The CA Commission on POST has been certifying courses for presenters since the 1960s. Course certification was created as a mechanism for transferring training funds from POST to the field, where training was most needed. Course certification requires presenters to prepare and submit training needs assessments, course administrative information, an expanded course outline, instructor resumes, and hourly distributions. Additionally, a budget analysis is required for tuition exceeding $100 and safety policies are required for manipulative skills courses.

In January of 2017, POST launched a field survey to measure presenters' satisfaction with course certification. The top priorities identified for change were:

1. Technology for entering instructor resumes
2. The amount of time it takes to get a new course certified   
3. Improved consistency between consultants
4. The amount of time it takes to get an existing course modified
5. Recourse 

A series of monthly workshops involving internal and external stakeholders discussing course certification led to a pilot project proposal. The pilot would test a new labor model and two new course certification types.

The new labor model would include trained administrative staff and a law enforcement consultant, (not the regional consultant) to certify courses for Regions 1, 6, and 10. Regions 3 and 8 consultants would certify courses using the new certification process, and the remaining regions would continue course certification as prescribed by Regulation.

Because the pilot certification requirements do not adhere to Regulations for course certification, the project was proposed to the Commission in June of 2017. The Commission approved the pilot project for one year, July 2017 to July 2018.

The pilot was launched on July 23, 2017 with a bulletin to the field. A continued campaign designed to raise awareness and participation was conducted from August to December of 2017. POST certifying staff distributed literature and conducted presentations at Training Manager meetings and at the Basic Consortium.

In addition to the pilot process, the Computer Services Bureau has been working to improve the process of adding and updating instructor resumes to courses.

From 7/23/2017 to 12/28/2017, 73 courses have been certified in the pilot as compared to 63 courses certified by the remaining regional consultants.

Presenters certifying courses in the pilot are requested to complete an anonymous survey once their course has been approved. The feedback has been exceptionally positive, presenters are very satisfied with the amount of time the courses have taken to certify, the changes to the hourly distribution and budget requirements, and the level of service they received. However, many of the pilot certified courses have been submitted by the same presenters, limiting the breadth of feedback that multiple presenters could contribute.

At the time of this report, it has only been two weeks since an administrative person has been available to learn course certification and actively review courses in EDI, assisting with the distribution of pilot material and providing support to end users. Utilizing administrative staff can significantly reduce the amount of work needed to be accomplished by a law enforcement consultant, but several more weeks of training are needed for administrative staff to function more independently.

More feedback data from presenters, and additional time for the administrative staff to grow into their role is essential before final recommendations are made on the pilot. Over the remaining 6 months of the pilot, more data can be generated by picking up an additional region or two to increase the number of participating presenters.  

The Computer Services Bureau will be ready for field beta testing on the new instructor resume process at the end of January.  It is recommended that the Course Certification Pilot continue as is for the next 6 months. At the completion of the year, a thoughtful data and workload analysis will provide direction for final changes to course certification.