ANNOUNCEMENTS

Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®) Focuses on Enhancing Customer Experience, Credential Rigor, and Global Growth with Appointment of Chelsea Earhart as new Executive Director

22 June 2024

LANSING, MI— The Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®) is elated to announce the appointment of Chelsea Earhart, MBA, CAE, ICE-CCP as BGC’s new Executive Director, effective 22 June 2024. This appointment is part of a planned management transition strategy. After serving as the Vice President of Certification for the past year, Ms. Earhart will officially take over as Executive Director at the organization’s Board meeting at the end of June. Ms. Earhart is a seasoned association executive with over 22 years of experience in the association and credentialing industries. She will usher in a vision of optimizing the customer journey, growing the organization globally, and enhancing the rigor, accessibility, and value of all of BGC’s credentials.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the premier global credentialing body for professionals who protect and enhance the health, safety, and environment of people at work and in their communities,” said Earhart. “I’m committed to working closely with BGC’s Board of Directors and Diplomates to build on BGC’s solid foundation of historic success, nurture collaborative relationships with stakeholders, and empower BGC to reach even greater heights.”

Both directly and through Metacred (the only Association Management Company that specializes exclusively in credentialing), over the past 22 years, Chelsea Earhart has served as the certification / accreditation departments of associations representing diverse professions and industries, including respiratory therapy, medical informatics, education technology leaders—launching brand new certification programs, enhancing content quality and legal defensibility, and improving the certification customer journey. She has also helped many certification and licensure organizations create and implement exams and examination programs.

“We are excited to welcome Ms. Earhart as BGC’s Executive Director,” said Joseph Cotier, CPEA, Chair of the BGC Board of Directors. “BGC eagerly looks forward to Chelsea’s leadership and the opportunities it will bring to advance BGC’s mission and strategic plan.”

Ms. Earhart is deeply passionate about serving the association and credentialing communities. She is a current board member and incoming President-Elect for the Kansas City Society of Association Executives (KCSAE), a member of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) Education Committee, Chair of the KCSAE CAE Study Group Committee, and an active member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). She also serves as the BGC associate member appointee to the International Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (INSHPO).

About BGC

Established in 1960 as the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) with one credentialing program, our independent non-profit 501(c)(6) organization has grown to become the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®) with multiple credentialing programs designed to protect human health, safety, and the environment.

BGC is the premier global credentialing body for professionals who protect and enhance the health, safety, and environment of people at work and in their communities. Our rigorous, reliable, and valid credentialing process elevates the expectations of professionals who work in the environment, health, and safety (EHS) fields and allows them to demonstrate their commitment and ability to work at the highest level.

Our Mission
We protect people and the environment worldwide by providing precise and rigorous credentials for essential environmental, health, and safety professionals.

Our Vision
A healthy and thriving world made better by BGC credentialed professionals.

BGC credentials focus on four areas:

People
Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) protect the health and safety of workers and the public in their workplaces, homes, and communities to prevent avoidable injuries and accidental death from chemical, physical, biological, and ergonomic hazards.

Places
Qualified Environmental Professionals (QEPs) and Environmental Professionals In-Training (EPIs) develop creative and effective solutions to reduce the impact of human activity on air, water, and soil for a cleaner and healthier environment.

Things
Certified Professional Product Stewards (CPPSs) are responsible for the management of raw materials, intermediate materials, and consumer products to maximize value, while minimizing or preventing negative impacts to human health, safety, and the environment.

System
Certified Product Environmental Auditors (CPEAs) and Certified Professional Safety Auditors (CPSAs) ensure that operating and management systems are in place and followed to protect human health, safety, and the environment.

Visit BGC at www.gobgc.org.

QEP / EPI Examination Update Project

06/06/2023

As announced during the 2022 BGC annual Forum, thirty-five environmental professionals were appointed in 2021 to GES and QEP Job Analysis (JA) Panels, with 17 and 18 members, respectively, by the Board for Global EHS Credentialing® (BGC®). They identified the domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills essential to performing an EPI and a QEP. Working closely with the psychometric and testing services company, Certiverse, the panelists were instrumental in evaluating environmental practice and combining four separate QEP specialty areas — water quality; air quality; waste management; and environmental science, management, and policy — into comprehensive content outlines for updating the two exams. A sample of Qualified Environmental Professionals then validated the content outlines to create the GES and QEP examination blueprints. The JA panelists and QEPs validating the content outlines represented a variety of practice settings, geographic regions, educational levels, and years of experience. Environmental Subject Matter Experts (SME) from across the globe have created updated blueprints to serve as the basis for the updated QEP and GES exams.

The BGC Board has now approved these blueprints, and they can be found at QEP and GES Blueprint on GoBGC.org

The updated blueprints and exams reflect the challenging cross-media and cross-discipline expertise that today’s environmental professionals must have to provide their employers, the broader community, and planet Earth with the needed advice and protection in these challenging times.

The updated QEP and GES exams are anticipated to be available in Fall 2023. Starting January 1, 2024, only the new exams will be available for approved applicants.

Over the next several months, BGC will post further updates on how the new blueprints and exam questions were developed, so stay tuned!

NOTE: The GES exam is taken by all Environmental Professional In-Training (EPI) candidates and all QEP candidates that did not earn the EPI designation.

2023 Fee Announcement

9/1/2022

BGC has made changes to our infrastructure to improve services, make your data more secure, manage your certification, and provide digital badging to promote your achievement as a BGC credential practitioner. We have kept annual fees constant since 2017 in spite of rising operational costs; however, effective with the start date of the 2023 fee payment cycle, the annual renewal fee will increase to $170 for active BGC credential holders ($85 for the EPI designation).

The Board and staff of BGC believe that service improvements and initiatives will bring benefits that will result in BGC credentialed practitioners being even more widely recognized for their role in protecting workers, the public, and the environment. As always, BGC will work with you if you are experiencing financial hardship.

Thank you for your support and understanding.