Contact: NotarySeminar.SOS@sos.oregon.gov

Changes to Basic Training, and New Opportunities

Happy Spring!  As always, we are busy here in the Corporation Division at the Secretary of State, and we have some important program announcements:

There is a change coming to the Notary Basics trainings that will affect both the in-person trainings and the instructor-led webinars (no changes right now to the self-paced online training).

Effective immediately, both the in-person notary basics training and the instructor-led basics webinars will be 3.5 hours long rather than 3 hours. We have made this change for two reasons: first, so that we can add some additional information in areas where we hear a lot of questions and confusion; and second, so that we can allow a little more time for practice with journal entries and certificates at the end.

We are creating new trainings (webinar and self-paced only) on apostilles and authentications. Apostilles or authentications are necessary for any document that needs to be submitted to an official entity overseas, and an incorrect notarization can delay or derail important processes like adoptions and job applications. We will go over the basics of what apostilles and authentications are, and how you can make sure that notarizations for documents requiring apostilles or authentications are done correctly. You can expect the new trainings to be available in March, and their availability will be published on our notary training page here: https://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/notary-training.aspx

A reminder about our new open houses: We will now be offering monthly virtual 'open houses' where you can drop in at any time during the scheduled hour with questions or concerns. These are intended to be informal and flexible opportunities for discussion. We will occasionally feature a speaker on a topic of interest.

Sign up in Workday and get the link to join, then join us on Teams at any time during the hour. In addition to open discussion and questions, we will occasionally feature a guest expert to discuss a topic of interest in notary practice. You can find the schedule and instructions on the notary training page on our website. Our first offerings will be:

February 27, 12pm-1pm

March 28, 2pm-3pm (special guest--expert on fraud!)

April 30, 11:30am-12:30pm

We continue to offer individualized trainings on request.  If your organization has a group of ten or more who would like the training, we can come to you to provide an in-person training on a convenient date.  To discuss hosting a training, contact the notary team at NotarySeminar.SOS@sos.oregon.gov.

Reminder about trainings: For all notary trainings now offered by the State of Oregon, you will access registration and training materials by setting up an account in Workday. Information about the self-paced online training, the RON online training, the refresher training, the schedule for upcoming instructor-led webinars (both basic and advanced), in-person trainings, and the instructions for setting up an account in Workday, can all be found on the notary training page on the Secretary of State’s website: https://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/notary-training.aspx

Getting stuck in (or outside) Workday? Having login difficulties? We feel you. Contact the notary team for help at NotarySeminar.SOS@sos.oregon.gov. DO NOT contact the help folks at Workday or DAS, they will not be able to help you.

Happy notarizing!

Questions? Contact us at NotarySeminar.SOS@sos.oregon.gov.