Professional Development
Manage My CECs
Need to view your ACA Education History?
Need an official copy of your ACA Education History Transcript?
It's as easy as completing a simple form Request for a Copy of My Education History Transcript.
Have you attended an ACA Endorsed event that you would like us to track on your ACA Education History Transcript?
If so, simply complete the Request for ACA CEC Fulfillment for Attendance at an ACA Endorsed Event form.
Have you attended an educational event that has not been endorsed by ACA?
As a member you can request that we accept another professional association's event and award you CECs for attendance. Please complete the Petition for ACA CECs for NON-Endorsed Educational Events form. ACA will evaluate the information you send and make a determination whether or not to grant the request.
Need an adjustment to your record? Perhaps you only attended 5 hours of an 8 hour event and you would like to make an adjustment. If so, send a request for an adjustment to pdc@acacamps.org. Please be specific with your request and include your member ID number.
Continuing Education Credits (CECs)
These CECs are:
- a tracking mechanism that allows individuals to document their involvement in varied professional development activities.
- often compatible with Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that are often used by other professional certification programs such as teaching or healthcare.
- representative of the number of hours of engaged learning (1 CEC = 1 hour of learning).
- easily tracked by ACA members through their ACA educational history and the individualized professional development portfolio.
- valuable to providers of educational content who may be interested in ACA educational endorsement.
Individuals will likely want to develop their own professional development plan that helps them move along their desired career path. This plan can reside in the person’s professional portfolio along with many other types of evidence of professional development (i.e., CECs, descriptions of work/volunteer experiences, samples of work projects, examples of learning activities, etc.). CECs are the common mechanism that shows progress toward personal benchmarks and professional goals set by the person. They are also evidence used in more structured educational experiences related to certificates of added qualification, specialty certificates, and other professional certification programs.
Process
- CECs are a part of the Educational Endorsement Program (EEP).
- An individual can request that another professional association accept ACA CECs. This process is typically referred to as “petitioning for credit” and is managed by the individual.
- Documentation is completed by the individual.
- ACA members are provided with automatic tracking of CECs from educational experiences that meet the endorsement guidelines. This tracking happens through the member’s ACA educational history record.
Calculating CECs
Some people may be curious how a CEC is calculated. ACA follows a commonly accepted protocol for CEC in that 1 contact hour of education equals 1 CEC. All ACA endorsed educational experiences award continuing education credits (with a minimum of .25 CECs for 15 minutes of contact).
Examples of CECs and how calculated:
- A conference offers educational sessions that are 75 minutes and 2 hours in length. The learner receives 1.25 CECs for the 75 minute session and 2 CECs for the 2 hour session.
- A meeting has a 90 minute lunch with a keynote speaker for 30 of the minutes. A learner receives .5 CEC for the keynote.
- A workshop has a 60 minute instruction time followed by 30 minutes of individual practice. A learner receives 1.5 CECs for the workshop.
- A conference has a 90 minute Open Forum Discussion. The learner receives no CEC because there is no set learning experience from the discussion even though it might be informative.
- A webinar lasts 45 minutes. The learner earns .75 CEC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Directory of Colleges and Universities
Undergraduate and Graduate Programs with Camp and Youth Development Offerings
Colleges and universities in the directory offer academic programs in camp, recreation, youth development, and related fields. The directory provides useful contact information, degrees, majors, online options, and related coursework for anyone interested in academic coursework.
Add a College or University (you must be logged in) — You do not need to be an ACA member - if you do not have an account with us, just click “New to ACA” to register your program in the Directory.
The listings in this directory will continue to change over time as more colleges and universities add their information.
Certificates & Endorsements
ACA Staff Training Certificates
ACA’s Staff Training Certificate Courses are more than just online training! These intensive online courses are self-directed learning opportunities that help build the added qualifications you and your staff need in today’s world. Each certificate course covers all thirteen core competencies required to run a camp successfully and includes curriculum components suited to a variety of learning styles. Continuing education credits available.
ACA Educational Endorsement Program
ACA’s Educational Endorsement Program is a platform to connect learners to quality educational opportunities. Learners can access training opportunities offered by ACA and non-ACA providers vetted to meet ACA Educational Endorsement Program requirements.