Accreditation Timeline

The Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Program at Middle Georgia State University has been granted Preaccreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is 301.652.AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses (including Georgia) are usually based on the results of the NBCOT® Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® certification examination or obtain state licensure. More information about NBCOT® can be found online at https://www.nbcot.org.

The process of accreditation of programs by ACOTE involves five (5) steps: 1) Submit Letter of Intent to develop a new program (completed), 2) Submit Eligibility Application (completed), 3) Submit application for Candidacy Status; If Candidacy Status is granted, the program may admit its first class of students and proceed to the next step of the process, the pre-accreditation review 3) Pre-accreditation Review – prepare Report of Self Study and submit to ACOTE, 5) Participate in initial On-Site evaluation with ACOTE team of evaluators.

Steps in Accreditation Process	Dates
Candidacy Status Application	Due: December 15, 2021
Candidacy Review by ACOTE	Notification of approval: April 2022
Students Notified of Acceptance	May 2022
First Cohort Admitted	August 2022 (Fall semester)
Report of Self Study	Due: July 3, 2023
Notification of Pre-Accreditation Decision	December 2023
First Class Begins Level II Fieldwork	January 2024
ACOTE On-Site Visit	January/February 2024
Notification of Accreditation Decision	March 2024
First Class Graduates	August/September 2024