Generic Description of Continuing Education Committee Meetings

The Continuing Education Committee (CEC) meets three times a year, in February, in May, and in September. The February and September meetings are held at AIHA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. The May meeting is convened during the annual conference, the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, at the conference site. The February and September meetings last a day and a half, typically starting on a Friday at noon and running through late Saturday afternoon. The AIHce meeting takes place on the Tuesday of conference week, from 1000 to 1700 hours. CEC member attendance at these meetings is mandatory.

February

The focus of this gathering is two-fold. First, we review the CEC’s work from the previous year. Second, we strive to identify new initiatives or methods for AIHA members to have access to high quality continuing education. Several administrative issues are also addressed at this meeting. Examples of items discussed include: conference Professional Development Course (PDC) selection and auditing processes; long-distance learning developments; the CEC role in assuring the appropriateness and quality of all continuing education activities; and CEC goals ofor the upcoming year.

May

At this meeting we primarily review the attendee and auditor evaluations of the PDCs that were offered Saturday and Sunday at the AICHE. Each PDC attendee is requested to complete a form, critiquing the course. CEC members audit both new PDCs, and PDCs that were placed on probation the preceding year. Technical Committee auditors review the technical content of some PDCs. We compile and review attendee, CEC and Technical Committee auditor feedback. PDCs with significant failings are either placed on probation by the CEC, or they are discontinued. We suggest improvements for PDCs with minor shortcomings. After the May meeting, letters are sent to PDC presenters informing them of the results of the CEC evaluation.

September

During the September meeting we select PDCs for the following year’s AICHE. Each year more and more PDC proposals compete for a limited number (around 100) of PDC slots at the AICHE. As a result, the CEC has developed a rigorous rating process in order to eliminate bias in the selection process. In preparation for the September meeting, proposed PDCs are reviewed and scored by at least two to four CEC members. When we convene, we review the CEC evaluation of the PDC proposals, and past performance if the PDC has been previously given. We then rank-order the proposals, selecting the best proposals for inclusion into the upcoming year’s AIHCE.