CSPO Renewal in 3 Steps – Renew Your CSPO Certification
Scrum Alliance requires CSPO renewal every two years. How to renew CSPO certification is the next question asked by Agile Product Owners once they get their CSPO certification.
In this article
We’ve explored the 3 steps for CSPO certification renewal in this article. Let’s go through each step one by one.
š Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE CSPO Renewal resources throughout the article.
Crucial Impact of CSPO Renewal to Your Career
When it comes to renewing CSPO certification, you might wonder if it is worth renewing CSPO certification. Definitely worths! Let me explain why.
While we were preparing this post, we searched for the CSPO certification holders in California, US. Guess the number. There are over 6,000 CSPO-certified professionals in California and counting. Note that this is the number of professionals who allowed their credentials to be shown on the Scrum Alliance website. The real number should be slightly above these numbers.
Source: Scrum AllianceĀ® Certificant Directory
We are living in a world of harsh competition. If you are working in agile roles, having a certification is a must more than an asset. Assume that you are looking for a Product Manager or Product Owner role. Without having an active CSPO certification, you will decrease your chances of securing a new agile job. Therefore, while you have earned CSPO certification, earn SEUs, and renew your CSPO certification.
Step 1 – Earn SEUs to Renew CSPO Certification
Before diving into how to earn SEU for renewing your CSPO, you must know how many SEUs you need to renew your CSPO. Scrum Alliance requires different numbers of Scrum Alliance SEU credits for different levels of certifications. CSPO certification is a foundational level certification and requires 20 SEUs to be earned every two years.
An SEU is based on a 1:1 ratio of contact hours to points. For example, if you attended a Scrum SEU Course and the duration of the course is 20 hours, you will earn a maximum of 20 SEUs.
No limits or caps exist for earning SEU credits from a certain category. So, you can attend an online self-paced Scrum SEU Course, and earn all required SEUs for your CSPO certification renewal. Your SEUs must have been earned within the CSPO renewal period, which is two years prior to your certificationās current active-through date. SEUs must have been earned within thirty (30) months for all certification renewal cycles.
We’ve explained the 4 Scrum Alliance-approved ways to Earn SEUs in our following YouTube video. Watch now.
Let’s go through each SEU category one by one now.
1st Way – Renew CSPO through Learning
As we’ve highlighted in the previous section, earning Scrum SEUs through the learning category is the most popular way for professionals.
While there are several benefits of renewing CSPO certification through SEU courses, here are the top five reasons:
No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the learning category, so, you can earn all Scrum SEU needs in one program, and renew your CSPO certification. You do not need to go elsewhere and search for how to earn SEU for CSPO certification renewal.
Self-Paced:Ā You do not need to attend an event, conference, or seminar. You can follow the courses at your place, at your pace.
Affordable:Ā Depending on the program content, you can enroll in a self-paced Scrum Alliance SEU course bundle for ~$200-300. However, seminars or conferences start from $1,000, not only that, you may not earn all SEU needs in one event.
Requires less effort:Ā When you enroll in SEU Courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn SEUs, and renew your CSPO certification. However, other SEU earning ways require significant effort from the certification holder such as creating content, sharing a presentation, authoring, etc.
Less prone to Scrum AllianceĀ® audit: Since the SEU training programs are used by many certified professionals, Scrum Alliance already has a track and record of the activities. However, for other categories, SEU submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit an audit.
How to Earn 20 SEUs to Renew Your CSPO Easily
San Francisco Business School offers a 20 SEU Course program. The program offers a self-paced business training program: Executive Leadership. SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning SEUs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.
Watch how Natalia Earned 20 SEUs for CSM Renewal
Natalia Olson is a CSM-certified Professional. Natalia enrolled in the 20 SEU Program from SFBS and renewed her CSM. Since the CSPO renewal requirements and steps are the same, you can be inspired by Natalia’s journey!
Watch now her CSM renewal journey.
2nd Way – CSPO Renewal through Events
You can earnĀ SEUs for participating in events like Scrum Alliance Global Gatherings, Scrum Alliance Regional Gatherings, and Non-Scrum Alliance-Sponsored Events, as well as in User Groups events and activities. Presenting, coaching, and attending sessions all count as SEU-eligible activities.
Typically, the duration of the activity determines the number of SEUs you will earn. For instance, if you attended a one-day Scrum Alliance SEU event, if the schedule of the event was 9 to 12 in the morning, and 1 to 5 pm in the afternoon, the total hours for the event would be 7 hours. So, you can earn 7 SEUs with this event toward renewing your CSPO certification.
Attending events has benefits like expanding your professional network and learning the changing trends in your domain. However, there are some pitfalls to these events.
Typically organized in big cities. If you are living in a relatively smaller city, you might not see any events to earn SEUs.
Requires in-person attendance. Many of the events take a few days, and you have to take days off from your work to attend these events.
Expensive. On average, these events are charged $1,000/day. So, for a two-day event, you need to pay around $2,000. Travel and accommodation, if needed, are not included in these fees.
May not earn required SEUs at once. Although it requires a significant amount of time and money, you may not earn all SEUs through one event. Considering you are a full-time professional looking to earn the CSPO SEU hours you need in one step, you may opt for other alternatives to earn SEUs.
3rd Way – CSPO Renewal through Volunteering
Scrum Alliance encourages professionals to give back to the community. Therefore, SEUs may be earned by providing non-compensated professional Scrum services.
For instance, if you are volunteering in an activity for teaching the basics of agile to high school students, this activity can earn you SEUs for CSPO renewal. The critical point here is, that you should not be compensated if you are in a volunteering activity. You can submit SEUs for the duration of the activity. For instance, if you attended a one-hour event, you can submit 1 SEU toward renewing your certification.
Note that, these activities may not be available in your location if you are living in a small city.
4th Way – Certified Product Owner Certification Renewal through Other sources
SEUs may be earned through a variety of other learning activities as Scrum Alliance acknowledges that not all learning fits neatly into the categories above. For instance, if you are reading a book, blog, or article about agile, you can earn SEUs in the Others category.
Renew CSPO Certification SEU Example
In this section, we will go through Scrum Alliance SEU examples by scenarios.
Note that, the following scenario is fictional to provide a better understanding of SEU reporting.
ScenarioĀ – How Jane Earned SEU to Renew CSPO Certification
Jane works as a Product Owner in a Fintech company. She earned her CSPO certification 1 year ago, and her certification due date is approaching.
Jane attends the San Francisco Business School’s Free Scrum SEU Course Online Program. The program contains three self-paced courses, and each course is one hour in length. After completing the self-paced program, Jane can submit 3 SEUs to renew her CSPO certification.
Step 2 – Submit Earned SEUs to Scrum Alliance
Once you earned the required SEUs in the CSPO renewal progress, the next step is submitting them to Scrum Alliance. Since you are a CSPO-certified professional, you should already have an account on the Scrum Alliance website.
To submit SEUsĀ® toward your CSPO certification renewal, please do the following:
Log in to yourĀ Scrum Alliance Dashboard
SelectĀ SEUsĀ from the navigation bar on the left
From theĀ Select an Activity TypeĀ dropdown, choose anĀ activity type
Here, you need to select the category you earned the SEUs (Learning, Events, Volunteering, or Others)
In theĀ Activity DescriptionĀ section, describe the activity
This is where you explain the content of the activity. For instance, if you attended a course, you can submit the description of the course here.
In theĀ Activity DateĀ section select the date the activity was completed using the calendar widget
Enter the hours and minutes spent on the activity in whole numbers
Select the blueĀ SubmitĀ button at the bottom
Please note that there is no limit to how many SEUs you can submit for a specific category. So, you can earn SEUs through any category.
Step 3 – Pay the CSPO Renewal Fee & Renew Your CSPO
Once you complete the required SEUs to renew your CSPO certification, the next step is paying the CSPO renewal fee and completing your process. To renew your certification(s) after submitting the required SEUs, please do the following:
Log in to yourĀ Scrum Alliance Dashboard
Select theĀ Renew NowĀ button in the upper left
Select the certifications you wish to renew
Confirm your renewal and proceed with the payment
Scrum Alliance requires a certification renewal fee at the end of the renewal process. For the CSPO certification, the renewal fee is $100. Note that, this is paid when you renew your CSPO certification. So, the CSPO renewal fee is $100 for every two years.
However, the CSPO renewal cost will be higher than this amount. To earn SEUs, you will attend courses, events, or other activities. If you need to pay for those activities, the cost of renewing your certification will be beyond the CSPO renewal fee paid to Scrum Alliance.
How to Renew an Expired CSPO Certification
Scrum Alliance certifications are renewed on a two-year basis. If your certification has expired, you are still able to renew it successfully after the expiration date. If you renew past the expiration date, your certification will be extended for a full two years from the date you pay to renew (vs. from the original expiration date.)
There are several benefits of having CSPO certification. Almost all agile roles require a reputable certification and CSPO is for sure the most reputable one. Therefore, we recommend keeping your CSPO certification active and renewing your CSPO certification before the expiration date.
Summary
You need to get 20 SEUs every two years to renew your CSPO certification. You can earn SEUs in four different categories: Learning, Events, Volunteering, and Others. Earning SEUs through Scrum SEU courses is the most popular among CSPO-certified professionals.
CSPO professionals choose to earn SEUs through courses because they are self-paced, affordable, and require less effort. Since there is no cap for the learning category, professionals can earn all required SEUs at once through CSPO SEU course programs. One of the other benefits of SEU courses is they are less prone to Scrum Alliance audits.
