The FLETA Office of Accreditation (OA) delivered a three-day Accreditation Manager (AM) Workshop at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Headquarters in Knoxville, TN on July 16-18, 2024. The program was tailored to support new and experienced accreditation managers, accreditation support staff, and other personnel who develop files, policies, and manage various training procedures for their training organization. There were 43 attendees from 26 different federal training organizations in attendance.
On the first day, the TVA provided an overview of their agency and training programs. Participants received a tour, which included how TVA achieves its critical operations of protecting and managing the resources, facilities, and personnel that support the TVA mission. Participants also received an overview of the FLETA process and an update on the Accreditation and Training Management System (ATMS) used to support the administration of the FLETA process.
The second day included a discussion of the actions and requirements for accreditation managers to take throughout the FLETA process. The participants discussed the FLETA standards and how to interpret them based on their training organization’s needs and structure. The training day concluded with a networking and community sharing session. The TVA provided a tour of the Norris dam in Rocky Top, TN. The Norris dam is the oldest dam that was built by TVA and began operations in 1936.
The final day of the program covered the actions and requirements for obtaining and maintaining FLETA accreditation. This included the standards eligible for identification of not applicable status, building accreditation files; conducting and managing the self-assessment process; preparing and supporting the FLETA assessment; preparing for the Board Review Committee (BRC); maintaining and preparing for reaccreditation through the annual report process; and using the corrective action plan (CAP) to identify and managing deficiencies.
The FLETA OA also encouraged the participants to work with their assigned Program Managers (PMs) to schedule leadership briefings, FLETA Fundamentals training, and identify staff who could complete the Assessor Training Program (ATP) and become FLETA assessors. FLETA PMs are available to conduct policy review and editing, review accreditation files, and facilitate interactions between training organizations.