New Way to Earn Pesticide Recertification Credits

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State Extension needed to develop an alternative delivery method for applicators to earn recertification credits as all in-person meetings were canceled for many months and are still very limited now. We initially promoted online courses and webinars but those who do not use the internet or those who have poor internet bandwidth could not use those delivery methods. Correspondence courses, which have been around for a long time but have not been used much lately, became a viable option.

Several Extension Educators decided to develop workbooks that included enough information to merit two recertification credits. This means that it takes an applicator about an hour to read through the workbook and complete the related activities, which helps in comprehending the material. Then the applicator must complete a written quiz, which will be mailed back to Penn State for grading. To obtain recertification, an applicator must get a 70 percent. If that is not earned, another quiz will be mailed to the applicator; up to three quizzes can be attempted.

Once the quiz is passed, the applicator receives a completion certificate in the mail and their information will be included in an end of month report to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA).

Each workbook also includes an evaluation of the overall correspondence course and we would appreciate your time to complete it, rip it out of the workbook, and send back with your quiz. This will help us improve these courses and provide guidance on new future workbook topics.

Several correspondence courses are now available. To order, call 1-877-345-0691 and provide the title from the box that you are interested in taking. These courses cost $10 plus tax, shipping, and handling. The courses will also be listed on our website. Along the left-hand side under Education Format, click on Guides and Publications to find the available correspondence courses.

We hope that these correspondence courses help meet a need when face-to-face meetings are not being held or are very limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Several category and core workbooks are currently available and include the following:

Potential future topics include: apple diseases, sweet corn insects, and greenhouses. The most current list of correspondence courses can be found on the Penn State Extension website or by calling 877-345-0691.