USPA Rating Changes Effective 10/1/08

[slotperfect 7]

I attended the annual Mid-Atlantic S&TA meeting last night, and learned quite a bit about the upcoming USPA rating changes scheduled to take place 1 October with the release of the 2009 SIM/IRM.

-As most of you already know, as of 1 October a USPA Tandem Instructor Rating will be required for any USPA member to conduct tandem skydives any DZ. This includes foreign USPA members at foreign DZs and members in the US doing tandems at non-USPA DZs.
-For those of you who are rated TIs by a manufacturer but do not hold a USPA TI rating, there are already provisions in place to convert your current manufacturer's rating to a USPA TI rating. Depending on your current rating situation, you may not need to attend a complete USPA TCC. Conversion requirements are listed HERE. The Tandem Proficiency Card is posted HERE. The link for the page containing those documents can be found in the right hand column of the News page on the USPA website.

-As of 1 October, the new I/E rating will replace the "Course Director" rating. The new I/E rating is nothing like the old one - it basically qualifies I/E rating holders to conduct USPA rating courses if they meet the other specified prerequisites for a particular discipline. Aside from meeting the prerequisites listed in the new SIM/IRM, candidates will be required to complete the new I/E Course, which is targeted for completion by the end of the year. The I/E Course will take elements from the AIC (which will be discontinued) and be scaled back to three days, intended to train senior USPA Instructors to conduct USPA Rating Courses. Course Directors from any discipline that are current as of 1 October will automatically receive the new I/E Rating (grandfather clause). That means that as of 1 October, newly rated I/Es will then be cleared to conduct USPA Rating Courses as long as they meet the specified prerequisites. AFFCDs will no longer require a BOD appointment. AFF Evaluator and Designated Evaluator assignments will remain unchanged. They are not ratings per se, rather they are assigned by AFFCDs to support courses in the local area.

-For current CDs not wanting to wait until October to start conducting USPA TCCs, submit a waiver request through your Regional Director asking that the AIC requirement be waived for you to earn a Tandem Course Directorship. Several such waivers were approved during the last BOD meeting. This will help prevent gaps in rating coverage for current manufacturer rated TIs who don't yet hold a USPA TI rating.

Arrive Safely

John

[NSEMN8R 0]

Thanks for posting this.

#10 says "Correctly answered at least 80% of the questions on the USPA Tandem Instructor Final Examination."

Are questions online somewhere?

Is this something a course director could do over the phone/fax or do they have to watch you take the test?

[slotperfect 7]

They are in the IRM. To be true to the process they will have to administer the test in person.

Arrive Safely

John

[camamel 0]

Hi John

What about for Canadians?
Do we still renew our ratings with manufacturer?

Richard

When you think you're good...this is when you become dangerous.

[slotperfect 7]

I am not familiar with CSPA rules.

Arrive Safely

John

[Andrewwhyte 1]

Quote

Hi John

What about for Canadians?
Do we still renew our ratings with manufacturer?

Richard

After talking with Ted Strong and Bill Booth at the PIA three years ago CWC chair Tim Gretch recommended to the committee that CSPA not develop a TM rating because the manufacturers still wanted control. Basically the CWC had better things to do with their resources than duplicate work that was already being done. CSPA requires only that you keep your rating current with the manufacturer. That is unlikely to change.

[camamel 0]

Thanks Andrew
No extra paper work for the same rating...YES I like that.

Richard

When you think you're good...this is when you become dangerous.

[slotperfect 7]

One correction to my original post, provided by Jim Crouch (USPA Director of Safety & Training) via PM:

Quote

The changes apply to any USPA member, regardless of the location. So if someone is a member of USPA and has a manufacturers tandem rating, they will need to take care of the USPA paperwork with a USPA TCD. This goes for Europe, Asia, etc. too. There is no differential for foreign members of USPA. What we need is for all the examiners to do both sets of paperwork and cover the additional training for the USPA TI in one course

I edited the original post to reflect the correction - thanks Jim!

Arrive Safely

John

[vstar2001 0]

I am currently deployed till ~JAN 09. I hold a TI rating but not a USPA rating. What time frame do I have to convert, and am I not allowed to do Tandems till converted? (and yes I expect to redo a few jumps and get my currency back first).

I just am................

[slotperfect 7]

The way I read it:

-As long as you're current, you are OK to do tandems through 30 September on your manufacturers rating alone (Iraq deployment notwithstanding)
-You will not be able to do tandems 1 October forward until you convert your rating to a USPA TI rating.

Where do you live??

Arrive Safely

John

[altichick 1]

One more question... On the USPA website it says

"The group determined that both USPA and the manufacturers should receive initial rating paperwork for each tandem instructor candidate, but only USPA needs to keep track of rating renewals"

Does that mean I no longer need to renew my rating with Vector, just with USPA?

Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things!

[lowpull 0]

yes, that would be correct.

[Mickochet 0]

If you are rated on more than one manufacturers gear do you need to get a uspa ti rating for each one?

If you never fall down you aren't trying hard enough.

[slotperfect 7]

Nope. Your USPA TI rating should reflect that you are a TI on each system on which you are rated.

Arrive Safely

John

[leroydb 0]

SP,

Can you tell us the 5 W's behind why they made this change.

Le Roy

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[slotperfect 7]

I can touch on some of those, but not all of them.

Who: USPA & Manufacturers (exactly who was present at the meeting I don't know)
What: Stated in the original post
When: meeting happened last year, effective date is 1 Oct 2008
Where: meeting happened in DeLand, I believe . . . change affects ALL USPA members regardless of location
Why: I don't have a good grasp on why, but I do know that manufacturers don't necessarily agree 100% on their level of involvement (or lack thereof) under the post-1 October plan. There are different schools of thought involved there.

I think a lot of us saw this coming a long time ago - maybe not to this extent, but surely somthing to this effect. I consider it part of the evolution of tandem skydiving from the FAA exemption years where the manufacturers had 100% say so to being included in much less specific terms in the FARs and included in USPA doctrine. Whether it will ever truly evolve into the student training method it was originally intended to be, I don't know - my crystal ball is cloudy on that one. It has definitely become a cash cow for some DZOs and in some folks opinion has become the Kudzu vine of the sport in the US. I hope there is a happy medium that happens somewhere down the line, but I don't know what that looks like, nor do I know when it might happen.

USPA did do a good thing by making it easy for those who are either currently rated manufaturer TIs or hold another USPA instructional rating (or both) to get the USPA TI rating without having to complete an entire TCC.

Arrive Safely

John

[matthewcline 0]

I can ask Jim C at USPA but have not yet so here goes; Does the "conversion" T-I course need to be a registered course like the "initial" T-I courses have been?

I have run all Initial courses thus far.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[slotperfect 7]

That's a good question . . . I doubt those will have to be registered - they will get nickel and dimed to death on that issue.

Arrive Safely

John

[normiss 798]

Any suggestions on a "USPA Instructor Seminar"?
who / where / when????