New Apr Position Provides More Support

By: Kurt Brautigam

Hello all…Happy New Year!!

As many of you may know, the state PRAM Board of Directors this year has added the position of vice president of accreditation to replace the three APR regional coordinators who had previously helped promote and oversee the accreditation process. I am honored to fill the new position and look forward to working with all the chapters.

Throughout the year I will try to provide as much information as possible and act as a liaison with all of the state chapters regarding accreditation. To begin that process, I’d like to ask each of the chapter presidents to select a contact person to receive updates and information. Several chapters have an APR chairman or similar position on their boards, so please send me email addresses for them. It is not necessary for chapters to have such a board/officer position, of course, so if you don’t you might see if one of your chapter members would be interested in being part of the process of passing along information, or you might prefer to do it yourself.

I would like to visit as many chapters as possible during the first half of the year in order to get to know your needs regarding accreditation and answer any questions your members might have. Please let me know the days of the month that your chapters meet and also feel free to suggest a date if you’d like me to make a short (or long) presentation about the accreditation process. We have developed a PowerPoint presentation that involves audience participation to help de-mystify the APR test, which is one of the aspects of certification that seems to be one of the bigger hurdles for many folks. I would be happy to work out a date to fit in with your speakers for the year.

I can also tell you that the state PRAM board is working to include APR sessions and readiness reviews at the annual conference in March, as well as a two-day all-inclusive readiness review/preparation/testing session sometime in the middle of the year. You’ll be receiving more information about those events as we work out the details.

I welcome any thoughts and suggestions you might have about what information your chapter members need regarding accreditation and how to encourage and promote the process. PRAM has an enviable number of accredited members relative to other professional organizations around the country and we hope to build on that. Thank you in advance for your help and support as we go through 2011.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

January 12, 2011 at 4:08 am | APR