California Water Environment Association
Re-certification Policy
Continuing Education Requirement

Beginning July 2002 certificate holders will be required to participate in at least 12 hours of continuing education or training every two years. The policy affects all CWEA certificates and grade levels.

Continuing Education is required to help ensure that individuals certified by CWEA continue to be knowledgeable of technological advancements and regulatory requirements in the wastewater fields. Continuing education enhances the operation, maintenance and management skills of the certificate holders, and ensures the quality of wastewater treatment. This ultimately increases the ability and confidence of certificate holders and the credibility of the wastewater professions certified by CWEA.

What This Means For Certificate Holders

Certificate holders will be required to include documentation of 12 Contact Hours of pre-approved training and/or education with their certificate renewals every two years. The training must address the Essential Duties of the vocation and grade level of the certificate held. The Essential Duties are a list of job tasks that are covered on the certification tests. The Essential Duties for each certificate are available in each candidate Handbook and on www.cwea.org/tcp.

Remember, any training or educational activity will be acceptable as long as it is related to at least one of the Essential Duties and is pre-approved by CWEA. You may even apply your Contact Hours to more than one certificate as long as the training program focuses on some of the Essential Duties of each vocation. A list of pre-approved training programs will be listed on www.cwea.org/tcp.

12 Hours Every Two Years

Certificates are still renewed every year. However, every other year certificate holders now have to turn-in documentation showing the 12 Contact Hours of training and/or education. The system is much like California’s vehicle registration where smog certificates are required every other year, but renewals occur annually.

Any certificate holders with certificates issued on, or after, July 2002 will need to turn-in 12 Contact Hours with their certificate renewal two years after passing the certification test. Contact Hours will be required on, or after, July 2004 for certificates at least two years old and issued before July 2002. The exact date that Contact Hours will be required will be given on certificate renewal forms beginning July 2002.

Biennial Windows
Certificate Issue Date	Begin Earning Contact Hours	First Contact Hours Due
Issued in July before 2003	July 2002	July 2004
Issued in January before 2003	January 2003	January 2005
January 2003	January 2003	January 2005
July 2003	July 2003	July 2005

The basic definition of a Contact Hour is 50 minutes of training or instruction, or its equivalent. There are many ways to earn Contact Hours. A few examples are listed below:

Participating in on-the-job training
Attend training conferences or workshops
Complete college courses
Complete self-study courses (such as Cal Sate Sacramento Wastewater Programs)
Teaching a course
Training others
Writing technical articles or books
Giving a technical presentation

Any training or education activity that focuses on the Essential Duties of the vocation is likely to be approved. Since all training programs must be approved before they are given, certificate holders are sure to know which programs will be able to offer Contact Hours.

Renewing Your Certificate

When Contact Hours are due, certificate holders will need to pay their fees and submit all paperwork documenting their Contact Hours. To minimize the flow of paperwork, CWEA will only accept complete renewal packages that include all required Contact Hour paperwork and the appropriate fee. Partial Contact Hour documentation will not be accepted. It is the responsibility of the certificate holder to make sure that the records are kept until renewal time. CWEA recommends that certificate holders keep a copy of all training certificates just in case things get lost in the mail.

Although CWEA will provide a general form to record Contact Hours earned at a training event, any paperwork will be acceptable as long as it includes the following information:

Certificate holder’s name
Course completion date
Educational unit type earned (Contact Hours, semester units, quarter units, or continuing education units or points)
Number of Contact Hours, units, or points awarded
Course title
Name of the issuing organization
Authorized signature, stamp, seal, or other means of validation accepted by CWEA.

What This Means For Trainers

Trainers must have their programs approved before the training is given. Trainers may advertise their pre-approved training programs as a way participants can earn Contact Hours. Pre-approval also allows CWEA to know of all of the possible training events that can be applied to a certificate. Most importantly, it helps certificate holders determine what training will earn them Contact Hours and which will not before they spend their time and money at a training event.

CWEA evaluates training programs four times a year: January, April, July, and October. Trainers must submit their training program outlines no later than the first day of the review month. If the first of the month is on a holiday or a weekend, then the training outline must be received no later than the last business day of the month before.

Educational/Training Program Review Calendar
Review Month	For Training Events That Occur
January	February and the 23 following months
April	May and the 23 following months
July	August and the 23 following months
October	November and the 23 following months

The following basic information must be included in the package for training program approval:

Name of the Instructor(s)
Name of sponsoring organization
Date(s) of the event
Detailed, timed course outline or agenda
A resume of the instructor’s relevant training and experience

CWEA may request more information if needed for a complete evaluation. CWEA will provide forms to help trainers complete the required documentation. CWEA will notify trainers about the status of their application about two weeks after the deadline. Those programs that are approved will receive information and forms to help them document the training provided to certificate holders.

Standardized Training Programs

Pre-approved standardized training programs may be given multiple times within a two year period. The training program must be submitted for approval again after two years. If possible, the original application should include all training dates and trainers for the program. If dates and/or instructors are added or changed, CWEA must be notified within two weeks of the training event.

List of Pre-approved Training Events

CWEA will list all training events approved for Contact Hours on its web site at www.cwea.org/tcp. Pre-approved training information will also be available through CWEA Local Section TCP Chairs and the CWEA office 510-382-7800.

For More Information About The Continuing Education Requirement