The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen^SM) has announced the results of elections held in December of 2016.  Congratulations to these three individuals, who will serve as Commissioners for three-year terms:

• Suzanne Adams, AG®
• Fritz Juengling, AG
• Dayna Jacobs, AG

We would also like to thank Danielle Batson, AG, who is finishing up her term as President of the Commission, for her tremendous contributions to ICAPGen and her leadership these past two years.  We welcome Russell S. Lynch, AG, as our new president, and look forward to working with him in that role.

What do you know about the ICAPGen Board of Commissioners and their roles in this credentialing organization? We thought it might be helpful to explain a bit about the make-up of the Commission and what they do, according to the ICAPGen bylaws.

The ICAPGen Board of Commissioners consists of twelve Accredited Genealogist® researchers. Six are elected at-large Commissioners serving three-year terms. They can then serve without reelection for an additional term of three years. Five are appointed Commissioners serving one year terms, which may be extended, who have specific qualifications that include the following:

1. Testing specialist
2. Faculty member of an educational institution which provides secondary instruction with emphasis in genealogy and family history
3. Professional employee or officer of a major archive or library serving the genealogical community
4. Someone whose specific qualifications meet the special needs of the Commission

Elections take place in years when a vacancy arises, so do not necessarily occur every year.

Some of the offices or roles the Commissioners fill are the President of the Commission, Vice-President Elect, Vice-President, executive secretary, and treasurer.  Commissioners also lead and serve on committees that manage testing, finances, public relations, conferences, and study groups, as well as other ad hoc committees as needs arise.

Currently, the Commission meets every other month in Salt Lake City, Utah, with some of the non-local members joining via WebEx.  What do we do? According to the ICAPGen bylaws:

“The principle purpose of the Commission is to create, maintain, and administer the accreditation examinations used for awarding candidates the title of Accredited Genealogist^® researcher. To that end, the Commission establishes related examination procedures and protocols. It must approve new or rewritten examinations, and it determines the qualifications and appointment of each examination development team and exam proctors.”

So, naturally, most of what the Commission does revolves around the application and testing process. It is a challenge to develop exams for, and administer, a testing program that covers forty regions of the world —it requires a lot of work!  In support of our mission to promote excellece in genealogy we also co-sponsor a genealogy conference, have published a book, maintain a website and blog with educational resources, and facilitate study groups.

In future posts we plan to introduce you to the Commissioners and some of what they do for ICAPGen. We hope this glimpse behind the scenes of ICAPGen has helped you understand a bit more about the organization.