Coffman Appointed to Pro Board Committee on Accreditation

The Board of Directors of the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) has appointed Julie Coffman of the Alabama Fire College to the Pro Board Committee on Accreditation (COA).   

The 11-member COA, headed by Accreditation Manager Ken Elmore, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Pro Board accreditation system. The COA reviews applications for fire service training accreditation, conducts site visits in consideration of accreditation, approves or denies accreditation, and ensures compliance with the operating procedures of the Pro Board. Three members of the COA are appointed by the Advisory Committee, and eight are appointed by the Board of Directors. 

The Pro Board was the original independent accrediting body for the fire service. This effort began in 1972 when the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations founded the National Professional Qualifications System (NPQS) in an effort to guide the fire service toward increased professionalism. NPQS began to develop the concept of certification based on national professional qualifications standards. Certification was an answer to growing concerns at the time that fire training was becoming very uneven between jurisdictions, and sometimes was becoming inadequate. NPQS described a system of measuring fire service professional qualifications. When a state fire training agency meets established criteria and earns accreditation, it is a national seal of approval. 

Julie Coffman was the Alabama Fire College staff member with responsibility in 2004 for preparing the Fire College for its 5-year reaccreditation site visit by the Pro Board. Every accredited fire agency must undergo periodic reaccreditation as a way to confirm that the agency is maintaining the same high standards that resulted in the original award of accreditation. Accreditation is voluntary, but the Alabama Fire College has been an active participant in the system since 1984. 

Coffman’s affiliation with the Alabama Fire College began when she attended recruit school in Tuscaloosa in 1987. In her 15 years with the Pleasant Grove Fire Department she worked as a paramedic and advanced to the rank of fire lieutenant. Julie began teaching resident courses for the Fire College in 1993, with Fire Instructor I certification courses. She joined the Fire College part time in 2002, and became full time as Curriculum Coordinator in January 2003. In addition to her responsibilities with curriculum and certification, Julie is director of the Fire College Program in Emergency Medicine. 

Julie’s other national-level activities include serving on the technical committee developing the new seventh edition of the IFSTA Fire Instructor manual from Oklahoma State University. Her next IFSTA assignment will be serving on the IFSTA committee starting development of the next edition of the Essentials of Fire Fighting manual. Julie also continues work on her masters degree program in management at Birmingham-Southern College. 3/16/05