Nominations Request for the 2023 Tribal Operator of the Year

Attention Tribal Water and Wastewater Professionals:

Have you noticed a water/wastewater operator working in Indian Country…
• Going above and beyond their assigned job duties?
• Lending support to a co-worker or staff member?
• Providing assistance to another utility?
• Volunteering in the community?
• Going the extra mile in any form?

Here is your chance to acknowledge and celebrate their efforts and hard work. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. (ITCA) is requesting nominations for the 2023 Tribal Water/Wastewater Operator of the Year Award.

Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination to show appreciation for the quality and integrity of the work done by an operator of a Tribal water or wastewater system that is located within the ITCA National Tribal Water & Wastewater Operator Certification Program service area, which includes USEPA Regions 5 through 10. Nominations should be submitted by those who have personally witnessed the great work of the operator being nominated.

A committee of volunteer Tribal water/wastewater operators will review the nominations and select the winner of the Tribal Operator of the Year 2023 Award. All nominees and the selected winner will be announced on September 14, 2023, during a virtual Awards Ceremony.

Nomination Deadline: July 12, 2023

How to Nominate an Operator
Complete the attached Nomination Form and return it to ITCA either by:
o Email: anisa.garcia@itcaonline.com
o Fax: (602) 258-4825, or
o Mail: Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
National Tribal Water Systems Programs
Attention: Anisa Garcia
2214 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona 85004

Click Here: 2023 Operator of the Year Nomination Packet

Click Here: USEPA Regional Map

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2023-2024 TWS Training Schedule

2023-2024 Training Schedule for Tribal Water and Wastewater Utilities Personnel

The ITCA National Tribal Water Systems Operator Certification Program is pleased to provide this schedule of free operator training and certification events (see below Table of Events). The table will be periodically updated as new training course are confirmed.

When a course is open for registration, its title is shown in the table with an active link.  Click on the active course title in the table for details and registration instructions. Events that have already occurred are shown in gray with a strike-through. Events that are not yet open for registration are shown in black and don’t have active links.

Some courses are offered more than once to provide operators with options. Instructors may vary from one course offering to another.

 

Types of Course Formats

  • Online Courses.  Some courses are offered in a 100% live online virtual format. (Note: certification exams are available year-round through computer-based testing.)
  • In-Person Courses.  Some short-duration, continuing education training events may be offered in a 100% in-person format. Some courses will include in-person certification exam sessions.
  • Blended Courses.  Comprehensive, certification preparation courses are offered in a Blended format, which consists of two sequential parts:
    (Part 1 uses live online virtual format) + (Part 2 uses in-person classroom format).

The in-person Part 2 picks up where the virtual Part 1 ends.  The in-person Part 2               will not spend any time reviewing curriculum content covered during the virtual Part 1.

For certification preparation courses that are in the blended format, the in-person               Part 2 includes in-person certification exam sessions.

Training Contact Hours
All ITCA Program training events provide opportunity for students to earn training contact hours based on participation and attendance.

The terms “lesson”, “class”, and “course” are defined in the ITCA Standards for Contact Hour Credit from Virtual Training Events document.

Click here: ITCA Standards for Online Training Contact Hours.

Certified Exams

  • Computer-Based Testing.  Certification exams are available year-round through computer-based testing (CBT) at over 300 nationwide testing center locations (See 2023 CBT announcement).
  • Paper-Booklet Testing.  In-person certification exam sessions using paper-booklet testing (PBT) are included during Blended certification preparation courses.  In addition, the ITCA Program may periodically offer stand-alone, in-person PBT exam sessions.

Travel Expense Reimbursement
Participant travel expense reimbursement stipends are available for participants of the in-person parts of ITCA Program training and certification events.  For more information, contact the ITCA Tribal Water Systems Program by phone at (602) 258-4822, or by email at TWSInfo@itcaonline.com.

*Specified Regional or Area Designations
Most of the online training courses are listed without any specified region or area and are therefore, open without restriction. However, some training courses are listed for certain regions or areas. Such training courses are made possible by funding agencies for the express purpose of serving certain geographic areas. When a course is listed for a specific region or area, two different registration options are available—Priority Registration, and General Admission Waiting List.

  • Priority Registration

If you work on Tribal lands in the region or area specified for that course, please use the “priority registration” option. Priority registration will be monitored and tracked based on the work address provided during registration.

  • General Admission Waiting List

Online training course size is limited to preserve the high quality of student-focused instruction. A general admission waiting list is available for personnel working on Tribal lands that are outside of the region or area specified for the particular course. Selection for the course will be first come, first served based on seats available after the priority registration seats are filled.

IHS Area Map, below
Click Here: IHS Area Map

Click Here: USEPA Regional Map

The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Table of Events

Key to abbreviations:

“v” = virtual, live online

“B” = blend (part 1 is online, part 2 is in-person)

“ip” = in-person

 

#24005(B)SDWA Federal Regulations
Operator Certification Training Course, blended

Course ID# Operator Training/Certification Event Start & End Date Days of Week A.M./P.M.
——— 2023 Computer Based Testing Coming soon 2024 Computer Based Testing 2023 year-around2024 year-around  ——— ———
 Wastewater
 #24006(B) Wastewater Collection-Level 2
Operator Certification Training Course, blended
 Part 1 – live on-line (v) March 11-20  M,W,F  A.M.
 Part 2 – in-person (ip) March 25-29
Valley Center, CA
 M thru F  all day
 Drinking Water
#24005(B) SDWA Federal Regulations
Operator Certification Training Course, blended
Part 1 – live on-line (v) April 2-5 T,W,Th,F A.M.
Part 2 – in-person (ip) April 8-12
Parker, AZ
M thru F all day
#24004(B) Water Distribution-Level 1
Operator Training Course, blended
*Region 9 priority
Part 1 – live on-line (v) April 15-18 M,T,W,TH A.M.
Part 2 – in-person (ip)April 22-26
Parker, AZ
M thru F all day
 Specialized Training
#23016(ip) Backflow Assembly Tester
Certification Training Course, in-person
TBD,
Tempe, AZ
 M thru Sa All day
 Tribal Utility Management
#24002(B) Tribal Utility Management
Operator Certification Training Course, blended
Part 1 – live on-line (v) Jan. 31-Feb. 9 M,W,F A.M.
Part 2 – in-person (ip) Feb. 12-16
Banning, CA
M thru F all day
 I.H.S. EHSC Trainings
——— I.H.S. Trainings ———  ——— ———
 U.S. EPA Training
——— EPA Trainings ———  ——— ———

Technical Assistance to Tribal Communities

The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) Tribal Water System Program is dedicated to providing technical assistance to tribes in order to develop technical, managerial, and financial capacity (TMF), as well as water & wastewater utility sustainability through education, access to resources, training, and technical assistance. The program partners with federal agencies and other organizations to ensure these services are available to Tribal Water Utility operators and managers.

Want to Learn more? CLICK HERE