602.21—Review of standards.
(a)
The agency must maintain a systematic program of review that demonstrates that its standards are adequate to evaluate the quality of the education or training provided by the institutions and programs it accredits and relevant to the educational or training needs of students.
(b)
The agency determines the specific procedures it follows in evaluating its standards, but the agency must ensure that its program of review—
(4)
Involves all of the agency's relevant constituencies in the review and affords them a meaningful opportunity to provide input into the review.
(c)
If the agency determines, at any point during its systematic program of review, that it needs to make changes to its standards, the agency must initiate action within 12 months to make the changes and must complete that action within a reasonable period of time. Before finalizing any changes to its standards, the agency must—
(1)
Provide notice to all of the agency's relevant constituencies, and other parties who have made their interest known to the agency, of the changes the agency proposes to make;
(2)
Give the constituencies and other interested parties adequate opportunity to comment on the proposed changes; and
(3)
Take into account any comments on the proposed changes submitted timely by the relevant constituencies and by other interested parties.