Credentialing
Why get a Certificate of Volunteer Administration (CVA)? The bigger question is what’s the purpose of credentialing? Why does it matter?
The CVA is a voluntary process of professional certification where a non-governmental agency (in this case, the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration or CCVA) grants time-limited recognition and the use of a credential to an individual after verifying that he or she has met predetermined and standardized criteria.
A profession like volunteer management ought to include some essential elements to warrant a professional credential:
(a) a complex body of skills,
(b) used in the service of others,
(c) governed by ethical codes, and
(d) committed to competence, integrity, and the public good.
In return for these professional privileges, the profession gets exclusive use of is knowledge, autonomy, and self-regulation. These privileges include the obligation to be accountable to the many publics and populations who may need the service.
The CVA credential shows the publics you serve (e.g., volunteers, citizens, children-to-adults, employers, employees, policy makers, and assorted other stakeholders) that you have at least, a minimum level of competency in your field because you have command over a specific body of knowledge and competencies that constitute the practice of volunteer management.
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