Consistent with ACEN Policy, an applicant for Candidacy must certify that neither the sponsoring organization nor the transition-to-practice program is the subject of:

The sponsoring organization will be required to certify this information at the time that the Official Authorization for Candidacy Process Form is signed and again when application for the initial accreditation visit is made. Information submitted by the sponsoring organization and/or transition-to-practice program will be kept confidential and will only be used by the ACEN as required by policy or legal mandate. The information provided by the sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program will not be used in determining the program’s Candidacy or its initial accreditation with the ACEN. The achievement of Candidate status as well as achieving initial accreditation will be based upon the program’s ability to demonstrate compliance with the current ACEN Standards and Criteria.

Each sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program making a Candidacy Eligibility Application to ACEN agrees to certain requirements concerning financial obligation, choice of law, jurisdiction, and venue. As a condition of ACEN reviewing the Candidacy Eligibility Application each sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program agrees that:

The sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program acknowledges that all agreements created by the ACEN regarding the review of the Candidacy Eligibility Application shall be deemed to have been entered into in Fulton County, Georgia, and shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Georgia. Further, each sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program agrees that jurisdiction and venue for any action which might arise from any agreement between the sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program and ACEN, regardless of which party shall initiate the action, shall be exclusively in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia or the state courts of Fulton County, Georgia, whichever of these courts shall have proper subject matter jurisdiction.

It is the obligation of every sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program seeking Candidacy to pay fees and expenses when due. Failure to pay fees and expenses when due shall be deemed a voluntary withdrawal from the Candidacy Eligibility Application process. A schedule of current fees and expenses is available at HYPERLINK

The costs of compliance with third-party discovery requests made on ACEN with regard to a sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program seeking Candidacy can be high and cannot be reasonably anticipated for budgeting purposes. To defray these costs in part, where reimbursement for the expense of producing the documents is not provided by the party serving the subpoena or document request, ACEN may charge the sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program seeking Candidacy with the costs of production, including the costs of copying and delivering the documents and attorney’s fees incurred in compliance with the subpoena or request.

Any sponsoring organization/transition-to-practice program seeking candidacy that takes legal action against ACEN regarding a Candidacy Eligibility Application decision and withdraws its case or loses its case is responsible for assuming all costs incurred by ACEN while defending its decision, including attorney’s fees. These costs must be paid in full within 45 calendar days following the sponsoring organization’s/transition-to-practice program’s receipt of the ACEN invoice, unless other arrangements are approved by the Executive Committee acting on behalf of the Board of Commissioners.