Bob Van Der Velde has finished a three year term as a member of the Approval Commission of the American Bar Association. Van Der Velde was nominated by the American Association for Paralegal Education to represent AAfPE member institutions with baccalaureate programs.

Van Der Velde has conducted more than 20 site visits to colleges and universities across the nation. With Anita Tebbe and Georganna Taggart, he was a member of a panel discussion on ABA re-approval at the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) 2006 annual conference in New Orleans, LA. The conference PowerPoint presentation on the ABA approval process is here (right-click to download). My presentation "Wikis, Blawgs and Other Strange Creatures: Virtual Worlds and the Future of Paralegal Education" is also available (careful, it's a larger 10 MB file and may take forever to download).

The Approval Commission next meets at the ABA headquarters in Chicago twice each year to make recommendations to the Standing Committee and then to the ABA House of Delegates.

Van Der Velde also serves as a Consultant/Evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges & Schools.