Director’s Corner
You, Too, Can
BECOME CERTIFIED!
Tom Tracy, Ph.D. VTC Executive Director
On
Friday, December 11, after the conclusion of the 2015 Virginia Tech Turfgrass Short Course, 61 persons sat for the Certified Turfgrass Professional (CTP) examination. Wow! The huge turnout is indicative of the pent-up demand for this program that provides a tangible demonstration of competence for professionals in our industry. The December examination marked a capstone of pilot studies that lasted for three years. During those years, we administered more than 130 developmental copies of the exam, developed a training manual, met with environmental groups, took hard looks at similar programs in other states, established goals and objectives and established a Certification Committee. Developing the program may be equated to a threelegged stool. Dr. Mike Goatley was the first leg. Allow me to say a great “Thank You!” to him. His vision first caused the VTC to consider the CTP program, and his tireless, behind-the-scenes efforts pulled together a team that built the other two legs. Developing the examination was the second leg. Sam Doak is the person who took the proverbial bull by the horns and wrote a Beta copy of the exam. That copy was administered at the end of the 2013 Turfgrass Short Course. We learned lessons from that test and altered the questions, added categories and strengthened the identification portion. We offered a revised examination during the 2014 Turfgrass Short Course. Our
study of those results led us to further tweak the written questions and to completely revise the identification section. Developing the training manual and study materials marked the third leg. With Dr. Goatley’s leadership, we met with representatives from Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Input from these persons led us to add a complete section dedicated to Best Management Practices. Both the manual and study materials are available for free at a dedicated web site: www.turfprofessional.org. Having been solidly set on three legs, the foundation is being built upon by the establishment of the Turfgrass Certification Committee. The VTC board of directors formed this committee during the summer of 2015 and appointed Jimmy Viars as its chair. The committee developed the standards to become a Certified Turfgrass Professional. They also established policies for maintaining and renewing the certification. Becoming a CTP is not easy — in addition to passing a rigorous, four-part written examination, applicants must: (1) be a Certified Fertilizer Applicator or a Certified Nutrient Management Planner, (2) be a Commercial Pesticide Applicator or a Registered Technician and (3) complete the Turfgrass Short Course or similar training. But years of research, development and industry input clearly point to the value of making the effort to become certified!
8 | VIRGINIA TURFGRASS JOURNAL January/February 2016 www.vaturf.org