AACET General Guidelines
ASSOCIATION GUIDELINES
AACET, through its Board of Directors, provides a Governing Board whose sole purpose is to oversee the operation of the Association.
AACET sets out the General Policies for the Association including General Guidelines, Code of Conduct, Disciplinary Procedure, minimum Continuing Education requirements, etc for all Members.
AACET will work diligently to provide credibility and strength on behalf of all its Members through education and public exposure.
AACET will work in conjunction with the Alberta Association of Animal Owner’s Rights (AAAOR) in an effort to provide information and education to Alberta’s Equine Owners and help to empower them with knowledge relating to the health and well being of their horses.
AACET’s Board of Directors, when possible and required, will create Committees to assist in the organization and operation of the Association. These Committees will include; the “Alliance Committee” whom will be comprised of all Department Heads, the “Conflict Resolution Committee” to deal with any complaints against its Members that may arise and the “Incident Inquiry Committee” to assist in Disciplinary Action and Investigation. The Board will also appoint Officers of the Association as required. These officers will include; the “Assistant Membership Officer” to assist the Membership Officer with her duties and the “CE Officer” who will monitor and regulate Continuing Education requirements for all Association Members.
Membership
Equine Therapy Practitioners must approach AACET for individual membership and approval.
Each member of the Association must be Certifiable through education and examination, unless in the case of the Grandfather clause.
The Grandfather clause will allow for Equine Therapy Practitioners, whom have been practicing their specific modality(ies) for 10 years or more, an opportunity for individual evaluation and membership approval. If and when these applications related to the Grandfather clause are received. The Board of Directors and the related Department Head (if applicable) will perform a thorough review of the applicant’s submission. An interview through telephone conference will be set within 30 days of the Membership Officer receiving the Membership application and either a request for more information or a decision regarding the status of the application will be made.
Members must complete a minimum of 24 hrs of Continuing Education per year. Members will be required to present any required documentation to the Department Head of each modality they are recognized in to maintain their membership. Special Circumstances that may impede a Member’s ability to fulfill these requirements must be presented to their Related Department Head who will bring the information to the Board. The Board may then choose to approve the Special Circumstances which will temporarily postpone the Member’s CE requirements.
Practitioner Members of the Association may have their services advertised on the AACET Website. This information will include practitioner contact info, coverage area, education and years of practice.
Group liability insurance will also be provided and once available, will be mandatory for membership. Members may submit for approval, information regarding any Liability Insurance they may already possess. If approved, the Member will not be required to carry AACET’s insurance as well.
Student Members will not be entitled to voting rights. Insurance for Students may be provided pending approval from our Group Insurance provider.
Practicing & Education standards
Each modality must have a minimum of 5 Practitioner Members to begin the process of determining Standards for their modality. In cases where multiple schools exist for one modality, a minimum of 3 Practitioner Members from each school (popular schools) must be represented before the Standards can be determined. Once the minimum number of Members has been met, the group will then organize themselves and nominate a Department Head as a representative for that modality. In cases where very few Members are projected in a specific modality, the Board will acknowledge these Special Circumstances and the process of creating Standards may then begin one year after the first member of that modality has joined AACET.
Each modality must set out Practicing and Educational Standards of their own, as well as any classifications of recognition and have their Department Head propose these to the Board for approval.
Once Standards have been created and approved for each modality, Practitioner Members that have not yet met the required Standards will have the opportunity to continue to be represented by AACET for 1 year as they work towards their modalities requirements. Their information will remain public on the AACET Website but they will be presented as “Developing Practitioner Members” and it will be disclosed that they have not yet met the Standards determined for that specific modality. All new applications for membership will then be approved only if the minimum Standards for the related modality have been met.
Modality Specific Standards are required to be reviewed every 2 years by the Practitioners and Department Head of each modality. In cases where Special Circumstances have allowed smaller groups that have not met the minimum requirement for Practitioner involvement to create Standards for their modality, a yearly review of Standards is then required. All proposed amendments to modality Standards must be presented to the Board of Directors for approval.
Modalities may want to include additional CE requirements to their Standards. To do so they must include AACET’s twenty four (24) required hours in that number.
Department Heads
Department Heads should be Members whom have a large amount of experience in the specific modality, have been working in the field for an extended amount of time and are neither Board Members of related Associations nor instructors of related educational courses, to avoid any conflict of interest. The Department Head from each modality will oversee their members in regards to Association Policies and Modality Standards and will act as a representative of their Modality in communication with the Board of Directors.
When possible, all Department Heads will sit on a committee called the Alliance Committee. This committee will work directly with the Board of Directors.
When membership allows and it is required, the Alliance Committee will nominate a Committee Chairperson. Once in place, the Alliance Committee Chairperson will also sit on the Board of Directors and will bring issues/ideas to the Board of Directors on behalf of the Alliance Committee and all Members.