CQE Recertification

Hey There,

If you’re reading this page, you’ve likely already passed the CQE Exam, and for that I say Congrats!

Recertification Overview

Now it’s time to start think about recertification. Why you ask?

Because it’s important for you and your career to continually improve and that’s what recertification is all about.

Recertification forces you to maintain your knowledge of Quality Principles and stay up to date on the latest advancements in Quality Engineering.

How often do you have to recertify? Every 3 years.

What are your options for recertification? Well, you can either take the exam again, which I don’t recommend or you can complete a Recertification Journal which is the subject of that majority of this page.

How would someone go about submitting a Recertification Journal? Here’s a link to the ASQ Recertification Journal Application.

ASQ Members can submit the Journal to their local section recertification chair and non-members have to submit their journal directly to ASQ Headquarters.

Recertification Journal, A How To Guide

ASQ will allow you to recertify by completing a Recertification Journal which requires that you collect an minimum of 18 of RU’s or Recertification Units within the 3 year period for which you’re currently certified.

Here’s a link to the ASQ guide on this same topic – I’ve summarized this guide below.

How do you get Recertification Units? RU’s can be achieved by participating in any one of the activities below. I’ve also included the maximum number of RU’s that can be obtained from each activity.

Current Full Time or Part Time Employment – 10.8 Maximum RU’s
Professional Development – 9.0 Maximum RU’s
Attending Monthly membership meetings for ASQ or other technical societies – 9.0 Maximum RU’s
Gaining Certification in other Quality Area- 4.0 Maximum RU’s
Student Course work at College, Non-College or ASQ Sponsored Events – 9.0 Maximum RU’s
Electronic Media – 3.6 RU’s

Employment for Recertification Units

Employment is probably the easiest method for getting RU’s. See the excerpts below from the ASQ Recertification Journal Guide that further explains the details and necessary documentation to claim Employment & other categories on your recertification journal.

Professional Development

ASQ also allows you to claim RU’s for professional development activities for things like conferences, workshops, webinars & forums.

When it comes to claiming these RU’s Remember that as long as the course, conference, or training lies in at least one area of the CQE Body of Knowledge (BOK) or it is job-enhancing, then you can use that toward your recertification.

Monthly Meetings

ASQ also offers RU”s for those who attend their monthly members meeting. You can find the nearest ASQ Monthly Meeting here, then searching for the section nearest you.

These Monthly Meeting regularly feature guest speakers who share their expertise in one particular area of Quality, for example you can find the local Silicone Valley Section that features an upcoming presentation on Statistical Analysis Tools.

Certification

ASQ allows you to take credit for other Certifications that you gain during your certification period. So for example after you become a CQE, if within that 3 year period you also become a Certified Quality Auditor, you may claim 2.0 RU’s for that certification. You cannot claim recertification for RU’s, only the initial certification.

Student Course Work

ASQ Allows you to claim a maximum of 9.0 RU’s for Student course work which can be both College and Non-College alike along with ASQ’s Sponsored training. Here’s an example of an ASQ Training that could be claimed for RU’s for 5S.

ASQ will also allow you to audit a college course (where no academic credit is awarded) and earn the same RU credit as the same course taken for academic credit, but 80% attendance is required. Non-college courses are those sponsored by a technical society other than ASQ, or sponsored by an independent consultant.

I’ve created a link at the bottom for the full list of ASQ Training Courses that are available. I believe these are available to ASQ & Non-ASQ Members alike, at different prices of course.

Electronic Media

One of the last categories is Electronic Media where the maximum allowed RU’s is 3.6, the fewest of any category. Here you can claim things like Podcasts, audio tapes, DVD’s etc. The media source must be at least 15 minutes in length and must directly apply to the CQE Body of Knowledge. I’ve included a link to 2 particular podcasts that I enjoy below.

Also, if the Media source is part of an online training class or webinar, double credit will not be awarded.

Additional Resources & Links To Get You Recertified

Webinars that would fall underneath the CQE BOK:

http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/webinars/
http://www.asqstatdiv.org/webinars.php <- You’ll have to be an ASQ Member to access this link
http://asq.org/webinars/ <- You’ll have to be an ASQ Member to access this link

Podcasts that would fall underneath the CQE BOK:

http://www.leanblog.org/podcasts/ A Podcast dedicated to Lean Principles
http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/podcasts/ Process Excellent Podcast
The ASQ Conference Schedule: http://asq.org/conferences-events.html
The ASQ Regional Communities for Monthly Meetings: http://asq.org/communities-networking/regional.html
ASQ Sponsored Training for Student Course RU’s: http://asq.org/learninginstitute/index.html