After a project's steering committee completes its initial review of the submitted candidate standards, a draft of the committee's recommendations--or "draft report"-- is posted on the NQF website for review and comment by members of NQF and the public.
The comments are compiled and submitted to the steering committee for consideration. At times, a steering committee may revise its draft report in direct response to a specific comment or series of comments that are submitted during this phase of the consensus development process.
Opening of the Comment Period
When a commenting period opens, a notification is posted on the NQF website, and will be available through the event calendar and on the specific project page. NQF also sends out an email notification to NQF members and members of the public who have signed up for these notifications.
During a commenting period, several documents related to the project are posted on the NQF website for members and the public to review. These documents include the steering committee’s recommendations and can include additional information such as:
- An executive summary;
- Background information;
- Standard information and specifications on the measures;
- The evaluation of each measure by the steering committee against the measure evaluation criteria; and
- Research recommendations for future measure development.
Submitting Comments
Both NQF members and interested members of the public can electronically submit comments on the steering committee’s draft recommendations through the NQF website. As part of NQF’s commitment to transparency, all submitted comments will be posted on the NQF website, where they can be reviewed by any site visitor.
In most cases, NQF members and the general public can review and comment on a steering committee’s draft report for 30 calendar days.
Steering Committee’s Consideration of Submitted Comments
Following the conclusion of the member and public review and comment periods, the project steering committee reviews all submitted comments. The steering committee may also seek out technical advice or other specific input from external sources, as needed.
After its review of the submitted comments, the steering committee may choose to revise its recommendations within the draft report in response to a specific comment or series of comments. Any revisions will be reflected in the revised draft report.
Should the steering committee gauge its revisions to be substantial in nature, a revised version of the draft report may be re-circulated either for additional review in advance of the voting period or for review as part of the voting process. If a revised version of the draft report is re-circulated for a second review and comment period, the review will follow the same process as the initial review and comment period.
