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Certification Life Cycle User Guide Thank you for your interest in the USGIF Certified GEOINT Professional (CGPTM)! This guide will navigate you through each step of the certification life cycle, including certification exam registration and booking, certification conferral, sharing your digital badge, and certification maintenance. If you have questions about the program, please view the Candidate Handbook at usgif.org/certification or email credential@usgif.org.

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Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Certification Exam Registration and Booking .................................................................................... 4 Begin Registration ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Creating a Profile .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Email Verification ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Booking ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Program Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 9 USGIF Individual Members Only ................................................................................................................ 10 Verification of Requirements ..................................................................................................................... 10 Exam Scheduling ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Rescheduling .............................................................................................................................................. 14 UGP Scheduling .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Scheduling More than One Exam ............................................................................................................... 14

Conferral and Digital Badges ........................................................................................................... 15 After Passing a Certified GEOINT Professional Certification ...................................................................... 15 Updating Your BadgeCert Profile ............................................................................................................... 15 Maintaining an Active Badge ..................................................................................................................... 18

Certification Maintenance ............................................................................................................... 19 Paying for Annual Certification Maintenance Fee ..................................................................................... 21

Submitting Professional Development Units (PDUs) ...................................................................... 23

Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 24

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Introduction The USGIF Certified GEOINT Professional (CGPTM) life cycle includes three phases: 1) certification exam registration and booking, in which candidates register, schedule, and pay for exams, and take exams; 2) conferral and digital badging; and 3) certification maintenance. This guide is intended to provide candidates and certificants with a single document that will support navigation through the certification program life cycle.

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Certification Exam Registration and Booking Begin Registration To start the registration process, please visit usgif.certifior.com Click the “Create an Account” button on the lower left-hand side of the page.

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Click “No I don’t have a USGIF Certifior ID.”

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Creating a Profile After clicking the “No I don’t have a USGIF Certifior ID,” the system will direct to the Create/Edit Profile form. Please fill out all of the required boxes highlighted in red. At the bottom of this form, please create a Username and Password. Note: if you would like to use your email address as your Username, please click the check box next to “Use email as username.” After completing the form, click Save.

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Email Verification A verification email will be sent to the email address on file. Please click the link in the email to verify your email address. A pop-up window will appear prompting to click ‘OK’ to confirm your email address. The system will redirect to the first page of Registration.

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Booking On the Welcome Page, click the “Click here to register” button to proceed.

Select the box next to the exam(s) to register for. Click Next.

The system will direct to the Registration Summary screen. Review the information on this page and verify that the correct exam(s) are selected. Click Confirm.

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Program Requirements After confirming the information on the Registration Summary page, the system will direct to the Program Requirements page. On the left-hand side of the screen is a list of requirements necessary to complete in order to schedule the exam.

The restriction icon next to the exam name signifies that scheduling the exam is currently unavailable. Each of the requirements have an arrow icon next to them, meaning that those requirements need to be completed. There are a number of requirements, some of which require documentation to be uploaded as supporting evidence. For more details about the requirements, please visit usgif.org/certification to access the Candidate Handbook. Please also note that the Terms and Conditions requirement is not accessible to complete during this time. This requirement will be presented before taking your exam. When a requirement has been submitted, a clock icon will appear next to that requirement, which signifies that it is in que to be verified by USGIF. Above the requirements window, a message appears stating the number of requirements that are awaiting verification. A verification email for each requirement will be sent.

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USGIF Individual Members Only Individual members have an additional requirement to complete. This additional requirement is to ensure USGIF individual members receive discounts applied toward their certification exam fees. The Member Confirmation requirement either an email address OR unique customer ID associated with your USGIF Connect account. Click “Submit” after entering the credentials. If you are unsure of your USGIF individual membership status, or have any questions regarding your membership, visit connect.usgif.org.

Verification of Requirements Once all of the appropriate requirements have been submitted (please reference the Candidate Handbook on usgif.org/certification for further guidance and details about the requirements), USGIF will verify each. A verification email will be sent each time a requirement has been verified by USGIF. Please log into your account at http://usgif.certifior.com/ and view the left side bar to see if all of the requirements have been verified. There will be a check mark icon next to each requirement that has been verified. If all the necessary requirements have been verified, proceed to scheduling date and time to take the exam(s) and submit payment. The option to schedule an exam will be unavailable until all appropriate requirements have been completed and verified.

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Exam Scheduling After the requirements have been verified, proceed to schedule the exam(s). In the program requirement list on the left-hand side of the screen, click the exam (CGP-D, CGP-R, or CGP-G). Click Schedule Test, the system will direct to the Schedule Exams page.

A pop-up window will appear, and the address on file will auto populate into the search box. Please search from the list of Test Centers and select one you prefer. Please note: exams are only delivered in electronic format.

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After selecting the Test Center location, the system will prompt to choose a date to take the exam(s).

After selecting the date, select a time, then click Next.

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After selecting the test center location, date and time, select the check mark next to the test name, and click Next.

The registration order total will reflect on the next page. If you are a USGIF Individual Member, or if you have purchased more than one exam in a single transaction, you will have received an email with instructions guiding you through the payment process in order to get the discounted USGIF Individual Member or bundled pricing.

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Rescheduling Should you need to reschedule your exam, you can go back into your account, click on the certification exam, and click Change Appointment Request. You will then repeat the same steps you took to schedule your exam. UGP Scheduling For candidates who have signed up for the UGP certification, you will be required to pay, and upload program required documentation to be verified. Once all of your requirements have been verified by USGIF, please email credential@usgif.org to proceed with scheduling your panel interview. Scheduling More than One Exam If you have purchased more than one exam and need assistance with the scheduling process, please email Marisa Benack (mbenack@skillsdmo.com).

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Conferral and Digital Badges After Passing a Certified GEOINT Professional Certification The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) has partnered with BadgeCert to offer an updated and modern way to share the Certified GEOINT Professional (CGP) and Universal GEOINT Professional (UGP) credentials through a digital badge. BadgeCert is a digital badging platform that USGIF is utilizing for the conferral/certification maintenance process. Candidates who have successfully completed all program requirements, passed a Certified GEOINT Professional certification exam, and have continued to adhere to the Code of Ethics will be conferred. A digital badge will be issued to certification holders. Digital badges are tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue signifying accomplishments, such as conferral of a certification or mastery of a skill. Candidates will receive an email from no-reply@badgecert.com notifying them of their digital badge that has been issued to them and is waiting to be claimed. There is a link in the email for candidates to click to claim their badge. After candidates click the link to claim their digital badge, they will be directed to the BadgeCert site.

Updating Your BadgeCert Profile In the conferral email regarding your digital badge is a link to visit to update your personal information on your BadgeCert Profile. Once you click on the link, you will be directed to the login page.

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Click forgot password. The system will direct you to a page to create a new password.

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After you have created your password, you will be directed back to the login page. Log in, and you will be directed to your BadgeCert profile page. The Badge Portfolio houses all certifications you currently hold with USGIF.

Click on your name in the top right corner to be directed to your account information.

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In the Edit Profile page in BadgeCert, you will be able to add, change, or update your personal information

Maintaining an Active Badge Your digital badge(s) is active for one year and is dependent on the required Annual Certification Maintenance Fee that is payable starting the second year of certification. When the badge is active, the metadata attached to the badge will appear, and the badge will be displayed in color:

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If a candidate fails to successfully pay their Annual Certification Maintenance Fee, the digital badge will expire, become inactive, and will gray out:

The digital badges are active for a year at a time and are contingent upon successfully abiding by the Certification Maintenance requirements and policy that is presented in the Candidate Handbook that can be found on the USGIF website: usgif.org/certification.

Certification Maintenance The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) uses an online platform to collect payment of the Annual Certification Maintenance Fee. The Annual Certification Maintenance Fee is a required element of the Certification Maintenance policy, in which candidates are responsible for abiding by policy to maintain their certification(s). Prior to the digital badge expiration date, candidates will be required to pay the Annual Certification Maintenance fee in order to maintain an active certification and digital badge.

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Certification holders will visit https://connect.usgif.org.

Certification holders will log into the portal using their USGIF account credentials.

If you have forgotten your password, please click “Forgot your Password?” You will then be prompted to enter your e-mail address into the system. You will receive an email with a reset password link. Once you click on the reset password link, you will be directed to a password reset page. If you experience issues with the link, please contact connect@usgif.org regarding the issue.

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Paying for Annual Certification Maintenance Fee Once you have logged into your USGIF account, you will click Online Store. This will direct you to a page with items to purchase.

Certification holders will click on “CGP/UGP Annual Certification Maintenance Fee.”

After clicking the CGP/UGP Annual Certification Maintenance Fee, a screen will appear with the details of the Annual Maintenance Fee. Click Add to Cart.

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The platform will then direct you to the payment screen, where you will enter in proper payment information. Click Check Out.

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Submitting Professional Development Units (PDUs) Per the Certification Maintenance Policy in the Candidate Handbook, candidates are required to maintain their certification by either obtaining 100 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every three years or obtaining another USGIF-Sponsored Certification. All candidates are encouraged to maintain their certification by obtaining 100 PDUs to ensure continuing growth and involvement in the GEOINT field as it expands. Candidates are strongly encouraged to retain all documentation related to PDU credit. Failure to provide the necessary documentation is sufficient grounds or certification expiration. A fillable document is available at usgif.org/certification to allow candidates a way to record their achievements. The form is designed to keep track of how many PDUs a candidate has earned, and in which PDU Category (Continuing Education, Professional Development, Future Capabilities Awareness). This form will need to be completed and sent to credential@usgif.org prior to a candidate’s certification expiration date. If you have any questions regarding the Certification Maintenance Policy, please review the Candidate Handbook for more information. For questions regarding the fillable pdf form, please contact credential@usgif.org.

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Questions For more information about the USGIF Certified GEOINT Professional (CGPTM), and the Certification Maintenance policies, candidates can visit usgif.org/certification, or email credential@usgif.org.