Funding governance without promotional treatment.
CHSPS separates external funding from accreditation authority and publishes the rules that govern funding records, conflict review, Board oversight and record retention.
CHSPS-DEV-600 · funding independence
External funding must remain outside accreditation decisions.
CHSPS publishes the governance framework and safeguards for external funding while keeping funding status outside standards, eligibility, review, reconsideration, appeal and accreditation decision files. CHSPS does not publish a supporter roster.
Funding governance framework
Funding controls are defined in advance.
This page explains the records, conflict review, role separation, Board oversight and retention controls that govern external funding. It does not publish a supporter roster or current supporter status.
Funding records and conflict review
- External support is documented with its source, amount or value, purpose, restrictions and approvals
- Support from an applicant, candidate or accredited organization receives documented conflict review regardless of amount
- Specified relationships receive additional Board reporting and oversight as required by CHSPS-DEV-600
- Controlled funding records are updated when information is corrected or materially revised
Before funding is accepted
External funding is screened before a relationship is approved.
CHSPS-DEV-600 applies to sponsorships, grants, gifts and in-kind support. The policy defines acceptance screening, conflict review, approval authority and additional Board reporting.
Funding must fit the CHSPS mission.
Prospective funding relationships are screened for mission consistency and structural conflicts. CHSPS may decline or return support and excludes categories identified in the controlled policy.
Funding relationships receive independent conflict review.
Funding relationships are negotiated by the education and engagement function, conflict-reviewed by General Counsel and approved by the CEO.
$10,000+, multi-year and specified relationships receive additional Board reporting.
Any single commitment of $10,000 or more, any multi-year commitment, and funding from an applicant or accredited organization is reported to the Board of Commissioners at its next meeting.
Accreditation separation controls
External funding status is kept out of the accreditation case.
The policy separates the people, records and decision channels through which financial influence might otherwise occur.
Relationship + 24 months
Personnel who negotiate or manage an external funding relationship have no accreditation-relevant role concerning that funding source, and vice versa, for the relationship plus 24 months.
No file visibility
External funding status does not appear in eligibility, review, validation, reconsideration, appeal or decision files.
No decision-body awareness
Decision bodies are not informed of, and may not inquire into, an organization's external funding relationship with CHSPS.
No confidential access
External funding does not provide access to confidential accreditation information, applicant records, attendee personal data or advance standards content beyond what is public.
Conflict procedure applies
A violation of these separation controls triggers the conflict procedure under CHSPS-GOV-002.
Funding records and oversight
How external funding is documented and reviewed.
CHSPS-DEV-600 requires controlled funding records and additional conflict review for relationships that could create an impartiality concern.
Source, value and purpose
External support is documented with the funding source, amount or value, purpose, restrictions, approvals and applicable conflict review.
Applicant, candidate or accredited organization
Support from these organizations receives documented conflict review regardless of amount and remains outside accreditation review and decision files.
Controlled record retention
Agreements, screening records, approvals and related funding records under CHSPS-DEV-600 are retained for seven years under the records policy.
Acknowledgment and endorsement
Funding recognition has defined limits.
Acceptance of external support does not constitute CHSPS endorsement of a funding source, product or service. Any public acknowledgment is limited to factual terms and is kept away from accreditation authority surfaces.
Qualified acknowledgment only
Any recognition must remain factual and approved. Qualitative claims, comparisons, calls to action and pricing are outside qualified acknowledgment.
Never on decision-authority surfaces
Funding acknowledgment does not appear on Verify Accreditation, standards text, measures content, decision documents or the accreditation seal family.
No accreditation implication
A funding relationship may not be described or displayed in a way that implies accredited status, endorsement, preference or partnership in accreditation.
Decision separation
Funding is never accreditation evidence.
The three public-facing boundaries below remain part of the funding-independence framework.
No decision access
External funding provides no role in an applicant's eligibility, findings, schedule, review or accreditation decision.
No standards purchase
Funding does not buy a technical-panel seat, standards language, interpretation, measure or public-comment outcome.
No endorsement
Acceptance of support does not mean CHSPS endorses the funding source, its products or its services.
Oversight & records
The funding-control system is reviewed and retained.
The Board reviews the operation of CHSPS-DEV-600 at least annually. Agreements, screening records, approvals and controlled funding records are retained under the records policy.
Review the controlled funding policy
Use CHSPS-DEV-600 as the governing source.
If a page-level summary and CHSPS-DEV-600 differ, the controlled policy governs. This page explains the funding-governance and accreditation-independence framework.