Third Party Sponsored Continuing Education Course Requirements

The Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission (GSWCC) will allow third parties to develop training courses that may be used to satisfy continuing education requirements. The following procedures are to be followed by continuing education course sponsors in order to obtain course approval and assigned continuing education credit hours from GSWCC.

ADVANCE NOTICE

Applications for continuing education courses must be completed and submitted at least 45 days prior to the commencement of the course to allow sufficient time for review, approval, and return of approval documents to the sponsor. Course applications received less than 45 days before the course date will NOT be approved. Course applications are processed in the order they are received.

SUBMITTING FOR APPROVAL

The course sponsor must submit the Application for Continuing Education Course Approval to the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Education and Certification Program, 4310 Lexington Road Athens, GA30605. The request for course approval must include:

  • A fully completed Application for Continuing Education Course Approval
  • A detailed course description with time of training in each subject. Applications without adequate subject detail will be returned.
  • A program agenda that includes start/stop times for all topics and breaks.
    The start and stop times (e.g. 10:00-10:30) for each subject or speaker as well as any breaks or meals must be shown. If the course or activity involves a tour, you must provide an itinerary which includes travel stops and times.
  • Copies of all materials that will be used during the course
  • A draft copy of the course announcement if one is to be sent to prospective attendees. The announcement must contain the following statement verbatim:

“(Course Title) meets the criteria for a Level (IA, IB or II) continuing education course for the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission and is approved for ________ hour(s) of instruction.”

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed and will be returned to the course sponsor.

CRITERIA USED FOR EVALUATING COURSE OFFERINGS

Applications for continuing education courses submitted for credit hours will be evaluated on the basis of subject matter presented and time devoted to the topic. In general, discussions relating to all aspect of erosion and sediment control and land disturbing activities may be considered for approval of credit hours. Examples of acceptable topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Monitoring/Sampling
  • NPDES General Permit/GESA
  • BMP Installation
  • Structural and/or Vegetative BMPs
  • Erosion, Sediment and Pollution Control Plans
  • Site Inspections

Examples of topics which will not be considered for credits include the following:

  • Business Management
  • Marketing Techniques
  • Public Relations
  • Sales Presentations

The course must meet the following requirements:

  1. Minimum of 1 hour of instruction (excluding breaks)
  2. Include time to distribute and review GSWCC program updates (Will be provided by GSWCC)
  3. Course must be taught by a GSWCC approved trainer

APPROVAL PROCESS

The course outline and instructor qualifications will be reviewed by the GSWCC Education and Certification Program (E&C Program) and appropriate credit hours will be assigned. The course sponsor will receive a Notice of Course Approval listing the re-certification credit hour(s). Continuing Education credit hour(s) will be assigned on a basis of 1.0 credit per hour of actual course instruction time with a maximum of 4 credit hours. A GSWCC continuing education course code will be assigned for each course. This GSWCC continuing education course code is to be listed on the course certificate which is issued to candidates attending the course for continuing education credit hours.

Individuals that attend courses held prior to GSWCC approval will not be eligible for continuing education credit hours.


COURSE SPONSOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Prior to the continuing education course, the sponsor must submit a continuing education course notification form to GSWCC by fax or email. Forms are available on the GSWCC website.

At the completion of the course, the trainer must require all individuals in attendance to record their ID number (DOB and last 4 digits of their Social Security number) and print and sign their name on the Continuing Education Training Roster. The trainer will also be required to complete the Scantron form provided by the E&C Program. Original roster and Scantron forms for each day of training must be submitted to the E&C Program within 7 days of course completion. Failure to follow this procedure may result in rejection of training certificates issued at the course. The E&C Program will send both the training roster and Scantron forms to the trainer.

The trainer must provide and issue to each individual attending the course for continuing education credit hours a certificate of proof of attendance which lists the following information:

  • name and Certification ID Number of certified individual;
  • name, place and date of the training course;
  • Continuing Education course code assigned for the course by GSWCC
  • number of credits assigned by GSWCC
  • signature of the sponsor, in ink.

Appropriate controls must be used to ensure that only attendees who sit for a course receive a certificate and that the certificate awards credit only for the time the attendee actually attended in the course.

MONITORING OF CERTIFICATION TRAINING COURSES

The Education and Certification Program reserves the right to monitor continuing education courses for course content, time allocated to topics, etc. As a condition of course approval, sponsors must grant permission for the E&C Program staff to monitor any approved course and waive registration fees for staff monitors. If the actual course is found to deviate significantly from the approved course, the E&C Program staff person may recommend credit hours be changed to reflect the deviation or invalidate the course if necessary.

A list of all approved continuing education courses will be posted on the GSWCC website.