Committee Guidelines and Policies:

The Committee is jointly constituted by the Academic Board and Governing Council. It considers nominations for all Bachelor and Master Level Advanced Professional Certificates; also a designated representative of the Committee jointly represents the Academic Board and the Governing Council and is authorized by the Academic Board to grant awards.

Governing Council has responsibility for the oversight of the Institute and should therefore have the opportunity to influence and endorse the names of individuals that the Institute intends to affirm. The arrangement gives the Governing Council and Academic Board joint representation in the conferment of Advanced Professional Certificates.

The Institute Awards Committee has delegated powers by the Academic Board to consider and decide the conferment of Advanced Professional Certificates; noncredit academic credentials that document theoretical learning and practical application in a specified profession or industry. The Committee is, however accountable to both Academic Board and Governing Council for the conduct of the process.

The conferment of an Advanced Professional Certificate is fundamentally about the formal recognition of individuals whose activities and achievements the Institute wishes to honor. The function of the Committee is to consider the evidence submitted to the Committee in confidence and decide whether the individual proposed should become a recipient of an Advanced Professional Certificate. There is a range of titles that may be awarded and the actual award conferred depends upon the type and extent of individual achievements.

The Committee must ensure that due consideration is given to the following:

All Bachelor or Master Level Advanced Professional Certificates issued by the Institute are conferred upon an individual whose achievements and activities are resonant with the core values of the Institute.

There must be acceptable evidence of their listed achievements, activities and professional history.

The style of the Advanced Professional Certificate reflects appropriately the nature of their achievements.

The level of the Advanced Professional Certificate reflects appropriately the extent of their achievement in post-secondary or graduate level regional, national or international context and;

Every recipient of an award is wholly suitable and should be no counter-indications arising from other activities on the part of the recipient.

Introduction:

The United States Institute of Applied knowledge (USI) Professional Guidelines have been established to promote best practice and ensure that the highest standards are maintained in the Academic Board (AB) and the Governing Counsel (GC) relationship, whatever form that might take; so that the AB/GC Committee environment provides the greatest opportunity for successful evaluation and acknowledgement of the client’s professional history and experience.

Purpose:

These Guidelines set out what the client and sponsor(s) can expect from the Awards Committee in the certification relationship and should form the starting point for any application agreement. All Committee members of the USI accept the principles and aims of the USI. We require that committee members always maintain these ethical principles. The USI has therefore agreed a process by which breaches of the Guidelines by a committee member can be reported. The USI will make the sponsoring organization and the individual client aware, at the program application stage, of the existence of the Guidelines by posting this document on the USI website or by U.S. mail.

Terminology:

The term “Committee Member” is used to describe all types of assessments, analyzing, and reviewing, that may be taking place, both in the client’s and USI’s environment. The USI recognize that there will be many types of evaluations taking place and these will need to be defined when more detailed standards are produced. The term “client” denotes anyone using the services of the USI to obtain any post-secondary or graduate level certificate. We believe the term “client” is interchangeable with any other term the parties to the client/Awards Committee relationship might be more comfortable. It is recognized that there are circumstances where a Committee Member may have one or more clients. In these Guidelines we have used the term “sponsor” to differentiate between the client, a person or entity that may otherwise be involved. The terms review, acknowledge and issuance are among other terms that describe the process by which the requisites produced by the client is overseen by the USI representative(s). The terminology is the same, but the process may differ in significant ways from one representative to another.

The Guidelines:

The Awards Committee will: Acknowledge the dignity of all humanity. They will conduct themselves in a way which respects diversity and promotes equal opportunities. It is the primary responsibility of the AB and GC to provide the best possible service to the client and to act in such a way as to cause no harm to any client or sponsor. The USI is committed to functioning from a position of dignity, autonomy and personal responsibility.

The Committee will: Ensure that their level of experience and knowledge is sufficient to meet the needs of the client. Ensure that their capability is sufficient to enable them to operate according to the Guideline standards. Enhance their level of competence by participating in relevant training and appropriate continuing professional development activities. Maintain a relationship with a suitably qualified supervisor, who will regularly assess their competence and support their development.

Context:

The Committee will: Understand and ensure that the client/AB relationship reflects the context within the highest academic standards that apply here. Ensure that the expectations of the client are understood and that they themselves understand how those expectations are to be met. Seek to create an environment in which the client and Committee are focused on the best possible outcome of the Experiential Portfolio review and of all pertinent documents.

Integrity:

The Committee will: Maintain throughout the process a level of confidentiality which is appropriate to the Guidelines and disclose information only where explicitly agreed upon with the Clients written permission. Act within applicable law and not encourage, assist or collude with others engaged in conduct which is dishonest, unlawful, unprofessional or discriminatory behavior.

Professionalism:

The Committee will: Respond to the client’s development needs as defined by the agenda brought to the client/AB relationship. Not exploit the client in any manner. The appointment of a Committee Member is temporary and the Members will ensure that the duration of the Committee Member affiliation is only as long as is necessary for the client needs. Understand that professional responsibilities continue beyond the termination of any client/Committee Member relationship, this would include but, not be limited to: 1. Maintenance of agreed confidentiality. 2. Non-exploitation of former relationships. 3. Safe and secure maintenance of all related records and data.

Breaches:

All United States Institute of Applied knowledge members as well as the Awards Committee Members are bound by the Guidelines and will at all time represent themselves in a way that reflects positively on the clients, sponsors and the USI. Where a client or sponsor believes that a member of the USI has acted is in breach of the USI Professional Guidelines, they should address any issues in writing to the USI Administrator.