Introduction

Continuing education is at the core of the mission and operation of professional associations. The education takes many forms, ranging from publications and conferences to formal partnerships with degree granting institutions. Before turning to some of the details of program delivery and the challenges related to quality assurance, it is important to set the context by briefly describing the broader role of associations.

Professions achieve their standing not solely because of inherent qualities of the work, but also as a product of intentional collective effort among practitioners to elevate the status of the occupation. Professional associations are essential to this process. In the early stages of professionalization a new association typically adopts a strong code of ethics that spells out the expectations of professional behavior and emphasizes service to the public. The codes of associations of medical professionals, for example, often refer to patient rights and quality health care, while associations of engineers identify structural safety as a priority. Based in part on its code of ethics, the association strives to promote a dignified public image for the profession. This is reinforced by establishing certification standards (either generally for the profession or for areas of specialty practice) and through political action designed to influence state licensure requirements. Ultimately most associations address scope of practice, attempting to delineate the expertise and competence of their members from those of related occupations. For example, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) is concerned about distinguishing the role of its members from the functions of nurse practitioners. Similarly, the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA) is interested in differentiating the scope of practice of psychologists from that of social workers and all purpose "therapists."

In addition to defining and promoting the profession, associations provide mechanisms for members to advance knowledge, disseminate information, and network with their peers. Education is central to virtually every aspect of professional association life: educational requirements help elevate and demarcate the profession, and continuing education reinforces knowledge while simultaneously contributing to the mystique of specialized expertise which is essential for the continuation of professional status.

Professional associations are voluntary membership organizations governed by democratic procedures. They rely heavily on members to handle many organizational functions as unpaid volunteers; even national officers seldom receive any compensation beyond travel expenses. This network of volunteer leaders coordinates closely with a parallel set of paid staff typically hired from outside the profession to handle specialized functions such as political action, public relations, publications, education, member services, and finance.

Although the focus here is on the role of national associations, it is important to recognize that most have a strong network of quasi-independent state affiliates, local chapters and special interest sections. At all levels, associations maintain cordial relations and often close collaboration with key employers. The American Institute of Architects (AIA), for example, has about 65,000 members and 300 chapters, and works closely with over 350 large architectural firms. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has a decentralized structure, maintaining a loose knit network of independent state associations and local chapters. Each affiliate has its own self-determined dues and governance system, although membership overlap across levels is about 80 percent. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is even more loose knit serving as an umbrella association for 36 societies and four technical councils along with 300 local organizations (many affiliated directly with one of the technical societies) and 1000 student branches. Peter Wiesner, Director of Continuing Education, acknowledges that "IEEE is a large complex organization that decentralizes programs and attendant decision making."

In virtually all professional associations special interest sections serve as an essential point of contact for members. It is here that the particularities of their interests, expertise and professional job responsibilities are addressed. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has 100,000 members including speech-language pathologists employed in schools (44%), other speech-language pathologists (36%), audiologists (14%), and speech and hearing scientists (6%). ASHA designs publications, educational programs and conferences with specific input from each of these groups. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has 500 different technical committees, many of whom regularly sponsor research publications. The ties of these special interest groups to an association's educational efforts are direct. The AIA's 21 professional practice areas sponsor about 50 educational conferences each year. The AAPA's 19 specialty organizations help plan conference tracks. Greg Thomas, AAPA Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Education, believes that this effort is "key to retaining specialist PAs as members."

Because professional associations operate as voluntary organizations, membership retention is crucial for survival. As a result, all aspects of association life are influenced by the interests and desires of members, and great attention is paid to member priorities. Although priorities differ from one profession to another, access to various forms of information is consistently important. Only about ten percent of ASCE members are active in chapters or on technical committees, but all apparently appreciate the extensive range of technical publications available to members. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) recently surveyed members regarding their priorities with these results: 1. networking, 2. publications, 3. career services (especially important because of reduced job security for engineers in our restructured economy). Edd Farrell, membership director for AAPA, reports that members belong in order to qualify for the association's malpractice insurance, to network, and to gain access to two educational benefits: an annual conference that offers 350 sessions approved for continuing education credit, and a credit logging and reporting service that helps members fulfill state licensing requirements.

Practitioners, then, belong to professional associations for both collective and individual reasons. They support their association's efforts to promote the profession with the public and through political action. They appreciate opportunities to socialize and engage in substantive discussions with other members of the occupation who have similar training and interests. In essence, association membership satisfies an implicit desire for solidarity with peers. At the same time, these professionals want access to specialized benefits, and often to labor market and career services. Similarly, members are attracted to events and publications that enhance their own knowledge and earning power by offering access to certification and state of the art information.

Associations have come to recognize that the more they do to enhance specialization within the profession, the stronger hold they have on members because they are simultaneously meeting collective and individual objectives. Associations effectively serve their members' needs by providing networking opportunities, specialized education, and targeted publications. The discussion will now turn to a more detailed look at key aspects of associations' continuing education initiatives.

Licensing, Certification and the Demand for Professional Development

As already noted, a prime motivator for professionals to join associations is the desire to enhance their own knowledge, particularly related to recent developments in the field. Within this broad context there are important nuances influenced directly by variations in licensing and certification requirements across professions and from state to state. Initial entry into a profession typically is tied at least informally to holding a relevant college degree; this expectation may in fact be a formal a prerequisite for full membership in the relevant association. In addition, successful performance on a licensing exam may be required in order to qualify for the legal right to practice. In some occupations, states establish additional formal requirements that must be met in order to retain licensure. Although national standards for a profession are not unusual, licensing and certification requirements normally are the province of state governments and there may be substantial variation.

In those professions and states where licensing and certification are optional, the practitioners' desire for information is often satisfied by technical publications and annual conferences. In those jurisdictions with licensing exams and particularly where there are on-going certification requirements, professional development takes on an elevated level of importance. The extent and type of continuing education offered by professional associations are largely determined by these intertwined factors of member interest, requirements for entry into practice, and formal procedures for re-licensure and re-certification. Association educational initiatives are further influenced by competing organizations including university based extension programs, private vendors that offer targeted training, and employer sponsored in-house professional development.

Professional associations may play a variety of roles that directly or indirectly influence the level of demand for their own continuing education programs. They often initiate efforts to promote licensing and certification. They are sometimes involved in accrediting university programs that offer relevant professional degrees. They may participate in the preparation of licensing examinations. They also may offer specialized credentials for members of the profession with experience and advanced training in a sub-field. Some associations actively support legislative initiatives that establish requirements for license renewal, often including regular accumulation of continuing education credits. Even when pressure to impose new standards comes from outside of the profession, associations attempt to influence the form they will take. In those professions where state regulations include continuing education expectations, associations often set up accrediting procedures for providers including universities, vendors and employers.

A few examples will reflect the range of practice among professional associations. ASHA operates in an environment with licensing in 48 states, and almost all of its members face requirements to complete continuing education credits each year in order to retain certification; although speech-language pathologists employed in schools are not necessarily licensed, they must meet similar continuing education expectations. The association has assumed a central role in this process, establishing standards for Continuing Education Units (CEUs), accrediting providers, and in effect offering a registrar's service for members by tracking credits delivered by accredited providers. All of this involves working closely with state licensing agencies and regulatory boards, all of whom accept ASHA reported CEUs. The organization also delivers its own programs which offer members a range of opportunities to earn CEUs, including conferences, self study and various forms of distance learning.

In 1995 the AIA adopted a new requirement for all members to complete 18 hours of continuing education each year in order to retain membership. Since then the number of states imposing similar standards on architects in order to preserve licensure has grown from three to twenty. The AIA now offers members a registrar's service similar to ASHA's, but has not expanded its own professional development programming, largely limited to an annual conference.

In contrast to ASHA and AIA, the IEEE operates in an environment where licensing is optional for many of its members. Outside of the U.S., IEEE members may be licensed through their national society or government. In the U.S. about 15 percent of members have Professional Engineers licenses. The priority activities of the association revolve around publications, conferences, and standards development. According to Director of Continuing Education Peter Wiesner, "Membership in the IEEE demonstrates to industry, its regulatory bodies and to customers, strong support… for the development of standards, operating procedures and guidelines that … foster quality design and manufacture [and] safeguard against hazards." Although the IEEE and its affiliated societies offer literally hundreds of conferences each year, it is not the accumulation of continuing education credits that motivates most electrical engineers to attend. In this collection of professions the concept of lifelong education has taken hold, but it is graduate schools that serve as the chief means to add credentials. The IEEE's own direct professional development offerings are modest with this function decentralized and handled largely by the technical societies and sections.

Other associations operating in labor markets without explicit continuing education requirements sometimes place higher priority on professional development programs than the IEEE. This is especially likely if the culture of the profession values continuing formal education, if such education is not easily accessible from universities, and if the organization's mission emphasizes this role. The Special Libraries Association (SLA), for example, was founded early in the twentieth century to help librarians deal with the print explosion. Because of the changing nature of librarianship inherent in that era, the importance of learning was explicitly recognized by the association's founders. One hundred years later, SLA is again responding to a dramatic environmental shift because of the revolution in information technology, and professional development is once again a top priority.

Special librarians are generally expected to hold a graduate degree in library science, but there is no formal licensing and there are no continuing education requirements. For this profession, accumulating continuing education credits is irrelevant while access to the most recent information is essential, and opportunities to engage collectively in analysis of the implications of rapid change are valued highly. In this context, Managing Director of Professional Development Jeff De Cagna recognizes that "in some associations CEUs are important because the culture dictates…" since members have to accumulate credits to continue in practice. But he goes onto decry this situation because it "encourages the wrong way of thinking about learning." The SLA's ideal is a three to five day residence learning experience where participants are encouraged to probe more deeply and expand their horizons.

Those responsible for professional development in associations that operate in the more regulated environments share De Cagna's concerns. Karen Niles of ASHA notes that "the continuing education requirement is nice because it creates an engine of demand, but there are some negatives because they only want the credits." Similarly, Thom Lowther of AIA concedes: "We're not good enough yet. Two-thirds of our members want top notch programs… [but] most think that we are just keeping numbers."

Members of professional associations want access to information; they are drawn to professional development programs that address the most current issues in the field, particularly when the instructor is a proven presenter or a star in the discipline. Members also want their narrow interests addressed, and particularly like continuing education offerings in their area of specialization. All of this would seem to point towards high quality, in-depth professional development. But, members also want easy access, and where there are explicit certification requirements they want easy credits. By in large they support association initiatives that restrict entry into the profession and preserve status, even when this implies rules that most be followed and standards that must be met. Simultaneously, though, they expect their associations to make it easy for members to understand the rules and meet the standards.

In essence, association professional development programs are expected to fulfill contradictory objectives. On the one hand they must attempt to offer ready access to information at low cost and thereby allow members to meet credentialing needs with minimal effort. On the other hand they are expected to challenge members with complex information and critical analysis in order to advance the field and promote transformation. Because no one approach can accomplish these contradictory objectives, most associations diversify. The following section offers a quick sketch of the broad range of educational offerings, with particular attention to technology and distance learning.

Association Continuing Education Programs

Professional associations design and deliver educational offerings for members in a broad array of formats. Some associations, particularly those with limited membership and modest budgets, specialize in one or two types of programs. Others offer a broad range of educational opportunities. Table 1 summarizes the most common types of professional development, while Table 2 describes a range of distance education offerings.

Looking first at Table 1, association sponsored professional development opportunities can be divided into three broad categories: conferences and meetings, workshops and short courses, and distance education. The information presented in the table largely speaks for itself and will not be repeated in the text. The education associated with conferences and meetings largely consists of information transfer from a speaker or panel to those in the audience. In almost all of these cases the speaker is a member of the profession reporting either on original research or on innovative applications. In those professions where tracking of participation in continuing education is required and/or valued, credits are assigned for conferences or speakers based on contact hours.

Workshops and short courses usually involve a more in-depth look at a specific topic with some degree of participation by those in attendance. It is not unusual for participants to be asked to do some reading in advance, or to complete exercises or projects as part of the experience. As indicated in Table 1, the role of associations in delivery of workshops or short courses may vary from design and teaching by association staff to co-sponsorship with manufacturers or universities. In those professions with formal continuing education requirements, there also may be multiple vendors offering programs for a fee. Whether or not there are continuing education requirements, employers with sufficient members of the profession on staff may offer training in conjunction with associations to help employees keep abreast of recent developments in the field. In most professions workshops and short courses offer participants the option to accumulate continuing education credits.

Distance education may be available directly from a professional association or from others that coordinate (co-sponsor) offerings with the association. Table 2 summarizes the most common versions. The most widespread approach to distance education is self study. Traditional correspondence courses are still available in many professions, as are other print variations. Some associations select specific articles in each journal issue as self study options, with continuing education credits awarded to those who submit a self administered exam (assuming that they pass). Some associations contract with academics or practitioners to produce audio or video courses that individuals can purchase and complete on their own. More recently a few associations have offered their courses on CDRom.

The most rapidly expanding form of association continuing education is distance education for group study. One version is the on-line course that can be purchased by an individual and completed at his/her own pace. This option is included under group study because the internet allows the sponsoring organization to set up chat rooms for whoever is currently enrolled in the course, and to offer quick feedback by instructors to questions submitted via e-mail either privately to the instructors or to a list serve of all participants.

Some internet courses are more structured with limited enrollment and a set schedule. In the structured courses it is usually possible to assign discussion groups, administer regular exams and to offer individual or group feedback as the course progresses. Even more time specific than internet courses are teleconferences and satellite hook-ups. For both of these, the program typically consists of a workshop lasting two hours or more with an instructor in the home base and with multiple remote locations tuned in. In both formats specific times are set aside for questions from the field. In the teleconference version, some associations now supplement the instructor's verbal presentation with power point displays via the internet, and offer discussion options via fax and e-mail.

A brief overview of the professional development programs of selected associations reflects the variation in practice. For the AAPA the focus of the educational effort is the association's annual conference. Approximately 20% of the organization's members attend the conference, primarily to take advantage of the broad range of speakers and panels and to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) units. The AIChE also has a formal educational effort, but here the venue of choice is a two to four day workshop with a hefty price tag ($1,200 for members for a three-day). The workshops feature the top names in the field, are offered in locations across the country, and tuition is usually covered by employers.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) offers two to three teleconference sessions per month, with simultaneous internet transmission of displays. The price is modest ($150 per site), and there is no limit on the number of participants at a site. The entire session is immediately archived and accessible to fee payers. The Special Libraries Association (SLA) offers similar programs to its members, but views them as useful only for information transfer on recent developments in the profession – convenient, inexpensive and fast. For those interested in a deeper learning experience, SLA offers week long residence opportunities two to three times per year that challenge participants to think differently about their work and the world in which they live.

Larger associations have the luxury of considering a broader range of offerings than would be possible for AAPA, AIChE, ASLA or SLA. For example, ASHA sponsors a major annual conference, specialty conferences, and a broad range of distance learning programs. The annual conference attracts over 10,000 participants and features 1,400 sessions in a variety of specialized tracks, along with 24 half day short courses and computer labs. An annual specialty conference on school-based practice is smaller by design with 200 practitioners involved in a series of coordinated workshops. ASHA also offers 15 teleconferences per year, produces nine videos with supplemental materials, has numerous audio tapes on sale, plus self study assignments for selected journal articles, and a limited enrollment five week interactive internet course with weekly content modules.

The AICPA, one of the largest associations with 340,000 members, offers an even more extensive menu of educational options. It's on-line Infobytes catalog features about 1,000 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit, and is available to members at a fixed annual fee of $95. The association also has a cadre of 200 adjunct instructors, and offers 3,000 days of live training each year, with most sessions co-sponsored either by a state association, an accounting firm or a major corporation. In addition, the AICPA co-sponsors 40 or 50 conferences each year, and offers an annual week long national banking school at the University of Virginia. Add self study courses on cassette, video and CDRom and essentially the AICPA is a full service educational provider.

By contrast another very large association, the IEEE, offers largely decentralized professional development opportunities. Programs offered directly by IEEE are mostly self-study distance learning on video and CDRom. But its reach goes well beyond these materials. Increasingly IEEE distance education efforts will utilize the web as the primary delivery system. Its web site (the IEEE Professional Development Institute) serves a clearinghouse function and is packed with information on continuing education opportunities for electrical engineers. For example, the 40 societies and technical sections affiliated with IEEE sponsor conferences that can be accessed at IEEE/PDI. The association is also beginning to partner with universities, corporations and other education providers to offer members access to web-based courses.

Although licensing and certification requirements help determine the extent of professional development programming an association will pursue, a myriad of other factors are at play as well, such as the organization's history, the size of typical employers, the culture of the profession, and the role of universities in the field. The size of the association is also extraordinarily important simply because of the effect on resources. Most associations choose an educational niche that fits the members' professional needs and attempt to excel in that niche. Probably the most important influence overall is popularity with members.

Based on qualitative judgments offered by association education directors, there are some patterns in this regard. Whether or not there are licensing requirements related to continuing education, members appreciate easy access, which helps explain the attraction of conferences and distance education; also popular are learning activities offered at the workplace whether live or via distance education. Content oriented programs on hot topics in the field are highly valued, especially if a nationally recognized expert is involved. And proven presenters attract a following, as do educational vendors with a good track record.

High quality is a consistent objective in all professional development offerings because members demand it, but accessibility is equally important. And quality tends to be defined based at least partially on entertainment value and fit with the hot topic of the moment, with some resistance to deeper learning experiences that challenge ingrained practice. There is a particular challenge in offering quality learning opportunities via distance education. As Jeff De Cagna of SLA observes, "we tend to take everything that is worst about in-person and put it on the web or a CDRom." More interactive distance learning options seem to be better educationally, but probably the most realistic approach is to recognize the limitations inherent in most distance formats and to use the medium to offer broad access without pretending to fulfill a need for in-depth or transformational learning.

The Delivery of Professional Development by Associations

In addition to the variation in format described in the preceding section, there is also a range of practice in respect to the role the association plays in delivering educational programs. Table 3 presents alternative delivery systems. The first option, for the association to employ instructors who design and deliver training, is actually not very common. An example is the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBAA) whose 100 or so correspondence and web-based courses are almost all authored and coordinated by staff.

More common is for the association to employ professional staff who administer the programs and recruit instructors. Most associations call upon volunteers from among their members to make presentations to their peers. This is in fact the most common approach to continuing education at association conferences and chapter meetings. Quality control is particularly difficult when the presenters are members, especially if they volunteer for conference duty. As one education director decried, "They get up there with their power point and drone away."