Indiana CCA News

Indiana CCA Newsletter July, 2001

A Note From Chairman Chris Voglewede.

The IN CCA program continues to thrive and expand. We are over 850 members strong, have excellent financial resources and a committed board. With a bigger organization come higher demands to meet the members PRESENT needs and we must anticipate our FUTURE needs and imminent change within our industry. Our IN CCA members are consistently asking for: the best technical training available, timely, relevant information, customer awareness and promotion, and to preserve the "value" of a CCA Certification

To better deal with the increased issues, the board has formed 4 additional committees and "reactivated" existing committees. The new committees and leaders are:

Continuing Education (Kim Polizotto)
Information Transfer (Lance Murrell)
Awareness & Promotion (Mike Schitter)
Value Creation & Preservation (Jeff Nagel)

Committees will consist of a leader and 2-3 other members. The goal is to define problems, seek input and solutions, propose action to the board, and act to correct/improve. In future meetings, committee leaders will give updates at each board meeting. The IN board is committed to ensuring the IN CCA continues as one of the premier, progressive CCA organizations in the country.

Best Regards,

Chris Voglewede



Second Annual Indiana CCA Convention Planned!
Mark your calendar NOW! The Indiana CCA Board is already busy planning the Second Annual CCA Conference, which will be held Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at University Place Conference Center in Indianapolis. Following the excellent attendance and interest last November, the conference is being moved to a larger facility so we can have a bigger and better conference. Watch future newsletters or the website for more information. See you there! For those of you who so bravely volunteered to help with the 2001 program, you'll be hearing from us!

Nutrient Management Planning Training.
USDA-NRCS and Purdue University have teamed up to provide an extensive workshop for certification for nutrient management planning (NMP) and training on comprehensive nutrient management planning (CNMP). The sessions will be held on July 10-13 at the Purdue Campus. For more information or to register for this program contact Tony Bailey at 317-290-3200 Ext 345 or at Tony.bailey@in.usda.gov.

Home Page Updated With Current Training Opportunities:
Our home page is now being kept up to date with the most recent training opportunity information that we have. We continue to encourage those holding training programs to let Mary DePatis know so we can get it posted on the website. We will continue to update and populate the website with good information and key links of interest to CCA's.

CEU Meeting Requirements To Be Scrutinized
The IN CCA Board has as one of its key objectives for 2001 to protect the integrity of the CEU training program. Over the past few years, our members have made us aware of a few instances where CEU training events were not equivalent to the program submitted, the program was awarded too many CEU's for the amount of time spent in training, and/or the quality of the material covered was not consistent with the standards set by ICCA policy. It is the goal of the IN CCA Board to make all sponsors aware that program integrity and quality is of the utmost importance to ensure that the Continuing Education Program's integrity is maintained.

We are asking ALL CEU sponsors to insure that their programs meet or exceed the CEU program guide-lines outlined by the ICCA Policy and Procedures Manual, with special regard to program content and training time. The IN CCA Board has formed a special committee to address this concern. Soon all sponsors applying for program certification will be getting a reminder letter from the board on the CEU program guidelines and over the next year, board members will be spot-checking training programs across the state to ensure quality and standards are adhered to.

Board Passes Revised CEU Requirement Standards:
At the last meeting, the board passed a motion stating "All CCA's who are 5 or less CEU hours deficient can make up the deficiency in the next 2 year cycle in addition to meeting the CEU requirements of that 2 year cycle." The special rollover exception can be granted only once for a CCA. Those that are more than 5 CEU's deficient will be sent a letter and notified that they will be dropped from the CCA for not meeting minimum CEU criteria. The CCA's with CEU deficiencies may appeal the Board's decision if the records are in error or if extenuating circum-stances prevented the CCA from obtaining the required CEU's. You can check your CEU status on the internet at http://www.agronomy.org/cca/search_ceu/search_ceu.html. Remember that it takes some time to have your CEU credits entered into the system.

IN CCA Board Meeting.
The next IN CCA Board of Directors meeting will be held on July 18th. If you have any business or issues to put before the Board, please contact us. All board members are listed on the Indiana CCA website at http://www.inagribiz.org/cca

E-mail correspondence.
TTo get this newsletter and other notices via e-mail, we need to get you in the system. Please e-mail a note to maryd@ifca.com  and ask her to put you in the Indiana CCA phonebook. By sending an e-mail, Mary can capture your address with minimal effort.

Indiana CCA Decals Still Available.
Additional decals are still available and may be purchased from the CCA office for $1.50 (800) 387-1283. CCA Logo's can be downloaded off of the National CCA web site. Let your customers know you are proud to be a CCA