By -
Date 03-19-2003 14:18
Yes, the 9-Year Re-Certification Course is still being offered. To find out the dates, please check the 2003 schedule. You can obtain a schedule by visiting the AWS website: www.aws.org.
I took the 9th year renewal course in 1999? It was the first class held and there was a lot to get ironed out for future classes. There was some testing but nothing you wouldn't know if you stay awake ( which was easier said than done by the end of the week). We didn't have to take the full blown CWI exam for points but we did take it for the "fun of it". Actually, I think it was said that AWS wanted to see how veteran CWIs would do on the exam under those circumstances (never found out what my score was, maybe that's bad?). Part of the 80 hours was credited from some required reading on our own time some weeks before the seminar.
There were people from all over the US and from a wide cross section of industry. The instructor was making sure to cover material that would be new to most people, not as he said, just repeating what you would hear in the basic CWI certification seminar. A lot of interesting problems were brought up for discussion and you could not help but learn something new.
The sessions ran well into the evening but it didn't hurt that the hotel had free beer, wine, and snacks from 6 - 8 on the week days. We split into smaller groups and were able to partake of the refreshments...er, I mean diligently apply ourselves to the assignment in the lobby. (Come to think of it Joe's Crab Shack was pretty good too)
But seriously, based on my experience, if you are limited on funds or in a hurry, I would just take the exam. But if you have the opportunity to attend, you will probably enjoy the course.
Chet Guilford