The Certification and Credentialing Advisory Council is currently comprised of five Certified Surgical Assistants. The Chairman is appointed by NSAA’s President and approved by the Board of Directors. The Chairman appoints the members of the Council and approved by the Board of Directors.
The Committee Chairman reviews every candidate’s application and determines if the candidate meets the requirements and is eligible to take the CSA exam. If it is verified that a candidate has met the requirements for the CSA exam, the applicant must score a 72% or higher to pass and receive the CSA credential. The Advisory Council is not involved in the certification process. The Advisory Council periodically reviews the certification criteria and makes recommendations to the NSAA Board of Directors with any needed developmental changes.
The National Surgical Assistant Association grants programmatic approval to academic institutions which comply with our written standards for Surgical Assistant education. The committee’s function is to evaluate surgical assisting programs desiring NSAA “Approved” status, ensuring that they meet current NSAA standards for surgical assisting programs."Approved" status allows a program’s graduates to sit for the CSA credentialing examination through a streamlined application process, helping them to meet the recruitment criteria of some of the most prestigious healthcare facilities. In addition, NSAA lists approved programs on the NSAA website, as a resource for individuals wishing to enter into the Surgical Assistant profession.
Programs interested in attaining NSAA approval are encouraged to contact NSAA’s administrative office for information regarding the application process. Program Directors may additionally contact the association's Chairman of Education and Training for details regarding academic requirements.
This committee’s sole responsibility is finding the best candidates to fill vacant board positions within the National Surgical Assistant Association. It is responsible for planning, executing, and recording the annual NSAA election process according to “Roberts Rules of Order”.
In this capacity, the Nominations and Elections Committee is charged with soliciting and validating nominations for vacant NSAA Board of Directors positions. The Committee sets the timing for the election, calls for Nominations, validates eligibility of nominees for each position, creates the ballot, oversees the election process, and validates election results.
Operations of the Committee: The Nominations and Elections Committee shall consist of three (3) members. The Chair of the committee will be the immediate Past President of the NSAA, and the Committee Chair shall appoint the remaining Two (2) members. In the event that the Past President cannot serve in this capacity, the committee Chair shall be appointed by the Board of Directors.
In soliciting nominations and preparing a slate of candidates, the Committee shall strive for balanced representation of geographical distribution and professional experience to insure that NSAA elections reflect fairly the diverse constituency of its membership.
The Committee will request a brief biographical statement from each candidate. The Nominations and Elections committee will validate qualifications for candidates nominated for each position, based on their biographical sketch as well as history of membership in the NSAA.
The Nominations and Elections Committee will be responsible for creating and issuing the official election ballot, which will include space for write-in candidates.
The Nominations and Elections Committee shall tally the ballots and send the results to the Secretary, who shall promptly notify all candidates of the results. Names of newly elected members shall be announced on the NSAA Website, in the CSA Node, and at the Annual Conference.
Ballots shall be destroyed following formal announcement of the results.
A nominee receiving the highest number of votes for an office shall be elected to that office.
In the event of a tie vote, the current Board of Directors will vote to break the tie. If this vote results in a tie, then the current President will cast the deciding vote.
The NSAA website serves the members of the National Surgical Assistant Association and represents the association’s image to the world. It is the general expression of the whole association rather than of any one individual or particular group. The site supports informational and educational material by providing efficient access and connection to an increased array of resources.
The Website Committee serves as a board of review for the site and in collaboration with the web manager, provides guidance and establishes standards for the association’s web pages to ensure high quality and consistency of content, organization, and presentation of information. To ensure the continuing excellence of the website, the committee has established documents governing its content and design. The Website Committee consists of individuals appointed by the President of NSAA.