AIH – The Recertification Process
American Institute of Hydrology certified members provide expert knowledge, specialized skills, and adhere to the highest standards and ethics in the field of hydrology. Recertification of members assures that they have continued to keep updated with current research, standards and practices. This ongoing educational requirement helps protect public interests and the profession from non-professional, sub-standard or unethical practices in a field involving complex water issues. Because of the continually changing nature of the field of hydrology and societal challenges, certified members need to continue their professional development throughout their careers and keep current in their specialty fields by engaging in professional practice, participating in continuing education courses, keeping up with technical literature, and attending professional meetings and seminars. Professional Development Hour (PDH), or Professional Development Credit (PDC), is defined as one contact hour of instruction, presentation, or study towards the goal of staying current in the field of practice. Specific competency requirements are determined by the Executive Committee on a periodic basis.
Certified members are responsible for keeping records of the number of PDH/PDC they earn along with associated documentation that can be validated by AIH. Documentation is due by January 15 of every 5 years, computed from the anniversary year of the individual member, in order to remain in compliance with certification. A minimum of 60 PDH/PDCs is required over 5 years to be eligible for recertification.
https://www.aihydrology.org/continuing-education-guidance/
Dates & Deadlines
Certemy has a notification system implemented for those in the recertification phase which notifies those who are approaching their application deadline 3 months ahead of time and again one month ahead. Given the recertification process spans over a 5-year period and requires professionals to provide proof of continuing education over this period of time, we understand that the notification process we currently have in place may not have been an appropriate amount of time to obtain the prerequisites for recertification – specifically the professional development credits component. As a result of this, we have restructured our notification process so that, moving forward, our members will receive notifications beginning 6 months ahead of time rather than 3 months. This will then be followed up by a 3-month notification with an additional final notification 1 month ahead of application due dates.
AIH is revising the recertification process to make it easier for members to upload their recertification data. Implementation of this process is underway but not yet completed. This will be completed within the next 90 days. With that said, the Executive Committee recently voted on extending the recertification deadline an additional 6 months for any of our AIH professionals that are currently in the recertification phase. It is our hope that this will allow time to obtain the proper material needed to recertify.
Certified members whose recertification is due in 2022 now have until July 15, 2022 to complete the process.
Membership Dues
Annual membership dues are required every year, regardless of if you are in a recertification phase or not, in order to continue practicing under your earned credential.
Recertification Fees
Every 5 years, certified members must provide proof of eligibility to recertify, along with recertification fees. These fees are separate from your annual membership dues.
The points above regarding dates & deadlines, membership dues, and recertification fees are what we hope is captured as a main takeaway from our members reading this message. We greatly value each of our members and we thank you for your continued support of AIH!