Adding New Courses

All Certification and Renewal courses must be set up online a minimum of eight weeks before the course start date.

To add a new course, after logging into Online Services, choose ADD A NEW COURSE from the action items list in your profile. Enter the course information and click the SUBMIT button.

Note: You can use the course description field to communicate additional requirements and directions. These include, but are not limited to, dress requirements, meal information, social activities and use of personal vehicles. Please refer to the NSCPSTP Instructor Guide for helpful guidelines on planning and organizing a course.

Note: If you are a currently certified instructor, your certification ID is already listed as the lead instructor. If you are not the lead instructor, you can change this field by either typing in another certification ID or searching for the instructor by his or her last name.

Add the course dates and times. Click FINISHED ADDING when you're done.

Note: You can edit or delete the dates you've already added if you made a mistake.

Add the members of the instructor team. If the team has not been determined, you can skip this step by clicking the FINISHED button.

You now have created a course with the status of PENDING. You will see a message at the top of the course details page stating that you still need to activate the course for it to be available for registration.

Instructor Team

Listing the members of the instructor team is required to activate any course. Each instructor must be listed once for each role he or she will serve. For example, if John Smith is serving as both an assistant instructor and a mentor instructor, then he should be listed twice, once as an assistant and once as a mentor.

When adding an instructor candidate to the team, you must also designate an instructor to serve as their primary mentor. This person will be the primary point of contact for any questions or concerns about the candidate's evaluation and is responsible for daily reviews with the candidate. Be sure to designate a mentor prior to adding any instructor candidates to the list, as you will not be able to add the candidate without doing so.

While none of the following are required, please keep these following recommendations in mind when putting together an instructor team:

• The recommended ratio of students to instructors is 5:1 for all Certification and Renewal courses. When applicable, this includes instructor candidates.
• No more than three instructor candidates should teach during a single certification course.
• The mentoring instructor should teach as little as possible so he or she may devote his or her full attention to the candidate.
• The lead instructor should not also act as a mentor due to the number of responsibilities he or she already has as the head of the instructor team.

PLEASE NOTE: Mentor instructors and instructor candidates can only be designated for a Certification course. Renewal and Retake courses can only include lead and assistant instructors.

PLEASE NOTE: An instructor candidacy applicant must be listed in the instructor teams as an instructor candidate for a specific course prior to teaching during that course. Failure to do so can prohibit the evaluation from being accepted for the instructor candidate AND jeopardize the validity of the certification for ALL STUDENTS participating in that course.

Activating a Course

When the course administrator clicks to activate a course, the system will automatically verify the data entered for the following required data (some fields may be changed after activation):

• Course type (certification, renewal)
• Class type (public or controlled)
• Location
• Dates and times
• Maximum number of students allowed
• Names and certification ID numbers for the instructor team
• Shipping contact and street address

Once activated, the course administrator will receive an e-mail notification of creation of the new course. Courses are automatically posted online and available for student registration. Listings of both public and controlled courses will be available through the online course search tool and all information open to the public. Registration for controlled courses will be pending lead instructor approval.

PLEASE NOTE: Once a course is active, the course dates cannot be changed. In these instances, the current course must be cancelled and a new one created.

Editing Courses

Once activated, the course administrator or lead instructor can make limited changes to the course. These include:

• Changing the maximum number of students (up to three weeks before the course or materials have been shipped)
• Materials shipping information (up to three weeks before the course or materials have been shipped)
• Course location
• Instructor team

To edit a course you've created, after logging into Online Services, choose MANAGE MY COURSES from the action items list in your profile. Choose the course you'd like to edit (finalized and cancelled courses cannot be edited). From the course details page, you have two choices for edits. To edit the instructor team, there is a link to set up course instructors in the course instructors section of the page. To edit things such as location, shipping, number of students, etc., choose EDIT COURSE from the action items list. Make any changes needed and click SUBMIT.

Although an e-mail will be sent to any registered technician candidates and the instructor team notifying them of any changes, the course administrator should notify registered participants of major changes, such as course location.

PLEASE NOTE: Once a course is active, the course dates, course type, class type, or language cannot be changed. In these instances, the current course must be cancelled and a new one created.

Canceling a Course

The course administrator or lead instructor may cancel a course at any time prior to the start date of the course.

To cancel a course you've created, after logging into Online Services, choose MANAGE MY COURSES from the action items list in your profile. Choose the course you'd like to cancel. From the course details page, choose CANCEL THIS COURSE from the action items list. Review the cancellation policy and confirm the cancellation by clicking on the button. The system will ask a second time to be sure you want to cancel. Click OK if you're sure you want to cancel the course.

You will now see a summary page of the e-mail notifications that were sent concerning the cancellation. Technician candidates will now have the option to either reschedule their registration for another course or to cancel the registration and receive a full refund.

PLEASE NOTE: Although an e-mail will be sent to any registered technician candidates and the instructor team notifying them of the cancellation, it is the responsibility of the lead instructor or course administrator to notify all registered individuals of the cancellation.