CLEAR
News - Winter 2004
CLEAR
Shows You What Works at Kansas City Annual Conference
The theme for CLEAR's 2004 annual conference was 21st Century Regulation: "Show Me" What Works. And that's just what these conference sessions aimed to do. Over 400 attendees participated in three days of educational workshops, lectures, presentations, and roundtable discussions. The agenda in Kansas City was definitely full with the three-day National Certified Investigator/Inspector Training Basic and Specialized programs and three-day Regulatory Leadership Development Training program occurring prior to the conference. On Thursday morning, two pre-conference workshops and Board Member Training were held. The conference officially began with the Orientation to CLEAR and Opening Session on Thursday afternoon.
Throughout the conference, attendees had the opportunity to choose from 22 sessions, 3 early bird sessions, and 7 roundtable discussions. Several attendees commented that with so many great sessions, it was hard to decide which ones to attend. In the Policy & Administration track, sessions dealt with topics such as using technology to open your board meetings to a wider audience, immigration policy and its impact on regulation, and making your website accessible to individuals with special needs. The Credentialing & Exam Issues track offered sessions on computer-based testing, ADA requests and accommodations, and alternate methods of demonstrating competency instead of by examination. Attendees in the Professional Discipline track heard presentations on successful intake processes to facilitate an efficient investigation, generational issues in the disciplinary process, and consent agreements to resolve disciplinary issues.
This year's plenary speakers offered insight into some interesting topics. Julianne D'Angelo Fellmeth of the Center for Public Interest Law spoke about "Agency Enforcement Programs: Protecting the Public Interest." Marjorie Peace Lenn of the Center for Quality Assurance in International Education presented "Global Trends Impacting the Future of Regulation." And Dave Caperton, humorist, closed the conference on an uplifting note with his discussion of the healing benefits of humor.
Also during the conference, attendees got the chance to meet and speak with 23 exhibitors in the exhibit hall. A list of exhibitors and their websites is available.
CLEAR would like to thank the 2004 Program Committee for their work in putting together a wonderful conference program. A sincere thank-you also goes out to the Missouri Division of Professional Registration for their support and volunteer efforts that helped make this a successful conference.
Presentations from the 2004 annual conference are available online (member password-protected).