CEM Corner: Baccalaureate Degree Becomes Mandatory Requirement
for CEM® Credential Applicants Effective Jan. 1, 2010
By Brian V. Bovyn, CEM, CEM® Commissioner,
Emergency Services Supervisor, Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department
As January 2010 draws
closer, with it comes a
major change to the CEM® requirement. As of Jan. 1, 2010, a baccalaureate degree (of any major) will be a mandatory requirement, negating the current allowance for work experience or combination of work experience and college credits which equate to a four-year degree to meet the CEM® requirement.
The answer is simple: it’s time to begin or advance your formal education by going to college. College today takes many forms and is far less painless than the limited options available 20 years ago or more. Once options were limited to traditional in-classroom attendance – and if you were lucky, you could take evening and weekend courses.
Now there are many different educational delivery methods, including: traditional classroom based instruction, online courses, guided study courses, credit by examination courses (such as CLEP and DANTES testing or specialized college examinations that challenge the material taught in a one-semester course), hybrid courses (combination of several in classroom meetings supplemented with online courses), independent study courses, prior learning assessment or portfolio validation assessments, and other methods.
The first step is to make a plan, plan your expenses, commit your time, and gather any formal and informal educational chops (college credits or coursework taken, but where no degree was conferred). Meet with an academic advisor at your choice of college or university. Academic advisors are specially trained college officials who specialize in reviewing academic credit and previous college work, awarding credits for work completed, and mapping out a curriculum of remaining course work to be completed in support of a degree. Many adults bring such educational and experiential “chops” from previous course work completed, which did not result in a degree.
Decide what you would like to major in and make sure to discuss your major with the academic advisor, before he or she assesses your collegiate work portfolio and assesses and assigns credits. It’s possible that the student may be given more approved credits for some majors than others. Once the assessment of prior credit has been completed and the student has identified a major, the academic advisor provides a list of courses remaining to meet the specific degree requirements.
The student then registers with the college and completes coursework to satisfy each of the requirements for courses to be taken. Many colleges offer a variety of credit granting course delivery methods such as mentioned above. The student might opt to take a combination of some traditional classroom based courses along with some online courses and supplement these courses with a few CLEP or DANTES examinations. Very knowledgeable and experienced practitioners also might consider a couple of prior learning assessments or portfolio validation courses. The key is keeping your eye on the prize. Continue plugging away, course by course and credit by credit, until you finally complete all coursework in support of the baccalaureate degree.
October 2009, IAEM Bulletin
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