Carnegie Mellon University
Gelfand Center  ›  STEM Education  ›  CMU Faculty and Staff  ›  Requesting Act 48 Approval

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Requesting Act 48 Approval for your Event

Pennsylvania Act 48 of 1999 requires all Pennsylvania certified educators to participate in 180 hours of ongoing professional education every five years to maintain active certification. At Carnegie Mellon, educator completion of credit-bearing courses is reported to the PA Department of Education by the Office of the Registrar, upon request from the participant. Each institution is required to name a single point of contact for non-credit professional development activities. Miriam Wertheimer assumed this role when Judith Hallinen retired.  The university must submit a new proposal to the Department of Education [PDE] to maintain the university's approval status for non-credit programs. The Gelfand Center reports program completion data to PERMS, the PA Educator Record Management System. All university departments can develop programs that are Act 48-eligible but they must comply with regulations established by PDE. Please review the following steps for completing this process.

  1. Prior to conducting the activity, complete the Carnegie Mellon Act 48 Submission Form. 

  2. During the program, collect information from each participating teacher: Name, Home Address, School, PA Professional Personnel ID (which teachers can find at the PA Department of Education PERMS website). Also collect an email address that you can use to send a confirmation message when the hours are uploaded to the PERMS database.

  3. Provide the link to Form PDE-3527 to each participant, which we have been asked to collect for each non-credit program that offers Act 48 hours.

  4. Determine the number of hours that each participant earns through the program. Teachers earn hours for participation in activities BUT NOT for breaks or for meals, unless a speaker presents during the meal.  It is important to keep attendance or sign-in sheets that can be produced in the event of an audit. 

  5. Send teacher information to the Gelfand Center within 21 days of the completion of your program. Download and complete the PDE Roster [.xls] which must be used for reporting. The data will be uploaded to the Department of Education and a PERMS-generated file will be sent for you to confirm the upload with participants.

  6. Note: Other states have different professional development requirements. Teachers may ask for a letter which confirms that they have completed your program and states the number of hours earned, which they can submit to their school district administrators. The Gelfand Center is only able to process files for upload to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.