The ICE Community at Work
ICE Executive Director Denise Roosendaal, CAE, reflects on the change the credentialing industry has faced in the past weeks, resources available to navigate the crisis and how fellow ICE members have responded to these uncertain times with compassion and swiftness.
By Denise Roosendaal, CAE, ICE Executive Director
My how the world has changed in the past 60 days. I had written and submitted an entirely different message to our editor back in early March, the contents of which seem to be from a past life.
As I reflect back over the past weeks, I recognize how much we’ve all changed even as I appreciate how much more change there may be. Of one thing I am certain, the ICE community has responded to this crisis in such a compassionate and swift way. Here are some of the highlights from the ICE community over the past few weeks:
- The NCCA swiftly responded to the temporary closure of testing centers by creating an Exception Program for accredited programs that made the decision to utilize live remote proctoring to maintain testing capabilities during the current crisis.
- Developed a COVID-19 resource page on the ICE website in support of our members, which resulted in hundreds of downloads of curated and complimentary material.
- Held a virtual Town Hall meeting in March with more than 400 members of the community, providing a forum for asking questions and sharing concerns about the unknown in the face of the crisis. Thank you to Nick Soto, ICE board chair, Bill Ellis, past NCCA chair, Sara Lake, NCCA Chair, Lisa Sallstrom, past ICE chair, Karen Plaus, current ICE director, and Julia Judish, legal counsel for NCCA. These leaders in the ICE Community came together quickly to share their thoughts, concerns, and observations early in the process. (The recording is available online.)
- Developed and launched virtual education sessions on 1) Managing Remote Teams in March, led by Amy Jauman and 2) Live Remote Proctoring in April, led by Janice Moore, Cynthia Allen, Mary Browne and Greg Pope. These webinars combined attracted over 300 attendees and are available on-demand. The “name your own price” feature that was utilized in March and April created a combined, voluntary collection of over $3,751 for a donation to the CDC Foundation. Thank you!
ICE continues to work on addressing various programs needs in light of this new normal:
- Transformed the live NCCA April meeting, the live Program Committee meeting and the upcoming Psychometric and Accreditation Workshops to virtual events, to allow participation without having to overcome travel and other restrictions
- Began scenario planning exercises to mitigate risk and reduce costs for the ICE Exchange, to be able to respond to environmental changes as they occur over the next several months
Throughout the past several weeks, I’ve had countless conversations with members who are facing financial, program and testing uncertainty. Other programs are facing a more intense demand to get candidates through their certification process in order to keep the pipeline of critical healthcare workers flowing into the field. Others are describing concerns with their meetings and how to pivot to virtual meetings for critical components of their programs. And still others are uncertain about the impact of the crisis on the professionals (and candidates) represented by their certification.
While individually ICE members may be more or less concerned with different aspects of this crisis, two things hold true: 1) the passion for what we do, and doing it well has never been higher 2) the willingness to help others in the community has never been stronger. The last piece is showing up in the ICE webinars or online community where members are freely sharing their knowledge and expertise. As we’ve seen throughout society, this is the time to come together, to assist where possible or to just encourage when needed.
As we shift to address member needs related to this crisis, I can see that the values behind ICE’s new Mission Statement are already on display because they are ingrained in who we are as professionals and as a community.
Mission: Lead through accreditation, advocacy, education, innovation, research, and standards to enhance the value of credentialing organizations.
Thank you for demonstrating what it’s like to be part of a strong, vibrant and giving community that is passionate about what they do. It has been truly inspiring. I look forward to continuing to work with you as we move forward together.