Justin,
Washington seminar can absolutely count for CEU points. What you are asking
is a two part question.
NBPCB reserves the right to count or discount any sort of training or
conference if we don't feel it contributes to your professional knowledge
related to SDCT.
Irrespective of what NBPCB will count for CEU points, your employer has the
total right to determine which sorts of professional development
opportunities they wish to support, whether they count toward CEC or not.
You have undoubtedly already participated in state staff trainings that do
not count towards your recertification, but your employer feels it is
important for you. On the other hand, they need not give you time off or
support you going to professional development opportunities just because you
want them to.
Many employers will not support folks going to national convention even
though hwe have a day-long seminar specifically on O&M.
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC
Director, Professional Development and Research
Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax)
Skype: edwardbell2010
ebell at latech.edu www.pdrib.com
http://www.pdrib.com
**************************************************************
"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's
brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and
died in cotton fields and sweatshops."
-- Stephen Jay Gould
From: NOMC [mailto:nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org] On Behalf Of Justin
Salisbury
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 6:59 PM
To: NOMC at lists.nbpcb.org
Subject: [Nomc] Washington Seminar as Professional Development
Aloha everyone,
I have recently partaken in conversations about the legitimacy of attending
the Washington Seminar of the National Federation of the Blind as part of
the professional development of a mobility instructor holding the NOMC. I am
writing to ask a few questions to see how this practice has been justified
by others before me.
On the NBPCB website, there is a section discussing recertification. It
reads:
Recertification
NBPCB recognizes the need for Certified Blindness Professionals to continue
their education and training in order to remain current on innovations and
policies in the field. Therefore, individuals must reapply every five years
for recertification in order to maintain active NOMC status. The
Recertification process is designed to ensure that all certificants maintain
their skills and knowledge as cane travel instructors, and to promote
continuous education within the profession.
Recertification can be met by either retesting or providing documentation of
a minimum of 100 Continuing Education credits throughout the five-year
certification period. The following activities are examples of opportunities
which may be helpful in a crewing continued education credits:
o Professional Conferences and Presentations
o Contribution to published works in the field of rehabilitation for the
blind
o Providing professional preparation
o Engaging in relevant training
o Conducting research in the field of rehabilitation of the blind
o Providing community service including rehabilitation of the blind
o Governmental Affairs
o Professional Ethics (10 points must come from this category)
Given that statement, it seems obvious to me that attending Washington
Seminar is professional development because it helps us get recertified. I
am hearing, though, that it has absolutely nothing to do with the job of a
mobility instructor and that there is no way that it can be justified as
professional development.
How exactly is it that others have successfully justified attending
Washington Seminar as professional development?
Thank you in advance,
Justin Salisbury
Justin M. Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, NCUEB
Opportunity Ambassador
National Federation of the Blind
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats
