Certification Maintenance Quality Improvement

The AICP Commission's goal for Certification Maintenance (CM) is to offer educational activities that are accessible, affordable and of high quality. We have made great strides toward achieving the first two characteristics, and we are implementing a Quality Improvement Plan to make additional progress on the third. We are committed to provide high-quality education to our accredited members.

Certification Maintenance (CM) Provider Audit

The goal of a CM provider audit is to ensure the administration and delivery of high quality educational activities which are in compliance with CM criteria. The audit process is designed to identify areas of improvement, provide recommendations, where appropriate, and determine best practices.

The audit program is designed to help Providers accomplish their objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluating and improving their effectiveness in the areas of administration, delivery, content development and promotion.

Who Gets Audited

All registered CM providers are subject to an audit. Several providers will be audited each year. Providers to be audited are identified in the following ways:

• A random selection of registered providers
• When a complaint has reached APA staff
• Providers with an average event rating of 2.9 stars or less by attendees
• For administrative reasons (i.e. a provider found not to be in compliance with guidelines outlined in the CM Provider Handbook).

The list above is not exhaustive, and any provider may be audited at any time for any reason.

Audit Process

Violations of AICP CM policies and procedures that may subject a provider to an audit include:

• Violating the course submission process, including misleading or inaccurate information
• Failure to present a course as it was submitted
• Failure to complete post-presentation documentation, including supplying and collecting evaluation forms from attendees
• Poor evaluations
• Inappropriate use of the provider number, such as allowing an unauthorized third party use

Audit Outcomes

Consult the CM Provider Audit Guidelines for details on:

• Outcomes for Law or Ethics Activities
• Outcomes for Providers Rated Green

• Outcomes for Providers Rated Yellow

• Outcomes for Providers Rated Red

Questions?

Please e-mail AICPCM@planning.org or ask for Certification Maintenance customer service at 202-872-0611 or 312-431-9100.

Resources

CM Provider Audit Guidelines

CM Provider Handbook