Instructors José Torres and Phil Wright perform measurements during a dry run of the new Fundamentals of Metrology course being offered by the NIST Office of Weights and Measures.
Credit: Gentry/NIST
From NIST Tech Beat: June 20, 2013
Contact: Mark Esser
301-975-8735
The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has awarded the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) an “Authorized Provider” accreditation. IACET Authorized Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs), which certify that IACET has evaluated the NIST OWM training program and found it to be compliant with internationally accepted standards.
Many states require that their weights and measures officials receive training throughout their careers. Using an accredited training organization gives those officials confidence that the training they will receive is of high quality.
“We’re proud of our education programs, which train hundreds of metrologists and state and local weights and measures officials each year in important legal metrology skills so that the U.S. weights and measures system stays on the cutting edge,” says Carol Hockert, chief of the Office of Weights and Measures at NIST. “Our new partnership with IACET is a demonstration of our commitment to lifelong learning and high standards for all of our programs.”
The accreditation period extends for five years and includes courses offered or created that follow OWM procedures during that time. With this accreditation, the NIST OWM joins nearly 650 organizations around the globe that have had their programs vetted by third-party experts in continuing education to ensure the highest possible standards are met.
The NIST OWM analyzes weights and measures training needs, obtains input from the weights and measures community, designs and delivers training for laboratory metrologists and weights and measures officials, measures the impact and effectiveness of training to ensure ongoing continual improvement, and consults with the weights and measures community to ensure ongoing professional development.
In order to achieve Authorized Provider accreditation, NIST OWM completed a rigorous application process, including a review by an IACET site visitor, and successfully demonstrated adherence to the ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard addressing the design, development, administration and evaluation of its training program.
