By Susanne Chawszczewski, PhD, and Lindsey Tews, MA
At the July 2012 NACC Certification Commission meeting, several changes were approved for the Certification Procedures Manual. These updates were designed to give clarity to members going through the NACC certification process, as well as giving opportunities for expanded continuing education hour opportunities to both chaplains and CPE supervisors. Changes and updates were made to the sections on: Chaplain Certification, Certification Appeals, Chaplain Renewal of Certification, and Supervisor Renewal of Certification.
Initial Chaplain Certification
All members who requested a certification application since 2007 were notified by a special letter of the changes to the Chaplain Certification Procedures, which have gone into effect for all applications beginning with the Feb. 15, 2013, application deadline. The procedures affected by the changes were: 122, 131, 132, and 133 (including various sub-procedures). In several cases, the phrasing and word choice were edited for additional clarity for the applicant.
In other cases, more significant changes were made. Here are a few examples of changes (Note: this list is not exhaustive):
- Any verbatim submitted as part of a certification application binder must now be current (current is defined as within one year of application for certification).
- Applicants who completed CPE units at an USCCB-accredited center must now submit a letter stating this circumstance as part of the application binder.
- The procedures more clearly indicate what materials the National Office will hold on file for any applicants who are denied certification or if the process is discontinued for any reason.
- All Standards may be considered in subsequent interview(s) including but not limited to Standards cited in recommendations from previous interview(s).
- In cases in which applicants have completed more than the required four units of CPE, documentation of only the four most recent units must be submitted.
If you are considering applying for certification or are involved in the interview process, please review the newly revised Certification Procedures Manual, Part One, with changes highlighted on the NACC website at www.nacc.org/certification/professional-standards-and-procedures/nacc-certification-standards-and-procedures/.
Certification Appeals
In addition to minor changes for basic clarification, a significant change was made to the Certification Appeals Procedure with CP523. The chair of the Certification Appeals Panel along with at least one additional member of the Certification Appeals Panel will review the formal appeal for the purpose of determining whether the formal appeal demonstrates probable cause to believe there is a potential violation of the NACC Standards and/or Procedures or that there are no grounds to proceed. If it is determined that there is probable cause to proceed with the formal appeal, then the three-member Certification Appeals Review Team will be appointed.
Please review the newly revised Certification Procedures Manual, Part Five, with changes highlighted on the NACC website at www.nacc.org/certification/professional-standards-and-procedures/nacc-certification-standards-and-procedures/.
Chaplain Renewal of Certification
For chaplains renewing their certification, several minor changes were made for basic clarification. In other cases, more significant changes were made. These changes include:
- All Continuing Education Hours forms and the Peer Review must be electronically produced (computer or typewriter). Handwritten forms will not be accepted.
- Your peer reviewer must be an active or retired certified chaplain or CPE supervisor who is a current member of the NACC with whom you do not share a reporting relationship (either report to or they report to you) and who is not an inactive or emeritus member of the NACC.
- A continuing education activity is only counted once, regardless of your role as an attendee or presenter. If you are presenting, you can also include preparation time. If you are presenting the program multiple times, the preparation time can only be counted once.
- Live presentations are considered educational events.
- Recordings of live presentations are considered educational materials.
- Spiritual direction can be counted for up to 10 hours per year.
- Retreats can be counted for up to four hours per day.
- Therapy/professional supervision can be counted for up to 10 hours per year.
- Service to the NACC can be counted for up to 15 hours per year.
Please review the newly revised Certification Procedures Manual, Part Two, with changes highlighted on the NACC website at www.nacc.org/certification/professional-standards-and-procedures/nacc-certification-standards-and-procedures/.
CPE Supervisor Renewal of Certification
In addition to mirroring the changes above under Chaplain Renewal of Certification, there were significant changes and clarifications to the CPE Supervisor Renewal of Certification procedures. Among the most significant include:
- CPE Supervisors will renew every five years instead of every seven years.
- Change from “Supervision of two (2) units of CPE in each seven-year renewal period or participation in other CPE-related educational activities that demonstrate supervisory competencies” to “Supervise students in an ACPE or USCCB accredited program at least once every three years or participate in other CPE-related educational activities.”
- Approval of a new process for NACC CPE supervisors who are also certified ACPE CPE supervisors. Essentially, if you are dually certified, you may submit your ACPE Continuing Education Hours and ACPE Peer Review for your renewal of certification. NACC-only CPE Supervisors will continue to follow the NACC process for renewal of certification.
Please review the newly revised Certification Procedures Manual, Part Four, with changes highlighted on the NACC website at www.nacc.org/certification/professional-standards-and-procedures/nacc-certification-standards-and-procedures/.
With constant review and attention to detail and questions from members, the NACC Certification Commission hopes that these changes will bring clarity as well as opportunities for gaining continuing education hours in order for the process to be more user-friendly to our members. For questions or comments about the changes to the Certification Procedures Manual, please contact the NACC National Office:
Susanne Chawszczewski is NACC certification and education coordinator. Lindsey Tews serves as the NACC administrative specialist/certification in Milwaukee, WI.
