ACAS Board Certification Update

W. Randy Walker, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, ACAS President

The new year is upon us, and the groundhog says spring should be arriving any day now. As signs of spring begin to appear, such as new leaves on the trees, greener grass, all of the planting activity, and, of course, the opening day of baseball, we are reminded that spring is a time of renewal. This also applies to ACAS as we renew our efforts to remind ARPAS members who are not yet board certified of all the benefit and value of achieving the highest level of certification available in ARPAS.

In 2018 we have five new ACAS members who have been approved for membership by the ACAS board of directors. These new members include the following:

David Casper– Animal Nutrition – Furst-McNess Co.,

Josh Davy – Animal Welfare Science –University of California
Fernando Diaz – Animal Nutrition – Rosecrans Dairy Consulting,
David Beede – Animal Nutrition – Michigan State University                                                                                                                  Glenn Duff - Animal Nutrition- New Mexico Univeristy

Please help me to welcome these new ACAS members and celebrate their success. Many current ARPAS members who are likely ACAS eligible are not board certified. We encourage as many of these members as possible to seek board certification through the exam route or the highly qualified individual route. The requirements for board certification are on the ARPAS website (http://www.arpas.org/For-Members/Board-Certification/Information).

If you meet these requirements and are not yet board certified, I would encourage you to optimize the value of your ARPAS membership by joining ACAS. For those of you who have recently completed your graduate program, the ideal time to apply for ACAS membership is as soon as you meet the time and experience requirement as an ARPAS member. There is a benefit to applying while you still remember the joy of taking exams and before the fear of taking them permanently sets in. If you are an ACAS member, please encourage your friends and colleagues who are ACAS eligible to join you in becoming a member of an elite group of animal scientists who have achieved the highest level of ARPAS certification.

Remember, ARPAS and ACAS members are encouraged to gain the most impact and benefit from their membership by displaying ARPAS credentials on business cards, letterhead, electronic signatures, and other forms of communication. Also, as a reminder, our 2018 ACAS business meeting will be held in June at the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee. ARPAS members who are not ADSA members will be allowed to pay the ADSA member registration fee for this meeting. I look forward to seeing you in Knoxville.