Objective
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The objective of this document is to govern the operation of the CAPAC in accordance with the requirements of ANSI Constitution and Bylaws.
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Definitions
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CAPAC: Personnel Certificate Accreditation Program Accreditation Committee.
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EVALUATION TASK GROUP (ETG): An ad-hoc group of several CAPAC members created with the permission of the CAPAC Chair for the purpose of conducting a detailed review of the results of the assessment of an applicant or accredited certificate issuer.
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TERM BALLOT: a type of CAPAC electronic ballot which is open for a defined period of time allowing CAPAC’s voting members to vote and change their vote at any time within this period.
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Introduction
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The ANSI Personnel Certificate Accreditation Program Accreditation Committee (CAPAC) was established in September 26, 2008, by the Conformity Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC) and the ANSI Board of Directors to be responsible for the operational aspects of ANSI’s Certificate Accreditation Program and related activities, except as otherwise provided in the ANSI Bylaws or in procedures approved by the CAPC.
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Membership
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Membership on the CAPAC shall reflect a balance of all interested personnel certificate sectors and entities that utilize personnel certificates. Total membership will be limited to operate effectively; however the CAPAC should endeavor to disseminate information to and receive input from stakeholders across the United States involved in the issuing of certificates to individuals to include consumers.
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The CAPAC shall have a voting membership not less than eight and not more than eighteen persons. CAPAC vacancies created by members leaving before the expiration of their term may be filled by appointment for the remainder of the term by the CAPAC Chair. Each CAPAC member nomination will be submitted by the CAPAC Chair to CAPC for approval.
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The CAPAC voting membership shall include representatives from certificate issuing organizations, training/education organizations, government, consumer/public interest organizations and other individuals (at large) concerned with personnel certificates. Any single interest category shall be limited to less than one half of the full CAPAC membership.
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Members shall be appointed for a term of three years and shall be eligible for reappointment for one additional term. All membership terms shall commence on January 1st. The terms of the CAPAC members shall be staggered so that only one-third of the positions on the CAPAC, shall conclude at the end of each calendar year. The rotation plan will assure that the Committee continues to be balanced and representative of the stakeholder interests.
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Note: Initially, all members will serve three years and then by volunteer or random selection individuals will be selected to serve an additional 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years before being considered for a second three year term.
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A membership roster shall be maintained and made publicly available upon request. The identity of the Committee Chair and the organization they represent shall be listed on ANSI’s website.
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A member who has decided to resign shall submit a letter of resignation to the Chair with a copy to the ANSI staff secretary.
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ANSI shall appoint a non-voting staff secretary, who shall be a member of ANSI staff.
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Officers
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The CAPAC officers shall consist of a Chair and Vice-Chair. Each officer shall serve for a term of one calendar year.
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Each officer shall be elected by the membership of the CAPAC and shall be eligible for re-election for up to three consecutive terms or until a successor takes office. Election shall be by open ballot.
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Subcommittees, Task Groups, and Liaisons
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The Chair of the CAPAC may establish advisory subcommittees and task groups to advise CAPAC on its activities. Membership of such subcommittees and task groups shall not be limited to CAPAC membership. The CAPAC chair with consultation from CAPAC members shall select persons to serve on subcommittees, task groups and liaisons based on their recognized technical expertise, experience, training and education.
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Nominations and Elections
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The Chair shall annually appoint a Nominating Committee of not less than three members to serve until December 31st. By majority vote, on or before October 1st of each year, the Nominating Committee shall nominate the following:
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candidates to serve as Chair and Vice-Chair;
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candidates for Committee membership to fill vacancies and expired terms.
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The Nominating Committee may solicit candidacies from other CAPAC members, the community of interest and from other interested parties. The Nominating Committee shall forward its annual nominating report to the staff Secretary, who shall submit it to the CAPAC. Other nominations may be submitted by petition signed by at least five CAPAC members, prior to October 15th of each year. Prior to the last CAPAC meeting of the calendar year, the CAPAC shall elect by open ballot individuals for each officer position for the succeeding year, and vote on memberships to fill vacancies and expired terms, as appropriate. The CAPAC Chair shall forward the names of new CAPAC nominated members to the CAPC and then to the ANSI Board of Directors.
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CAPAC Committee Meetings
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The CAPAC shall hold regularly scheduled meetings each year. A schedule of the meeting dates, times and locations shall be established by the beginning of each year. The Secretary shall distribute the schedule to the CAPAC members. The schedule may subsequently be changed at the discretion of the CAPAC Chair.
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The Chair may call special meetings. The staff Secretary may also call a special meeting on receipt of a petition signed by at least fifty percent of the current CAPAC voting membership.
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The staff secretary shall give notice to all CAPAC members of all meetings at least fourteen days before the meeting date. The notice shall include a preliminary meeting agenda containing the principal items to be considered. Agenda items will be marked to indicate what items will be in closed session.
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At CAPAC meetings, the presence of a majority of the current CAPAC voting membership shall constitute a quorum which would include members who are participating by phone/internet/video teleconference.
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The staff secretary shall be responsible for the preparation of general and if appropriate, confidential minutes of all CAPAC meetings. Minutes shall be issued as soon as possible to all CAPAC members, but no later than two weeks prior to the next meeting. Minutes shall be distributed electronically and if there is confidential information contained in the minutes the appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that it is protected. Confidential minutes will be distributed under secure conditions to ensure privacy of the information. The minutes will be approved at the next CAPAC meeting.
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Relationship of CAPAC to the Applicant Certificate Issuer
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The CAPAC will officially communicate with all applicant certificate issuers in writing in regard to accreditation actions, disputes between the certificate issuers and assessors and/or an appeal of an accreditation action.
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Relationship of CAPAC to Assessors
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The CAPAC will receive accreditation reports from ANSI assessors regarding the certificate issuers' compliance with the ANS ASTM E2659-09: Standard Practice for Certificate Programs. It is the ANSI assessors who have responsibility for review of the application materials and onsite assessment of the certificate issuer. The Chair of the CAPAC will appoint an Evaluation Task Group (ETG) to review the report submitted by the assessors. The ETG will present the report to the entire CAPAC for an accreditation action.
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CAPAC Actions
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The following actions shall require approval by two-thirds (2/3) of the current CAPAC voting membership, excluding abstentions, but not less than a majority of the voting members. The voting may be at a meeting or by letter/electronic ballot. The voting results are to be recorded and kept on file according to ANSI records management procedures.
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action by the CAPAC to approve the accreditation status of the certificate issuer: Accreditation, Accreditation Denied, Accreditation Suspension, Probationary Accreditation, Accreditation Withdrawn.
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 | ACCREDITATION: Certificate issuer has successfully complied with all requirements of ANS ASTM E2659-09: Standard Practice for Certificate Programs. No non-conformities are found or all have been closed. |
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| ACCREDITATION DENIED: Action taken regarding a certificate issuer that has applied for initial accreditation with ANSI and has not been able to close non-conformities over a period of time which has been granted by CAPAC. Certificate issuer has not voluntarily withdrawn from the process. |
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| SUSPENSION OF ACCREDITATION: Action for temporary invalidation of the statement of conformity, for all or part of the specified scope of accreditation of the certificate issuer. A specific statement shall be issued indicating the specific scope of accreditation that is not being fulfilled. This is not an accredited category and the ANSI accreditation symbol cannot be used during this period of time in association with the specified scope. |
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| PROBATIONARY ACCREDITATION: Probationary action is taken when a currently accredited certificate issuer has one or more non-conformities regarding the requirements of ANS ASTM E2659-09: Standard Practice for Certificate Programs and has not been able to close these non-conformities over a period of time granted by CAPAC. The terms of the probation will designate an additional agreed upon period of time for the non-conformities to be closed. Failure to close the non-conformities within the period of probation may result in accreditation being withdrawn. This category is considered an accredited category and does not affect the issuance of certificates. |
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| ACCREDITATION WITHDRAWN: Removal of accreditation status from a certificate issuer due to inability to close non-conformities after a period of time which has been granted by CAPAC. |
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action(s) on proposed changes to the following documents for recommendation to CAPC:
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| CAP-PL-301: Accreditation Policy for ANSI Certificate Accreditation Program |
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| CAP-PL-302: Operating Procedures of the Certificate Accreditation Program Accreditation Committee (this document) |
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If an electronic term ballot is needed, the voting period shall last at least three weeks and the results of the ballot shall remain confidential within the CAPAC until the ballot is closed. A term ballot should only be used if the vote cannot take place at one of the regularly scheduled meetings of the CAPAC.
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Except for actions in 11.1, all other actions at a CAPAC meeting at which a quorum is present may be taken by a simple majority of the voting members present. In the event a quorum is not present at a CAPAC meeting, all substantive decisions made at the meeting must be affirmed by a majority letter/electronic ballot vote, or at a subsequent CAPAC meeting at which a quorum is present.
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If a CAPAC vote is taken on a specific certificate issuer in which a CAPAC member has declared a conflict of interest, the member shall leave the room during discussion and vote. The member shall also abstain from voting and the abstention shall be noted in the minutes and/or voting record.
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CAPAC Hearing of Appeals
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Appeals may be made by anyone materially interested in or affected by an action or inaction of the CAPAC that is within the scope of the committee and the accreditation being considered. Appeals shall be handled in accordance with the appropriate ANSI AS procedures.
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Complaints
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Complaints may be heard by CAPAC in accordance with the appropriate ANSI AS complaints procedures.
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CAPAC Member Participation
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Absence by a CAPAC member at two or more meetings in one calendar year may be construed by the CAPAC as a lack of interest in serving on the CAPAC. The CAPAC may recommend to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANSI that the appointment of the member to the Committee be terminated.
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Parliamentary Procedure
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On questions of parliamentary procedure not covered by this policy, Roberts' Rules of Order (latest edition) shall prevail.
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Confidentiality
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The Accreditation Program shall safeguard confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of accreditation activities at all levels of the ANSI organization, including any committees and/or external bodies or individuals acting on the Program’s behalf.
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Except as required in this document, information about a particular certificate issuer shall not be disclosed to a third party by any CAP participants, CAPAC members, ANSI staff, ANSI agents, CAPAC subcommittees and task group participants, or by any ANSI subcontractors without the written consent of the certificate issuer. Where the law requires information to be disclosed to a third party, the certificate issuer shall be notified that such information has been or will be provided.
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Determination of Conflict of interest
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All individuals who are CAP Assessors or members of the CAPAC are subject to the following CAPAC authority regarding potential conflict of interest.
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If an individual has a potential conflict of interest but has not recused him/herself or otherwise taken action to ameliorate the conflict of interest, and members of the CAPAC or ANSI staff believe that the conflict of interest still exists, then the CAPAC, through formal vote, shall determine whether or not to exercise one or more of the following options:
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exclude the CAPAC member from specific discussions and voting on the issues about which the conflict of interest occurs (in conformance with clause 11.3 of this document). The individual must then either physically leave the room or not remain on the phone;
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recommend to the CAPC and the ANSI Board of Directors that the appointment of the member to the CAPAC be terminated.
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Amendments
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The ANSI Board of Directors, in accordance with ANSI Constitution and By-laws, may make changes to this policy document at any time, after consultation with or upon recommendation of the Certificate Accreditation Program Accreditation Committee (CAPAC) and/or the Conformity Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC).
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