The program as of 2003
Continuing
Professional Development
I. Applications
II. Selection of
evaluating committee
III. Submission of evaluation materials
IV. Grading process
V. Notification
VI. Miscellaneous
VII.
Suspension or revocation
The goal of the Seal of Approval program is to continuously upgrade radio and television weather programs. Since the weathercaster is the primary representative of the meteorological profession to the public, we, as meteorologists, have a responsibility to help recognize those who are competent. The Board of Broadcast Meteorology was formed by the Council in 1957 to establish criteria for the evaluation of weathercasters and to conduct the evaluation procedure. The growth of television and radio has been accompanied by an increasing impact on the public; therefore, the need for professional weathercasting and its recognition by the AMS has been quite apparent. Evaluation procedures were established and the first television kinescope recording and radio tapes were evaluated by the Board in late 1959. The first Seal of Approval, other than for Board members, were granted in January 1960. Seals have been awarded to weathercasters with widely varied approaches to presenting the weather on television. To date, over 1300 Television and 150 Radio Seals of Approval have been awarded. It has always been the goal of the Seal of Approval program to foster high standards of professionalism among broadcast meteorologists. Recently, however, the courts have attacked the use of the word "professionalism" as being overbroad and capable of misuse. Indeed, this standard has many different meanings to different individuals. We have produced a more specific definition. Henceforth, the stated goals of the program will be to ensure that meteorologists who hold the Seal of Approval exhibit scientific competence and effective communication skills in their weather forecasts.
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One of the purposes of the Broadcast Seal program is to provide an incentive
for the continued professional growth of the broadcast meteorologist.
Consistent with this purpose, the Board of Broadcast Meteorology has adopted
guidelines for continuing professional development. Currently there is no
mandatory requirement for maintaining the Seal and following is voluntary: The
Board of Broadcast Meteorology recommends that each sealholder voluntarily
complete one or more of the following continuing professional development
activities within each three year period:
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A. Upon request from any individual, the Secretary–Treasurer of the Society will furnish an application form. Applications will be accepted only from full Members of the AMS or those non-Members who meet all qualifications for full Member as defined in the Constitution of the Society (see also section VI.E).
Members admitted under Article III, section 4.B of the Constitution will also need at least 12 semester hours of study in the atmospheric, oceanic, or related hydrologic sciences from an accredited institution of higher learning. At least 8 of the 12 semester hours, with a minimum of two credits in each of three of the following five areas, is required:
The core courses must include basic processes relevant to atmospheric or oceanic systems. (A memorandum concerning the above requirements was published as an AMS Notice in the June 1991 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.)
B. The application form must be completed and returned to the Secretary–Treasurer along with the appropriate application fee. The fee is $300 for Members and $600 for non-Members, which includes a subscription to the Bulletin.
C. The Secretary–Treasurer then forwards the application to the Chairperson of the Board of Broadcast Meteorology.
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The Board Chairperson will select five members of the Board, who will constitute the reviewing panel for that applicant. Each member of the panel shall certify to the Chairperson that he or she is aware of no conflict of interest in accepting the appointment to review any particular applicant. The applicant will be notified in writing of the names and occupations of the members selected and will be given an opportunity to object to any of the Board members selected. An applicant shall be required to state in writing the reasons for any objection to any member of the panel. The Chairperson may either accept the objection from the applicant or refer the question to the Chairperson of the Commission on Professional Affairs for final decision; the Commissioner shall act on the preponderance of the evidence. All applicants shall be notified that unless objection is received within 15 days, the Chairperson will assume that the selected Board members are satisfactory to the applicant and will proceed to the next step
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The Chairperson will then request that the applicant submit three video- or audiotape examples of his or her work. These examples must be of broadcasts made on three consecutive appearance days. In the case of individuals currently employed "on-air," the tapes shall be of actual on-air performances, including lead-ins and throw-backs to other on-air talent. All commercial messages shall be edited out of the tape. No minimum time of each segment will be required. Weathercasts recorded "off-air" will be accepted from applicants not currently employed on-air and from those applicants who operate under such restrictions from their station management that they cannot include the content or demonstrate the presentation skills consistent with the standards of the AMS Broadcast Seal of Approval. Questions in this area should be directed to the Chair of the Board of Broadcast Meteorology who will work with applicants to determine the appropriate set of on-air and off-air submission materials. Performances on tapes submitted must be less than six months old as of the date of the application. Applicants must also certify that weathercasts submitted are substantially the result of their own work.
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A. The applicant sends a copy of his or her tapes directly to each member of the reviewing panel. The Board will review the tapes based on four criteria:
B. Grades will be awarded in each of these four categories on a scale of 4.0, as follows:
Each reviewer will submit a grade in each category. The grades given by all members will be averaged by the chairperson. A candidate must score at least a 2.5 average in each category in order to succeed on the examination.
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A. Successful applicants will be notified by letter. In addition, they will be sent a press release from Society Headquarters for possible use.
B. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by letter from the Secretary–Treasurer of the Society. The letter shall contain a statement from the Chairperson of the Commission, explaining the failure and suggesting ways of improving the performance based upon the information received from Board members. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply after a period of three months from the date of the negative notification. The reapplication fee is $100. After a second unsuccessful application, there will be a one-year waiting period before a third application can be submitted. However, if more than two (2) years have passed from the date of the negative notification on the applicant's initial application, then the second application shall be deemed a new application.
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A. Successful candidates may move their Seal of Approval from station to station without further application to the Society. Relocation from a national (for example, CNN or The Weather Channel) to a local appearance, however, requires the submission of new tapes (but no additional fee) for review by the Board in accord with the four stated criteria.
B. Seals may be renewed annually by submitting a renewal fee and attesting that the overall content and format of on-air presentations have not changed significantly. The annual renewal for Members is $130, and for non-Members, $250.
C. Successful candidates will be informed both of their right to use the Seal of Approval and of any limitations that the Society may impose upon such use.
D. Unsuccessful candidates may appeal the negative decision of the Board of Broadcast Meteorology to the Executive Committee of the Society within 90 days of the date of notification. The fee for an appeal is $100; however, the Executive Committee reserves the right to waive the fee in cases of financial hardship.
E. All candidates and reapplicants must meet the current Member (see Modifications to Policies Governing the seal of Approval Program and Interpretive Memorandum , Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,70, 636–637; and AMS Notice, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,70, 837) and seal applicant criteria at the time of their seal application or reapplication form, as outlined in section I.A.
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A. The AMS reserves the right to suspend or revoke the right to use the Seal of Approval if a sealholder, in the conduct of his or her profession, clearly fails to conduct himself or herself in a manner that reflects the dignity and honor of the profession or if a sealholder fails repeatedly to adhere to the four criteria for the award of the seal set out in Section IV.
B. Any complaint that may be grounds for suspension or revocation of the Seal under Paragraph A shall be sent to the Secretary–Treasurer of the Society. The Secretary–Treasurer may summarily dismiss a frivolous complaint with notice and a statement of reasons to the complainant. Otherwise, the Secretary–Treasurer shall send a copy of the complaint to the Chairperson of the Commission on Professional Affairs, the Chairperson of the Board of Broadcast Meteorology, and the sealholder.
C. The Chairperson of the Board of Broadcast Meteorology may resolve any complaint by any appropriate informal means, which may include contacting the sealholder in question in an effort to resolve by mutual agreement the subject of the complaint.
D. Any complaint not disposed of by informal means shall be determined as follows:
E. A sealholder against whom action has been taken, may within 30 days of the date of notification of the action, appeal the action in writing to the Executive Committee of the Society (see Organizational Procedures of the AMS).
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