In October 2012, the ASPEN board of directors approved a two-year pilot program of the re-establishment of a joint providership arrangement between the ASPEN national office and affiliate chapters for the provision of continuing education (CE) credit to dietitians, nurses, pharmacists and physicians at chapter annual events.
This program is available to all chapters in good standing. A chapter in good standing meets the following requirements:
- Must be up-to-date on filing the chapter’s annual report with ASPEN
- Must be listed as tax exempt on the IRS website: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
- Must have a current chapter officers roster on file with ASPEN
- All chapter members must be members of ASPEN national
Chapters are not obligated to go through ASPEN to provide CE credit for the annual events if another process is already in place that meets the needs of the chapter. Chapters are also not obligated to offer CE credit for any of their events.
For those chapters who wish to partner with ASPEN, one of the most important components of planning is allowing enough time in advance of the educational activity to accomplish all the steps necessary to produce a compliant program for four different disciplines. To ensure both ASPEN and chapters can meet all accreditation requirements, the following submission timeline has been established and must be adhered to annually.
| Event Dates | Letter of Intent Due on or Before (8-10 months prior) | Proposal Due on or Before (5-7 months prior) |
|---|---|---|
| January, February, March | May 1 | August 1 |
| April, May, June | August 1 | November 1 |
| July, August, September | November 1 | February 1 |
| October, November, December | February 1 | May 1 |
Resources
Chapter Timeline and Responsibilities
- Development
- Implementation from the responsibilities chart
- Post Event and record keeping requirements
- Program Materials Checklist of Required Items (Promotional Material and Syllabus)
- Conflict of Interest Policy and Financial Relationships Disclosure Form
- Sample Letter of Intent
- Program Proposal Form
- Joint Providership Agreement form
Sample Forms – these are samples and may be adapted when needed by the chapter.
- Speaker confirmation letter
- Speaker agreement and release forms
- Speaker thank you letter
- Speaker Guidelines
- PowerPoint Template
- Speaker Outline Template
- Moderator Guidelines
- Letter of Agreement for Contributed Funds/Commercial Support Agreement
- For use when an education program is being supported by a grant, this requires ASPEN to be a signatory
- Vendor/Exhibitor Agreement Form
- For use with exhibitors/vendors
- Speaker and Session Evaluation
- Overall Program Evaluation
- Chapter Event Revenue and Expense Documentation