A certificate is an indication of attaining intended learning outcomes—the tangible evidence of completing a training or education program. Certificate programs are typically offered by community colleges and universities, government agencies, employers, independent nonprofit training organizations, and professional and trade organizations.
However, while a certificate indicates this accomplishment, there needs to be a way to assess the adequacy of the certificate programs and the entities who issue them. Furthermore, there can be some ambiguity as to what constitutes a certificate program. ASTM E2659-18: Standard Practice for Certificate Programs takes an overarching, systematic approach to handle these issues, including guidelines for both the entity issuing the certificate and for the specific certificate programs for which it issues certificates.
While the ASTM E2659-18 standard practice does not address guidance pertaining to certification of individuals or education or training programs in general, it does provide certificate program developers and certificate issuers with guidelines for quality program development and administration.
Please note that that a certificate program specifically incorporates an individual participating in a learning event designed to assist in achieving specified learning outcomes within a defined scope. Alternatively, certification reflects attainment of established criteria for proficiency or competency in a profession or occupation. Certification programs are covered by ISO/IEC 17024:2012 – Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.
Furthermore, ASTM E2659-18 forms the foundation for a recognition system that enables customers, employers, government agencies, and others who rely upon a skilled workforce to distinguish between qualified workers and those with fraudulent or less-than-quality credentials.
ASTM E2659-18: Standard Practice for Certificate Programs is available on the ANSI Webstore.
ANAB Certificate Accreditation Program (ANAB-CAP)
In fostering the environment for certificate programs, ASTM E2659-18 forms the foundation for an accreditation system, through which certificate programs can be assessed as meeting a set level of quality. In doing so, ASTM E2659-18 not only establishes a set of rules for certificate programs to adhere to, but also reinforces them through adoption by accreditation bodies.
In fact, the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) offers accreditation for certificate issuers, and the basis of the ANAB Certificate Accreditation Program is ASTM E2659.
ANAB accreditation for certificate programs conveys to a program’s customers that their awarded certificates represent the best quality education and training. In fact, several industries and numerous government organizations already require ANAB accredited certifications (which they might refer to as “ANSI accredited”) for their new hires, and many are considering similar requirements for certificates.
You can learn more about the ANAB Certificate Accreditation Program here. This program follows the accreditation process laid out in ISO/IEC 17011.
ANSI/ASTM E2659 Certificate Issuers Accreditation Workshop
To help prepare interested stakeholders for ANSI/ASTM E2659 accreditation, ANAB offers a two-day workshop to better inform participants on the requirements of the standard and ANAB’s expectations.
This training course, which covers terminology, significance and use of the standard, requirements for certificate issuers, and certificate program and certificate issuance and use, is useful for anyone interested in entering the ANAB Certificate Accreditation Program and those who wish to better understand the standard.
Upon completion, participants will have a better understanding of how to identify and select quality certificate programs, as well as the requirements of the ASTM E2659 standard and the evidence needed to document that an organization meets the requirements in preparing for accreditation.
You can register for upcoming sessions of the ANSI/ASTM E2659 Certificate Issuers Accreditation Workshop here.
ANAB Credentialing Conference
Each September, ANAB hosts client day for any ANAB-accredited certification bodies under ISO/IEC 17024 as an opportunity for personnel certification bodies to learn about government policies affecting certifications, international developments relating to organizations, trends in certification, and much more.
Client Day 2021 is also open to any ANAB-accredited certificate-issuing body under the ASTM-E2659 standard, and it is held during the entirely-virtual ANAB Credentialing Conference. This kicked off with Client day on September 28. The remainder of the conference consists of technical workshops on relevant topics relating to psychometrics, management systems, and the future of credentialing programs. We will keep this page updated with any information on future Client Days.
what is the difference between ASTM E2659-18 and ANSI-IACET? We have IACET accreditation. E2659-18 sounds interesting, but redundant. Are they different?
ANSI-CAP accredits educational/training providers for their specific certificate program(s) to assure each program’s measurable learning outcomes acquired by participant/student with valid and reliably content and assessment(s). Therefore these programs become educationally and legally defensible. IACET’s main focus is to approve training providers who issue continuing education units (CEU), as an organization, regardless of their specific training/education programs. ANSI-CAP may be required by state laws and federal regulations, such as U.S. Department of Defense under DoD Instruction 1322.29 for Job Training, Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships and Internship. Certain states and local jurisdictions require that food handlers must have a certificate from an ANSI-CAP accredited organization. Also, ANSI-CAP has been put as a requirement in many governmental RFPs (request of proposals).