Commission on Credentialing

In September 2022, the Board decided that a change in the direction of credentialing was needed . Four new Commissioners were elected . Those new Commissioners are David I . Jackson, PRP; Sandra Cook, PRP; Steven W . Walls, PRP; and the author, C .J . Cavin, PRP. They joined Commissioners Susan Eads Role, PRP, and Darlene T . Allen, PRP. In addition, the Commission elected Commissioner Cook as Secretary and the author as Chair of the Commission . Commissioner Role remained as Vice-Chair .

The Board charged the Commission with the following tasks:

1 . Provide a fair analysis and review for the candidates that have been in the current Registered Parliamentarian® (RP) credentialing program;

2 . Review and make a recommendation on the current RP credentialing program;

3 . Determine the sustainability of the credentialing programs; and

4 . Implement an RP system that meets the needs of NAP’s members .

The Commission carefully reviewed the charges from the Board and quickly sprang into action . After a series of virtual meetings, the Commission met in person in Maryland to consider the options and work on moving NAP’s credentialing programs forward . This meeting laid the groundwork for the critical transfer from the former Commissioners provided the opportunity to get up and working very quickly, for which the author expresses sincere appreciation to former Chair Thomas J . (Burke) Balch and former Credentialing Administrator Rosalie H . Stroman, PRP. Under the bylaws, the Commission on Credentialing will have full authority to implement changes to the credentialing programs only upon it voting to activate the relevant bylaw amendments and remove the provisos . The Commission has not taken this step because it presently is not prepared to undertake fully the Registered Parliamentarian and the Professional Registered Parliamentarian credentials as would be required under the bylaws . Due to this restriction, the Commission must work collaboratively with the relevant NAP Committees to ensure compliance with the bylaws and cooperation with those currently responsible for recommending changes . The Commission worked extensively with the Membership and Registration Examiners Committee (MREC) and the Professional Development Committee (PDC) to ensure the RP and the PRP are of high quality, attainable for members, and sustainable for NAP. Working together produced significant results in a very short amount of time . The author thanks MREC Chairman Patricia A . Cauley, PRP, and PDC Chairman Mona Y . Calhoun, PRP, for their advice and cooperation . The entire Commission extends thanks to members of both committees for their diligence and commitment to NAP’s credentialing excellence .

Parts 1 through 7, and attempted Part 8 would meet the requirements to earn the RP credential . This recommendation was approved by both MREC and the Board and resulted in nearly 80 new RPs .

Many of those nearly 80 candidates were in the Schoology program for years without having been able to earn an RP. This outcome was unfair to those dedicated candidates and, therefore, unacceptable to the Commission . Until March 1, 2023, any active RP candidate may complete the Schoology RP credentialing process on the Schoology platform, which did not adequately support the credentialing process . After that date, NAP will discontinue its use of the Schoology platform . In addition, the Schoology RP program closely resembled an assessment-based certificate program rather than one for certification . 1 Such a program is inconsistent with NAP’s past practice and expectations of our membership . Further, the original design of the Schoology RP program was not completed or implemented . Before the 2022 NTC, the Commission changed the requirements for Step 3, which previously required serving as a parliamentarian simulation . This approach was scrapped in order to announce that the Schoology RP program was complete .

One frequently asked question is what was the rationale for determining Step 1, Part 1 through 7,

1 Defining Features of Quality Certification and Assessment-Based Certificate Programs (2010, Institute for Credentialing Excellence) of the Schoology RP program; the questions were not known in advance and were more complex .

The Commission is committed to sharing regular updates with the NAP Board of Directors and the membership . This first article outlines the most important work the Commission has accomplished to date but includes only a fraction of the actions and decisions it has made . The next edition will include an overview of the new Registered Parliamentarian exam and information related to an updated version of the Criteria for Credentialing .

For updated information on the Registered Parliamentarian process, please visit https://www.parliamentarians.org/rp-credential/, The Commission will attempt to place an update in every edition of the National Parliamentarian for the foreseeable future.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact the Commission at commission@nap2.org.

C.J. Cavin is a licensed attorney, Professional Registered Parliamentarian and Certified Parliamentarian-Teacher. He is the full-time parliamentarian for the Oklahoma House of Representatives, chair of the NAP Commission on Credentialing, the Parliamentarian for the American Institute of Parliamentarians, vice-president for the American College of Parliamentary Lawyers, and president of the Oklahoma State Association of Parliamentarians.

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