Earning a CWEA certification is a significant accomplishment that reflects your expertise, dedication, and commitment to excellence in California’s water environment profession. As a certified individual, you are authorized to use CWEA post-nominal designations—letter codes that follow your name—to proudly represent your credentials and professional achievement.
Post-nominals are abbreviations that indicate your CWEA certification vocation and grade level. They provide a clear, standardized way to highlight your technical competence and ongoing professional development in wastewater treatment, environmental compliance, laboratory analysis, and related fields.
For example, a Collection System Maintenance Grade 2 certificant would list their name as:
First Name Last Name, CSM2
These designations can be included in professional contexts such as:
Below is a guide to the official post-nominals for each certification vocation and grade level:
Using post-nominals is a professional way to reflect your qualifications. However, it’s important to use them accurately and ethically. You must:
Misuse of post-nominals is a violation of CWEA’s Code of Ethics and may result in disciplinary action, including the loss of certification.
It’s your responsibility to ensure your use of CWEA post-nominals is up to date. Review your professional profiles and materials regularly and update them if your certification status changes.
CWEA is proud to support the development of skilled, knowledgeable professionals in the wastewater industry. Displaying your credentials with post-nominals is one way to elevate your professional profile and reinforce the credibility of our essential workforce.
If you have any questions about the appropriate use of post-nominals, please contact the Certification team at [email protected].
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