CPESC/CPSWQ Professional Development Requirements

Introduction

Earn PDUs through professional activities and by attending seminars, workshops, meetings, and serving on professional boards and committees. For relevant Continuing Education activities, assign 1 PDU per hour of instruction time.

Professional Development Requirements

Certified professionals (CPESC/CPSWQ) must maintain their certification by ongoing professional development activities such as continuing education courses, information transfer to other certified professionals (CPESC/CPSWQ) and to the public, support of professional organizations and community extension that promotes the profession to the public.

Reference:    CPESC: See "CPESC Certification Procedures and Standards" in Section 4, "CPESC Program" for CPESC professional development requirements.
CPSWQ: See "CPSWQ Certification Procedures and Standards" in Section 5, "CPSWQ Program" for CPSWQ professional development requirements.

Category A: Continuing Education

The following table shows how to translate Continuing Education activities into PDUs.

Professional Activity PDUs Max
CPESC or CPSWQ admission exam, passing grade, new applicant or current registrant (In-Training registrants can use this when full professional status is achieved) 50 50
Presentation, seminar, conference, clinic, workshop, tour, field day, other (as rated*) 1/hr 30
Training workshop sponsored by employer, vendor, university, government extension (or as rated*) 1/hr 30
Continuing education program, CPESC approved 1/hr 40
Distance education program, CPESC approved, exam challenged 10 40
Short course, CPESC approved, exam challenged, 2 PDU/hour 2/hr 40
Relevant college course (8-12 wk term) (campus attendance required) 25 50
*When available and appropriate and relevant, use the PDU (or CEU) value assigned by other professional organizations. (Note, PDUs = CEUs x 10.)

Category B: Authorship of Publications, Presentations, Reports, and Courseware

The following table shows how to translate Authoring activities into PDUs.

Professional Activity PDUs Max
Presenter at seminar, conference, clinic, workshop, tour, field day 5 20
Report, employer, co-author 2 20
Report, employer, sole author 5 20
Paper, conference proceedings 15 30
Publication, technical journal 15 40
Publication, refereed journal 30 50
Course development, CPESC, Inc. approved 50 50
Publication, chapter or book 50 50

Category C: Professional Organization Activities and Community Extension

The following table shows how to translate Professional and Community Extension activities into PDUs.

Professional Activity PDUs Max
Membership IECA and/or SWCS 5/yr 30
Membership, other relevant professional organization, national or local chapter 2/yr 6
Meeting attendance, relevant, professional 1 40
Media interview, source, release 2 10
Community presentation 2 10
Community leadership (conservation) volunteer work, stakeholder group 2 20
Committee member, professional org. 10/yr 30
Elected executive, professional org. 20/yr 50
Executive committee member, (e.g., standards, ethics, exams, discipline, certification) professional organization 20/yr 50

Category D: Other Professional Activities

The following table shows how to translate Other Professional activities into PDUs.

Editor, conference proceedings 20 20
Editor/reviewer, scientific publication, book, course, funding application 10 30
Expert witness before a court of law, regulatory board or panel 10 30
Instructor, training workshop 20 40
Instructor, technical school 40 40
Professor, university, college 40 40
Member of a regulatory board or panel 40 40
Award of professional excellence TBA 60
Submitted and approved activity** 10 20
**Other professional activities not listed could be recognized as maintaining professional practice or public awareness of professionalism in the practice of erosion and sediment control. Submit a description of the activity for review by the CPESC Council Peer Review Committee.