About the Accreditation Program - Association for Experiential Education
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AEE Accreditation Program
Demonstrate your commitment to quality and safety
What is Accreditation?
AEE accreditation is a process of organizational development that results in the international recognition of a program. Accreditation contributes to the professionalization of the field and the well-being of participants and
program personnel worldwide
. Accredited organizations often use this status to distinguish themselves from peer organizations and to market their programs to potential clients.
Attaining accredited status through the AEE Accreditation Program is
solid evidence of an organization’s commitment to safety and quality
, belief in professional standards, and allocation of resources toward continued excellence and improvement. Programs that achieve AEE Accredited status can be confident that they meet or exceed recognized industry standards.
Who Should Get Accredited?
AEE accredits a wide variety of adventure programs and organizations
, including wilderness adventure programs, colleges and university outdoor programs, K-12 school programs, outdoor behavioral healthcare, youth programs, and corporate team building and training programs.
See our current list of Accredited programs
here
Application Documents & Standards Manuals
Journey to Accreditation: A Quick How-To Guide
Why Get Accredited?
"Being accredited has solidified our status in high quality programming.  The exercise of going through the accreditation process has prepared us for almost everything on the planet.  I have never had more confidence in our programming."  -Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center, Accredited by AEE since 1996.
"By way of feedback, the whole Self-Assessment Study(SAS) process has been great for us as a team and organization!  It has been helpful to recognize strengths and identify areas of growth.  That is largely why the SAS exists, so it is working! AEE accreditation has been Integral in our growth and development as an organization."  Andrew Arnold, Executive Director of Solid Rock Ministries, Accredited by AEE since 2006.
When you achieve AEE Accreditation, you can have confidence that your program meets or exceeds industry standards for safety and quality.
Accredited organizations report that this organizational development opportunity helped them evolve many areas of their organization. AEE works continuously with experts in adventure programming and outdoor behavioral healthcare to set the standards for risk management, safety, program success, and sound practices.
Discover more reasons to get Accredited.
Please contact the Director of Accreditations & Certifications, Steve Pace, at
steve@aee.org
for more information.
Through the AEE Accreditation Program, t
he public is served by:
a ready identification of
quality programs
from which to choose.
an objective, independent source of information about those programs.
a clear indication of the standards by which those programs operate.
The profession of experiential education is served through:
a safeguard of the reputation of the field.
elevating the practices of the field.
self-governance.
avenues for continuing education and professional development.
Services to the organizations pursuing AEE accreditation are many and include:
providing leadership within the profession through utilizing accepted industry standards.
improving the quality, performance, and risk management practices of programs with continuing education.
increasing the ability to attract financial and human resources through the recognition of AEE accreditation.
programs that have gone through the AEE Accreditation process have distinguished themselves in the growing field of experiential education. At the time of the accreditation review, programs must document and display compliance with the standards for adventure programs in experiential education.
attaining accredited status through the AEE Accreditation Program is evidence of an organization's commitment to quality, belief in professional standards, and allocation of resources towards continuous improvement.
The History of AEE Accreditation
After a rapid increase in the number of experiential programs in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the need for standards of program quality, professional behavior, and appropriate risk management became imperative.
In 1994, the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) responded to that need by developing the most comprehensive standards for common practices in the industry
, becoming the nation's first recognized accreditation process focusing on experiential adventure programming. Since then, the AEE Accreditation Programs standards-based evaluation process by objective, independent reviewers have become the
industry-accepted level of professional evaluation for experiential and adventure programs.
In 2013 a group of organizations that utilize licensed clinical therapists as an integral part of their program
invited AEE to embark upon the expansion of AEE’s existing standards to better reflect the field of wilderness therapy’s current practices with a goal of having AEE become an independent accreditor for these types of programs.
This resulted in the creation of a set of ethical, risk management, and treatment standards developed by long-standing leaders in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH), adventure therapy, and wilderness programming, with input from providers, clients, and critical incident feedback
OBH programming can be defined as
programs that provide adventure therapy, i.e., licensed mental health therapists using adventure activities as part of their treatment.
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Learn More About the Accreditation Process
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AEE accreditation is an endorsement of the quality of an organization’s programming and risk management systems. However, this endorsement has limits. The site visit confirms that an organization has met, or appears to have met, specific requirements or standards at the time of the site visit. Therefore, AEE accreditation does not guarantee that clients and program personnel will be free from harm, partly due to the inherent risks associated with adventure activities and the environmental contexts in which these activities take place. It is also important to note that these standards are not intended to impose upon an organization or practitioner a legal duty of care that does not otherwise exist in the legal jurisdiction in which the organization operates.
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Membership & Account Access
Is your company
already
a member? Or do you want to create a guest account and get on our email list?
If you are an employee of an AEE member organization and you just need to create a login, or if you would like to create a non-member account to get on our email list, set up your login information by clicking "Create an Account" below.
If your company is already a member, your online account will allow you to:
Access the Member Directory
Register for Conferences at a Discounted Rate
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Access Member Discounts and Pro Deals
Receive the Monthly Member Newsletter
Access AEE Books and Publications
Share stories, news, and events through AEE Social Media Channels and AEE Newsletters
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Are You Interested in Joining AEE as a New Member?
Become part of a dynamic network of individuals who believe that the core of learning is greatly enhanced by experiential practices. Join now to:
Get an unlimited number of sub-memberships (add your Staff! Sub-members can access member benefits, will have an individual profile in the member directory, and will have personal login credentials)
*for Organizations only
Access to the Journal of Experiential Education
Access AEE Books and Publications
Get two free Job Postings on the Experiential Education Job Board
*per year
Receive the Monthly Member Newsletter
Access Member Discounts and Pro Deals
Access the Member Directory
Share stories, news, and events through AEE Social Media Channels and AEE Newsletters
Register for Conferences at a Discounted Rate
Post Upcoming Events in the AEE Event Calendar
View Membership Information