The County Weed Directors Association of Kansas will offer a professional development certificate program focused on the development of technical skills, communication skills, and human resource management skills to enhance the delivery of county services. The program will be tailored for all county weed department employees and is intended to compliment and build upon the basic 40-hour training program and to provide recertification training for commercial applicators.

The certification program will have the following educational objectives:

Weed department employees can be certified through two levels of instruction. The basic training school must be completed before beginning the Level One courses. All Level One courses must be completed before enrolling in Level Two courses.

Renewal of commercial applicators certification can be completed by attending any of the level one or level two courses approved for recerification credits.

Participants will successfully complete 65 hours of instruction designed to expand on the training provided through the basic training school through a combination of courses provided by the CWDAK (40 hours with a minimum of 4 hours per category) and the Kansas Association of Counties (25 hours). Completion of the training will earn a certificate of completion as a "Certified Kansas County Weed Professional".

Completion of only the 40 hours of training offered by CWDAK will earn a certificate of completion as a "Certified Kansas County Weed Technician".

Participants must complete a minimum of 4 hours in each of the following courses offered by CWDAK and pass a test.

Additionally, completion of Level One Certification for the professional requires participants to successfully complete 25 hours of continuing education from the Kansas Association of Counties.

Participants will successfully complete an advanced instruction designed to expand on the technical courses provided in Level One training provided by CWDAK and the Kansas Association of Counties. Level One certification must be earned before enrolling in Level Two courses.

Level two certifications will be available for both the professional certification and the technical certification.

Completion of eight credit hours during the current certification period must be done for renewal of a commercial applicator certification for the next three years. Credit hours will be granted for satisfactory attendance of approved courses.

Commercial applicators must complete one core credit hour that addresses labels, safety, environmental concerns, laws and regulations, and pesticides in general. Applicators must also complete seven credit hours in pest management specific for each subcategory/category of commercial certification.

CWDAK will provide a recertification program for our members and will follow the guidelines established in the following document: Kansas Recertification Requirements for Commercial Pesticide Applicators, approved by the EPA on June 20, 2003.

This document can be found at the following website: http://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/pesticide-fertilizer/pesticide-applicator.

CWDAK will apply to the Kansas Department of Agriculture for accreditation as a training sponsor. Training sponsorships are effective for three years and would allow the CWDAK to approve the speakers and assign the number of credit hours to be allotted per category or subcategory.

Those weed department employees successfully completing level one and two certification will be required to accumulate and document eight hours annually of continuing professional education in order to maintain certification. CWDAK will develop guidelines for maintaining certification.

The certification program will be governed and supervised by the CWDAK education committee appointed by the association president. The committee shall meet semi-annually to approve curriculum; assure accurate record keeping; plan and coordinate training schedules; provide for program evaluation; provide for recognition of those who earn certification and resolve any complaints or grievances.

Records of successful completion of courses will be the responsibility of each individual. When the required courses in each level have been completed, the individual will complete an application, complete with documentation, and submit application to the CWDAK education committee for review.

Records for completion of credits for recertification will be the responsibility of each individual. Documentation of attendance will be provided by the education committee to each individual for their records and will be needed for renewal of their commercial applicator certification with the Department of Agriculture.

The CWDAK President will appoint an Education Committee to implement this program. The committee will consist of five members, one from each of the weed districts, with one person serving as chairperson.

The Education Committee will be responsible for assisting with the educational programs at the annual conference, summer training and district meetings so that the speakers meet the requirements for recertification.  The committee will also be responsible for maintaining the education syllabus, getting classes approved for credit, assigning hours of credit, monitoring attendance, signing recertification documents and notifying KDA of completion of credit hours.

Each participant who completes the required courses for level one or two will receive a certificate of achievement as a Certified Kansas County Weed Professional or a Certified Kansas County Weed Technician from the CWDAK. Awards will be presented at the awards banquet each year at the CWDAK annual conference.