The 2007 Northwest Clerks Institute ended on Friday, June 22.  Boy did the time fly by.  I am already working on the program changes for 2008.  This year, with adoption of the new IIMC Education Guidelines, we added more hours and program content to PD I and PD II.  Next year, we will incorporate more hours to assure full compliance with the Guidelines which state we need to have 120 educational hours for our program. 

This year we had a total of 147 Clerks attend the four programs.  The Institute and Academy was attended by 81 Clerks from Washington, 37 from Alaska, 26 from Oregon and 3 from California.  We had 38 in attendance for PD I, 35 for PD II, 32 for PD III and a total of 42 for the Academy-Professional Development IV.

We are seeing an increased interest in the program, not only from Clerks and Deputy Clerks, but the word has spread to other offices in our jurisdictions that the educational content presented at our Institute is of value.  There have been some participants who are not members of IIMC and are not eligible to receive their CMC who still attend the program.

This year, at the suggestion of one of the Institute participants, I will be attending each State conference and will have a “Certification Help Desk” at the conference.  It is our hope that with some individual help and counseling I can help answer questions which will lead to more Clerks understanding the certification guidelines.  They can be overwhelming and confusing.  I am also working with the Region IX Directors to conduct sessions at the conferences which will answer questions from members.

I continue to love my work with the Institute and the Clerks.  It is hard work but the rewards for me far outweigh the work.  I love to attend the state conferences and see Clerks who have attended the Institute move into leadership roles in each state organization.  That is where the work really pays off.  The personal growth and professionalism shown by these participants is beyond description.

I hope that each of you will consider attending the 2008 Institute or Academy.  The dates are:

Professional Development I – June 1-6
Professional Development II – June 8-13
Professional Development III - June 15-20
Advanced Academy (Professional Development IV – June 11-13

The costs for 2008 will remain the same as 2007.  Watch for the brochure in the mail in early February. 

If I can be of personal assistance to you, answer questions, or help with your CMC or MMC application, please email or call me.  I love to hear from you and I love to receive those notices from IIMC on new CMC and MMC’s from Alaska, Oregon and Washington.