CEM Corner: Training and education

By Brian V. Bovyn, CEM, Emergency Services Supervisor, Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department

An integral part of the CEM® portfolio submission is the candidate’s formal education and professional development education.

Is Timing Running Out for You?

Currently the CEM® candidate may substitute a four-year college degree for additional work experience, or two years of professional full time emergency management experience for one year of college education equivalency exchange. However, the window for acceptance of work experience is narrowing as the Dec. 31, 2009 deadline approaches. Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, all CEM® candidates will be required to possess a completed four-year baccalaureate degree.

If the candidate is utilizing additional work experience to satisfy college education requirements, the additional experience must be validated in the “Work History and Experience” section of the CEM® application. For those candidates who have completed some college coursework and plan to use a combination of college credits and work history, the IAEM CEM® Commissioners will recognize 30 college credits as equivalent to one year of college.
The candidate’s baccalaureate degree may be a Bachelor of Arts or Science in any major. The degree must be from an academic institution formally recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education or one if its six regional affiliates. All attestations of education must be validated with supporting documentation, such as copies of college diplomas, transcripts and letters from college administration certifying graduation completion. If the college graduate’s transcripts contain a different name, due to marriage or another reason, this must be explained. A four-year degree in emergency management also may reduce or eliminate required emergency management training (depending upon when that degree was earned).

Documentation of Professional Development Courses

The CEM® candidate is required to complete and document 100 hours of emergency management and 100 hours of general management education. Tabs or dividers must separate each section (Emergency Management and General Management). For each section, a summary sheet must be filled out that lists the courses, total hours and allowed hours.
The courses may be combined into categories. For example, three different Incident Command courses may be combined into one section; however, no more than 25 hours may be credited as allowable for any one category. Also, each course must have documentation that supports the course: a class syllabus or description, course certificates, or letters of attestation and validation from the course instructor.

 
In the CEM® application, there is a list of examples of emergency management related courses and general management courses. As a general rule, courses that are focused on the professional development of the individual, such as interpersonal communications, dynamics of the individual, or computer related, are often considered “general management.” The FEMA Professional Development Series is an example of general management courses.
Courses such as incident command, NIMS and technical courses, that discuss specific roles and functions in emergency management, are often considered “emergency management courses.” Many of the mitigation courses or FEMA Advanced Professional Series courses may apply in this area.

 
One of the greatest opportunities to meet both the general management and emergency management training course hours requirement of the CEM® is the Federal Emergency Management Agency Independent Study Program. The FEMA Independent Study courses are free, most can be completed in less than 10 hours, and the student will receive a certificate, often within 24 hours by e-mail link.

 
Each course is open book and contains a 25-50 question multiple choice examination that can be completed online. Visit the FEMA Web site at www.fema.gov, and select Independent Study Program. The courses are listed numerically, and the contact hours awarded are listed beside each course. Many courses offer 1.0 contact hour (this translates into 10 hours of class time for purpose of the CEM® candidates documentation). Courses offering 0.6 or 0.3 contact hours are worth either six or three hours respectively.

 
If the CEM® candidate has completed a bachelor’s degree in emergency management within the past two years, he/she will be exempt from the 100 hours of emergency management education requirement.

Graduate school courses in any major will meet the general management or emergency management training requirements. Other than bachelor’s degree courses in emergency management, no undergraduate courses may be claimed as emergency management or general management training if that undergraduate coursework was used as a foundation for the bachelor’s degree requirement for the CEM®.

 
Additional information can be found in the CEM application online at www.iaem.com.

April 2009, IAEM Bulletin