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COMTA Alerts – September 2011
The
Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) would like to bring your
attention to the following announcements:
1) As
of August 1, 2011 we have recently launched our new website. We are still
currently progressing through with changes and edits to the website and we
encourage for all viewers to provide any feedback and/or concerns about the
website so that we can make the edits more user-friendly.
2) The
COMTA Alerts and Actions can be found on the new website under “News and Alerts” and on the left
hand side please select “Alerts and
Actions”.
3) As
of September 1, 2011, Ms. Cheryl Rosen and Ms. Joanna Sechuck-Tringali have
both resigned from the Practitioner positions with the COMTA Commission.
Many thanks to the both of them for their dedication to COMTA over
the past year(s). Their positions will
be filled by appointment by the current Commissioners. Please see the “About COMTA” section of our website
and select “Commissioner Elections”
on the left hand side to view details about the selection process.
4) Regarding
questions about any changes to financial aid eligibility for COMTA institutions
and programs, the Commission encourages schools to contact the U.S. Department
of Education directly and receive clarification of how the changes affect them
specifically, in writing. If there is something that the school needs written
documentation from COMTA for solely due to the changes in financial aid regulations,
COMTA will not be charging any fees for such changes or documentation. The
information provided to COMTA from the federal representatives indicate that
all massage programs, regardless of institution or accreditation type, are to
be considered clock hour for financial aid purposes. COMTA will not be
authorizing “outside work” or alternative credit conversions due to this
information. Please visit the menu option “News and Alerts”
and on the left hand side select “COMTA
News” and review the “COMTA
Clock Hour Financial Aid Notice – May 2011” letter for more details.
5) In other recent changes, the final regulations published in
the Federal Register on October 29, 2010, required institutions to report
certain information about students who enrolled in Title IV eligible
educational programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation
(GE programs). Those regulations also
provided that institutions must disclose to prospective students certain information about the institution’s GE
Programs. Finally, the new regulations required institutions to notify the
Department if they wish to add an additional GE Program to its list of Title IV
eligible programs. All of these requirements became effective July 1, 2011. Please visit the menu option “News and Alerts” and on the left
hand side select “COMTA News”
and review the “USDE Gainful Employment
Program Disclosures – Sept. 2011” letter for more details.
6) Criteria
for COMTA accreditation of any Distance Education components are currently
under revision by the Commission. The survey for public comment has been closed
and the Commission is evaluating the feedback. In the interim, no applications
for Distance Education components are being reviewed until the new criteria are
finalized. The final wording of the new criteria is expected to be released
following the October meeting of the Commission.
7) For
COMTA peer review volunteers and Commissioners (only) – please select the
insurance coverage offered by the rental car agency while renting a car for a
COMTA related visits. COMTA will provide
reimbursement.
Be sure
to check the COMTA website regularly for actions and alerts. The Commission updates all pertinent actions
and alerts on its website. Please
promptly inform COMTA if your school has a new email address.
If you have comments regarding any of the
schools on this list please write the COMTA office. For additional information concerning this
memorandum, please contact Kate Zulaski, Executive Director, at 202-895-1518, or via email at kzulaski@comta.org. You may also email the chair of the
Commission at chair@comta.org.