By Ginger Adams, IAF-CPF, CVS-Life – Member, SAVE International Certification Board
Earlier this month I had the privilege of representing the current SAVE International Certification Board to talk with almost 40 SAVE members who participated in the Arizona Chapter’s “Value Moment: A Sit-down with the New SAVE Certification Board.” As expected, the participants were anxious for news about what changes are coming to the certification process and maintenance requirements, as well as when the changes will be rolled out. Additionally, there were several who wanted to know how someone already “in the process” should proceed – stop and wait for the new changes or continue proceeding through the current certification process?
I’ll answer that last question first: VMA and CVS candidates should continue their applications under the existing certification processes until notified otherwise. When the changes are rolled out, there will be a clean break between the current and new processes. We will not expect anyone to start with the current and transition midstream to the new process.
As I shared with the meeting participants, the Certification Board is working toward multiple goals, all on the premise of simplifying, streamlining, and making the process attractive, without compromising the integrity of certification. Some of those goals include:
- Revised certification application
- Revised, online exams for both VMA and CVS
- Confirming alignment of the SAVE Core Competencies with the VM Guide and certification exams
- Improved PDUs process
- Updated Certification Manual
- Updated Certification Board Operations Manual
- Developed processes to attract those in the manufacturing sector
- Coordination with our International Affiliates to better integrate our proposed changes into the VMA and CVS certification processes they administer in their countries
It’s important that we create a “clean break” for multiple reasons: the SAVE Education Committee is creating updated training materials for the VMF 1 and VMF 2 courses, which affects teaching materials for and instructors of those courses, as well as the structure of exams. The Certification Board is working on the certification and on-line exam processes. The two cannot occur independently. They must integrate with and complement one another for the ultimate outcome.
The participants in this Value Moment session provided great feedback and suggestions related to modeling our certification and PDU processes after other organizations’ programs. We would appreciate any input from the SAVE membership relative to the pending changes.
If you want to send the Certification Board examples of other organizations’ certification programs and/or PDU processes, we would be happy to consider those. Please email them to me at ginger@advantagefacilitation.com and I will happily share with Laurie Dennis and Anna Bremmer. We welcome all input!
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