OK you ASCA Board members. ASCA just mailed out the new guidelines for submitting reports for advancement to RCA status. (1) is Academy report, (1) is a supplied scenario and (1) is a real world report.

Arboricultural Consultant Summer, 1999 32(3), "President's Letter" by John Moran mentions three various Report Review groups. The Task Force was temporary to get the new system up and running. The Academy Review team has been revieing those reports and the Report Review Committee has been reviewing RCA reports. RCA reports will now be reviewed by an outside provider.

QUESTION 1. Will Academy Reports be reviewed by outside provide too?

QUESTION 2. Is the report Review Committee which reviews and critiques any member's report as a service before it is sent to a real client still functioning?

QUESTION 3. If #2 is Yes, can someone submitting a report to RCA status properly take advantage of the review process to polish the report before submitting it? I'm inclined to say it would be proper. Why not do anything you would do in the real world? This would of course be accompanied by a representation by the applicant that the report is indeed the applicant's own work and not substantially prepared by others. As this process is not anonymous, it would be pretty easy to track down submissions that were substantially thwe work of the review committe rather than the applicant. BUT, IS THERE A POLICY IN THIS REGARD?

Reply to post by Scott Cullen, on September 23, 1999 at 20:02:42:

I can only say for now that it is under consideration. There have been no requests for this service over at least the last two years.

I'll post more on this after the conference.

Reply to post by Scott Cullen, on September 23, 1999 at 20:02:42:

As promised, here is the followup on your question.

1. The Academy reports will be sent for outside review beginning with the 2000 Academy class. This year's class will continue to be reviewed by our own reveiw committee.

2. The Report Review service has been officially discontinued, as the program existed. The Board recommends that those wishing a critique of their report contact other members of ASCA for assistance. It may be possible to request a review by our contract reviewers, but that has not been completely investigated.

There have been no reports submitted for review under this program in over three yearI.

3. Reports submitted for the Academy requirement or for RCA must, of course, be completely the author's own work. That does not mean that others can't offer suggestions or instruction.

The ASCA web site has information on the current requirements for report submission, membership, and RCA status. Click on the ASCA logo above or the link below.