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General Information
American Society for Quality (ASQ) certification is a formal recognition that the certified individual has demonstrated proficiency within and comprehension of a specified body of knowledge for the certified category at that point of time. It is a peer recognition and it demonstrates that the certified individual has the knowledge to ensure quality of products and services.
Objective of re-certification:
The certified status is not a recognized status forever, since the continuous technological change erodes the value of the certification. ASQ (previously ASQC) started the re-certification program in 1976, with a limited number of categories of certification. Currently, the categories of certification that have to be maintained by updating the knowledge of the certified individuals are as below:
(a) Certified Quality Auditor, i.e., (b) Certified Reliability Engineer, i.e. CRE, (c) Certified Quality Engineer, i.e. CQE, (d) Certified Software Quality Engineer, i.e. CSQE, and (e) Certified Quality Manager, i.e. CQM, (f) Six Sigma Black Belt,
Note: The re-certifications of CQA –HACCP, and CQA-Biomed happens along with CQA re-certification.
The two methods of Re-certification:
There are two ways of getting re-certified; one is to pass the certification exam for the category, and the other is to update your knowledge in the certification field and re-certify through the re-certification points accumulated. The latter is the easiest way and is the one most people follow.
Re-certification points/units are awarded for several professional activities as explained in Table 1 below. The re-certification package, the certified Quality Professional receive from Milwaukee explains all these categories and the maximum eligible units (RU) in each of these items. You need to accumulate 18 Re-certification Units in 3 years to re-certify.
Planning for Re-certification: Re-certification through accumulation of Re-certification Units (RU) becomes easier, when you plan for the same from the very beginning, instead of trying to collect points towards the end of the re-certification dead line. You have 3 years to earn the re-certification units. Keep documentary evidences for the professional activities that you claim RU. The table below lists some categories to earn RUs.
Table - 1
S.N # Prof. Activity to claim Re-certification Units Rate Max. In 3 Yr.
1 Professional Employment 3.6 RU/yr. 10.8 RU
2 Courses – Instructor (in addition to regular job) 1.5 RU/semester, or
0.15/hr of ASQ sponsored course 10.8 RU
3 Courses - Student 1 RU/ Semester or
0.1 RU/her of class 9.0
4 New Certification (re-certifications are not eligible) 0.5 RU per certification 1.5 RU
5 Prof. Society Projects or Committee member 1.5 RU/yr. 4.5 RU
6 Prof. Society Program meetings,
(e.g. ASQ monthly program meetings) 0.3 RU/ program meeting attended 9.0 RU
7 Professional Development through Seminar, workshops etc. (e.g. ASQ Quality Forum or the Quality Forum telecast) 0.1 RU/hr or 1.0 RU/day. 9 RU
8 ASQ Certification Exam proctoring 0.5/Exam proctored 5.0 RU
9 a) Publishing articles, b) publishing books c) presentations of technical papers, etc. Half the rate if co-authored) 1.0 RU/article,
3.0 /book & 0.1/present. 9.0 RU
10 Submitting questions for ASQ certification exams. 0.5 RU/qn. 9 RU
11 Video tapes 0.15 RU/ 15 min. 1.2 /yr. 3.5 RU
Note: Refer to the latest journal for correct re-certification units eligible
As evident from Table 1, an employed Quality Professional can easily mange the 18 RU s. For example, if you were employed for the 3 years and attended ASQ monthly program meetings (say 6 per year), and attended 2 Annual Quality forums in the 3 years, you can easily accumulate over 18 RU s. This is only a suggestion. You can choose several combinations, based on what you can achieve.
Applying for re-certification:
Application for re-certification is to be made in the prescribed form/journals from ASQ, Milwaukee. The completed Re-certification journals are to be submitted to the Re-certification chair of your local ASQ section. The address of the Certification chair is available in the Section Newsletter `Quality Quotes’. While submitting ensure the following:
- You have claimed sufficient Re-certification Units through your professional activities during the 3 years.
- You have attached the appropriate documentary evidence for each claim.
- You have attached the money order/draft for the re-certification fee payable to ASQ, Milwaukee, alternatively enter the credit card # for ASQ to collect the fee.
- You have filled each section claims and the cover page summary.
- The address of your current certification chair is correct.
Tips to make your re-certification easier:
• Keep documentary evidences seminars, Forum, monthly meetings etc, of as and when you attend them.
• Do not wait for the due date to prepare your journal for submission. You can submit 6 months early or even up to 6 months late. If you miss, be prepared to re-certify by examination.
• Do a self-check before submitting your journal to the Re-certification Chair of your section. (Have I provided all the documentary evidence, have I made the payment payable to ASQ, etc.)
• Try to synchronize your certifications if you hold more than one category of certification. It works out cheaper and involves less paper work. Read more on synchronization online at: http://www.asq.org/cert/faq/recert.html (reference FAQ #8)
In case you misplaced the journal you received from ASQ call 1-1800-248-1946 and request for another journal, item B0525. Or conveniently download one online at: http://www.asq.org/cert/recert/rucredits/application.html
Evaluation:
Your section Certification chair evaluates the submitted journal and assigns Re-certification Units (RU s) as per guidelines and available documentary evidence attached. The cover sheet of the evaluated journal submitted is sent to the ASQ Milwaukee office with the approval stamp of the Certification chair. The only attachment that is sent to Milwaukee would be the cheque/draft/money order. All other records are retained by the Certification Chair of your section, as auditable QA records.
Certificates of re-certification:
Once the evaluated re-certification journal submissions are received by the ASQ Milwaukee office, a new certificate is issued to the re-certified quality professional.
RECERTIFICYING ON RETIRED STATUS
If you are 55 years (or more) of age and are not actively employed, you could recertify on Retired Status without submitting a journal with documentary evidences for Recertification Units (RUs). You only need to apply using B-0727 form available at web or ask ASQ for a hard copy to recertify on Retired status.
However, if you get back to active employment, can revert to regular status and you get 3 years from then to earn your RUs.
For details specific to your situation, visit ASQ web-site or contact ASQ headquarters at 1-800-248-1946.
COMMON QUESTIONS/MISTAKES AND THE ANSWERS
Based on common mistakes observed and based on the problem areas observed, I would like to list the following for your information:
1 Submitting journal without supporting documents for each claim
-Your Certification chair needs to have documentary evidence of having achieved the Re-certification Units claimed.
2 Sending the whole journal booklet:
- There is no need to send the whole booklet to the certification chair.
– You only need to send the sections of the journal where you claimed RU s (with appropriate entries in each of the tables), and the journal cover sheet with the summary of entries/claims made in the individual sections.
3 Sending the journal with only the cove sheet filled:
- You have to make your claim for each section in the specific section table, from which the summary sheet entries are made.
- Attach supporting documents for each claim of each section.
4 Submitting the re-certification journal:
- The submission is to be sent to the current Certification chair. Get his/her address from the Section Newsletter (Quality Quotes).
Use the Re-certification program as a tool to get yourself up-to-date on quality and stay on top of Quality.
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