There are new requirements for maintaining your certification that go into effect 3/1/11. We will go into more detail in subsequent articles, but the important thing right now is that you know that there are changes which can affect how you renew your certification.
If you want the full picture, this is all laid out in the PMP Handbook, in the section called Continuing Certification Requirements. You can read this (but not download it) here. The Handbook contains a lot of useful information for PMPs, so may want to bookmark this site for future reference.
Overview of Changes
There are some significant changes in the structure of what you need to do to maintain/renew your certification, but some important basics have not changed. You still have a three-year cycle for your certification. You still need to accumulate 60 PDUs within that three year period, and you still need to apply for renewal and pay a fee to get another three-year certification. So none of that has changed.
What has changed is that they have greatly simplified the categories, changed the limits for the PDUs you can accumulate in each category, and emphasized the possibility of an audit and the requirement that you keep records that can be produced upon request to satisfy an audit of your PDUs.
Simplified Categories
The previous requirements listed 18 possible categories in which you can earn PDUs. The new requirements shrink that down to six, of which 3 are purely educational and 3 involve service to the community. What is important to understand is that any valid source of PDUs in the old system is still a valid source in the new system. Each of the old categories maps into one of the new ones. But you may face limits on how many PDUs you can apply in each category.
Limits
The main change here is that you are limited in how many PDUs you can earn from what is called Giving Back to the Profession. That includes volunteering in either community or to the chapter, teaching a class in our PMP training program, or the PDUs you earn for being a working PMP. The total for all of these is limited to 45 PDUs over a three-year cycle. You can earn more than that, you just won't be able to apply them to your recertification. There is no limit, however, on the PDUs you can earn from learning activities. These include Chapter meetings, our Professional Development Day (PDD), and any courses you take. I think the clear take-away here is that PMI was concerned that some PMPs were maintaining their certifications without the training needed to develop their own skills. So now you have to get at least 15 PDUs, at a minimum, from a learning activity. This should not be hard to do, but you will want to plan for it.
Documentation
I see a much cleared and more detailed emphasis on maintaining good documentation here. They have always reserved the right to audit any application, but now they are specifically noting the required documentation for each activity and stating that you need to produce it upon demand. This is not a big surprise since it parallels a change in the 4th edition of PMBOK which similarly added emphasis to documentation. The take-away here is to start planning and maintain a good documentation folder. IF you attend a chapter meeting or PDD, keep the receipt and put it into your folder, for instance. If you took a class and got a certificate, file it.