April 2023
The CPME 900, Bylaws were revised and adopted at the Council’s spring meeting to modify the composition
of the Residency Review Committee, update pronouns used within the bylaws, and remove a reference to
political entities within the conflicts of interest rules.
At the Accreditation Committee and Council meetings all survey results and comments were reviewed
regarding the interim review of CPME 120, Standards and Requirements for Accrediting Colleges of Podiatric
Medicine and CPME 130, Procedures for Accrediting Colleges of Podiatric Medicine. The Council adopted the
revised documents with an implementation date of the April 22, 2023.
The Executive Committee and Council reviewed survey results and comments regarding Draft I of the CPME
820, Standards and Requirements for Approval of Podiatric Fellowships and CPME 830, Procedures for
Approval of Podiatric Fellowships and recommended adoption. The Council approved the documents with an
implementation date of July 1, 2023.
October 2022
The Council updated the CPME 900, Bylaws at the October meeting to add the definition of a consultant. An
additional bylaw revision approved at the meeting and eligible for adoption at the spring meeting of the
council includes updating the number of representatives on the Residency Review Committee to include two
representatives from the AACPM Council of Teaching Hospitals instead of one and including two at-large
representatives from residency programs instead of one.
April 2022
The Council updated the CPME 900, Bylaws to:
- Clarify language concerning Ad Hoc Appeals Committees to meet the requirements outlined in CPME 935b, Guidelines for the Conduct of Appeals and Arbitration by Residencies, Fellowships, Providers of Continuing Education, and Specialty Boards.
- Move the Nominating Committee to a standing committee of the Council and update the committee’s composition and rules. The Nominating Committee now consists of the Executive Committee of the Council.
- Modify the composition of the Residency Review Committee to include at least one at-large representative to be selected by the Council.
- Modify the CPME Bylaws language to match that of the updated CPME-APMA Memorandum of Agreement.
- Modify the language concerning CREC membership to include the director of the Council, or their designee.
- Change the name of the JCRSB to the Specialty Board Recognition Committee (SBRC).
- Update the language within the Bylaws to match the terminology within CPME 120/130 concerning preaccreditation (previously termed “provisional accreditation”).
- Update the process concerning appointing specialty board organizations to a CPME ad hoc committee.
- Clarify that ad hoc advisory committees do not modify CPME policy documents.
- Clarify that Council and Committee members are precluded from serving as consultants while serving as a member of the Council or a standing committee.
- Remove the notation that the CPME Bylaws are reviewed by an ad hoc committee.
- Correct an inconsistency concerning appointments to external committees.
- Clarify language concerning ex-officio member rules and responsibilities.
- Correct an error concerning term limits for evaluators.
The CPME Policies and Miscellaneous Documents was updated at the April 2022 meeting to reflect the changes made to the CPME Bylaws.
October 2021
CPME 900, Bylaws and CPME Policies and Miscellaneous Documents:
The Council updated the CPME Bylaws and CPME Policies documents at the October 2021 meeting to add the
Joint Committee on the Recognition of Specialty Boards (JCRSB) as a standing committee of the Council with
an interim policy created to conform with the newly adopted CPME Bylaws. The interim policy will remain in
effect until the underlying JCRSB documents, CPME 220 and CPME 230, can be revised and updated to
reflect the new CPME/JCRSB Bylaw revisions including its membership. To reflect that the JCRSB is now a
standing committee of the Council, the Council determined that the name of the JCRSB will be changed to
the Specialty Board Recognition Committee (SBRC) and that the Council should initiate the name change
immediately, pending adoption of the CPME Bylaw change at the Council’s April 2022 meeting. This change
is necessary because the JCRSB is no longer a “joint” committee of the APMA and CPME and is now a CPME
standing committee.
CPME 120, 130, 935a, and 935b Adopted
Following a call for comment period from the community of interest, CPME has adopted the revisions to
CPME 120, Standards and Requirements for Accrediting Colleges of Podiatric Medicine; CPME
130, Procedures for Accrediting Colleges of Podiatric Medicine; CPME 935a, Guidelines for the Conduct of
Appeals by Colleges of Podiatric Medicine; and CPME 935b, Guidelines for the Conduct of Appeals by
Residencies, Fellowships, Providers of Continuing Education, and Specialty Boards. The revised documents
go into effect immediately.
April 2021
CPME 900, Bylaws:
The CPME Bylaws were revised and adopted at the April 24th Council meeting to address the procedures
concerning guests signing the conflict of interest and confidentiality statement, CPME elections, clarification
of the administrator member on the Accreditation Committee, and creation of an appeals panel pool for
college appeal processes.
An additional Bylaw revision was reviewed and approved, which is eligible for adoption at the fall meeting of
the Council, to address adding the Joint Committee on the Recognition of Specialty Boards (JCRSB) as a
standing committee of the Council per the recent APMA House of Delegates decision.
CPME Policies and Miscellaneous Documents:
Policy changes included clarifying the ad hoc committee procedures used by all Council committees.
October 2020
CPME 900, Bylaws:
- Changed reference to conference calls to video/conference calls due to the frequent use of virtual
platforms such as Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. - Concerning external committees: The CPME Bylaws did not include a process to be following for
CPME representation on non-CPME/external committees. The Bylaws now state that the chair of the
Council will be solely responsible for the appointment of representatives of CPME to any external
(non-CPME) committees. - Adding within the Bylaws that CPME accepts both electronic and handwritten signatures. The Bylaws
now state that all Council members, committee members, and public members must sign, either
electronically or handwritten, the CPME conflict of interest and confidentiality policies statement
annually. - Concerning the visitor policy, non-executive sessions of the Council and its committees may be
attended by guests and/or observers who register in advance. Previously the Bylaws had stated the
meetings were open to the public without any guidance as to what that might mean. - Added that the chair of an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee may be a Council member or a former
Council member.
CPME 925, Complaint Procedures – References to administrative probation were removed as this category is
either removed or in process of being removed from all CPME documents.
CPME 935a, Guidelines for the Conduct of Appeals by Colleges of Podiatric Medicine and CPME
935b, Guidelines for the Conduct of Appeals by Residencies, Fellowships, Providers of Continuing Education,
and Specialty Boards – Language updated to align with the US Department of Education new regulations that
went into effect July 1, 2020.
The Council approved the following for the conduct of virtual on-site evaluations for approved colleges of
podiatric medicine:
CPME Virtual Site Visit Guidelines For Colleges of Podiatric Medicine
CPME Virtual Site Visit Policy
CPME Virtual Site Visit Guide
June 2020
CPME 330, Procedures for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies and CPME
830, Procedures for Approval of Podiatric Fellowships – Emergency addition to both documents due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. These additions allow a policy and procedure for on-site teams to conduct virtual site
visits. This policy will be updated as needed by the Council.
May 2020
CPME 900, Bylaws – A change was made to the eligibility criteria for Council members: The requirement
changed from having served on at least three CPME on-site evaluation teams to a college of podiatric
medicine, residency programs, fellowship programs, or continuing education providers to having served on
at least one CPME on-site evaluation team to a college of podiatric medicine or three CPME on-site
evaluation teams to residency programs, fellowship programs, or continuing education providers.
CPME 925, Complaint Procedures – The complaint procedures were updated to clarify that evidence of
exhausting internal procedures does not have to be provided if the complainant can demonstrate that no
internal procedures exist for a provider of continuing education only. (emphasis added)
October 2019
CPME 900, Bylaws – The CPME Bylaws were updated to clarify the e-ballot voting procedures.
CPME Policies and Miscellaneous Documents – The policies were updated to include the fellowship evaluation
and program transfer fees and the policy on the use of the CPME logo.
April 2019
CPME 900, Bylaws – The CPME Bylaws were updated at the Council’s April 2019 meeting to address:
- the length of terms for Accreditation Committee, Continuing Education Committee, Residency
- Review Committee, and Nominating Committee members;
- the number of members on the Continuing Education Committee;
- consistency with the CREC Bylaws language;
- the voting procedure for election of the chair and vice-chair; and
- nondiscrimination.
October 2018
CPME 900, Bylaws – The CPME Bylaws were updated at the Council’s October 2018 meeting to address the
recusal policy and voting by e-ballot.
April 2018
CPME 925, Complaint Procedures – During the April 2018 meeting, the Council adopted updates made to
CPME 925, Complaint Procedures, to reflect the revised policy which allows for additional flexibility with
processing complaints and to include mention of the fillable complaint form.