New York State Education Conference

[Leonard E. Ungar]

GUY'S & Doll's
If you read posts 1 & 2 it states that no CE's are approved as of the present time and as soon as they are everyone will be told. Bill is trying to get everything in place so we don't have to wait till the last minute for our CE credit for NYS when renewal time comes. I hope this clears up this question????

Regards Len Ungar [ L I Nachi Chapter Pres. ]

[Joe Farsetta]

Lenny,

I, too, am waiting for the State to allow me to submit several CE courses for consideration. I have seen and heard messages from Bill several times that CE course submissions are not yet ready. But, when you read the announcement, even those of us in the know, are confused. I believed that CE courses were approved, or that they had been submitted for approval andwere waiting that approval within 60 days.

When one plans an event far in advanced of the anticipation of a process being ready and of course approval, it can cause confusion.

There's no problem, here, but I think more clarity is needed in the announcement. If the process was approved, I would submit at least one for immediate approval, and would probably contact Bill to be a part of your training conference. The conference is a great idea.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Greetings To All:

I was informed by the New York State, Dept. of State that within the next 30-60 days there would be a program in place for home inspector continuing education approvals. To that end, I have multiple courses ready to submit to the state. Once these courses are approved, for which I am reasonably certain, I will make available these courses in an educational conference environment in NY State, which has been formulated, awaiting NY State course approval.

If you remember last year, I presented a program to the state, and would not take 1 dime until such time that the state approved my entire program. Once they did, I began marketing it at a reduced fee for NACHI members. My school was the 3rd school approved in NY State for Modules 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5- which consists of the entire 140 hour program.

You can take home inspectioncontinuing education approved by NY State, (once the approvals occur) , anywhere. I plan on making it affordable. I plan on offering it in a conference setting so that the requirements are complete for each home inspector in 1 event, rather than taking a multitude of seminars throughout the year which usualyy equate to higher fees.

My plans are contingent upon NY State approval. Until my courses are approved, I will not list them, nor allow any registration process to occur. You will note, I have not listed the titles, the outlines, the hours or anything relevent to the course, until my courses are approved by NY State for Home Inspection Continuing Education Credit.

I am sure many reputable schools will be offering a host of courses throughout NY State. Anyone can take courses anywhere the classes are approved. I am just telling NACHI members of my plans to host an education conference to make this affordable and reasonable for licensed inspectors in NYS.

As I stated in my 1st posting, further information will occur once the state approves each of the courses I wish to offer. Until then, everything is simply speculation on anyone's part. I will offer discounted fees for NACHI members. Let's wait and see what courses are approved and when.

You will note, there is no date, no courses listed, no time table and no pricing UNTIL THE STATE OF NY approves my seminars and courses. Once this occurs, I will make sure that NACHI members are offered these courses at a reduced fee.

If anyone has any questions about all of our approved courses in New York State, you may go to our main web site at www.merrellinstitute.com for a current listing of approved courses. I have created a new web site specific for the educational conference, but no information will be listed until such time as NY State approved my courses.

I have received many e-mails asking to sign up. I will not register anyone for a program, yet to be determined, dates yet to be announced and courses yet to be approved. Those interested will be asked to sit tight for the next 30 days and once we have our approvals, I have asked Nick to post it to every NACHI member in NY State, at a discounted rate.

Those who are not interested, have every right to decide where to take their education.

I wish each NACHI member much luck and success and happiness now that Thanksgivng is approaching. Last year, at this time, there were many posts regarding school approvals, and to my word, I waited until the classes were approved before I took 1 dime.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Bill

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Thanks Len for the help regarding this information.

It appears that NY State will be mandating 20 hours of continuing education pr 2 year cycle- When more information is finalized, I will post it here!

Joe F- Much luck and success in your endeavors to offer a CE or multiple CE courses in NY State. As you know, NYS will begin CE shortly to meet regulations of the licensing law.

As I have stated in the past, I am offering this program, once NYS approves same. I am going to make them available for a discount tuition to NACHI membership, and I wish the membership to be aware of the time frame to which I would like to make these programs available, when the weather is still cold and inspections are not as popular.

We must wait for the state of make final determinations, which I believe will be forthcoming shortly. Until then, no dates, no course titles, no pricing and no hours are listed.

Those who are interested in our educational conference in March 2007 should stay tuned for more information once we are able to state we have NYS approved home inspection ce classes.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving NACHI members!

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Mic:

One very important thing was addressed on this post, it will probably be too cold to play golf in March 2007. Those who are looking for golf should go to the Pro-Lab sponsored event in Florida- Golf is year round there! I will be coordinated the event so it does not conflict with pro-lab's event!

More later.............

[Leonard E. Ungar]

Come on Bill !!!!
We can use RED BALLS in the snow, can't we ????

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Actually, many golfers are known for day glow colors in winter weather to keep track of each golf ball. Personally, I would recommend a warmer climate for the sport of golf- Winter and golf in New York don't mix- March may be better, but that is a question for mother nature, or the weather experts.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

We tentatively have more information for you to date as follows: (as we stated, this educational conference will be subject to NYS approving each seminar and we will not take any registrations until we receive full approval for each class we plan to host and present)
March 22, 23, 24, 25, 2006
4 hour AM sessions on March 22, 23, and 24 (8 to 12 noon)
4 hour PM sessions on March 22, 23, and 24 (1 to 5pm)

At present the state has indicated that the requirement will be 20 hours. To that end, if a Licensed home inpector picks 5 of the 6 seminars he or she will meet their requirements for ce credit (again, we will not offer this unless and until approved by NYS, Dept. of State) We will Limit the class size to 80 students per module.

Based upon the favorable response we have received from vendors, who will offset the cost of the program for Home Inspectors, we are looking to cap the fee for each inspector to $ 300 per registrant, which equates to $ 60 per class. This seems to be a reasonable price with books and materials included.

On Sunday, we will have a breakfast get-together in which all certificates will be distributed to those in attendnace. Those not in attendance will receive their raised seal certificates by mail the following week. Attendance will be mandatory for each seminar to receive any credit, once these programs are approved!

We will also be planning a comedy club event on either Thursday or Friday Evening at a reduced rate for our attendees. When we get closer to the event, we will make sure everything is spelled out in detail.

Until NYS approves any program, we will NOT allow anyone to register for these seminars.

I want to thank the many people who have contacted me ofering to help. Those selected to assist us, will be thanked by attending all the seminars for FREE.

I have set the dates up so they do not interfere with the Pro-Lab event scheduled for March 15, 16 and 17th.

Much luck and success to NACHI Memeberhip. Hapy and Heathy Thanksgiving!

[John Bowman]

I received this info, yesterday.

Announced at the STAHI meeting last night in Binghamton:

(12) hours annually will be required for Continuing Education by the Dept. of State to maintain a NY license
Only approved courses will be eligible for use for Continuing Ed.
Only an appoved instructor can teach an approved course to qualify.
Each instructor is required to submit resume for approval (60) days prior - $25 fee and proof of 250 inspections in the last (3) years may be required - same as home inspector schools
Each course must be submitted for approval (60) days prior - $25 fee annually/course. Must submit detailed outline, time sequence, references, exam with reference for each question and answer sheet.

The forms are not yet available and the DOS is not yet prepared to review course materials for continuing education although (12) hours would have been required in 2006. A proration formula may be available to prove 2006 compliance.

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Thanks John:

Last I was informed was the following:
20 hours of approved continuing education before renewal occurs (if it is 22 hours or slightly less or more, that is reasonable, since real estate requires 22.5 hours every 2 years and appraisers require 28 hours every 2 years)
All Instructors must be approved to teach, as is already the case for those teaching licensing courses
Courses must be submitted prior to offering the program 60 days prior to the course being presented.
I was told by the Dept. of State that they did not have plans on requiring exams for ce courses at present, only for licensing courses. I will e-mail the Dept. of State for their opinion on this.

All of our instructors are Approved Instructors by New York State.
We will only offer courses/seminars approved for Home Inspection Credit, and are awaiting the application to file our courses with the state for approval. They just ent us the renewals for our licensing courses, which I have already sent to the state for renewal. P0011, P0012, P0013, P0014 and P0015.

Thanks for the update John. I appreciate your input. Give me a call if you get a change. Hope to see you at our Educational Conference in March 2007, again provided the programs and courses are approved by NYS, Dept. of State. To that end, as I did lst year when we were awaiting Licensing approval, I will not take 1 penny from any registrant until the state approves our program. I don't want potential students to find out about these dates last minute, and that is why we have and are formulating it now!

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Bill

[Thomas G. Valosin]

Hello Bill,
Thank you for your extensive clarifications regarding the seminar and that the State is being typical of any government entity, that is, moving slowly. The first info released by you made it look like you have an "in" with the department and got info no-one else had! It almost made it appear like there was hope on the horizon that the State would be acting quickly, HA-HA. Some folks I spoke with (very concerned about CE) assumed your program was "a done deal". Your follow-up messages did a nice job with making the situation very clear. Thank You
By the way, my latest info was that as of the October Advisory Board Meeting little definitive progress has been made regarding requirements for CE, State COE and State SOP. (without all 3 in place, no hopes of reciprocity for those inspectors "on the border")
Knowing that the Advisory Board input then has to be acted upon by DOL and DOS, I have a problem seeing how the info will get out from the State to you and other school leaders while still allowing for all the approvals they will be asking of the schools. It is just my opinion but IF you can get it set for your hoped for dates it will be just shy of a miracle. Good luck to you on that.
On that note; Fellow Inspectors - In my opinion, the "powers that be" fully realize they will be "short timing" those of us who were licensed on
1 January 2006. They are aware it will be difficult to meet the CE requirements first time around. From comments made at the Advisory Board Meeting in Albany, the State will not be making it so we cannot continue in business. Some allowances may be made. I would advise all to keep an eye on this thread and the info Bill is getting out. Please, DO NOT bombard the DOL - they are working flat out. To sum it up, patience people.
Tom Valosin
NACHI NY SEA

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Thanks Tom:

Spoke to the Education Unit today, and they seemed confident that the process will evolve and we will see applications before long. That being said, I have multiple courses ready to offer, once the state allows schools to submit same for approval. I am hoping to present this program in March and to that end, all 6 seminars (24 hours of credit) will be offered at around $ 300 total- If we find that 20 hours is neded than a student need only attend 5 of the 6 seminars, if more is required than we will adjust our schedule accordingly.

As I did last year, successfully, I marketed the program to give fellow NACHI members the time necessary to schedule their activities, and until the state gives me any approval, I will not take 1 penny from anyone, not the vendor who will keep the costs down for licensed individuals nor the student.

My only concern at this point, with over 100 e-mails asking to be put on a list to be allowed to take the course, once state approved, is I will run out of room for the first conference. If it is successful, I would be able to offer others like this to make available these courses at an extremely reasonable price,.This is a win-win situation for all.

I am confident that the state will have the applications shortly. They were able to pull off the entire licensing process for schools in a matter of 47 days, and that was and is more difficult (in my opinion) for them than approval of ce classes.

My assurances to Home inspectors in NY: I won't take penny for a ce scheduled home inspector class, until it is officially, in writing approved with an approval code stamped to it by NYS. This should make everyone pleased and it keeps everything very simple.

If you are a Licensed Home Inspector in New York State and are interested in the program, simply call our offices 631-563-7720 or e-mail me and we will put you on a list- a no obligation list which will reserve for you a seat if the program receives the approval we anticipate. This way, we will not notify that the program was and is sold out. I would like to see NACHI members to benefit from this.

More later when I have more information............

On a side note:

I spoke with John Bowman about offering this type of educational conference in April or May in the Elmira area, such that those in this part of the state would not have to drive 3-4 hours for inexpensive ce credit. John gave me very good advise, and as soon as my classes are approved, I will proceed with the several education conferences. Again, until then, I am funding everything and will not take 1 penny from any vendor or any potential student!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bill

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Hope This Latest Posting From Me Further Clarifies Our Resolve, Hope And Determination To Offer The Education Conference, Provided The State Takes Action Within The Next 90 Days!

http://www.merrellinstitute.com for updated information- We update our website 4 x weekly!

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Submit to Appraisal Education Network School/Merrell Institute
1461-16 Lakeland Ave., Bohemia, NY 11716 631-563-7720

Name_____________________________________________

Phone_____________________________________________

Home Inspection License in NY Expires__________________

No program will occur unless and until NYS Approves each and
every seminar for Home Inspection CE Credit. This form's
purpose is to simply determine the # of students we can anticipate
so we do not over or underestimate the potential enrollment. The
fee, including all sessions will be approx. $ 300.00, supplemented
by the active inspection vendors who will be present. Those who send
in this form are under no obligation to attend this program. That comes
out to $ 50 per 4 hour seminar at a major hotel in NYS.

Signed_____________________________________ Dated_____________

Thanks to the NYS Inspectors and the local chapters who have done
a great deal to get the word out. Again, we will not take 1 dime until
such time NYS approves each seminar in conjunction with this program.
Call 631-563-7720 with any questions you may have!

All NYS NACHI Chapters will be offered Free Table/Booth Space- Prior reservations are required- Call Bill Merrell for details and information! It's our way of thanking those chapters that have been supportive of our school activities-

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

[Bill C. Merrell, CMI]

Pending NYS Dept. of State Approval, We Are Proud To Announce That Nick Gromicko Has Offered To Present An Evening Seminar On Home Inspection Marketing, For All Those In Attendance-

We Are Proud And Pleased That Nick Gromicko Will Be Our Featured Speaker At This Exciting Event!

We Will Update The Web Link Directly Once The State Approves Each Of Our Seminars. Until Then, We Will Not Accept Registrations To Make Sure That No One Receives Mis-information. This Is The Same Thing We Did Last Year When We Were Awaiting NYS Approval For Our Approved Modules. We were The 3rd Approved School In NY State.


Happy Thanksgiving Nachi Members

More To Follow..............

THANKS TO NICK GROMICKO FOR ADDING TO THE EXCITEMENT OF THIS EXCITING EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NYS!

educator@doctor.com to let us know you are interested in learning more- also lick on the icon to check out the web site!