CES Deadline Countdown | Six Tips for a Successful Reporting Period

Now that September is here, there are only 10 months left in the 2018–2020 reporting cycle!

CES Participants are required to earn 36 Learning Units before June 30, 2020. In preparation for the upcoming deadline, we have outlined six tips for a successful reporting period, which include everything from helpful resources to information on reciprocity and self-reports:

1. Attend AIBC-Delivered and AIBC-Recognized activities.
   AIBC-Delivered and Recognized activities are an efficient and dependable way to earn Learning Units (LUs). The LUs for these types of sessions are reported on your behalf. Because of this, you do not need to self-report these activities; all material has been carefully reviewed by the professional services department in accordance with Bulletin 80: Mandatory Continuing Education System (CES). As AIBC-Delivered/Recognized activities are entered on your behalf, these entries are not subject to the audit.
   • Examples of AIBC-Delivered activities:
     Conference, Confab, the Certified Professional or Advanced Code Knowledge courses, and Fall and Summer PD Series.
   • Examples of AIBC-Recognized activities:Events and sessions provided by the Recognized Educational Provider (REP) program.
     
     For a complete listing of all AIBC-Delivered and AIBC-Recognized events and offerings, visit the AIBC events calendar. The search functions allow the user to find events by date, location and/or specific keywords.
2. Report as you go.
   Reporting throughout the cycle helps ensure more accurate entries. If you are self-reporting educational activities, it is highly recommended you login to submit your LUs as soon as the activity is finished. This eases the administrative task of inputting several entries at once, as well as reduces the chance of forgetting to report activities from previous months. Ongoing reporting will ensure you have an accurate transcript throughout the cycle, and will allow you to complete the LUs at a comfortable pace.
3. Know your reciprocity option.
   Any Architect AIBC who is both registered in another Canadian licensing jurisdiction and compliant with their mandatory continuing education system is deemed to be compliant with the AIBC’s CES requirements in the relevant reporting period. To fulfill the reciprocity option, a declaration form (Declaration of Out-of-Province CES Compliance) can be submitted through your online profile. Please note that a declaration must be submitted for each reporting period. More information can be found in Bulletin 81: Mandatory Continuing Education System (CES) Canadian Reciprocity Option.
4. Review Bulletin 80 thoroughly.
   Many CES resources are readily available on the AIBC website for review, ensuring that all participants are aware and understand their CES obligations. Bulletin 80: Mandatory Continuing Education System (CES) outlines all the CES requirements as well as provides examples of Core and Non-core topics (found in the Appendix). The newly created CES Guidelines provide procedural and administrative information, as well as address unique scenarios. The Guidelines can be referred to for practical examples and step-by-step procedures. Please note that the Guidelines are supplementary to the regulatory information found in Bulletin 80 and Bulletin 81.
5. Submit detailed and complete self-reports.
   It is important to submit a complete entry when self-reporting LUs – the AIBC conducts an ongoing review of all submitted self-reports, and this will avoid requests for additional information. Here are several components to keep in mind when doing a self-report:
   1. Provide full, descriptive learning objectives. A learning objective is an explicit statement that clearly expresses the goal of a course, lesson or activity. It includes a measurable outcome.
   2. Ensure the associated activity category is correct (i.e. Seminar/Lecture/Workshop, Teacher/Presenter, Live Webinar, etc.).
   3. Be mindful that time allocated for breaks, lunch, networking and so forth, is not eligible for LUs, and should not be included in the LU amount that is reported.
   4. For large events, such as conferences, each session should be entered separately.
6. Keep in touch!
   The AIBC professional services team is available to assist CES Participants. Should you have any questions about your CES requirements, contact us at professionaldevelopment@aibc.ca.

Learn more about the AIBC CES Program