The "New" USHGA Instructor Certification process
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The "New" USHGA proposal

And our rebutal

   	                    2/4/98 updated 11/11/98
	By now, most instructors and many pilots will have heard
the new  "official" edict form the Safety and Training committee as
to the future certification and recertification policy to be enacted
in 1998. According to the proclamation, falling membership/lack of
growth in the membership is due in part to poor training.
	 On the surface, the proposal doesn't sound too  bad. All 
it will do is:
1) Make it harder and more costly to become certified as a basic
instructor.
2) Take away the ability of advanced instructors to put on ICP's
 and create a select group that can conduct ICP's.
	The ostensible purpose is to make sure that everyone is
teaching the same way. All you have to do to be approved to
conduct an ICP is get approval from your regional director, fulfill
a number of other requirements, go to an "Instructor Administrator 
Seminar" (maybe), kiss properly and you are appointed. (That comment
may have cost me any chance of being appointed if I wanted to be in
the ICP Admisistration business.) I was told that appointments 
would be reviewed every 6 months.   
        It really doesn't sound too bad until you look at a few 
facts. First, it will reduce the number of people creating new 
instructors and increase the cost. Although the plan is to make 
it easier to become recertified, the lower number of people able
to conduct "ICP's will probably increase the cost and schools that
formerly could hold ICP's, will now have to pay someone to 
recertify them/allow them to teach. 
	Second, based on the USHGA membership list as of 8/97,
the bulk of the current members come from a large number of 
small schools/instructors----
(see Instructors Forum #8)
and the majority of all instructors have approximately the 
same "success" ratio---number of ratings issued/number of
pilots who remain members for more than one renewal. Quality
does not seem to be a problem.
	Third, over one half of the states in the U.S. have 2 
or less instructors in them and 17 of these had none as of 8/97.
The USHGA plan will definitely make it more lucrative to conduct
"ICP's" and will probably reduce the number of new instructors who
become certified. It wil also fix something that does not appear
to be broken. Short term, it will make a few people more money,
long term it will further reduce the number of pilots.
	In a real attempt to improve instruction, I personally
would either like to see the existing structure remain with some 
of the following items included to improve the program which
would cost little or nothing to implement and should improve 
the quality of instrucion OR well, what do you think of the total
proposal as the certification method?. 

Instructor certification proposal First, this was delivered to the B.O.D meeting in CO, 11/98 after previously sending the B.O.D. the basic proposal below. Following that is the "Press Release" certification program enacted at the meeting. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/4/98 Now per Rob. McKenzie---- Perhaps there is a trial way to get instructors started: put them on probation... with minimal difficulty or hassles and their status will be such that anyone asking about them to the USHGA will be informed of their probationary instructor status. Let a training record eventually pull them into full instructor status. Likewise let a full instructor's record of lack of instruction or problems pullthem back into probation. The probies would have full rating capacity but just the namesake would be something to strive to graduate from. Demoting them to prob status should be easier for the USHGA to do as it wouldn't really be taking away their livelihood and chances of a lawsuit from pulling an Instructor Rating would be reduced. Sent to the USHGA and the B.O.D. 10/98---revised 11/4/98 As the growth (or death) of hang gliding is going to relate closely to the availability of good instruction, we would like to see the following adopted as the instructor certification process/program by/of the USHGA. 1) All instructors would be rated by the pilots they teach on both their application and renewal forms.* 2) All training accidents would be reported (w/ instructors losing certification if they fail to report an accident) and the information circulated to all instructors (at the least). This would not be for stone throwing but simply to help eliminate causes for accidents. "Accident" would be defined as any incident that demanded medical attention but it would be nice if "near misses" were reported too just so all could learn. 3) All instructors would remain certified if they are current i.e. if they rate (1,2.?) pilots/year, their safety record is acceptable and their success ratio remains within the norm. (Success ratio = ratings issued/active pilot member for >3 (?) years.) For the moment, "acceptable safety record" would be no more than 50% above national average accidents/student. 4) The need for recertification of existing instructors would be based on poor ratings by students, poor success ratio or due to excessive training accidents.** 5a) New instructors would be created by apprenticeship and signed off EITHER by attending an ICP or by an advanced instructor who has seen them deal with a large number of students in a wide variety of conditions. 5b) New instructors could be certified by any certified school but all of their statistics including safety would be "attached" to the certifying school until/unless the "new" instructor attends an ICP. 5c) The "Advanced Instructor" rating would/could be awarded to instructors who have been teaching for a minimum of 4 (?) years and have been endorsed by local clubs/sites that have witnessed the product and behavior of the instructor. The regional director could have a say in the approval of the "Advanced" rating. *** 6) All instructors would have to log a minimum of air-time/year 7) All impending changes to the USHGA instruction program would be sent to ALL instructors for comment prior to being enacted. The USHGA is not a dictatorship, a monarchy or big government. Hang gliding instructors are a small group and it is no more ridiculous that they regulate themselves than that pilots be self regulated. 8) Some form of communication would be established for all instructors to be able to transfer information on possible improvements and problems in "standard" training methods. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * The ratings of instructors by pilots/former students would either be published annually in H.G. Mag. or be reviewed by the Safety and Training Committee and sent out to all instructors. ** Who would pull the rating or demand that an instructor be recertified? The Safety and training committee by majority vote after reviewing the data. *** The currently appointed "Administrators" could be the people to award the rating. If the currently appointed "Admistrators" are so good that they are to be trusted to certify only good instructors, then they could in the above scenario, be entrusted with following up complaints of poor instruction, failure to file accident reports etc. as well as putting on ICP's for those wanting to become independent / non-probationary instructors. Their costs for doing so, would be offset by the money they make on ICPs. ----------------------------------------------------------------- As a poor alternative----- Would there be any feasibility for anyone be able to "sponsor" an administrator and with sufficient support from clubs, distributors, manufacturers etc. be appointed. This need not be done to fill a regional gap but to allow good instructors continue to operate and create instructors as they have in the past without having to waste time playing a game. This would still allow the selective aspect that you want to exist to be there. The way that you could insure that the sponsors were acting out of conviction and not out of fear of standing out naked and objecting to someone, would be for each sponsor to have to write in for a form and then fill it out and mail it back. That way, they would be out of sight of peers and the person that wants their sponsorship. Forms could be numbered so that you knew that each form was in fact the one that went to the person's home. They would NOT be mailed to any but the member's address. If clubs and sites in an area feel that a school is producing good pilots, then they should be able to create instructors that do the same. The method(s) that they use to create the pilots are irrelevant if they are safe but obviously it would be nice to find out what they are doing to achieve the success. Alegra and Ben Davidson Tek Flight Products Winsted, CT
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The New Streamlined Instructor Certification Program

A new, simplified and streamlined Instructor Certification Program has been put in place by the USHGA Board at the recommendation of the Safety and Training Committee. The primary components of the new USHGA Instructor Certification Program are outlined in this article. For all the specific details we suggest that you visit the USHGA web site at www.ushga.org or contact the USHGA office to get a copy of the new program. The most significant change to the program is that the training of instructor candidates has been separated from the testing of instructor candidates, making it much simpler for qualified instructors to obtain certification or to re-certify. The new program will include a three day Instructor Training Seminar (ITS), followed by one day of testing, including practical and written exams. Qualified instructors will be able to attend just the testing portion of the program to obtain certification.

The former instructor certification program required, for new instructor candidates, 10 days of apprenticeship with a certified instructor, and attendance at an Instructor Certification Program (ICP). The ICP included training in instructional techniques and culminated in a test to establish competence as an instructor. Re-certifying instructors were required to attend the full ICP, including both the training and testing parts.

The new program strongly recommends the 10 days of apprenticeship and attendance at an Instructor Training Seminar (ITS) for new instructor candidates. The ITS program includes a comprehensive check list of subject matter to making it easier for instructor candidates to understand what they need to know to become certified. For already qualified instructors, however, it is now possible skip the training components of the program and go directly to the testing phase to obtain certification. Please take note, however, that as a part of this new program, the testing phase will be considerably more rigorous than it has been, in most cases, in the past. In many cases even practicing instructors will benefit from attendance at the Instructor Training Seminar preceeding the testing day, and few new instructor candidates would be expected to be able to pass the testing phase without having both apprenticed and attended the ITS program.

A new requirement in the testing phase of the program is to pass the FAA Fundamentals Of Instruction (FOI) written exam. Candidates must also pass a written exam based on the USHGA Instructor Manual. The FAA Fundamentals Of Instruction Manual / Study Guide, on which that test is based, as well as the USHGA Instructor Manual, are available from the USHGA. (It may also be possible for candidates to take the FAA written exam from an FAA test facility, though the policy on giving the exam without an FAA flight instructor endorsement may vary from one testing facility to another.)

A number of Instructor Administrators have been appointed to conduct the new instructor training and testing programs. In the former certification program any Advanced Instructor could conduct an ICP. For more consistency and higher quality we decided to have a smaller number of people conduct the training and testing programs under the new system. There are currently 14 Hang Gliding Instructor Administrators, and 10 Paragliding Instructor Administrators. They are distributed around the country, and all of them are willing to travel to accommodate the membership. If you have experience in training instructors and wish to become an Instructor Administrator please contact Safety and Training chair person Bill Bryden at (812) 497-2327. If you want to become certified as an instructor, please contact the USHGA office at 719 632-8300 to find the Instructor Administrator nearest you. Overall the test to pass the instructor program will be tougher, but all the arbitrary "hoops" candidates had to jump through have been removed. It is hoped that the consistency brought by the smaller number of presenters, coupled with the fairness of a more objective testing system will make this new program more accessible to the membership, and improve the quality of instruction for both hang gliding and paragliding.

These changes were unanimously approved by the Safety and Training Committee. This committee was comprised of a wide spectrum of pilots The USHGA welcomes your comments.

USHGA Safety and Training Committee

P.S. I have never gotten an answer from the Safety and Training committee from anything we have ever sent. Excuse me, I got one phone call saying that "studies can say anything" etc. Ben Davidson Feedback from all is welcome----please!!!!

Our thanks to all who contributed and criticized.

Feedback is invited ---- PLEASE.

What do YOU want?

We need input, the USHGA needs input or the good intentions of others, will rule us.

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