Charge to ACLCA Certification Criteria Committee
Role
The role of this group is to develop the criteria for certification of Life Cycle Assessment Professionals in the USA, following the guidance of ISO 17025.
Ground Rules
As a starting point, here are certain administrative ground rules intended to keep the work of the committee flowing smoothly.
1. The majority of the meetings of this committee will be via phone/internet. Depending on how matters evolve, the committee may never meet in person.
2. Minutes on the meeting will be posted on the ACLCA website, and links will be sent to all interested parties.
3. Participation in this committee is open to all, however failure to participate in three meetings in a row will mean removal from the committee list. One can still keep in touch via the website minutes.
4. The decisions of the committee will be via consensus. However, when the committee cannot achieve consensus, a vote will be taken, with only USA permanent residents and citizens having the right to vote.Previous Decisions
Certain decisions about the program have already been made:
1. The certifying body will be the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment, through its parent, the Institute for Environmental Research and Education (IERE).
2. The Board of IERE is responsible for all financial issues.
3. The certifications will follow the requirements of ISO 17025.
4. Currently two certifications are envisioned: a basic certification and a high-level certification.
5. A management committee is in place to develop the management system.Work of the Criteria Committee
The work before the committee is to develop the criteria for certification of LCA professionals at two levels: an entry level and a senior level. These criteria can include educational requirements, examination, and experience, and should be driven by lists of the knowledge and skills expected of these two levels of professionals.
For example, we would expect entry-level professionals to understand chemistry, biology and geology at a college level.
They could prove their knowledge by copies of their transcripts, or by answering questions on a test, or by experience working in the field.
The first job of the committee is to make two complete lists representing the skills and skill level of the entry level and the senior level LCA professional. These will be posted on the LCA center website and will serve as a basis for curriculum development in the USA.
Second, once it is clear what is on these two lists, we need to develop a matrix that will satisfy the assertion that the applicants actually have the skills described. As noted above, this may be accomplished by proof of classes successfully completed, by testing or by proof of experience. The committee will have to decide what combination of these is required for the two levels of certification.
Third, it seems likely that some kind of examination must be put in place. We need to develop a series of questions that test the knowledge and skills of the applicants. Several questions per topic will permit rotation of questions among applicants.
Finally, we need to decide what is required for continued certification. We do not want to have the situation where someone becomes certified at age 25 and never does an LCA, or even attends conferences, but continues to claim certification, perhaps performing LCAs 25 years later. We need our professionals to keep up with the changing knowledge of the profession.
Timeline
We would like to provide the first certifications by one year from now at the InLCA/LCM conference in the first week of October in Seattle.