OMG-OCUP2-INT200 certification - OMG Certified UML Professional 2 (OCUP 2) Updated: 2023

Professional Certification

A professional certification is a commitment to long-term learning on a broader topic. A credential is earned after an assessment with predetermined and standardized criteria, and it is maintained by earning continuing education (CE) credits annually.

For example, the Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) is a professional certification obtained through the American Bankers Association.

Certificate Program

A certificate program is a targeted micro-learning experience. Participants of a training program on a specialized topic are granted a certificate upon completion. 

The ABA Certificate in Deposit Compliance and the ABA Certificate in Lending Compliance are two examples of certificates earned by completing a series of program courses online or at an ABA school. 

Here’s a breakdown of the differences between a professional certification and a certificate program:

Certification now follows a rolling model for applications and approvals. If you have questions after reviewing this website, please contact cert@nullesa.org or 202-833-8773.

The period of certification lasts for 5 years, retroactive to the first day of the month the application was approved and expiring on the final day of the same month 5 years hence. ESA staff will communicate with you about your status beginning at least 60 days prior to expiration, and will additionally remind you to submit your CEU data on a regular basis.

If you currently hold a certification from pre-2021 and will expire the next June from now, you should recertify in the spring of the year your certification expires; if your certification expired in the previous June, you may still recertify or upgrade.

We allow 2 years’ grace periods to recertify or upgrade, but you will be required to pay a penalty fee if your certification has lapsed beyond that grace period. All recertifications at all levels (except Emeritus) cost $25 for ESA Members and $50 for non-members.

Starting in 2022, the penalty fee is the cost of recertification for each year of lapse, with the first 2 years waived if you recertify within 2 years. In other words:  

0 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify 

1 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (1 yr of back recertification fees waived)  

2 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (2 yr of back recertification fees waived)  

3 yr lapsed: $75 for recertify  

4 yr lapsed: $100 for recertify 

Candidates for certification must have completed at least a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree in ecology or a related science. Completed undergraduate or graduate coursework must include the following, totaling 42 semester credit hours. Full requirements include areas of coursework and should include some core topics.

Certified Ecologist and Senior Ecologist certification holders who hold that status for at least 10 consecutive years and are no longer working full-time may upgrade to each level’s respective Emeritus/ta designation. Contact cert@nullesa.org to learn more.

• Professional experience accrues as soon as the minimum education requirements are met (typically with an appropriate bachelor’s degree). Professional experience during graduate studies shall be counted the same as any other professional experience regardless of whether it was undertaken during a degree program such as a master’s or doctoral program.
• For recertifications, courses completed as part of a graduate degree program (or outside a degree program) may be counted toward continuing education in the appropriate category.
• If courses during graduate training are used to satisfy the minimum education requirements, professional work experience may be counted after the last such course is successfully completed.
• Provide an appropriate explanation of time spent in full-time employment (e.g. if working through school, during a gap year, etc.) in your application.
• Length of experience will be evaluated only up to the application submission date.
• If you intend to seek an upgrade before your current certification expires, please include an explanatory paragraph in your cover letter. For those pursuing an upgrade, it’s important to note that Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be pro-rated. The CEU requirement entails a minimum of 44 CEUs over a 5-year period, equivalent to 0.73 CEUs per month. Please contact cert@nullesa.org for more information.

Continuing Education

Please note that beginning 2021, all newly certified ecologists are required to complete 44 continuing education units over 5 years to be eligible for recertification or upgrade. Currently certified ecologists will be permitted to recertify or upgrade per their original requirements up to 2025; beginning with 2026, all recertifications and upgrades will require having met the CEU requirements. The ESA Board of Professional Certification approved this framework in January 2021.

Certified ecologists should report their CEU as they are earned, or at least on an annual basis. You can see how to do so here.

Interpretive leeway will be given to participants to identify suitable professional development opportunities per the requirements. ESA is partnering with other scientific organizations and training bodies to recommend opportunities for CEU in addition to the content that ESA provides — see the directory. Participants are encouraged to share ideas with staff as well.

All ecologists certified by ESA shall conduct their activities in accordance with the ESA Code of Ethics and with the highest standards of professional conduct and personal honor.

Application Materials

You can review the full application requirements here.

Here are additional details about the requirements for each certification level.

Ecologist in Training

Associate Ecologist

Ecologist

Certified Ecologist Emeriti

Senior Ecologist

Senior Ecologist Emeriti

LESSON 5: COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Understand all the things that must be considered when designing a compensation and benefits package.

LESSON 6: EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Learn the ins and outs of complying with OSHA, protecting against workplace hazards, and investigating, recording, and preventing accidents and employee illnesses.

LESSON 7: THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Gain knowledge of employment law as well as an understanding of equal employment opportunity, avoiding discrimination, and what happens when an employee files an EEOC claim.

LESSON 8: MAKING HR DECISIONS

Learn how to make decisions based on various company growth strategies and how to use HRIS Software as well as job analysis as a tool for decision-making.

LESSON 9: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Learn the full spectrum of affirmative action, how to create an affirmative action plan, and information on the AAP you will need to know.

LESSON 10: DIVERSITY

Understand what diversity is and why it is a good thing in an organization as you learn to manage it and handle conflict.

LESSON 11: EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND DISCIPLINE

Learn the laws that protect employee rights and privacy and how to properly monitor and document behavior and discipline employees.

LESSON 12: TERMINATION

Understand the alternatives to firing as well as how to prepare for termination including proper separation agreements as well as what to do in the event of wrongful discharge.

LESSON 13: INVESTIGATIONS

Learn why it is so important to investigate problems as well as the steps of an effective investigation including preparing, conducting, and wrapping it up.

LESSON 14: MANAGING LABOR RELATIONS

Get a quick overview of the history of unions as you learn how they work and why employees join them.

LESSON 15: CREATING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORKPLACE

Learn how to ask employees for input and act on it, delegate authority, keep communication open, and continuously ask for feedback as you strive to develop a high-performance workplace.

LESSON 16: GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES

Understand the basics of staffing strategy, cultural differences, HR in other countries, choosing global employees, and issues faced by expatriates.

LESSON 17: RETENTION

Learn the top reasons employees leave a company and how you can encourage them to stay as well as the importance of succession planning.

LESSON 18: MOTIVATION, REWARDS, AND RECOGNITION

Find out fun ways to motivate workers and gain nine strategies for creating a great rewards program.

LESSON 19: PREPARING FOR THE PHR EXAM

Gain information on externships and internships as you review the basics of the PHR exam and begin to study.

Earning specialized certifications is a surefire way to advance your career in the IT field, regardless of industry or current career level. The right certification validates your skills and knowledge, which makes you more desirable to future employers who want to attract and retain the best employees. Below, we’ll explore the top IT certifications and share how to examine your goals to choose the right path forward. 

Today’s organizations are looking for better ways to pull the information they need from massive volumes of data available to them. Big data system administrators store, manage and transfer large sets of data, making them amenable to analysis. Data analytics is the practice of examining the raw data to identify patterns and draw conclusions. Business intelligence involves the collection and organization of information to report on business activities, often pulling data from those very sets.

Along with the surge in big data interest comes a growing number of certifications to recognize the necessary skills in working with enormous data sets. The target audience is IT professionals with a background in analytics, data mining, business intelligence or data management, along with a knack for and interest in mathematics and statistics. Big data engineers are in reasonably high demand and usually command salaries of $101,000 or more, where data scientists average about $128,500 in salary.

We took a detailed look at certifications from INFORMS, Microsoft, MongoDB, Oracle and SAS. Check out the results from our informal search of various job boards to see which certifications employers really want. However, these results are a snapshot from a specific day, time and geography, so they may not reflect actual job demands in your locality when you search for yourself.

Employers in all sectors value a credential that speaks to your skills as a professional. Certification through ESA is a way for ecologists at all levels of education and training to add a credential to their resume, demonstrate their expertise, and exhibit their skill to potential employers, clients, or colleagues.

Earning a certification from ESA isn’t a one-time, set-and-forget kind of thing; our program seeks to involve certified ecologists of all career fields in the work of the Society. We offer networking, ample professional development, opportunities to mentor or be mentored, as well as much as we can provide to help you succeed in your career. And we’re always open to suggestions!

“As an aspiring marine biologist, it is important to me to develop interdisciplinary skills to better manage the environmental challenges we face in today’s world. I chose to be certified to establish my scientific credibility and demonstrate within the science community and society that I have developed the necessary education, skills, and experience required to apply ecological principles to my professional career.

We strive to make application easy and standard across all levels — this page lists the materials you’ll need, and you should check this primer on the application for guidance.

Applications that are missing letters of recommendation are considered incomplete until both letters have been received. Please note that letters or any other missing documentation must be sent within 6 months since the application was submitted or the application will be rejected. If extenuating circumstances arise, please send an email to cert@nullesa.org

The Review Process

Reviews will likewise be conducted on a rolling basis. Expect to hear from us no more than 60 days from the date of your application, and likely much sooner.

In some cases, an application will require clarification or escalation to review by our Board of Professional Certification. In the case that you are asked to provide more information, we request an acknowledgment within 30 days, and that requested materials be submitted within 90 days of the original date of the request. In instances of escalation, our Board will be reviewing on a roughly monthly basis, so outcomes will likewise be shared within 60 days of that escalation. There may be some instances that require a full review of the full Board, in which case some additional delay may occur, but staff will communicate the status of all applications as regularly and thoroughly as possible.

Applications that are missing letters of recommendation are considered incomplete until both letters have been received. Letters or any other missing documentation must be sent within 6 months since the application was submitted or the application will be rejected.

“Being certified as a senior ecologist by ESA for over 15 years has provided me with a unique level of credibility and achievement in the field of ecology. This certification not only demonstrates my expertise but also assures the individuals I work with that I have met the rigorous standards endorsed by a national professional body. It serves as a testament to my level of education and professional experience, which is invaluable in establishing trust within the science community and society at large.”

— Kris D. Hallinger, Certified Senior Ecologist

Appeals Procedure
A decision of the Board of Professional Certification may be appealed in writing to the ESA executive director, who will initiate the appeals process through the ESA Professional Ethics and Appeals Committee. The Board of Professional Certification may be engaged in discussion of a potential appeal prior to its official submission to the PEAC.

A certification from ESA is good for 5 years, with a 2-year grace period in which you may still recertify or upgrade without going through the application process anew (but your CEU still need to have been accrued within 5 years of your recertification or upgrade date, and your certification will be retroactive to what would have been the original renewal date). If your certification expired more than two years ago, you may apply for recertification, but will be charged a penalty fee.

Certifications will be dated retroactively to the first day of the month that the application was approved and run until the last day of the preceding month 5 years hence. Holders of certifications from the old system will keep their June 30 expiration dates unless they opt to recertify or upgrade earlier in the calendar (and are encouraged to do so).

If you’ve completed the steps necessary to upgrade before the 5 years are up, you’re free to apply to upgrade when you’re ready. This can include a new degree or crossing an experience threshold. Your CEU clock resets if you upgrade early.

You’ll receive newsletters, be on our listserv, be invited to networking and feedback events both virtually and at ESA events like the Annual Meeting. Your input will be sought on program enhancements. And if you join, you’ll have opportunities to volunteer within the Society in various ways, from committees to sections to the Council and Governing Board. We want you to succeed.

If you need anything, get in touch with us at cert@nullesa.org. The staff and Board of Professional Certification will do everything they can to help.

If your ESA Certification or recertification was last approved in 2021 or after, you are required to complete 44 continuing education units during the 5 years of your certification. Ecologists that were newly certified or recertified before 2021 do not need to self-report CEUs until their next recertification. Beginning in 2026, all recertifications and upgrades will require meeting the CEU requirements.

You will report your CEU directly in our membership system, which ensures clean records. You can earn CEU by participating in various ESA functions (from the Annual Meeting to leadership to webinars), but you are also required to include activities hosted by other organizations. This is to ensure that any certified ecologist’s professional development fits their professional needs.

Once you’re certified, you will be included on our dedicated listserv for certified ecologists and will receive a regular newsletter. Both will list continuing education opportunities, from both ESA and our approved providers, and invite you to participate in networking and feedback opportunities. We organize meetups, plus scientific and technical opportunities for certified ecologists, at the Annual Meeting and always encourage certified ecologists to submit proposals and abstracts for those events and any others that ESA holds. We also encourage certified ecologists to join the Society and seek leadership opportunities in committees and task forces, sections and chapters, and the Board of Professional Certification and Governing Board. This is part of ESA’s commitment to Extend the Tent and be the quality professional home of all ecologists, regardless of career field and level.