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    Sponsor a Pesticide Course

    You can now sponsor an approved pesticide training course by browsing the Pa Plants Pesticide Recertification Course Locator. 

    Visit Course Locator

    Instructions for Pesticide Course Sponsors

    1. Apply Early: Send in your application for pesticide training courses at least 15 business days before the course starts. If you send it in earlier, it’s even better. Use the PaPlants Application for Course Approval portal to apply.

    2. Include This Information:

      • Contact person’s name, address, phone number, and email.
      • Location of the meeting.
      • Date and time of the meeting.
      • Detailed agenda or description of the course topics.
      • Start and end times for each topic.
      • Accurate descriptions of what each speaker will cover.
      • Biographies for all speakers. They must have at least 3 years of experience or other relevant qualifications.

    3. Concurrent Sessions: If your meeting has multiple sessions happening at the same time, submit each one separately. Each will get its own meeting ID.

    4. After Submission: You will get an email with a meeting ID. Once your course is reviewed and approved, you’ll get another email with approval and a link to print your attendance sheet. For help, check the sample agenda and biography (PDF).

    Course Approval Process

    When you submit your pesticide recertification course, a PDA staff member will review it to give it approval for credit. The course gets credit based on 1 credit for every 30 minutes of relevant instruction. Breaks, lunches, and exhibit visits do not count towards the credit. If the actual cours

    Course Sponsor Responsibilities

    • Course Integrity: The course sponsor must ensure the course is run honestly. If you lie about things like the agenda or speaker details, you might get a warning, a fine, or lose approval for your course. Faking attendance is also not allowed and can lead to fines or losing your certification.

    • Attendance Requirements: Make sure attendees stay for the whole course. If someone arrives late or leaves early, they do not get credit, and you should not include them in the attendance report.

    • Submit Attendance: Send the list of attendees and their certification numbers to the PDA within 10 business days after the course.

    Sponsoring a Virtual Course

    • Approval: The PDA also approves online courses and webinars for pesticide credits.

      • Online Courses: These are available anytime. If you change the course, you need to get it re-approved.

      • Webinars: These are live courses at a specific time. You can also share a recording later. If you want to keep it available for credits forever, you must also submit it as an online course.

    • Verify Attendance: You need to check who attended the virtual course. You can use methods like visual monitoring, polls, or quizzes. Send the attendee’s name, certification number, and date of birth to the PDA within 10 business days.

    Monitoring

    • Course Checks: PDA staff will check your course to make sure it meets requirements. Sponsors must allow PDA staff to monitor the course and not charge them any fees.