- Fiber
Optic Training Course Approval
The Fiber Optic Association certification training is only offered by FOA-Approved schools. As a nonprofit educational organization, the FOA does not focus on quantity but quality. The FOA only approves the best schools that will maintain the highest quality training. FOA
approved schools include private training organizations, public
technical schools, colleges and fiber optic manufacturers around the
world.
The FOA is not itself a training organization. The FOA is a non-profit
professional society whose members work in the fiber optic
industry. Our charter is to develop standards for training and
certification of fiber optic technicians. Instructor development and
certification is also within our charter. We have also developed and
given away training programs for schools under an NSF grant and been
chartered by ANSI (along with NECA) to develop installation standards
for fiber optics. We are a contributor to TIA and other international
standards organizations.
- The
FOA approves classes at the first level for CFOT, CPCT and CFospT certification,
advanced (AFOT) and specialist (CFXT, FTTH, CFOS in termination, splicing, testing
and design.)
What are the advantages of FOA approval of your courses? FOA
Certification is desired by many students and, by virtue of it's
unbiased nature and comprehensive examination, widely respected in the
industry. It will lend additional credibility to you and your
organization. It will provide a basis for prospective students to judge
the quality of the program. It will allow you to offer FOA
certification, known and respected worldwide. The FOA will list your
school on a master
list of FOA-approved schools available on our Web site, www.TheFOA.org
which, we are told by schools listed there helps recruiting
tremendously. The cost of student certification to
FOA schools includes one year membership for the student in The FOA for
all your students completing the requirements for CFOT certification.
To gain FOA approval, you must meet the criteria defined below. If you have questions or want to
submit a course for approval, contact The FOA or fill in the
application and return it to us.
Jim Hayes
President -
|
- FOA
Training Course Approval, Requirements and Rules For Schools
-
- FOA
Policy:
The FOA is an international non-profit educational
organization that is dedicated to promoting professionalism in the
field of fiber optics. As part of its charter, The FOA has developed
guidelines for fiber optic training courses and approves training
organizations around the world that meet our standards.
- One
of the reasons the FOA has such a good reputation world-wide, is that
we accept only the best training organizations and require them to
maintain the highest standards so that they produce the best fiber
optic technicians in the world. To maintain our reputation, we require
all our schools to maintain these high standards.
Not
every school that applies for FOA approval is accepted. The FOA
evaluates the school on the basis of curriculum, instructors,
facilities, financial stability, reputation and longevity plus the need for schools in a geographic area. Thus not
only is the educational capability evaluated but also the business
acumen and service to the industry. The FOA also considers the number
of schools in any geographic area and reserves the right to limit the
number of schools in an area where additional capacity is not
warranted.
- If
your curriculum is approved and you agree to comply with the FOA
guidelines, you will be provided with the appropriate materials to
offer FOA certifications and your courses will be promoted on the FOA
website.
- The
Fiber Optic Association approves fiber optic training courses given by
any organization under the following conditions:
-
- For all schools applying to become a FOA-Approved School:
-Each course must meet the requirements
for FOA curriculum and be approved by The FOA. -The school must have instructors who meet FOA requirements for instructors or will be able to meet them before the school offers FOA certification courses.
-Courses must include both classroom sessions and hands-on labs
appropriate to the certification and the school must have appropriate
equipment to teach students the knowledge and skills required by the
certification. (KSAs)
-
FOA requires schools to be established training organizations with a
substantial history of providing training to the satisfaction of
students. FOA will not approve any newly-established training
organization.
To Apply- - Organizations
must apply online at http://foa-approved.org/new_school.htm. Before
final approval the school will be required to pay a nonrefundable
application fee which includes the first five certifications, including
those of their designated instructors.
- -Submit a course outline for each course offering FOA Certification, including a description of
hands-on labs (which should generally be at least 1/3 of class time), class notes and reference textbook for FOA
review on each course submitted for approval.
-Submit
resumes for all proposed instructors. Instructors who do not already have FOA CFOT or other first level certifications (CPCT, CFospT)
must complete the requirements before school approval is granted.
Instructors without extensive teaching experience are required to
have appropriate FOA certifications including certifications for the courses being taught and CFOS/I certification before approval is granted. Instructors are also required to have any advanced or specialty certification before teaching those classes.
-Inform the FOA of all geographic locations where the organization proproses to offer FOA certification training.
-All schools must sign and return to the FOA the "FOA Approved Training Organization Agreement" before approval will be granted.
-Additional
information may be requested, such as a review copy of training
materials, handouts, etc., lists of lab equipment available, digital
photos of labs, incorporation papers, resale/sales tax documentation, references, etc.
Note: FOA school approval is not transferrable. Schools may not sell, transfer or otherwise move the FOA approval or certification
to any other organization without reapplying for school approval.
Instructors cannot take FOA school approval to another school; the
approval is for the school, not the instructor. If a school changes
an instructor, a new instructor may be designated as long as they meet
FOA certification requirements before teaching classes and the FOA is notified immediately.
-
- Curriculum, Textbook
And Training Reference Materials
The FOA certification exams are based on the FOA-written printed textbooks and the FOA Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide. Due to the preference of many students for online or
electronic materials, the FOA has made all textbooks available as eBooks and created the Online Reference Guide,
complete with study guides for FOA certifications and highly recommends
its use by our approved schools.
- Schools may use their own curriculum materials or may use the FOA "Curriculum Kits" for
new schools, including reference books and curriculum materials
(instructor guides, PowerPoint presentations, etc.) are available free for downloading from
the FOA school download site after the school has been approved.
-
- Instructor Qualifications
All instructors giving a course for FOA Certification must be current FOA members and FOA
certified via the CFOT or other first level certifications and the CFOS/I instructor certification. School use of a non-FOA-certified instructor is reason for immediate disciplinary action or revocation of FOA approval. - The
FOA has a "Train the Trainer" program which leads to a "Certified Fiber
Optic Specialist / Instructor" (CFOS/I) certification. You may take the
FOA Instructor Training Program online (http://www.thefoa.org/TTT/.)
Instructors teaching advanced or specialist courses must have met the
requirements for that certification before teaching the course.
Instructors must maintain their FOA membership by renewing annually at
regular cost.
All
school administrators and instructors are required to sign up for the FOA
email newsletters, both the general newsletter and the school
newsletter.
-
- Certification - Duties of the School and Instructor
All students taking courses at a FOA approved school listed as an
FOA-Approved course must be offered the certification test as part of
the program. ALL
FOA certifications require students meet standards in three areas,
generally referred to as KSAs: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. It is
the duty of the school and the instructor to teach the students the
basic knowledge required in classroom sessions, teach the skills
required in lab sessions and evaluate the students abilities to obtain
adequate knowledge and skills to be successful in real-world work.
Therefore, the FOA depends on the schools to properly train students
and instructors to properly evaluate students to ensure that all
criteria are met. Passing a FOA certification exam is not adequate for
certification - the instructor and the school must sign a statement that the
student meets all certification requirements including knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) and as such puts their reputation as a school behind each
student.
-
- Use
Of FOA Approval In Promoting Courses
FOA approval is an important marketing point for fiber optic training,
so FOA approved courses may be listed as such on the promotional
material provided by the organization providing the training. A "FOA
Approved" logo (downloadable
from the FOA website) may be used and the following
statement: "This course meets the training requirements set by The
Fiber Optic Association. FOA CFOT (Certified Fiber Optic Technician)
certification testing is offered to all students."
-
- Withdrawal
of Approval
Approval of the course may be withdrawn at any time with 30 day notice
if the course fails to meet FOA requirements, is given by a non-FOA
CFOT instructor, if unresolved complaints are received regarding the
course or the school does not submit certification applications and
payments promptly. Schools
ae expected to be active and submit certifications regularly to the
FOA. Schools may also be removed if not responding promptly to
annual renewals or inquiries from FOA staff.
-
- Primary
Contact for Communication
Each organization must provide The FOA with a primary contact for
communication regarding FOA matters. The contact must have a postal
address, fax and email contact. Schools should provide their website
for inclusion on the FOA school online listing.
-
- Contact
Changes
Schools must keep the FOA informed of changes in address, contact
information or instructor changes. The FOA maintains a current list of
schools on its website that many students use for contacting schools so
it is important to keep the information current. Schools must
respond to an annual survey to update all relevant information.
-
- Course
Evaluation by Students
The FOA may send each new CFOT a course evaluation form to evaluate
student feedback. FOA personnel may attend any course at any time to
evaluate the course presented and instructor performance.
- Course
Material
Fiber optic courses submitted for FOA approval should contain the
course material listed at
http://www.thefoa.org/instructors/class-reqs.htm as a minimum. All
students must be certified to a first level certification (CFOT,
CFospT, CPCT) before any advanced or specialist certification.
Advanced and Specialist Courses
Advanced courses to offer the Advanced Fiber Optic Technician (AFOT),
Fiber To the Home (CFxT) and Certified Fiber Optic Specialist (CFOS)
certifications on termination, splicing, test/troubleshooting and
design will be considered for FOA approval. Specialized courses (e.g FTTx, CFOS specialties, etc.) will be
evaluated on their contents as described in lesson plans or course
descriptions. When submitting an advanced
course for FOA approval, make sure it meets the FOA advanced courses
guidelines. See http://www.thefoa.org/Certs.htm
and http://www.thefoa.org/instructors/class-reqs.htm
or contact the FOA office for more details.
-
- Student
Applications, Tests and Instructions
All FOA free curriculum materials, student applications, certification tests, and instructions are
available from the FOA secure school download website for downloading. Once a
program is approved, you will be provided with access to the site. The
school is responsible for printing the current tests, answer sheets, etc. and
grading all the exams. Having the schools do the printing and grading
keeps FOA certification costs low for everyone. Tests
and forms are updated regularly; please download the latest forms from
the school download site before each class. Older forms are not
acceptable.
Schools must follow the instructions downloaded from the website for administering
and grading the exams. After administering the exams, send only
applications back to The FOA with payment. Shred answer sheets, please!
Schools should give the student the FOA test receipt, a certificate of
completion and tell them the FOA will send them an ID card, Schools
must forward all applications to the FOA promptly, as students will
call if they do not receive their card in a timely manner, especially
since many students want to be listed on the FOA online database ASAP. Applications
should include the student's permanent address so they can be added to
the database and contacted for renewal.
- The
FOA has online certification testing available for instructors and
students under special circumstances. Instructors will take their certification exams online. If you have instructors or students interested in online testing, contact the FOA for special instructions.
-
- License
Agreement/Terms Of Use
FOA approval and all the FOA Certification tests and background
information to run programs in your training organization are offered
subject to your acceptance of license agreements and warranty terms.
- This
agreement is limited to your organization, your designated instructors
and courses given at any location where your instructors teach.
- You
are licensed to use FOA material for its intended purpose only, namely
training and certifying students in fiber optics as part of FOA
certification programs. You may not use the FOA certification exams in
any way except to print and administer the exams to your students for
the purposes of FOA certification and must pay the FOA application fee
for each exam given. No other use is authorized.
- No FOA materials
may be resold or transferred to any other party.
- Your
responsibility is to protect the exams and other FOA material from
unauthorized distribution or use.
- You may use the FOA training materials
supplied free to schools as PPT files as is or you may adapt it to your course(s) but the copyright remains with the FOA.
- You
may supply students with printed copies of the training materials for
classroom study.
- The
intellectual property rights and copyright of the original material
remain the property of The Fiber Optic Association, Inc. excepting the NECA/FOA-301 standard is owned by NECA.
- Certification Test Costs
The CFOT or
any other certification test is priced at the same fixed fee payable to the FOA for each student test
taken. - Schools may charge a reasonable test administration fee in addition to the
cost of the FOA certification, but the fee should not be more than the cost of the exam itself. Schools collect payment from the
student, either as part of course tuition or separately, and submit
one payment with all applications.
- Payment must be made in a timely manner
for the entire class or group of classes, not individual payments by
students. Payment may be made by school check or credit card. Purchase
orders may be used with prior approval. Schools must make payments to
the FOA in one check or one credit card charge covering all students in
the class along with the applications for all students covered by the
check.
Schools may include the testing fee in the course cost or charge
separately. The fee charged students may include the FOA fee and a reasonable
school overhead fee.
Keep your administrative fee to less than the FOA fee for certification
so the fee charged students is less than twice what the FOA fee is. When asked, the FOA informs students of our fee
charged to the schools.
- Students
will be sent an FOA ID card when their application is officially
registered with the FOA. The student is not certified until their
application with payment is received from the school and they are
registered in our database.
- Students
will be sent a renewal form after one year. Renewal is necessary to
remain current with their certification.
-
Apply online at http://foa-approved.org/new_school.htm.
- Information
on FOA School Curriculum
Kits
-
- All
school administrators and instructors are required to sign up for the FOA
email newsletters, both the general newsletter and the school
newsletter.
The online Reference and Study Guides used in the FOA exams is available free in the
FOA Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide
-
- For
more information, contact The Fiber Optic Association. Please remember the office is on California time!
|
