Renewal of Certification

As the GIS Code of Ethics is expected to prescribe, the GIS Professional has an obligation to not only be qualified for the tasks accepted, but also to keep current in the field through readings and professional development.  In order to maintain currency in the GIS field, the Committee feels that GIS Certified professionals should be renewed every five years.

In terms of the educational activity required for renewal, members agree that GIS professionals should earn at least 1 point for each 6 professional development hours (i.e. contact hours). This equivalency means that points can also be obtained by means other than college-credit courses. 

In general, it is expected that an active professional is capable of attaining a minimum of two Contributions points per year during that five-year renewal period.  This places greater pressure for contributions upon established professionals – those who have more to contribute to the profession. Points are earned according to a table of activity values, provided in the renewal application.

Work Experience also plays a part in your continued growth in the profession. Although there is NO minimum requirement of points for work experience you are allowed to use it as part of your ability to achieve the number of points needed to obtain renewal certification. 10 points are awarded for each 12 months of full-time equivalent (FTE) work.

With this in mind, the Board of Directors agreed that the minimum number of points needed to renew GIS Professional Certification should be 40 points.  Thus, all applicants for renewal must show new total achievement points over the previous five years of 40 or more. To ensure that applicants have a broad foundation, specific minimums in each of the three achievement categories must be met or exceeded.  These minimums are as follows:

The additional 20 points can be counted from any one or more of the three categories.  The applicant has complete flexibility in deciding how to make up this difference.