For 70-some of BCEs who are fully certified by the Entomological Society of America, the tri-annual Professional Maintenance and Certification Report (PM&C) is coming due in another few weeks. This report unnecessarily strikes fear into the hearts of some otherwise very rational and intelligent men and women. Why? Because they do not keep up with documenting their CEUs earned until the report comes due. Just like any job, if you chip away a little bit at a time the workload is ever so much more manageable. Here are some practical suggestions for easing the CEU documentation process:
1) If you are comfortable with Excel, use that version of the report. Formulas allow your CEUs entered to auto-flow to the cover sheet so that you can always have a quick snapshot as to where you stand on your CEU totals.
2) Keep a file folder with a ledger sheet in an easily-accessible location so that you may document any 'easy to forget' CEUs, like reading an article or a book related to your career or giving a talk to the public. Lots of BCEs only focus on the big ticket items like attending meetings or giving presentations, but there are dozens of ways to earn CEUs.
3) Set a reminder for the 30th of every month in your Outlook calendar to remind you to update your CEUs earned for the month.
Emails go out today to all BCEs as to when their next PM&C report is due. Don't let a bookkeeping problem put your certification in jeopardy. Document monthly to simplify the PM&C reporting process.
