Continuing Education Committee 

The mission of the Continuing Education Committee is:

To ensure the highest possible quality for AIHA training programs and educational opportunities for professionals in occupational and environmental health.

The CEC's goal is to provide the membership with a planned system of high-quality continuing education instruction designed and delivered to enhance attainment and retention of technical competence by occupational and environmental health professionals.

The committee has three objectives to guide it toward this goal:

  • To identify and promote new educational programs.
  • To monitor the quality of courses presented under the auspices of the committee.
  • To improve communication with other AIHA technical committees.

In pursuing these objectives, the committee:

  • Coordinates the development and presentation of half-day and full-day professional development courses at AIHce.
  • Coordinates the development and presentation of multi-day continuing education courses and symposia.
  • Works with the national office to periodically assess the members' needs for continuing education.
  • Reviews all courses, newly proposed and previously presented, at AIHce.
  • Sponsors the development of new educational programs by AIHA technical committees.
  • Obtains and analyzes student evaluations, audits continuing education courses, and provides feedback of PDC results.
  • Improves participation in technical committee auditing of PDCs and designates specific members to proactively interact with technical committees.

 

Generic Description of Continuing Education Committee Meetings

The Continuing Education Committee (CEC) meets three times a year, in April, in May, and in September. The September meeting is 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 April Meeting is held via conference call. The September meeting lasts 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 Monday of conference week. CEC member attendance at these meetings is mandatory.

April

The focus of this conference call 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 for 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 AIHce. 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 AIHce. Each year more and more PDC proposals compete for a limited number (around 100) of PDC slots at the AIHce. 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.