Diocese of Mississippi Continuing Education Policy

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1 Diocese of Mississippi Continuing Education Policy The purpose of this proposal is to respond to General Convention, August 2003: Title III, as well as recalling our ordination vows of study, prayer, discipleship and reflection. The Continuing Education Cycle will be a twenty-four month period, from December 1 to December 1. The goal is to have the clergy of the Diocese of Mississippi experience three primary areas for educational and professional development in their vocation and life: academic/theological, professional, and personal. Oversight for meeting this requirement will be the Diocesan Office. Additional committee support will be provided by a Continuing Education Board comprised of members from the Commission on Ministry. This board will assist the Diocese in decisions regarding financial grants, approval of independent study proposals, and attendance at events not pre-approved for CEU credit. The Board will convene monthly via the Internet, telephone, etc., to review the materials submitted for approval. A regular calendar date will be set for receiving such materials. CEU The measure for Continuing Education will be the Continuing Education Unit (CEU) as defined by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, a standard also recognized by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; please refer to attached document. The Diocese expects that active clergy will accumulate 2 CEU (essentially 20 contact hours) per 24 month cycle. Part-time clergy, including part-time retired clergy, are expected to accumulate 1 CEU (essentially 10 contact hours) per 24 month cycle. Non-active clergy are exempt. CEU credits do not roll over from one cycle to the next. The Diocese will offer pre-approval to groups and/or other large venues once such requests are received and approved by the Board. At such times the Board will provide certificates for participants during the event. All requests for approval will be communicated to the clergy via , and for necessary exceptions, via post. Copies of the annual communication to the Board will serve as official documents that must be submitted with the annual reporting of the clergy person. The board will also consider CEU credits from other professional settings as possible equivalents, i.e.: medical, legal, business, etc., once reviewed and accepted by the Board. Pre-approval will be given to certain of these areas in the future. Monitoring of CEU through the 2-year cycle is the responsibility of the clergy person. Annual continuing education reports submitted to the Diocese will be reviewed throughout the year, especially during periods of professional discernment, future deployment, and/or salary adjustment. 1

2 Continuing Education for Clergy in The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi Guidelines: Oversight The Bishop of Mississippi and the Commission on Ministry, with its subcommittees and diocesan appointments, will facilitate continuing education and its requirements in the Diocese of Mississippi. The Continuing Education Board will be the primary contact between clergy and the diocese regarding questions and fulfillment of the requirements. Continuing Education Board: This group will be comprised of members of the Commission on Ministry and members appointed by the Bishop. These individuals will serve for two years, will be convened by a chairperson, and meet on a monthly basis via , telephone, etc. An annual meeting will be held in a convenient location when all members may be present. We suggest that appointments to this Board be made annually, so that rotation off of the Board will be staggered, thereby insuring continuity throughout subsequent turnover among Board members. General Responsibilities: a. Review applications and award financial grants for continuing education for clergy, thereby enfolding the current process. b. Review applications for CEU submitted by clergy via independent study, seminars, conferences, on-line learning, etc., that have not been previously assigned CEU. c. Review applications from individuals and groups seeking CEU accreditation within the Diocese of Mississippi. d. Provide help in arranging annual events in conjunction with presbyters and deacons conferences which assist local clergy in fulfilling annual requirements. e. Consider alterations in program to improve and encourage the growth and sustenance of continuing education in the diocese. Areas of Recommended Concentration: The Diocese encourages ongoing development in three primary areas of study and experience: Academic/Theological, Professional, and Personal. These three areas correspond to the vows affirmed at ordination. Academic/Theological: Professional: Personal: Reading and studying the Holy Scriptures, and seeking knowledge of the Word of God and the sacraments. Building the family of God through pastoral leadership. Attending to the patterns of one's life in accordance to the teachings of Christ. 2

3 Academic/Theological Examples: biblical studies, doctor of ministry programs through accredited schools, languages Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, etc., church history, theologians, arts and theology, popular culture and theology, medical ethics and theology, science and theology, cultural spiritual traditions {Celtic, Coptic, Hispanic, Anglican, African, etc.}, ecclesiology, some pre-approved retreats. Professional Examples: Personal Examples: conference on liturgy and music, racial sensitivity training, conflict prevention and resolution, congregational life and development, evangelism, homiletics, leadership skills, time management, reconciliation, staff management, team building, visioning and mission, stewardship, relationship with vestry, sexual misconduct prevention. time management, assertiveness training, career assessment, aptitude inventory, financial planning, wellness awareness, physical fitness assessment, spiritual direction, life coaching, addiction recovery, stress reduction, family systems, training and/or counseling to enrich family life, retreats. 3

4 CEU Please refer to the International Association for Continuing Education and Training CEU guidelines attached to this document. Criteria for Awarding CEU Most continuing education opportunities will have pre-assigned CEU determined by the institution, school, program, etc. Certificates, letters, etc., documenting such events will be honored by the diocesan program. The Continuing Education Board will estimate CEU for all non-assigned events. It is critical for clergy to understand that all requests for CEU to non-assigned events must be made in advance of the completion of such events. There will be no assigning of CEU in retrospect, unless authorized by the Bishop. Some consideration will be given to clergy coming into the Diocese from other locations. The Board of Continuing Education will evaluate their situations on a case by case basis upon their entering the Diocese of Mississippi. Accounting for CEU Documented CEU, reported on the diocesan CEU Report, must be post-marked by November 30th of the two-year cycle. The December to December cycle was chosen to accommodate the annual Presbyters' and Deacons' conferences, which may become a significant source of CEU credit for some clergy in the Diocese of Mississippi. The Bishop will receive and review these reports at his discretion. Failure to account for CEU and/or gather adequate hours will be noted and reported to the Bishop by the Continuing Education Board. Such reports will be reviewed in anticipation of annual visitation, and especially during periods of professional discernment, future deployment, and/or salary adjustment. Acknowledgement The committee preparing this document would like to acknowledge its use of the Continuing Education Program in the Diocese of Texas and its Office of Leadership Development located in the Diocesan Ministries Center. 4

5 Calculating the CEU Definition: CEU One CEU = ten contract hours of participation in organized continuing education/ training under responsible, qualified direction and instruction Definition: contact hour Contact hour = one 60 minute clock hour of interaction between learner and instructor OR learner and materials which have been prepared to cause learning Contact implies a connection between a learner and a learning source. For the purpose of the CEU, that connection is two-way. The instructor or learning source must monitor the learner s progress and provide some form of feedback to the learner. This definition applies for face-to-face interaction as well as distance learning programs. What can be counted The following learning activities are examples of types of activities to include when calculating contact hours for CEU: Classroom or meeting session time led by and instructor and/or discussion leader; Activities, in which a learner is engaged in a planned learning event in which the learner s progress is monitored and the learner receives feedback. (Examples include, but are not limited to, independent study, computer-assisted instruction, interactive video, web site learning, and planned projects.); Field trips, projects, and assignments which are an integral part of a learning event; and/or Learner assessment and learning event evaluations. What CANNOT be counted The types of learning listed below can produce worthy learning and are occasionally recognized by the professions and licensing boards; however, they do not meet IACET criteria and should be quantified with units of measurement other than CEU. Unplanned Unsupervised Non-sponsored 5

6 The following activities are not intended to receive the CEU. These activities may be worthwhile learning experiences; however, they should be measured and documented by some form of measurement other than the CEU. Academic credit courses: CEU may be awarded for academic credit courses which meet the CEU criteria; however, individual participants should not receive both CEU and academic credit. Association membership and leadership activities: Holding membership or serving in some leadership capacity in an association or society does not qualify for the CEU. Committee meetings: Participation in committee meetings and activities does not qualify for the CEU. Entertainment and recreation: CEU may not be awarded for attendance at cultural performances, entertainment, or recreational activities unless they are an integral part of a planned course which meets the CEU criteria. Individual scholarships: CEU may not be awarded for independent writing such as articles, books, research reports, or presentation of papers outside of a planned, directly supervised continuing education/training experience that fulfils the CEU criteria. Mass media learning events: Learning events delivered through the mass media (e.g., television, radio, newspaper) do not qualify for CEU, unless these presentations are an integral part of a planned learning event which meets the CEU criteria. Some meetings, conventions, exhibitions: Meetings, conventions, and exhibitions, which attract large numbers of participants, involve different activities, and are conducted primarily for information sharing purposes, generally do not qualify for the CEU. Planned learning activities within such events, which meet the criteria, are eligible for CEU. Travel: Travel or participation in a travel-study program does not qualify for CEU, unless the educational component of travel-study program meets the CEU criteria. Unsupervised study: Individual, self-directed study or other form of independent learning experience, which is not planned, directed, and supervised by a provider, does not qualify for CEU. Work experience: On-the-job training and other work experiences do not qualify for CEU unless the work experience is structured as part of a planned and supervised continuing education experience that meets the criteria. CEU are not to be awarded for life or previous work experience. 6

7 Breaks, lunch periods, and periods which are devoted to administrative tasks, such as student introductions and record keeping, may not be counted Minimum CEU should not be granted for learning events that are less than one hour in length. Sessions within an event may be of any length. An event of short duration, one or two hours, often does not warrant the degree of planning required by the criteria. Caution should be exercised with shorter length events to ensure their adherence to the criteria. Counting minutes in the contact hour The 60-minute hour is the standard for awarding CEU. Calculating the CEU Determine the number of contact hours by adding all countable portions of the learning event per instructions above. (Example: A learning event has six 50 minute sessions with 10 minutes between for set-up. The number of contact hours would be computed as: 6 x 50 = 300 total minutes in organized, interactive learning / 60 = 5 contact hours. Divide the number of contact hours by 10 to get the number of CEU. (For the example above: 5/10 =.5 CEU.) CEU may be expressed in tenths of a CEU (i.e., 17 contact hours equate to 1.7 CEU; 3 contact hours equate to.3 CEU). Do not express the CEU past the tenths place (i.e., if your calculation should be 1.78, express this as 1.8 CEU). 7