Volunteers must record 5 hours of Continuing Education each year
1/15/2025
Starting in 2025, Ramsey County will align the Continuing Education requirement with all other Master Gardener Volunteer Programs. All returning volunteers must all complete a minimum of 5 hours of Continuing Education each year.
Recording hours of continuing education each year is a state requirement for Master Gardener volunteers. As a minimum, the state program requires volunteers record at least 5 hours per year. However, local groups are permitted to increase that requirement for their volunteers. For many years, returning Ramsey County volunteers were expected to complete 12 hours of continuing education. (Volunteers may also remember interns were expected to complete 8 hours of continuing education; this was a error on our part and was corrected in 2024.)
Why this change
When local groups change a new minimum continuing education requirement, they are responsible for managing that manually. By default, the Extension database is programmed to track 5 hours. When a volunteer reaches 5 hours, it automatically marks the requirement as complete. A higher minimum requires that the Program Coordinator manually check the recorded hours for each volunteer and change their status one-at-a-time if the local minimum was missed.
This has always been a time-consuming task for the Program Coordinator but, as RCMG approaches 500 volunteers, the time commitment to mange these changes has grown too large. To ease that burden on local staff, both Hennepin and Ramsey County Program Coordinators decided to reduce the minimum number of continuing education hours to align with the state program.
What this means for you
This means that Active and Emeritus-Active volunteers will need to record at least 5 hours of continuing education each year starting in 2025. This is a minimum! Knowledge and education are still highly valued by the Master Gardener Volunteer Program and we strongly encourage all volunteers to keep pursuing new information and go beyond the minimums. We have a long history of exceeding expectations and this is no exception!
Volunteers are encouraged to attend Monthly Meetings, read Master Gardener newsletters, participate in Garden Gate Tours and enjoy the large number of existing continuing education activities available.
If you nave any questions about this change, please contact Darren.
Continuing Education Requirements
Volunteer Status | New Annual Requirement | Old Annual Requirement |
Intern | 0 hours | 0 hours |
Active | 5 hours | 12 hours |
Emeritus (Active) | 5 hours | 5 hours |
Leave of Absence | 0 hours | 0 hours |
Darren Lochner
Program Coordinator