The Associated Landscape Contractors of America announces a new annual renewal program for its recertification process.
Published December 15, 2003
The Certification Board of Governors of the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) recently announced a new annual renewal program to replace the former three-year recertification process.
The new program took effect immediately, and a brochure that describes all the details of the new plan is now available from ALCA. Certification renewal is due by Dec. 31 each year, and certified individuals may return the renewal form as soon as they have completed that year’s requirements. ALCA will honor the three-year recertification term for everyone who participated in the previous program.
As part of the renewal program, those certified individuals who didn’t participate in the three-year recertification program and, thus, became inactive are offered the opportunity to return to active status by completing the new form and paying a one-time reactivation fee.
The changes between the new and old programs are:
Name — Certification “renewal” rather than “recertification.”
Time Frame — Completed annually instead of every three years.
Documentation Requirements — No supporting documents are sent to ALCA.
Cost — One fee for everyone ($25 per year).
Form — One page that is faxed to ALCA, with online completion coming soon.
Education Requirements — One standard for everyone instead of three programs with three different criteria for acceptable activity.
Credit for Service Expanded — Increased recognition for volunteer time given; industry service is optional, not a requirement. One Education point can be exchanged for a Service point.
Counting Credits — Events are assigned points. It is no longer necessary to record the number of hours for each separate session attended.