I received notice recently that I had successfully completed the Professional Qualifying Course (PQC) for the Professional Registered Parliamentarian (PRP) credential.
Parliamentarians are hardly top-of-mind for most people, although legislative parliamentary rulings make news occasionally. (Google “Senate Parliamentarian” if you like.) I became a Registered Parliamentarian (RP) early in 2020, and I wrote about that at the time.
The new designation involves three letters instead of two. It includes the word “professional,” and there’s a bit of irony there, since unlike most people who pursue this credential, I don’t plan to begin a practice as a professional parliamentarian. (I’ve had two great careers already; I don’t plan to start a new one.) Earning my PRP was an opportunity to test the level of my knowledge and skill against the yardstick of people I work with and admire, and I’m glad to join them.
I have a page on the overall topic at https://lavezzi.us/point-of-order/.
Thanks go out to my study group colleagues (you know who you are); to our friend and mentor, Patricia Koch; and to Jim Connors, who helped me and others in OEA qualify for NAP membership several years ago.
And on a bittersweet note, let me express much respect and affection to my late friend, the parliamentarians’ parliamentarian Jim Williams, who encouraged me to pursue this goal back when I would have been happy to stay an RP.
