The Virginia Master Naturalist State Program Office has posted new guidelines for certification and re-certification for 2020. These guidelines will be reassessed in 2021 for any necessary changes. Here are the basics of the 2020 Guidelines:
If
you are worried about being made “inactive” at the end of this year because you
could not perform volunteer service in 2020, that no longer needs to be a
concern. All currently enrolled volunteers will remain enrolled regardless of
the number of volunteer hours completed.
If
you have (a) previously attained the Certified Virginia Master Naturalist
status in any year, or (b) been part of the program since 2018 or
earlier but never Certified, you can earn Certified VMN status for 2021 by
completing 20 hours of volunteer service
and 4 hours of continuing education in 2020. This is a 50% reduction from
the normal 40+8.
Currently
enrolled VMN volunteers who took basic training courses in 2019 or 2020 and who
have not yet completed the requirements for Certified Virginia Master
Naturalist status will still have to complete 40 hours of service and 8 hours of
continuing education to earn their first-time Certified Virginia Master
Naturalist status, but they will have an extended time frame to complete
those requirements. Each chapter can work with its recent trainees to
determine what that time frame should be.
In
regards to our 2021 re-certification pin, we have made the difficult decision to
take a year off. Two factors were considered: reducing pressure on those who
might feel compelled to volunteer at some risk to themselves, and the fact that
VMN is sustaining a significant budget cut due to COVID-19 impacts on our state
agency sponsors.
You can find a full description of the new procedures at http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/uploads/2/1/8/6/21860850/changes_in_volunteer_enrollment_and_certification_for_2020.pdf
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