release Summary:



Organizations that issue education and training certificates to US workers are invited to apply for the American National Standards Institute Certificate Accreditation Program (ANSI-CAP). Evaluated against ASTM E2659-09, ANSI-CAP will provide neutral, third-party attestation that the certificate program in question promotes better educated and qualified workers. The activity is also expected to provide quality benchmarks for the design of future certificate programs.



Original Press Release:



ANSI Announces Call for Nominations for Pilot Certificate Accreditation Program



The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system, invites organizations that issue education and training certificates to U.S. workers to apply for the Institute's pilot Certificate Accreditation Program (ANSI-CAP).

ANSI-CAP will provide neutral, third-party attestation that a given certificate program promotes better educated and qualified workers. The activity is also expected to provide quality benchmarks for the design of future certificate programs. With these evaluations and benchmarks in place, workers and employers will be better able to determine the value and meaning of individual personnel certificates.

Certificate programs will be evaluated for potential accreditation against ASTM E2659-09, Standard Practice for Certificate Programs. This American National Standard developed by ASTM International was selected by the ANSI-CAP Accreditation Committee, a group of volunteer leaders who were chosen for their expertise in the field.

ANSI-CAP will also follow the evaluation process outlined in the international standard ISO/IEC 17011, General Requirements for Accreditation Bodies Accrediting Conformity Assessment Bodies. This process includes using specially trained assessors to review documents submitted by applicants against defined requirements, conduct on site assessments of all applicants, and make recommendations to the ANSI-CAP Accreditation Committee that is responsible for making the accreditation decisions.

Organizations interested in pursuing accreditation during the ANSI-CAP pilot should contact Ms. Ivory Lathern (ilathern@ansi.org; 202.331.3621) for an application packet.

Technical questions about ANSI-CAP should be directed to Dr. Roy Swift, ANSI program director (rswift@ansi.org; 202.331.3617).

Both standards that will guide the ANSI Certificate Accreditation Program - ASTM E2659-09 and ISO/IEC 17011 - are available for purchase on the ANSI eStandards Store at webstore.ansi.org.

About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.

The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

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