There are many, many volunteer positions that support ESA and the ESACC certification programs of BCE and ACE. Last week I sent out an email asking for volunteers to fill a few slots on two judging panels (a judging panel is the body that reviews candidates for an award and ultimately decides who is the winning candidate). We had a handful of open slots on the two panels and I thought it would be difficult to fill those slots.
Boy, was I wrong.
Within the first few minutes of sending the email my inbox began to flood with qualified ACEs and BCEs who were looking for a way to serve their certification programs. Within the first 24 hours I had over 100 talented professionals who had volunteered to serve on the ACE Professional Award Judging Panel or the BCE Certification Awards Judging Panel. Since that time I've had several dozen more people email me and ask if there were still slots open.
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| ACE Professional Award Judging Panel (current as of 5/5/2014) |
The panels have now been filled and we have a host of people waiting in the wings for the next volunteer slot to open up. To those of you who volunteered (whether you were selected for the panel or not) -- thank you. Everyone is busy these days. Work, family, school, church, community -- very few people have extra hours in the day and most of us have our precious time pulled in dozens of ways. The fact that you are willing to step forward and offer your time speaks well of each of you and, in a broader sense, the size of the response to this call for volunteers speaks well of the profession.
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| BCE Awards Judging Panel (current as of 5/5/2014) |
Entomology and pest management are helping professions. From conversations I've had with many of you over the years, I know that a lot of PMPs and entomologists got into this business out of a desire to help others. Volunteering to serve on a panel or a committee is an extension of that "helping mentality".
If you volunteered and were not selected to serve at this time, take heart. We have updated your record in our database that you have an interest in serving the certification programs. The next time we have an opening for something, we'll go to that list first before doing a broad-call to everyone else.
Some other possibilities of service include:
- Serve on a different judging panel. The contact is Cindy Myers here at ESA HQ. Here is a list of all the awards that ESA, the Entomological Foundation, and the ESA Certification Corporation offer. Each has a judging panel and Cindy could let you know of any openings. Side note: All other judging panels are only for ESA members.
- Helping to build study materials for the ACE exam
- Helping to develop standards and review the BCE exams (we'll need people to work on each of the six BCE Specialties and the General Qualifying Core BCE Exam).
- Volunteering to sit on an ACE subcommittee, such as the exploratory committees to start ACE certifications in Public Health, Lawn and Ornamental, and perhaps other specialties.
- Volunteering to sit on one of the other Certification committees, such as the Audit committee, Education committee, or others.
- Serving as a volunteer proctor for a BCE or ACE applicant
- Consider running for a seat on the Certification Board during the next election. We are in the process of modifying the ESACC Bylaws to allow for an open seat for an ACE to serve as well.
