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SAC’s Certification Program takes a modernized approach to certification, and allows members to demonstrate to employers and the general public their commitment to life-long learning. As a long-standing professional designation, SAC Certification is recognized and well-respected in Canada and internationally. SAC Certification is a voluntary program and not a requirement for SAC membership, however most SAC members chose to pursue SAC Certification. SAC Certified members may use the S-LP(C) or Aud(C) credential after their name.
Provisional Certification is the first step in SAC Certification. The enrollment period for provisional certification runs concurrent to the SAC membership renewal process every year, from November 1 to December 31. The 1-year provisional certification period ends on December 31 each year. During the provisional certification period members may add the following professional designation (C) Provisional to their credentials.
Individuals enrolled in Provisional Certification may also work towards achieving one or more Professional Interest(s) by obtaining an additional 20 CEEs in each Professional Interest. These 20 CEEs for each Professional Interest are in addition to the 20 CEEs for provisional certification.
Once the requirements for provisional certification are met at the end of the one year provisional certification period, individuals receive a certificate, are assigned a cycle and may add the (C) professional designation to their credential, for example Aud(C) or S-LP(C).
*New graduates are encouraged to participate in SAC’s Career Development Program (or any other equivalent mentorship program) during provisional certification.
Upon successful completion of the provisional certification period members automatically transition into the Certification Program. Certified members must achieve 45 CEEs in each three-year cycle from any of the expanded CEE categories.
Certification with Professional Interest is optional for certified members or provisionally certified members. Certified members who choose to pursue one or more professional interest(s) must:
Beginning in fall 2020, professionals wishing to pursue SAC Certification no longer need to write an exam or submit a clinical hours form to SAC. If you are an SAC member, you can become SAC Certified after meeting the requirements of a 1-year provisional period.
SAC Certified members must complete 45 continuing education equivalents (CEEs) over their 3-year cycle. These CEEs can be in any of the CEE activity categories to allow flexibility and encourage members to pursue a range of professional development.
To assist members in reaching these requirements, SAC members have free access to all SAC Webinars and Webcasts as well as free access to the CINAHL Complete journal database
SAC is also making it easier for professionals who are SAC Certified to accumulate their CEEs by expanding the number of activity categories and removing many of the maximums of CEEs per category.
OPTIONAL
Certified members wishing to go a step further in the certification process have the opportunity to focus additional professional development in one or more areas of professional interest identified by SAC (e.g., speech, language and literacy development; adult swallowing; tinnitus; implantable hearing devices, etc.).
Can’t remember your 3-year certification cycle? Login to the SAC member profile.
2022, 2023, and ends 2024
A new cycle A will start again in 2025
2023, 2024, and ends 2025
A new cycle B will start again in 2026
2021, 2022, and ends 2023
A new cycle C will start again in 2024
The SAC Certification Program will provide certified members wishing to go a step further in the certification process the opportunity to focus additional professional development in one or more areas of professional interest (e.g. speech, language and literacy development; adult swallowing; tinnitus; implantable hearing devices, etc.). To be able to declare one or more areas of professional interest in the new SAC Certification Program, certified members must complete 20 CEEs in each professional interest over a 3-year cycle, in addition to the 45 CEEs required for certification.
1 professional interest = 20 additional CEEs.
SAC Certification with Professional Interest is completely voluntary and is not required to maintain certification.
As part of the grand-parenting process, currently certified members will have the opportunity to declare one or more professional interests at the end of their current 3-year cycle, provided they have collected 20 CEEs in the professional interest during their 3-year cycle. These 20 CEES can be part of the current 45 CEE requirement.
For example: if you have accumulated 20 CEEs or more in adult dysphagia out of the 45 CEEs required during your current three-year cycle, you can declare a professional interest in adult swallowing.
By the end of their next 3-year cycle, certified members who have been grand-parented into the new program and who have declared a professional interest during the grand-parenting period, will be required to collect 20 CEEs in order to maintain their professional interest, in addition to the 45 CEEs needed to maintain certification.
Internationally educated professionals wishing to apply for SAC membership and certification should consult the Internationally Educated section of the SAC website.
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