How to Earn Credentials

I want to earn the FDC Leadership credential. What do I need to do?

Leaders may opt to earn the FDC Leadership Credential while completing the Series. To be eligible, leaders must prepare a portfolio demonstrating the application of skills that they have acquired in training.

The FDC Leadership Portfolio is comprised of three components:

1. Prepare a plan and complete an Independent Learning Project for each of the five chapters of the Empowerment Skills for Leaders Series in collaboration with a colleague also attending the series who serves as your peer advisor. After you complete the project, discuss how it went with your peer advisor, and then ask her/him to write a paragraph offering strengths-based feedback at the bottom of the Plan form.
2. At the end of the Series, develop a plan to reach a personal goal of empowerment- based leadership, prepare a Leadership Empowerment Plan in collaboration with a peer advisor, and implement the plan for one month.
3. After one month implementing the Plan, prepare a personal reflection on the progress and outcome of the plan describing steps taken, challenges encountered (and how you responded), and any future actions you´ll take as a result of the plan.
The FDC Leadership Credentialing Process:

Only FDC Leadership Instructors (those who have successfully completed a Cornell FDC-affiliated Leadership Instructor´s Institute in their state) may submit Empowerment Skills for Leaders portfolios for credentialing review. Before submitting portfolios to Cornell, leadership instructors are asked to verify satisfactory completion of each project by signing the bottom of each Independent Learning Project Plan. The cover page of the FDC Leadership Portfolio should be a completed Application to Receive the FDC Leadership Credential and Portfolio Checklist form, signed by the Leadership Instructor and Leadership Credential Candidate.

Each portfolio is to be placed in a 9" x 13" manila envelope, labeled with the leader´s name and mailing address, which will be used to return the portfolio. Leadership instructors are responsible for collecting and submitting FDC credentialing fees for each leader applying to receive the FDC Leadership Credential. Leaders have up to one year after the completion of the Empowerment Skills for Leaders Series to submit Leadership Portfolios for credentialing consideration.

National PONSI has recommended two upper-level undergraduate credits for earning the Family Development Leadership. To order a PONSI transcript to submit to a college or university, please contact the Cornell Empowering Families Project at kep26@cornell.edu or (845)877-3410. The NYS Office of Alcohol and Substances Abuse Services has also approved the Empowerment Skills for Leaders Series for 30 clock hours of continuing education for recertification of practitioners with CASAC, CPS, and CPP credentials.