PCSAS MISSION
The PCSAS mission is to advance public health by using the leverage of accreditation to promote science-centered education and training in clinical psychology. Thus, PCSAS accredits only doctoral programs that graduate psychological clinical scientists who generate new knowledge relating to mental and behavioral health problems, and who actively use this knowledge to help advance public health. The PCSAS mission is supported by five inter-related sub-goals:
PCSAS FUNCTIONS
The primary functions and activities of PCSAS are these:
1. To formulate and implement accreditation policies, procedures, and criteria in support of PCSAS's stated accreditation mission and goals, and to adapt and refine these activities through a process of continuous quality improvement.
2. To review and evaluate the performance records and overall quality of the education and training provided by the doctoral programs in psychological clinical science that apply for initial or renewed PCSAS accreditation.
3. To coordinate site visits to applicant doctoral programs as an integral part of the review and evaluation process.
4. To appoint leading psychological clinical scientists and science educators to the PCSAS Review Committee, and to take responsibility for the accreditation decisions rendered by this committee, based on the collective expert judgments of its members.
5. To provide applicant programs and the public with timely and informative summaries of the Review Committee's evaluations and accreditation decisions.
6. To obtain and maintain annual reports from PCSAS-accredited programs; analyze and evaluate the data in these reports; and provide programs and the public with useful summaries of the information gleaned from these reports.
7. To engage in self-study and self-evaluation of PCSAS operations for the purpose of enhancing the performance and assuring the quality of PCSAS accreditation, and to provide the public with summaries of these self-studies.
8. To sponsor science-centered educational activities, such as conferences, workshops, publications, continuing education programs, or research, for the purpose of improving the quality and impact of educational activities, methods, and services in scientific clinical psychology.
9. To maintain active communications with relevant stakeholders regarding PCSAS accreditation and shared interests in scientific, educational, and public health issues.
10. To build and maintain a sound fiscal foundation and business plan that will help to ensure PCSAS's viability and performance over time.