New Award Certificates

In Mid April the new Star certificates arrived. The new Star certificates are now A4 size certificates designed to be folded in half. The top half has general information in it and the bottom half is the certificate itself. I'm waiting to receive the art work and then to have the certificate printed here on letter size (8.5x11) card stock. I have about twenty of the new certificates to hold us over until they can get printed here.

As part of this change, the BCUNA database had to be updated to accept the almost 100 new awards. The plan was to tweak the database to keep track of when the new awards happened (any program after Feb. 1 is a new star program). After trying to figure out a way to know the old from the new program, it was decided that a large scale update of the BCUNA database was needed.

The BCUNA database was first written in 1998 to keep track of the few BCU programs that were happening in NA. Over the years the database has been tweaked to accept more programs. Until recently the plan was to stop using the BCUNA database and to have access to the new BCU UK database. It became clear that BCUNA would not have access to the UK database. With the new BCU system still being finalized, updating the BCUNA database could not be started until recently. It is turning out to be an 100+ hour project. In the end I think this will be the right decision.

The first new Star and UKCC programs happened at the Sweetwater Symposium in February and a few other new programs have happened since then. Candidates for any of the new Star progams will not receive their certificates until near the end of April. I have not yet received the new coaching certificate. We will send out the old coaching certificates with UKCC printed on them. Once we receive the new coach certificates, anyone who has received an old certificate for a UKCC program can e-mail to request a new certicate. I still don't have a date for the new certificates or know how different it will look.

I'm sorry for the delay and hope everyone understands that 2008 is a transition year. Coaches should let their students know that certificates will be printed and sent out starting in late April. The backlog of Star and Coach certificates should be filled by mid May. If the artwork for the certificates does not arrive, the delay will be longer.

Regards,

Bill