Changes to Riders Education Levels

Effective immediately, the requirement for annual renewal for Levels II-IV is discontinued. Going forward, the focus will be solely on assisting members in updating and maintaining their certifications and training. The ONLY update to be submitted will be training certification renewals and only submitted when the current certifications expire or the certification has been refreshed.

For example, Joe Member has an ERC completion card dated 9-15-05. He will not need to submit any paperwork until 9-15-08 to update this requirement. Likewise, updates for CPR and First Aid only need to be submitted when the current completion card expires.

Members wishing to purchase the annual participation pins (formerly known as renewal bars or pins) can do so at any time by purchasing these from their CE/DE or RE. The Masters “Renewal” pin will remain the supplied pin until such time as inventory is depleted and we can reorder new “Participation” pins.

In support of this process change, the Level I-III and Level IV applications will no longer contain renewal information. Updates for course completions and certifications will be submitted on the newly revised form N.10 “Update” Form (dated March 2006).

Since the elimination of the renewal fee and the annual renewal process for any level there is no cost to “catch up” any expired requirements, simply have the member submit their current completion and certification cards with a completed Form N.10 to become active in the program and current in their certifications. (See definitions of “Active” and “Current” below.)

This portion of the document is an attempt to anticipate the need and provide you with answers to questions that are sure to arise concerning the change. The big picture is that the tool now uses more visual cues to alert the user that there is something needing attention.

Also, for Region and District Educators, in case you specially modify/format your reports, here is a heads up on the changes being made to the REP Levels Database (OK, its still a spreadsheet):

The first column has been renamed "I / O" for In/Out. It was formerly “A / I” for Active/Inactive. It is a column that is normally hidden. The old title caused some confusion when users thought it meant active in the Rider Education Program or with the Chapter. It is a way to separate data between expired and active GWRRA Membership. Note that this database is not connected to the electronic records in Phoenix associated with Membership information so must be automatically updated. We retain the ability to separate the Out records so they won't be sent with monthly reports. We keep it for those cases when a former GWRRA Member returns to active Membership, or when we “find” where the Member moved to another Region.

The old "Level Current?" column is now the new, renamed "Active" column, with active defined in the Sr. International Director of GWRRA Rider Education (Sr. IDRE) Bob Lorenz's words as:

Note: since Level I does not require renewed certifications, these participants remain active. Essentially, if you are at Level 2 or above, as long as all requirements for that level are achieved and course(s) are not expired on January 1^st, you remain Active for the entire year.

The old "Requirements Current?" column is now the new, renamed "Current" column, with current defined again in Bob Lorenz's words as:

Thus, someone can be active if all requirements for their highest level are met on January 1^st however they may not necessarily be current today, if their certifications have expired. 

The few differences in the two columns now are attributed to courses that expire after January 1st, 2006. There should no longer be a question of whether a Member becomes "inactive" in the REP if they were good at the beginning of the year and a course runs out prior to December 31st.

The tool we once had to determine if the Level Applied for was "Valid" (and unfortunately previously labeled "Level is Current?") is now retired.

More value added for the user:

If the course expiration dates (for anyone at or above Level 2) are less than the present day's date, that cell also turns into a red background, again directing attention for the user. The “Current” column will also indicate NO once this happens.

We also did this for any NO value in the new “Active” or “Current” columns. Any YES shows up with a contrasting green background. This will allow the tool to indicate overall problems in the first few columns (close to the Member names) and then the user can quickly go to the course expiration dates to find what has caused this. It also shows quite vividly who is not active in the REP.

Note that to change the YES or NO value in the “Current” or “Active” columns, the course expiration or renewal data being analyzed must be corrected – we don’t simply change the cell contents from NO to YES.

There are new comments added on the Active and Current columns to provide a quick reference to the user if there are questions as to what the criteria were for the YES and NO in the cells of that column. They are large, so to see it all you must be at the top left of the sheet to avoid having it cut off by the “frozen” window panes – the part that allows you to see the names and column titles no matter where you are in the spreadsheet.

Previously we had been directed to ensure that 25,000 safe miles were on record in the database prior to applying for Level 4. This requirement has been clarified (as of 1/18/06) by Bob Lorenz due to your feedback. The safe miles entered on the Master Tour Rider Application will now be used as the safe miles update rather than having the member submit a separate Level I-III form for a safe miles update.

Also, effective immediately, any Level IV is assumed to have the minimum 25,000 Safe Miles and the records will be corrected where necessary to reflect that. For Level II & III, it will be assumed that the member has the requisite 5,000 Safe Miles and the records will be changed to reflect that. There will no longer be any requirement to update the records after a member has achieved Level II or Level IV. Receipt of the completed Form N.7 (levels application) or Form N.9 (Masters Application) will be considered a valid update to the Safe Miles.

Master Number Eligibility is the only criteria used to determine the qualification of a member for Senior Master, Grand Master, and Life Grand Master status. We trust the Member to determine if they maintained their status as active and current for the 5, 10, or 15 years respectively for each award level. This list entitled “Master Tour Rider Recognition Program 2006 Calendar Year Eligibility” is available on the GWRRA website on the Rider Ed page.

The Master Recognition Patches and the participation (renewal) pins/bars are now obtained through GWRRA Rider Education Assistant International Directors Tony & Michelle Van Schaick at 94 Edwards Circle, Oswego, NY 13126-6068. Phoenix will no longer be the supply source for these items.

The Master Recognition Patches can be obtained by the member by completing the Level IV form indicating the patch that they are eligible for and including the $2 per patch fee.

We now have both the Gold on Blue background and Gold on Black background versions in stock. If not specified, the Gold on Blue patch will be sent. We now include a personalized congratulatory letter out with the patch (es). These patches will not be made available for Region or District purchase.

Renewal pins/hangers are available in quantity for purchase by the Region Educators.

As you can tell, the volunteer Rider Ed TEAM has been very busy lately. We went after these revisions with the idea that the forms should be easier (and faster) to use, provide assistance to the user, help avoid the more common errors, yet remain flexible enough to grow and adapt to future changes - without losing any of the functions we have in the present forms.

We have taken the time to ensure that past suggestions / recommendations for changes to the forms were considered and implemented, new requirements were incorporated, usability across country borders was assured, as well as beta testing of the final product. The new Level forms (and others) are released in an attachment to this document and are available on line at the National website. We think you will like the new look and feel.

With the distribution and publication of this notice, :

A partial listing of new attributes include:

We anticipate that the predictable human condition of resistance to change will be quickly overcome by ease of use and the resultant more accurate input. Chapter Educators and Chapter participants will be the first to benefit from these new tools.

For those that are not yet comfortable with computers and electronic forms, they can still be printed out and the blanks filled in by hand -just as you are doing now.

The Activity Report is expanded and can be completed on-line and submitted via e-mail. Please review the activity listing.

This form is set up for completion electronically to aid in obtaining clear and legible information thereby reducing errors in data entry or the necessity for follow up information. Drop down menus are available for Rider and Co-Rider courses that contain:

We have left a blank to accommodate other recognized riding courses such as (not limited to)

Drop down menus are available for CPR and First Aid course providers that contain examples of current types of nationally recognized training including:

The CPR courses must include a hands-on component as well as being nationally recognized to be considered. This effectively eliminates on-line CPR courses from consideration – for good reason. We believe that those who perform CPR should be given the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency under the instruction of a qualified person. The training program must be one that provides real time feedback and constructive coaching. Consider if you would want yourself, a friend or a loved one attended to in an emergency by someone who only watched the video and had not actually practiced the techniques.

The new Master Tour Rider Application includes pricing and a method to obtain a Black and Gold patch, and directs the user to send the completed form to their District Educator.

There is a new approval signature block at the bottom of the new N.9 form for the Region Educator as well. It has been a requirement to send Master Tour Rider Applications through Region Educators since September 2004, but in spite of our best efforts, that direction never made it into the Rider Ed Program Handbook. Until now the average Member using the form had no idea of this requirement unless they received guidance from a knowledgeable Educator. The result was a number of errors, some significant, that slipped through the cracks. There is also enhanced information for the Master Tour Rider Recognition program.

These forms are self revealing, with major changes including a new two year recertification requirement (versus the current 1 year) and greater flexibility in completing courses to remain certified.

By now you have heard of the following new seminars:

and the latest –

Like some other Seminars in the REP (such as Road Captain or Team Riding), these are very informative and meet a need in the GWRRA community, but do not count toward advancement in the Levels program. There is no plan to add these (or other future seminars) to the current Seminar Completion Cards.

Updated certifications prior to advancement - especially this time of year, people tend to forget that in order to advance in the Rider Education Program; they must be current in the level they are advancing from. In order to advance, if the certifications have expired, the member will need to submit a completed Form N.10 to update the certification expiration dates.