One of the differences between formal certifications and other sorts of training/designations is the requirement to maintain them. Every certification has some sort of reexamination or continuing education requirement. This is to ensure that, as best practices, processes, and technologies change, certified professionals keep up with those changes.The CIP is no exception; CIPs are required to recertify every three years.
There are two ways to do this. First, CIPs can retake the CIP exam. CIPs should remember, though, that they will have to take the then-current exam at the then-current price.
Second, and more common, is to complete the continuing education unit (CEU) requirements. This requires submitting a certain number of CEUs every three years, and paying a renewal fee of $135 for AIIM Professional Members and $150 for non-members.
If you received your CIP by taking the 2019 beta exam, or took the exam after May 29, 2019, you must submit 60 CEUs within 3 years and pay the fee. If you received your CIP before May 29, 2019, or if your current renewal cycle started before that date, you must submit 45 CEUs and pay the fee. Once you have renewed, your next renewal cycle will require 60 CEUs. If you are not sure about how many CEUs you need, you can contact us at certification@aiim.org and we will clarify.
If you do not complete your CIP CEUs within the three-year certification period, you will be decertified and will have to retake the CIP exam or complete the reinstatement process in order to reinstate your CIP status. The reinstatement process requires submitting 60 CEUs, regardless of your certification date, and paying the reinstatement fee of $249. There is no time limit to reinstatement.
What types of events count for CIP CEUs?
We've tried to make it as easy as possible to complete CEUs. It's this simple: If it's an event that meets one of the topic areas on the CIP, it counts. It doesn't matter who provides or sponsors the event - it just has to be educational and align to one of the topic areas on the CIP. So all of these events would count for CIP CEUs:
- Attending an AIIM Chapter meeting
- Attending an ARMA Chapter meeting (or any other association meeting)
- Speaking at the AIIM Conference, or the ARMA annual conference, or MER, or any other industry event
- Attending a webinar
- Attending a formal training course
- Attending employee-sponsored training
- Attending a college course, whether for credit or not - we award 3 CEUs per academic credit
- Developing and/or delivering a presentation - 2 CEUs per finished hour for development, 1 CEU per finished hour for delivery
- Publishing an article or book. A blog post might count if it's a pretty meaty post. A Tweet? Not so much. 1 credit per article or page.
- Attending vendor-sponsored or vendor-provided content, including product demos. Vendors have unique content to share that is incredibly valuable, even when it's very specific to their solution.
- Read industry publications. Credits are awarded at the rate of 1 CEU per every 10 pages of educational content (cover, index, ads, author bio etc. don't count).
Again, it has to align with at least one topic area on the CIP in order to qualify. And this is by no means an exhaustive list; if you're not sure whether something would count or what it would be worth, send a note to certification@aiim.org.
Each event qualifies for 1 CEU credit per contact hour of educational content; we round down to the nearest 1/2 credit. So an AIIM preconference workshop from 9-5 would count for 6.5 hours - 8.0 hours, less 2 15-minute breaks, less 1 1-hour break for lunch - or 6.5 CEU credits.
So what types of events would NOT qualify for CEUs?
Again, pretty simple: If it isn't educational, or doesn't align with the CIP, it doesn't qualify. So:
- Attending an AIIM or ARMA chapter meeting on "How to Dress for Success" or a similarly unrelated topic
- Employer-provided training on conflict resolution or how to drive a forklift
- A vendor mixer/meet and greet with no educational content
- Snack and lunch breaks during events and conferences
- The Welcome Reception at an event or conference
- Work experience. We just don't have any way to know how long it took you to do that thing you did or to compare it with others' work experience.
- A conference unrelated to the CIP. However, if a session you attend does relate, it counts. We have given credit for specific sessions at conferences on genealogy, state government, project management, and many others.
- Other certification exams. But certification prep might count if you can document it.
The bottom line is that if it relates to the CIP, we'll probably accept it; if it doesn't, we won't.
How do you document and submit your credits?
For AIIM-delivered events - conference, webinars, etc. - we will confirm your registration and attendance in our systems.
For any non-AIIM delivered events, you need to submit some sort of documentation: a registration receipt, certificate of attendance, something. We'll be flexible but we do need some sort of proof you attended what you said you did.
And if you're planning to attend a non-AIIM event, suggest to them that they get it preapproved. That gives them a bit more value-add for their marketing and helps to raise the visibility of CIP, especially outside the broader AIIM community. I'll post about that process in another blog post, but the short version is to send an email to
certification@aiim.org with the same sorts of details mentioned above.
Continuing education helps to ensure you're up-to-date on current processes, technologies, and best practices. It demonstrates to your employer your commitment to staying up-to-date and to your own professional growth and development. And you've passed the CIP exam, which is no small matter. Maintaining your CIP is a cost-effective way to demonstrate your professionalism and ensure that you can continue to reap the benefits of being a CIP in the future.
I welcome your comments here or at jwilkins@aiim.org.
#CIP