Option B: Re-certification by Petition
Introduction
The petition option uses a credit system to reward professional experience, continuing education, and contributions to the profession such as attendance at archival meetings, participation in workshops, presentation of papers, and service on archival committees. Petitioners have five full calendar years to earn credits toward their recertification. The petition form is due May 31 of your recertification year (e.g. 2022).
Recertification by petition has several advantages:
- Archival specialization. Recertification by petition allows you to specialize in particular aspects of archival practice without keeping up-to-date on the entire scope of the profession, as you would need to when taking the examination. This is an advantage for people who are relatively settled in a career and ready to specialize.
- Academic archivists. The scope of activities for which recertification credits may be earned includes writing and research activities particularly well suited for archivists working in an academic setting.
- Continuing education. Archivists who are able to attend archival workshops and conferences will be given credit for these activities.
Professional service. Archivists who volunteer to serve on committees or run for office in local, regional, or national archival organizations can earn credits for their service.
In 2017, the ACA Board approved revised “Recertification Definitions and Credit Values,” the document that defines which activities are considered for petition credit and for how many credits each activity counts. To phase in the new guidelines, CA’s due to recertify in 2018, 2019, and 2020 may choose to submit a petition under the previous guidelines OR the revised, current guidelines. Use the full suite of appropriate forms depending on which of these two versions you choose (see below).
Your petition for recertification consists of two parts:
- Qualifying Experience Document, wherein details about activities are entered as prescribed.
- Recertification by Petition Online Form summarizing the credits claimed for each section of the petition as well as the Declaration, which you will digitally sign.
You may also find the petition worksheet useful; it contains spaces for petitioners to compile their information not only for this year but as a tool between certification years. The spreadsheet will automatically tally the credits included in column D. We hope that this will help petitioners as they continue to recertify. However, this spreadsheet is for your use only. Do not upload the spreadsheet with your online form.
Forms for Re-certifying
| Previous Guidelines | Current Guidelines |
|---|---|
| Recertification Definitions and Credit Values | Recertification Definitions and Credit Values |
| Qualifying Experience Document | Qualifying Experience Document |
| Recertification by Petition online form (coming soon) | Recertification by Petition online form (coming soon) |
| Petition Worksheet | Petition Worksheet |
Pre-approved Archival Recertification Credits (ARCs)
You might find it helpful to review the list of past programs that were pre-approved for archival recertification credits on our ARCs page. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of activities that can be claimed for credits, just those that applied for pre-approval.
Credit List of Common Activities
Many petitioners often have the same questions about activities and the amount of credit received. This list will expand as needed, so if you still have a question, please notify the Regent for Certification Maintenance at certificationmaintenance@certifiedarchivists.org.