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The Royal Meteorological Society Professional Accreditation

Professional Accreditation Administration


The Council of the Royal Meteorological Society oversees the accreditation scheme and appoints an Accreditation Board to manage it.

The Accreditation Board is also responsible to Council for recommending acceptance or rejection of applicants. It will arrange:

  1. Interviewing Panels (IPs) and Work Place Assessment Panels (WPAPs) as appropriate to examine individual applicants, and;
  2. A Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development Panel (CE/CPD Panel) to examine courses claimed to satisfy the various criteria of the schemes and to audit all CPD returns submitted by RMets and CMets.
     

Constitution of the Accreditation Board

  1. The Accreditation Board consists of at least eight members.
  2. The Chair is an Officer of the Society elected by the Society in accordance with the Society By-laws and is a member of Council.
  3. Not more than four members of the Board may be employed by any one employing organisation. The Accreditation Board aims to provide a balance of specialisms among Board appointees which will enable Panels to be selected to best advantage.
  4. The Board has the power to co-opt on to any Panel persons who are not members of the Accreditation Board. Membership of the Society is not a prerequisite of co-option.
  5. Board Members are normally appointed for a five-year term.  At the discretion of The Accreditation Board, any Board Member may be re-appointed.
  6. If a Board Member retires early or becomes ineligible, a new appointee will be asked to complete the term of office of the person retiring.


Procedures of the Accreditation Board

  1. Five or more Board Members constitute a quorum at Board meetings.
  2. Decisions of the Board put to the vote require a majority of votes cast. In the event of a tie, the Chair is empowered to give an additional casting vote.

 

Interview Panels/Work Place Assessment Panels (IP/WPAP) 

  1. Panels consist of two, occasionally three, members.
  2. Each Panel will include assessors with a balance of theoretical and applied aspects of meteorology and shall include a member familiar with at least one of the applicant's declared areas of specialisation.
  3. The Accreditation Board will appoint a chair of each Panel, who may not be a meteorologist or a member of the Society but who, if not a meteorologist, will be conversant with the requirements for Chartered or Registered status in other scientific disciplines.
  4. Applicants based in the UK who are not already accredited to the standard of CMet in another EU country or those applying for the reinstatement of a suspended CMet accreditation will also normally be asked to attend an IP.

 

Course Evaluation and Continuous Professional Development Panel (CE/CPD Panel)

  1. The Panel will consist of a minimum of four members.
  2. The Panel will include at least two members experienced in professional training or higher education in meteorology.
  3. A member of the Accreditation Board will be appointed as Chair of the Panel.
  4. The Panel will be responsible, under its Chair, for scrutinising courses which claim to satisfy the academic requirements of the scheme.  If an applicant cites courses which are not yet recognised by the Society as meeting the requirements of the scheme, additional information may be sought ahead of the IP.
  5. The Panel is also responsible for the timely audit of all CPD Reports submitted by RMets and CMets.

 

Procedure for Accreditation or Reinstatement of Accreditation

  1. Guidance notes can be obtained from the Royal Meteorological Society and are available here.
  2. Applications are completed using ACCSYS, which is available to all members of the Society.  Applications can be submitted after payment has been made.
  3. Applications are scrutinised for completeness and relevance and then the references are called for. 
  4. In accordance the RMet/CMet guidelines and noting the applicant’s declared specialisms, suitable assessors are identified for the IP/ WPAP and, once referees’ reports are available, an interview or assessment is arranged.
  5. Applicants are advised of the arrangements for the IP or WPAP and of the composition of the Panel. 
  6. Following the completion of the IP/WPAP, the Panel will submit a report to the Accreditation Board making a recommendation
  7. The Accreditation Board, acting on all the information received, then approves or declines accreditation.
  8. Applicants are advised of the outcome. The Board may offer guidance to applicants at this stage.  Following notification of the Board’s decision, neither the Board nor its members will enter into any correspondence or communication arising from an unsuccessful application.
  9. Applicants may appeal the Accreditation Board’s decision, by written submission to the President of the Society within two months of notification of the decision. In this event, an Appeals Panel consisting of Senior Fellows and/ or past or present Officers of the Society (depending upon the accreditation being challenged) will be convened to review the circumstances and report back to Council.  The decision of the Appeals Panel is final.
  10. Lists of newly accredited or re-instated Registered and Chartered Meteorologists are published in E News.
  11. A register of Registered and Chartered Meteorologists is published on the Society web site.
  12. Accredited Meteorologists may use the post-nominals RMet or CMet provided they continue to meet the requirements of the Society. When concatenated with other qualifications, the order should be, for example, BSc, MSc, PhD, FRMetS, RMet/CMet, as appropriate.

 

Dormancy

The Society recognises the significant value in providing support to those on career breaks from their professional work in meteorology, (for example, for parental leave, a sabbatical or other reasons). If this is expected to be more than eighteen months, Chartered and Registered Meteorologists may apply to be placed upon the Society’s Dormancy Register in order to allow them to remain connected with their professional background but with a reduced requirement to maintain CPD. Accredited meteorologists are permitted to use post-nominals for a period of 2 years from the end of the period covered by the last acceptable CPD Report submitted regardless of when dormancy is applied for (unless ruled otherwise).

During absences exceeding 2 years, post-nominals cannot be used.

During a period of dormancy:

  • The fees for Chartered Meteorologist (CMet) and Registered Meteorologist (RMet) are reduced to 50%
  • The accredited meteorologist should keep up to date in the field so far as possible and log any CPD activity in ACCSYS. However, CPD Reports will not be requested whilst someone is on the Dormancy Register.
  • There remains an expectation that within five years, a CPD report of sufficient standard will be submitted to the Society so that they are reinstated onto the RMet or CMet register.

Those on a career break of more than 5 years will be required to attend a professional interview (CMet) or Workplace Assessment (RMet) to confirm that they have sufficiently maintained their professional competence before full accreditation will continue.

Withdrawal of accreditation

  1. If a CPD report is not submitted when requested or a CPD report is assessed as unsatisfactory on more than one occasion, then the CE/CPD panel may recommend to the Accreditation Board the withdrawal of Accreditation.
  2. Where accreditation is withdrawn, individuals are no longer entitled to use the post-nominals RMet or CMet.

 

Procedure for disciplinary action

  1. If the Society receives a written complaint against an accredited Meteorologist, this will be investigated by the Accreditation Board.
  2. Evidence to be considered includes that from the Meteorologist against whom the complaint is made.
  3. When appropriate, disciplinary action, including withdrawal of accreditation, is recommended by the Accreditation Board to Council, which ratifies or amends the recommendation.
  4. Appeal against disciplinary action may be made within two months of the notification of the Council’s decision.  The appeal will be heard by an ad hoc committee of Past Officers of the Society appointed by Council.  The committee will review the evidence and report back to Council, whose decision is then final.