The Association County

Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG)

recognizes that lifelong learning is

one of the most important keys to

success for local officials. For more

than two decades, ACCG has offered

training for elected and appointed

county officials in conjunction

with the Carl Vinson Institute

of Government (CVIOG) at the

University of Georgia.

Currently, there are two training

programs offered for county officials:

the Commissioners Training Program

and the Certified Commissioners

Advanced Program (CCAP). A new,

third component of training – the

Standard of Excellence – will focus on

continuing education.

Standard of ExcellenceP r o g r a m

How will it work?The Standard of Excellence is designed to encourage ongoing training throughout an official’s tenure in local government as well as to increase participation in ACCG meetings and other programs where member input is essential and valuable information is presented. Continuing education and increased member involvement were both identified as priorities for ACCG in the recently completed strategic plan.

Local officials can begin earning credit towards the Standard of Excellence following the completion of the other two training programs. They will be recognized by reaching significant milestones based on the number of continuing education hours earned.

The Standard of Excellence is not designed to be a third certification program. Instead, the intent is to encourage participation in educational opportunities and to recognize member involvement. Officials may not count training courses that are part of the Commissioners Training Program and CCAP towards the Standard of Excellence until they have completed CCAP. However, they can earn other continuing education credit by attending general and breakout sessions during ACCG meetings and participating in policy committee and district meetings. ACCG will “bank” those continuing education hours and recognize this credit towards the Standard of Excellence upon completion of CCAP.

Levels of recognition

Silver Standard of Excellence• (100 hours)

gold Standard of Excellence •(160 hours)

Platinum Standard of Excellence •(220 hours)

Lifetime achievement •(300 hours)

Officials will receive a certificate and pin as they reach each level in the Standard of Excellence. Those who reach the Lifetime Achievement level also will receive a one-time $1,000 bonus. In order to retain Lifetime Achievement recognition, officials must earn 15 hours of continuing education credit annually.

Earning CreditThe Board of Managers has approved several ways for officials to earn continuing education credit, including:

Training courses in either •the Commissioners Training Program or the CCAP program not previously taken towards completion of either one (6 hours each)

A retake of a course in one of the •two programs that was taken at least three years before (6 hours each)

Leadership Alumni classes •(6 hours each)

Mobile Classroom session •(6 hours each)

General session/breakout •sessions at ACCG Annual Meeting on Monday morning and Monday afternoon (3 hours per session per year)

General session/breakout session •at ACCG Fall Policy Conference on first and second day (3 hours per conference day per year)

General session/breakout session •at ACCG Legislative Conference (3 hours per year)

ACCG policy committee •meetings (maximum 3 hours per meeting)

ACCG district meetings •(maximum 3 hours per year)

Officials currently can earn 6 hours of elective credit in the Commissioners Training Program for planning retreats conducted by CVIOG. Similarly, officials can earn 6 hours of credit towards the Standard of Excellence each year for planning retreats facilitated by ACCG or CVIOG. Planning retreats facilitated by regional commissions may also be eligible for credit if approved in advance by ACCG.

For more information on ACCG training programs,

go to www.accg.org

In addition, ACCG will recognize credit retroactively for courses taken through the Commissioners Training Program or CCAP back to January 1, 2007.

New Barcode System for Tracking CreditThe Standard of Excellence was developed in response to requests from local officials to provide a continuing education program with hours of credit similar to other ACCG training programs.

Local officials can begin earning credit for the Standard of Excellence at the 2009 Annual Meeting. In order to track participation, especially where large groups of participants are involved such as the Annual Meeting, ACCG will implement a new electronic barcode system on nametags. This system will allow ACCG staff members to scan your nametag as you enter or leave the general session and breakout sessions so that hours of credit can be added to your training records. You must participate in the majority of each session to earn the continuing education credit hours.

Participation in the Standard of Excellence is completely voluntary, and local officials can chose not to participate simply by telling ACCG staff members not to scan their nametag. The new barcode system will simply make it easier for ACCG to accurately track and credit all training programs moving forward and will be used for policy committee meetings, district meetings and training courses in the future.