CEM^® News 2015-2016

• Changes to the IAEM-Canada CEM Education Requirements (13 June 2016) Effective Jan. 1, 2017, Canadian CEM applicants will be required to submit any three- or four-year bachelor program or any post-graduate degree in emergency management or related field from a regionally accredited institution. Currently, Canadian CEM candidates may substitute experience for a degree to meet the education component of the credential. This equivalency will expire at the end of 2016. Once the new education requirement goes into effect, candidates will no longer have the option of substituting extra years of emergency management work experience in lieu of the education requirement. This will bring Canada CEMcandidates in line with USA, Europa, and Oceania CEM candidates.

• Certification Commission Seeks Candidates to Fill Several Commissioner Openings; Deadline Extended to July 1, 2016 (16 June 2016) The IAEM Certification Commission is looking for candidates to fill several commissioner openings for the Class of 2019, serving from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019. The Certification Commission conducts electronic reviews using the online system. Every other month, commissioners are expected to review, on average, 12-20 applications, based on volume, within a 30 day window. Interested applicants must be detail oriented, responsive via email and phone, and plan to devote approximately 30 hours per review month (180 hours yearly) to online reviews. CEM Commissioners also draft notification letters to candidates so commissioners must possess clear, concise writing skills.
  
  The Certification Commission has one or two in-person meetings per year as well as quarterly conference calls lasting between 1-2 hours to discuss policy and procedure changes. Occasionally, commissioners may be asked to serve on a short term ad-hoc working group related to a topic of discussion on the Certification Commission. IAEM is prepared to cover the travel costs for the in-person review meetings for commissioners living outside of the DC metro area.
  
  There are a limited number of available spaces but any interested USA certified individual is encouraged to apply as we are looking to identify people who are willing to serve as alternates to represent each EM category should seats become available mid-term. Download chart of CEM Commissioner categories.
  
  Commissioners must be emergency management practitioners and current CEMs with a demonstrated knowledge of emergency management, desire to serve, ability to work without bias and maintain confidentiality as well as the credibility of the AEM/CEM credential.
  
  Applicants should ensure they have access to a computer without security limitations to access zip, pdf, .msg, jpeg, gif, .mov, Powerpoint, and Word files. Access to publisher is a benefit. Users should be using the current version of any of the major browsers (latest Firefox, Chrome, Safari or IE 10/11/12). Interested individuals should identify themselves as being computer savvy and have a willingness to learn how to use the online application portal.
  
  Candidates interested in serving on the Certification Commission should submit the following information to the IAEM Education & Certification Manager at CEMinfo@iaem.com by July 1, 2016:
  
  
  • Letter of intent expressing desire to serve as a commissioner as well as willingness to devote the necessary time to participate in online reviews and commission meetings.
  • Personal Commissioner Qualities – a short narrative (maximum of two pages) describing the qualities the applicant will bring to the commission. Include the date of CEM initial certification and recertification(s).
  • Qualification(s) to Serve – up to a one page description of the qualifications for the category(ies) of participation to be considered as described in the chart of CEM Commissioner categories.
  • Current Resume
  • Three letters of reference to verify and support the criteria. One letter should be from a current supervisor.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Upon receipt, candidate will receive confirmation that information was received by IAEM HQ. Late submissions may be held over for the following year. Candidates will be notified of the results this fall.

• CBRN School Offers Credentialing Opportunities that Include the Associate Emergency Manager Credential (08 June 2016) As part of a partnership with IAEM, the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School (CBRN) has expanded its existing credentialing opportunities to include the Associate Emergency Manager (AEM) certification. This was mentioned in a recent article about changes in leadership at the CBRN School and the school’s recent accomplishments.

• AEM/CEM Statistics Announced (18 Jan 2016) In 2015, 63 candidates earned the AEM and 186 candidates earned the CEM. This is the highest number of CEM certifications since the program was started by IAEM in 1993. There were 211 CEMs in the original class. There are currently 198 AEMs and 1,595 CEMs worldwide.
   
• Automatic Email Issued in Error (22 Dec 2015) Many candidates who had previously submitted applications through the online system, and already received official notification of the results, erroneously received an automatic generated email on Dec. 22, 2015, notifying them that an “IAEM Application Letter was made available.” These emails were generated by mistake and can be ignored. We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion.
   
• Don’t Forget – AEM/CEM Recertification Applications Are Due by Dec. 31, 2015 (23 Nov 2015) If current AEMs and CEMs are scheduled to recertify in 2015, they must submit their recertification applications through the online certification portal by Dec. 31, 2015, 11:59 p.m. EST. Candidates must submit the recertification fee before they are eligible to submit their application. IAEM requires 24 hours to process the recertification payment after it is submitted online, before the blue “submit application” button becomes visible within the online application. Candidates for recertification have successfully submitted their application when they click on the blue “submit application” button, located on the candidate dashboard within the online application, after which they will receive an automatically-generated email confirming that their application was submitted. Visit the IAEM recertification web page to learn more.
   
• AEM/CEM Exam Requests (02 Nov 2015) Candidates must request the AEM/CEM exam at least 14 business days in advance. See the Study Guide Brochure for details on how to set up an exam at a location near you. No exam requests will be processed between Dec. 16, 2015 and Jan. 5, 2016.
   
• IAEM Receives Approval from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the AEM Certification Mark (16 Sept 2015) The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued registration for the IAEM certification mark “AEM.” The date of formal registration was Aug. 18, 2015, and the USPTO registration number is 4793993. From this point forward, use of the AEM mark should be accompanied by the symbol used to designate registration. IAEM-USA is the listed owner or registrant of the mark. The mark itself is used to certify that the individual holding the certification has satisfied the required training, knowledge, skills and abilities as assessed through essays, letters of reference, and a passing grade on the written examination adopted and administered by IAEM-USA.
   
• Deadline for Receiving AEM/CEM Diplomas at the IAEM 2015 Annual Conference (24 Aug 2015) AEM/CEM candidates in the Class of 2015 who are interested in receiving their diploma at the IAEM-USA Annual Conference during the awards ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada, must have their initial AEM/CEM credential application approved no later than the September 2015 online review meeting and must take and return their completed exam to IAEM Headquarters by Oct. 12, 2015, as well as receive a passing grade. This means applications must be submitted through the online system by Aug. 31, 2015. No supplemental reviews will occur prior to the annual conference for applications found incomplete during the September review.
   
• IAEM Announces AEM/CEM Licensing Agreement with Utah EMA and Utah State Division of Emergency Management (12 Aug 2015) IAEM is excited to announce the official agreement between the IAEM-USA Council, the Utah Emergency Management Association, and the Utah State Division of Emergency Management, granting licensing use of the term "Utah Certified Emergency Manager" (UTCEM or UCEM) and "Utah Associate Emergency Manager" (UAEM) for the state's certified emergency manager designation. As owner of the registered trademark “Certified Emergency Manager,” IAEM is eager to partner with state credentialing groups to encourage a mutually beneficial agreement and urge candidates to elevate the profession of emergency management by being certified in the field both by their state and internationally through IAEM. Candidates will still be required to have an application approved by the IAEM CEM Commission and pass a 100-question multiple choice exam in order to receive the internationally recognized IAEM certification, but the state of Utah has pioneered a pathway to promote dual certification by mirroring many of IAEM’s certification requirements. IAEM commends the members involved from UEMA and UDEM who have worked on the development of the state certification and had the foresight to connect it with IAEM. IAEM looks forward to creating future agreements with other states. 
   
• Utah EM Certification Program Launched (13 Apr 2015) Utah Director of Emergency Management Kris Hamlet on Apr. 8 announced the launch of the Utah Certified Emergency Manager (UCEM) program at the state's City and County Emergency Management Directors meeting in Salt Lake City. "Utah Emergency Management partnered with the Utah Emergency Management Association and IAEM during the last year to bring a certification program to Utah that is in line with IAEM's CEM program," Hamlet said. Details of the program are available here, along with a downloadable summary.
   
• FEMA Student Identification Numbers to be Used for IS Final Exams (26 Mar 2015) FEMA EMI recently posted that on Apr. 1, 2015, the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will begin to use the FEMA Student Identification (SID) number when submitting Independent Study (IS) final exams. All individuals (U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries) may register for a FEMA SID at https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid.
   
• New AEM/CEM Recertification Changes (25 Mar 2015) As announced, the new recertification requirements were implemented in January 2015 for candidates scheduled to recertify in 2015. If recertification candidates started an online recertification application prior to Jan. 5, 2015, please note that the application is tied to the old recertification requirements. To take advantage of the new recertification, candidates should add and complete a new recertification application which will incorporate the new sliding scale of requirements. Recertification candidates should save any information from the old recertification application and delete the old recertification application prior to beginning the new application.