Jan. 4, 2011:
Happy Holidays to
everyone: I have news from our National CR Chair (Mary Peterson) regarding
the submittal of the annual ‘Roses in Review Reports’.
As most of you know the
‘ARS Board clearly mandated RIR participation by the CRs in the late 90s’
and this past year
(2010)
‘the Executive Committee voted unanimously that the Board action of the late
90s, requiring CR participation in the RIR, shall take precedent over the
ambiguous language of June 20th, and that this language shall be
included in the revised CR Manual’.
The
CR Manual is being revised to make the RIR mandatory, but at this time the new
Manual may not be ready for issuance until 2012; however, the ARS BOD has voted
to put the mandatory submittal of the RIR Report into effect beginning this year
of 2011.
Therefore, beginning this year
2011 every CR will be required to submit a Roses in Review Report when available
in September, 2011 on line or in the ARS Magazine. If you do not submit a
2011 report consider it a warning and you must submit a RIR Report in 2012 to
remain on the active CR list.
Thank you for your cooperation
and your patience with the evolving changes taking place with the ARS CR
program.
David Long
YD CR Chair
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Feb. 10, 2011
ARS
Consulting Rosarians and the Recertification Program
As of
January, 2011
The American Rose Society sees the Consulting Rosarians themselves as the ambassadors and representatives of the ARS. They represent the ARS in direct interactions with the public. Each District has a CR Chair who is automatically on the National CR Committee. They represent the District for all proposals and changes to the CR program. Mary Peterson is currently the National Chair for Consulting Rosarians and is in the process of upgrading and clarifying the current CR Program and the CR Manual. The current Manual is the 2nd Edition dated July 2001. A revised Manual is targeted for release early in 2012.
There has been much speculation and discussion over the last year and a half as to the interpretation of the current CR Program. I will bring you up to date and also tell you that more changes are coming in 2011. The National CR Chair is in the process of rewriting the CR Manual. This is being done with a team of ARS members going through each chapter and submitting one chapter at a time to all District CR Chairs for their review. Revisions are then made one chapter at a time and reissued to all District CR Chairs for their acceptance. When all chapters are accepted by the District Chairs the entire Manual will be presented to the National Board of Directors for their approval. This process started in June, 2010 and was scheduled to be completed by November, 2010. It now appears that the process will not be completed until 2012.
The current CR recertification program is a simple one – at least I think so. To recertify as a CR you need to accrue four (4) CE Credits (Continuing Educational Credits) in four (4) years. If you attend the CR School, which is usually held in the Yankee District every three to four years, you will receive four (4) CE Credits and you have satisfied the program requirement for recertification until your next audit in four years. If for some reason you are unable to attend the Yankee CR School you can attend a CR School in another District and obtain your four credits.
The ‘Audit Year’ is a term used by ARS, and yours truly, to monitor the beginning of your four year period and the end of that period. Let’s say your last Audit year was 2006, thus your next Audit year will be 2010. During this period, which in this case is December 31, 2010 you should have accrued four (4) CE Credits. If, upon review of my records and checking with the Local CR Coordinator and the person in question, you have not accrued at least four (4) CE Credits, you will be removed from the list of active CRs.
If, on the other hand, a CR has MORE than four (4) CE Credits by the end of 2010, you will be recertified as an ARS Consulting Rosarian and your point total at the end of the Audit period will go to zero. Thus, no points will be carried over to another Audit period. Your next Audit period will end on December 31, 2014.
CE Credits can be accrued by not only attending a CR School
but attending approved Seminars held at any ARS Society throughout the US.
You are not restricted to your local society or the Yankee District in
attending these Seminars. If you
care to travel to say Colorado, Denver Society where they are giving an ARS
Approved Seminar on Rose Culture, as long as you sign the ‘Sign-In’ Sheet
indicating your attendance you will receive credit for that Seminar
Seminars must be preapproved by ARS before credit can be given. ARS asks that a Seminar Request Form by submitted at least 90 days before the program is scheduled to be presented. My personal experience is that Mary Peterson (National CR Chair) as been very liberal with this requirement and has responded very timely to my request during 2010. I will forward via E-mail a copy of the current Seminar Request Form to all Yankee local CR Coordinators during the first week of 2011. When a program is formalized by any Yankee District society, please fill out the form and forward it to me as early as possible keeping in mind the 90 day approval process. The 90 day lead time is an attempt by ARS to encourage all societies to schedule their year’s worth of programs as early as possible with the goal of setting programs one year in advance. When a seminar or a School is scheduled through this process, ARS will list the event on their website and a CR School will be listed also in the ARS magazine. This will inform anyone who may want to travel to pick up their CE Credits.
ARS standard for an acceptable program is:
‘One CR credit can
be earned if a CR attends a pre-approved meeting or planned event of a
horticulture or rose society where an accredited speaker will be lecturing for
at least one hour (45 min plus Q&A is acceptable) on Basic Rose Culture, Soil
and Water, Fertilizers, Pest Control (which includes IPM), Diseases of Roses,
Insects in the Rose Garden, Chemical and Garden Safety.
All of these topics are covered in our CR Manual and are considered CORE
subjects.
Since the knowledge basis of the speaker is of top priority, the Seminar Request
Form asks for the credentials of each speaker.
The National CR Chair ultimately will approve or disapprove each seminar request
based on these criteria.’
The one hour presentation could be one or parts of more than one of the listed CORE subjects, certainly not ALL of the listed topics. ALL of the listed topics will be covered in a scheduled CR School.
So to review, you can meet the four (4) CE Credit requirements to recertify as a CR by going to one CR School in your four year Audit period. OR, you can attend four (4) one (1) credit Seminars during the four year Audit period.
Any questions about the re-certification program, or if you
have questions on how many CE Credits you have to date, or when your next Audit
date occurs – please feel free to contact me at
longcottage@comcast.net and enjoy
the winter and prepare for the next rose growing season.
David Long, Yankee Dist. CR Chair