The Certification Agency

The first thing one must keep in mind when choosing an "Advanced Certification/Technical Certification Agency" is there are four major categories of people that they service in all the course areas offered:

1. Advanced/Technical Diver
   
2. Advanced/Technical Instructor
   
3. Advanced/Technical Instructor Trainer
   
4. Advanced/Technical Dive Facility
   

What are critical areas that these groups must look at when evaluating an Advanced/Technical Certification Agency?

*Does the agency have a broad base of experienced and qualified people on their Board of Directors and/or Advisors?

There exists agencies who are a one or two man show. One has to seriously question the motives of such a small power base at the top. In many cases, the "leader(s)" don't want the extra input to develop a quality program but rather to line their own pockets to a detriment of the dive community. The agency should rely on a broad base of experienced people to serve as advisors and a board of review, as they seek to develop and improve the advanced/technical dive programs and texts, set standards and procedures for these programs, and provide support materials and products for the four major groups mentioned above.

*Does the agency have the written Standards and Procedures?

These Standards and Procedures should be evaluated in light of the following:

1. They need to be written and/or approved by a broad base of highly experienced people who are extremely knowledgeable in the course areas which they address.

2. They need to be clear, concise, specific, realistic and measurable.

3. They need to standardize the scope and sequence of each course as it pertains to:

   - Classroom training

   - Pool training

   - Open water training

4. They need to standardize what text(s) are to be used for each course. As an educator and program developer, I was shocked to find that some agencies allow the instructor to choose which text they could teach a course from. I say this for the following reasons:
   In any situation, the most experienced (an Advisory Board or Board of Peer Review) are in a much better position to speak to the least experienced. The book of Proverbs tells us that there is safety in a "multitude of counsellors."

   How could just "any text" satisfy the demands of a quality program?

   From what experience base would the instructor choose his/her text?

   How could "any text" truly be adequate for such a highly sophisticated program as advanced and/or technical dive specialties?

   Having different texts chosen by an instructor - essentially means a very loose set of Standards and Procedures. What a liability nightmare!

5. They must clearly define all parameters - minimums and maximums.

6. They must be enforceable and some mechanism must exist by which violations can be dealt with.

What good is an advanced/technical certification if you can't use it anywhere? If there is a problem with recognition, how does it compare with similarly titled courses offered by other agencies? I say this in light of the fact that with progressive courses, there may be some areas of the country, or world, that are still stuck in the "Diving Dark Ages." No matter who you are certified through, they would brand you as a "dive heretic" and burn you at the stake for engaging in practices of breathing "strange and unnatural gases" and diving beyond the "sacred 130 limit." If the Age of Diving Enlightenment hs reached them, how do they look upon the particular agency?

*Are the certifications issued in a timely manner?

Obviously, one of the major objectives of a Certification Agency is to issue certifications. Without the certification, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to engage in certain forms of advanced/technical diving. One of the major expectations of students is to get the C-card ASAP, so they can dive! One of the expectations of advanced/technical instructors is to get their certification so they can certify students, have access to some limited use dive sites for classes and have an income. Much the same could be said of instructor trainers - they want to certify instructors as well. Dive facilities want to have credentials pon which to promote and advertise their services. If the certification agency can't respond promptly by issuing these certifications, the process begins to break down and dissatisfaction grows. I have dealt, in the past, with certification agencies that were taking 4 to 8 weeks getting a card issued. They lost a lot of facilities and instructors over the issue.

*Do they respond to your questions and problems quickly?

Nobody, with a pressing issue, likes to be "put on hold," or worse yet, ignored. The newly certified diver who is anxious to find out where they can get ahold of an instructor to teach the next level of technical diving they wish to take, the instructor who is in the middle of teaching a course and has questions about how to meet certain standards and procedures due to mitigating circumstances, the instructor trainer who has a question about certifying an instructor candidate, or a dive store that needs to know if there is a facility that has mixed gas on or near an island where one of their customers is diving this weekend. They all need and deserve a prompt response.

*Can you depend on their products, publications and other services being delivered on schedule?

The instructor who tells the student, "I've ordered your books. They will be here on Tuesday," the instructor trainer who tells the newly trained instructor they will have their Standards and Procedures within the week, the dive facility that states to a client that the agency's publication comes out every quarter - all have a big problem - should the certification agency drop the ball on a scheduled delivery.

The students expect this. The instructors should have this. The instructor trainers, to excell, must depend on this. The facilities can't survive without this. Any agency, which has the best interest of its customer in mind, will have these items for them or it can't grow and thrive. The better the program, the better the products and support materials for that program will be.

*Are their products and support material of high quality?

You expect a quality agency to have quality product. If they don't it may indicate:

- Lack of expertise in the areas these materials were designed for.

- Haste and sloppiness - sure signs of what you can expect in other areas in which they deal with you.

- Evidence of a "make do" attitude. No eagle ever soared if he thought, "I'll make do walking!" Neither will you, with such an agency.

- Financial instability. Will they be here for you tomorrow?

*Are new products and support materials being developed and released with regularity?

If they are not, you are dealing with a very complacent organization. Any agency that becomes complacent will find itself on a downward spiral - no matter how high it started out. This will both affect the credibility and the survivability of such an agency.

*Is the agency bringing new courses on line?

Any successful advanced/technical certification agency will challenge itself, its divers, instructors, instructor trainers and facilities with new courses. What impression would you get when asking what's next - only to be told, "Oh, nothing; and it doesn't look like anything is in the works."

*Is the agency improving and updating currently taught courses?

In the field of advanced and technical diving, things are changing daily. What may have been current yesterday may not be next week. That's the price for being at the leading edge. Any agency that can't make adaptations for this rapid changing and expansin of the knowledge base will become a modern day dinosaur.

*Does the agency provide a means by which the divers, instructors, instructor trainers and facilities may stay updated as to new information and changes?

If it does not have a vehicle to make sure that this change is relayed to all who are a part of the organization, it not only does its customers a disservice but may put some segments of the dive population at increased risk. Obviously, the agency can bring the horse to water (provide the vehicle to update), but can't make it drink (motivate the student to utilize that vehicle). There will always be a certain segment of the dive population that resists change (even at the "leading edge"). The fact is - many certification agencies do not have an effective vehicle available to inform their customers of any changes.

*Is the advanced/technical certification agency making a profit? If the agency can't make a profit, it won't survive. This means with advanced/technical diving, the number of divers that will be customers (divers, instructors, instructor trainers) will be much more limited than the mainstream "standard" certifications. Discounting to "sell more" won't allow any advanced/technical certification agency to survive. The base is not wide enough to support such a philosophy.

*Is the advanced/technical certification agency reinvesting part of the profit?

Any institution that is growing and healthy (this includes advanced/technical certification agencies) must reinvest in itself for continued progress, growth and health. If nothing is reinvested, the agency will wither and die.

Broken promises are one of the most subtle yet effective ways to undermine integrity. Sometimes, due to circumstances beyond one's control promises may be difficult, if not impossible, to keep. Does the agency go out of its way to try and keep promises in the face of difficulties. If promises can't be kept, is there any apology or something done on the agency's part to "try to make things right?"

*Is the advanced/technical certification agency up front and honest with you?

Certain agencies have been known to employ stalling tactics or a "smoke screen" in order not to admit fault. I have respect for a certification agency that has the integrity to say, "Sorry, I messed up" or "I was wrong." The trust that comes with integrity must be earned and takes time. Not telling the truth will destroy trust very quickly. A certification agency that has to lie to "save face" simply can't be trusted.

*Do you know where you stand with the people who run the agency?

Are they telling you what you want to hear and saying something different behindyour back? Are they there long term to support and help you or simply there for short term profit? Can you say of them, "They said it was so and I believe them!"

CONCLUSION: As you would choose your friends, choose the advanced/technical certification agency you deal with wisely. No certification agency is perfect. To paraphrase a line from Orwell's Animal Farm, "...but some are more perfect than others!" (Boy, was that out of context!) I personally have found that IANTD has more than lived up to my expectations as an Advanced/Technical Certification Agency when compared to all others. I'm glad to be a part of its family!

To my former colleagues of graduate level Homiletics, I'm sorry that I only struck 50% on alliteration with the three "P's" of "Promptness," "Product" and "Progressiveness." My Thesaurus and brain wouldn't cooperate on the other three key words.

This sounds like a great place for an editorial disclaimer:

The opinions expressed are those of the author (and a heck of a lot of other people!) and do not necessarily reflect those of IANTD, its staff or board(s) (Much!) Any similarities between Advanced/Technical Certification Agencies (living or dead) and points mentioned are purely coincidental."

I don't do "Political Tap Dancing!" - If the shoe fits - wear it!

I had fun doing this series of articles. I hope all my readers had as much fun reading them, as I did writing them. If I helped to educate you, inspired creative thought, gave insight or brought a smile to your face, my mission was accomplished.