CoARC Outcomes Thresholds

The program must, at a minimum, meet the outcome thresholds established by CoARC regardless of location and instructional methodology used. (Standard 3.09).

Programs not meeting the established CoARC outcomes assessment thresholds must develop an appropriate plan of action for program improvement that includes addressing the identified shortcomings (Standard 3.11).
 

During a recent policy review, the CoARC and NBRC approved a revision to the graduate date definition.

       Current Definition: The graduation date reported must be the date of degree conferral as posted by the registrar on the student’s transcript.

       Revised Definition:

       The graduation date is the date on which the degree was conferred by the program's educational sponsor, not the date on which the student fulfilled all program requirements.

Shortly after the release of its 2018 Annual RCS in late October, the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) was informed that graduate and employer survey data from prior years could not be transferred into the new RCS format. As a result, programs will only be able to submit survey data for 2017 in their 2018 RCS. Accordingly, at its November meeting, the CoARC Board determined that no accreditation decisions based on subthreshold results in graduate and employer surveys would be taken until three years of data are available, which will occur with the submission of the RCS due July 1, 2020.
 

Outcomes Thresholds Grid

PROGRAM OUTCOME	CUT SCORE/DEFINITION AS OF JANUARY 1, 2017	THRESHOLD AS OF JANUARY 1,        2017
CRT Credentialing Success	NBRC passing score (set by NBRC) On the RCS this calculation excludes graduates who have previously earned the CRT credential prior to matriculation into the program (i.e., advanced placement). This calculation includes baccalaureate and graduate students earning the CRT credential in CoARC-accredited programs approved to grant special certificates of completion for CRT/RRT eligibility under previous CoARC policy 13.0.	80% of total number of graduates obtaining NBRC CRT credential (3-year average)
RRT Credentialing Success	N/A (programs are still be required to provide RRT outcomes data on annual reports, however, no accreditation actions will be taken based on RRT credentialing success).	N/A
RPSGT/SDS Credentialing Success	N/A (programs are still be required to provide RPSGT and/or SDS outcomes data on annual reports, however, no accreditation actions will be taken based on RPSGT or SDS credentialing success).	N/A
Retention (Attrition)	Programmatic retention: defined as the number of students formally enrolled* in a respiratory care program during a three-year reporting period who graduated from the program after completing all programmatic and graduation requirements, calculated as a percentage of the total number of students initially enrolled in that class.  The total number of students enrolled includes those who successfully completed the program as well as students who left the program for academic reasons (failure to achieve minimum grade requirements, ethical, professional or behavioral violations or violations of academic policies) that resulted in their expulsion from the program prior to graduation. Students are not included in the retention definition who: leave the program by the last day they are eligible for 100% tuition reimbursement within the first term of fundamental respiratory care core coursework** and/or receive grades of W or WP; are in good academic standing who leave the program due to: financial, medical, or family reasons, military deployment, a change in their course of study, relocation to a different community, or reasons other than those described under academic reasons; are admitted to another educational program (same or different educational institution) prior to the scheduled graduation date of their RT class.   *Programmatic enrollment begins when a student enrolls in the first core respiratory care course (non-survey, non-prereq) available only to students matriculated in the respiratory care program.  This may differ from the institutional definition of the enrollment or matriculation dates. **Fundamental respiratory care coursework is defined as: Professional coursework, focused on the preparation of the student as a competent Respiratory Therapist, as defined in CoARC Standard 3.01.	70% retention of the total number of students in the enrollment cohort (3-year average)
Job Placement	Defined as a graduate who, within the three year reporting period, is employed utilizing skills within the scope of practice of the respiratory care profession (i.e., full-time, part-time, or per-diem).	N/A
Graduate Survey – Overall Satisfaction*	A rating of 3 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale for overall satisfaction. The calculation is as follows:   # surveys with scores greater than 3 # surveys returned - #  surveys omitted	At least 80% of returned graduate surveys rating overall satisfaction 3 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale.
Graduate Survey – Participation	The total number of program graduates employed in respiratory care who return their graduate survey.	N/A
Employer Survey – Overall Satisfaction*	A rating of 3 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale for overall satisfaction The calculation is as follows:   # surveys with scores greater than 3 # surveys returned - #  surveys omitted	At least 80% of returned employer surveys rating overall satisfaction 3 or higher on a 5-point Likert scale.
Employer Survey – Participation	The total number of employers of program graduates who return their employer survey.	N/A
On-Time Graduation Rate	Defined as the Total Number of On-time Graduates in the enrollment cohort divided by the Total Number of Graduates from that cohort.  This is calculated as the number of students who graduate with their enrollment cohort (i.e., within thirty (30) days of their expected graduation date) divided by the total number of students who graduated from that cohort.  The enrollment date and the expected graduation date of each cohort are specified by the program.	70% This is effective with the submission of the 2015 Annual Report of Current Status

*The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) began collecting overall graduate satisfaction (OGS) and overall employer satisfaction (OES) survey data in the 2010 reporting year.  Originally, the CoARC stated that no accreditation actions on overall graduate and employer satisfaction outcomes would take place until the 2013 reporting year.  However, because the calculations of OGS and OES were reported incorrectly the CoARC will not take accreditation action on graduate and employer satisfaction outcomes until the submission of the 2015 annual report of current status (RCS).