YMCA OF THE USA HEALTH & WELL-BEING RECERTIFICATION BOOKLET

March 2014
Version 2.3

Continuing education is a vital part of keeping up-to-date in any evolving profession. YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) encourages YMCAs and individual YMCA staff to make Health and Well-being continuing education a priority and for supervisors to regularly discuss Health & Well-being CECs (continuing education credits) with their full-time, part-time and volunteer staff. Health & Well-being CECs planned and taken within the context of a YMCAs strategic plan will enhance the YMCAs ability to impact the health and well-being of its members, along with providing new knowledge, skill and abilities to their staff. With the launch of the Learning and Career Development Center (LCDC) in June 2013, paper-based CECs or recertification applications are no longer accepted. In order to keep your Health & Will-being certifications active, you must complete two steps. Step 1, earn and submit recertification credits as necessary; and Step 2, submit the recertification application within the LCDC. Please note that you should submit any CEC recertification credits a minimum of 30 days prior to your certification expiration date. All applications are reviewed within one-business day of submission. If your recertification credits are not approved, then you will have time to participate in other activities to earn credits that will count toward recertification. The recertification application can be submitted no earlier than 12 months prior to the current health and well-being certification expiration date. Certifications must be recertified before the expiration dates. There is no grace period or retro-activation of expired certifications. If your certification expires, then the opportunity to recertify expires and you will need to start over from the Start Over Course for the expired certification which is listed in the LCDC. Y-USA is unable to make any exceptions to this rule for any reason. For more information on this, please see the Handling Expired Certifications section of this booklet.

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Keeping Your Y-USA Health & Well-being Certification Current

To ensure competency and uphold a high standard for YMCA-certified instructors, continuing education credits (CECs) are required in order to maintain the YMCAs two foundational Health & Well-being certifications: Group Exercise Instructor Certification and Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification. These certifications are each valid for three years. To recertify, you must complete 15 Health & Well-being continuing education credits between the date your certification period begins and expires, which is considered your three-year recertification period. Recertification Guidelines A course eligible for recertification credit may be counted one time per the three-year recertification period. Staff who obtain CECs are responsible for checking the Learning & Career Development Center (lcdc.yexchange.org) for updates and changes to the recertification process. Upon completing 15 CECs within the three-year expiration period of the Group Exercise Instructor Certification and Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification, staff must complete the recertification process by submitting the online recertification application through the Learning & Career Development Center (LCDC). If more than 15 CECs are obtained in the three-year period, only 15 of them may be applied for recertification. The remaining hours will not be applied to subsequent three-year recertification periods.

Outside Licenses
An outside license is documentation from an outside agency which states an individual has completed a training curriculum or earned a certification from that agency according to that agency's standards. In the LCDC, outside licenses are currently AED, CPR, CPR + AED, CPR-PRO, First Aid, and Oxygen. Y-USA accepts only four major providers of certification:

American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI) American Red Cross (ARC) American Heart Association (AHA) National Safety Council (NSC)

Y-USA guidelines require that CPR be renewed annually for Aquatics, regardless of the expiration date granted by the issuing agency. When you submit CPR or CPR-PRO in the LCDC, two CPR licenses will be generated upon approval: one each for Aquatics and Health & Well-being. The CPR license used for Health & Well-being courses may be valid up to two years. Please note that only the basic level outside license is accepted; instructor level certification is not accepted. 1. Navigate to My Records. 2. Click on Online Applications & Uploads. 3. Select Submit Outside License. 4. Select the License that you are submitting (e.g. AED, CPR, CPR+AED, CPR-PRO, First Aid, Oxygen). 5. Enter the Expiration Date, Achieved Date and Validity Period in months.

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6. Upload the license document requiring approval. Each license must be uploaded individually. Accepted file formats include .jpg, .png, .tif, .pdf, .doc, .docx. In order to approve the document your first name, last name, the provider name and the expiration date (or date issued including the number of years valid) must be clearly displayed.

Certification Status Email Notifications

Health & Well-being certification holders with a valid email address in the Learning & Career Development Center will receive email notifications from Y-USA regarding the status of their certifications. Please note that certification status notifications are sent via email only. To create a YMCA account, visit lcdc.yexchange.org. With an active YMCA account, you will have access to the LCDC which will allow you to view your transcript, track progress, register for courses and view alerts. Anyone is eligible to register a YMCA account on Exchange. If you need assistance with your YMCA account, please call 800-872-9622. Please keep your YMCA account updated in the case of email address changes and make sure your spam and junk mail filters will accept emails from YMCA of the USA (www.ymca.net). Due to Recertify Notifications Y-USA sends out Due to Recertify email notifications beginning six months before your certifications expiration date. This email will alert you that your Group Exercise Instructor Certification and/or Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification is nearing expiration. This service is offered as a supplemental reminder to the certification holder since the responsibility of recertification lies with you. Outside License Expiration Notifications Health & Well-being certifications require a valid CPR license, so the expiration of a CPR license renders the Health & Well-being certifications inactive. Y-USA sends out email notifications regarding your outside license expiration beginning 90 days prior to the licenses expiration date. This service is offered to assist you with the ongoing maintenance of your certifications.

Charting Your Progress Toward Recertification

A new resource in the LCDC is the ability to check the amount of credits obtained toward certification currently in a recertification period. View Recertification Progress To find your recertification activity progress, log in to the LCDC (lcdc.yexchange.org) and use the instructions below: 1. Navigate to My Learning. 2. Click on Certification Status. 3. Select the Recertification tab. 4. Select Group Exercise Instructor Certification Certification as the certification name. or Strength & Conditioning Instructor

5. A summary regarding your progress toward recertification of the selected certification will display.

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Earning Y-USA Recertification Credits

This section explains how to acquire recertification credits through the completion of Y-USA sanctioned courses and attendance of Y-USA-sponsored conferences and workshops. It also provides guidance in locating recertification options for certifications, course descriptions, and upcoming classes. Use Y-USA Credits toward Health & Well-being Recertification Continuing Education Y-USA Sanctioned Trainings in the LCDC You may acquire all 15 CECs in your three-year recertification period by taking Y-USA sanctioned courses. Once a Y-USA course completion is on your YMCA Transcript with a grade of PASS, Y-USA-sponsored recertification credits will automatically be applied toward your recertification if you are in your recertification period. You may receive recertification credit once per course, conference or workshop within your three-year recertification period; additional credits will not be granted for multiple instances of the same activity. Continuing Education Y-USA Sponsored Conferences & Workshops Select Y-USA activities such as conferences, workshops, or webinars may be accepted for CEC credit. Nonsanctioned Y-USA activities must receive pre-approval by the Wellness Specialist in the Healthy Living Department. Approval must be obtained 60 days prior to the activity. You will need to submit proof of completion via the LCDC as explained in Step 1 Submit CECs for Review. Instructor Serving as the Lead Trainer or Co-Trainer of a Class You may acquire up to 10 of the 15 required CECs by acting as the Lead Trainer or Co-Trainer for designated Y-USA courses during your three-year recertification period. Local Y Partnerships Please note that local Y partnerships do not automatically earn CECs automatically via the LCDC. more on this topic, please see the section titled Earning CECs from Other Organizations.

For

Find All Recertification Credit Options for a Certification For the easiest way to find all of the options that can be used to recertify a particular certification, log in to LCDC (lcdc.yexchange.org) and follow the instructions below to access certification descriptions: 1. Navigate to Catalog & Schedule. 2. Click Search for Certifications. 3. Select Health & Well-being as the certification category. 4. Select Group Exercise Instructor Certification Certification as the certification name. or Strength & Conditioning Instructor

5. Click Search and click on the certification name in the search results grid. 6. Click on the Recertification section to see all recertification credit options for the certification. Note the Y-USA Courses subcategory in both the Continuing Education and Instruction sections to see what courses provide credits toward recertification of the selected certification. Find a Course Description for CEC Information You may also search for a Y-USA course to see if it has CECs: 1. Navigate to Catalog & Schedule. 2. Click Search for Course Descriptions. 3. Select Health & Well-being as the course category.

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4. Select any course from the Course Name field. 5. Click Search and click on the course name in the search results grid. 6. Click on the Certification Information section to see any recertification credits awarded for successful completion of the course. 7. To find out if there are any upcoming scheduled classes for this course, click View Class Availability in the top right corner of the page. Find Scheduled Classes to Earn CECs To search for upcoming YMCA Health & Well-being classes: 1. Navigate to Catalog & Schedule. 2. Click Search for Class Availability. 3. Select Health & Well-being as the course category. 4. Select any course from the Course Name field or leave it blank to find all courses fitting your search criteria. 5. If you wish, fill in any additional search criteria such as your zip code and distance from the training location. 6. Click Search and click on a class name in the search results grid to see specific information about the selected class, including training location, date(s) and trainer name.

Earning CECs from Other Organizations

This section explains how to acquire recertification credits through the completion of non Y-USA sanctioned courses and attendance at other organizations conferences and workshops. The activity date for CECs earned from other organizations must be within the last three years in order to be approved. While the section above focused on locating Y-USA CECs, this section provides information regarding the different activities that can be completed for Health & Well-being recertification credit. Local Y Partnerships Y-USA fully supports local Ys partnering with health care providers, hospitals, and other community partners to offer continuing education opportunities that make sense for the leaders in their local community. In order for a local Y event or offering to earn CEC credits from Y-USA the following criteria must be submitted to the Healthy Living department via email (Healthyliving.wellness@ymca.net) and receive pre-approval for CEC credits. Please note Y-USA will only consider events that are have an audience of more than 25 staff or volunteers who hold active Health & Well-being certifications. The request must be made a minimum of 90 days prior to the event date in order for it to be reviewed. If Y-USA approves the partnership for CECs, then participants will be approved once they submit their CECs via the LCDC. Please include in the e-mail: Event contact person or coordinator Date, location, and time of event Description and agenda of partnership event Total number of hours Curriculum Speakers, including affiliations Example of certificate the participants will earn which includes at minimum: o Title of event o Sponsoring Y o Participant name

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o o o

Location Date Number of hours

Continuing Education through Approved External Organizations Y-USA accepts credits toward Health & Well-being certification recertification from a number of industry organizations. The following approved organizations offer trainings, workshops and seminars that Y-USA accepts for recertification credit: Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) Academy of Applied Personal Training Education (AAPTE) American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) American Council on Exercise (ACE) The Cooper Institute International Fitness Professionals Association (IFPA) National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT) National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF) National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA) National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA) National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT) National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Training and Wellness Certification Commission (TWCC)

One hour of course work from an approved external organization equals one YMCA Health & Well-being CEC. Please note that ACE CECs are preceded by a decimal point; for example, .3 ACE CECs are equivalent to three YMCA Health & Well-being CECs. In the event that an outside health and fitness or wellness training event is not offered by one of the above organizations, Y-USA will accept it for recertification credit if one of the approved organizations has designated it as having CECs for their certifications (as documented on the certificate of completion). The amount of CECs Y-USA will grant will be based on what the outside organization has determined. Attending Accredited University or College Courses 10 CECs may be granted per college course completed with a passing grade. The content of the course taken should support the knowledge base of the YMCA certification being recertified. Instructing Accredited University or College Courses 10 CECs may be granted per college course taught. The content of the course taken should support the knowledge base of the YMCA certification being recertified. Publications 10 CECs may be granted for original work published in professional journals or books. The content of the course taken should support the knowledge base of the YMCA certification being recertified.

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Step 1 Submit CECs for Review

You should submit any credits for review a minimum of 30 days prior to your certification expiration. To submit your recertification credits, log in to LCDC (lcdc.yexchange.org) and follow these instructions. Please note, you must be in a recertification period in order to submit CECs for review. 1. Navigate to My Records. 2. Click on Online Applications & Uploads. 3. Select Submit Recertification Credits. 4. Select Health & Well-being as the certification category. 5. Select Group Exercise Instructor Certification or Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification as the certification name. This form will not display if you are not in a recertification period. 6. Fill out the fields and upload the requested documents for proof of completion. 7. If you are in recertification periods for both the Group Exercise Instructor Certification and the Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification, select to apply the activity to another certification and choose the certification you didnt select in step 5. 8. Click Submit. Your credits will be submitted and added to your recertification progress report, pending Y-USA review of the submission. You may check the status of your credit submission by navigating to My Learning, then clicking Submitted Applications, Licenses & Equivalencies.

Step 2 Applying for Recertification

Once you have achieved 15 CECs and they are all accounted for in your records in LCDC, you must apply for recertification of your Health & Well-being certification as the final step in the process. This section will guide you through the application process. The recertification application can be submitted no earlier than 12 months prior to the current health and well-being certification expiration date. Certifications must be recertified before the expiration dates. Certifications must be recertified before the expiration dates. There is no grace period or retro-activation of expired certifications. Submit Your Recertification Application To apply for your recertification, log in to LCDC (lcdc.yexchange.org) and follow the instructions below after ensuring your CPR license is not expired: 1. Navigate to My Records. 2. Click Online Applications & Uploads. 3. Select Apply for Recertification. 4. Select Health & Well-being as the certification category. 5. Select Group Exercise Instructor Certification Certification as the certification name. or Strength & Conditioning Instructor

6. Select if you want to recertify another certification at this time. 7. Click Submit.

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8. Complete the payment process. Your application will be submitted and your certifications expiration date extended, pending Y-USA review of the submission. The cost to recertify one certification is $25.00. Please note, if you need to recertify both your Group Exercise Instructor Certification and Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification you can pay $30.00 to recertify both of the certifications together. You may always check the status of your application and print a payment receipt by navigating to My Learning, then clicking Submitted Applications, Licenses & Equivalencies.

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Maintaining Other Y-USA Health & Well-being Certifications

Recertification of the Group Exercise Instructor Certification and/or Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification is required for maintaining any additional Y-USA Health & Well-being certifications, which include both trainer-level and specialty certifications. Trainer-Level Certifications The Group Exercise Instructor Certification and Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification each expire every three years and must be recertified. The statuses of these foundational certifications determine the statuses of their respective trainer-level certifications, which do not carry their own expiration dates. Therefore, if you hold the Group Exercise Trainer Certification, you do not have to recertify that certification, but you must have a current Group Exercise Instructor Certification for the certification to be active. In the same regard, if you hold the Strength & Conditioning Certification, you must maintain the Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification for the certification to be active. specific trainer Trainer trainer

If your trainer-level certification is no longer active due to the expiration of the foundational instructorlevel certification, you are no longer eligible to train the corresponding courses. In order to obtain the active trainer-level certification again, you will have to follow the start-over course path outlined in the Handling Expired Certifications section of this booklet. Specialty Certifications Y-USA offers certifications which enable students to focus on a specialized content area. These specialty certifications require an active foundational instructor-level certification, most often the Group Exercise Instructor Certification. The status of a specialized certification is determined by the status of the prerequisite foundational instructor-level certification. For example, if you hold the Pilates Certification, you do not have to recertify that specific certification, but you must have a current Group Exercise Instructor Certification for your Pilates Certification to remain active. Also, if you hold the Pilates Trainer Certification, you do not have to recertify that specific certification or the Pilates Certification, but you must have a current Group Exercise Instructor Certification for both to remain active.

Handling Expired Certifications

When your Group Exercise Instructor Certification or Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification expires, you will need to retake the course which culminated in you receiving the initial certification, called a start-over course in this situation. Next Steps If you do not acquire and submit enough recertification credits or complete the application for recertification prior to its expiration date, you will need to retake Foundations of Group Exercise as the start-over course for the Group Exercise Instructor Certification or Foundations of Strength & Conditioning as the start-over course for the Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Recertifications

Do Orientation to the Y Training System (OLOT), Adult Learning Concepts or licenses such as CPR count for CECs? No; None of these items provide credits toward recertification of your Health & Well-being certification.

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Can I teach Foundations of Group Exercise and earn CEC credit for my Group Exercise Instructor Certification? No; This training cannot be used as hours for CECs as a recertification for itself. Teaching the course again does not further your knowledge base for that certification. Can I teach Foundations of Strength and Conditioning and earn CEC credit for my Strength and Conditioning Certification? No; This training cannot be used as hours for CECs as a recertification for itself. Teaching the course again does not further your knowledge base for that certification. What courses show up on my YMCA Transcript? The only courses on the YMCA Transcript are Y-USA-sanctioned courses. All CECs earned and submitted for review will not appear on your YMCA Transcript; if they are approved, they will display in your recertification progress if you are in a recertification period. If I have additional questions regarding recertification, who should I contact? You may email YMCA of the USA at, Healthyliving.wellness@ymca.net, or call 800.872.9622.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Expired Instructor-Level Courses

What are the expired Health & Well-being Instructor-Level courses known as the Sunset 6? Beginning December 31, 2009, the following Health & Well-being courses were no longer able to be recertified: 1. Fitness Leader certification is known in LCDC as Fitness Instructor Certification (retired certification) 2. Fitness Instructor certification is known in LCDC as Fitness Instructor Certification (retired certification) 3. Exercise Instructor certification is known in LCDC as Exercise Instructor Certification (retired certification) 4. Advanced Exercise Instructor certification is known in LCDC as Exercise Instructor Certification (retired certification) 5. Group Exercise Instructor certification is known in LCDC as Exercise Instructor Certification (retired certification) 6. Personal Training Instructor certification is known in LCDC as Personal Training Instructor Certification (retired certification) People certified in any of these courses had until December 31, 2009, to recertify these certifications a final time. In May 2009, notification letters were sent to Y-USA instructors. Information was posted on YExchange, and articles were placed in the Y-USA publication Hot Facts and trainer receipts. If I did not recertify my Sunset 6 certification, what are my next steps toward acquiring a new certification? You will need to take the Foundations of Group Exercise or Foundations of Strength & Conditioning. For course availability and to see if the course is eligible for CECs go to LCDC (lcdc.yexchange.org). After entering your username and password, click on: 1. Navigate to Catalog & Schedule. 2. Click Search for Class Availability. 3. Select Health & Well-being as the course category.

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4. Select Foundations of Strength & Conditioning or Foundations of Group Exercise from the Course Name field. 5. Click Search and click on a class name in the search results grid to see specific information about the selected class, including training location, date(s) and trainer name. If you meet any prerequisites and the class is open for registration, you may register for the class from this page. My YMCA is concerned that I will no longer have a Personal Training Instructor certification. Am I still able to perform the same tasks with the Ys Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification? The Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification is the updated version of Personal Training Instructor. With a Strength & Conditioning Instructor Certification on your transcript, you are still able to perform the tasks that you could with the Personal Training Instructor certification.

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