The Professional Governance Act requires that the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists (BCIA) include programs to continue the professional education of its registrants. BCIA is committed to professional development (PD) programming and policies that assist registrants in maintaining competencies and gaining new knowledge.
The PD audit is designed to simultaneously confirm accountability for registrant professional development and to educate and provide information to registrants. It is a process by agrologists for agrologists.
Professional Development Audit Program
The professional development audit is conducted annually. 3% of randomly selected registrants plus registrants who may have been identified as non-compliant in their PD reporting for the previous year are selected for the PD audit.
- Registrants must be able to substantiate professional development activities declared in annual PD reports upon request
- Practicing registrants are required to report a minimum of 125 PDH over three years (annual average of 42 PDH) with a minimum of 30 PDH annually
- Non-Practicing registrants are required to report a minimum of 15 PDH annually
- Practicing registrants should declare a minimum of 50 PD hours over three years with no less than 10 PD hours annually under the Continuing Education category
- The declared PD hours must be relevant to the registrant's stated pratice area(s) and/or support the development of a new area of expertise.
- The PD Audit Program identifies registrants who are not in compliance with the minimum PD requirements. Once identified, measures are taken to bring professional development up to the minimum standard within a given time.