I am going to take a timely break in my “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” series to update you on some important educational information. The series will return next month.
Continuing education is a state requirement in some jurisdictions and is also required for some organizations that certify employees for a given skill set. The problem with trying to find good classes that offer the Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that you need is that they generally happen during daytime business hours, potentially costing a contractor valuable billable time in order to satisfy the need for CEUs to maintain licensure and certification.
As a former contractor from the field, I know just how expensive this can be. We contractors work way too hard as it is and for each hour we are off the job taking care of educational requirements we are set back a minimum of two hours in the field. It’s a mandatory lose-lose proposition. If you want to retain licensure and/or certification, you must get the required CEUs.
We realized this early in the development of the new Radiant Professionals Alliance’s (RPA) educational offerings and we partnered up with a well know Internet-based training organization, the Heatspring group. We developed and continue to develop classes for our contractor members that will allow them the opportunity to take these classes at the contractor’s convenience, on the contractor’s schedule.
This negates the need for contractors to leave their work in the field in order to attend online classes. The RPA University is set up such that you can take the courses and actually learn on your time. So, if you decide to wake up at 4 a.m. and go down to your office to take a class module, you can do so without the need for an instructor. If you come across a problem or have a question for the instructor, it will require you to be at a certain place, at a certain time once a week, but with all of the smart phone capabilities, a person can attend these “office hours” visits without having to leave the job site.
We developed and continue to develop classes for our contractor members that will allow them the opportunity to take these classes at the contractor’s convenience, on the contractor’s schedule.
We have some extended courses available online and are constantly looking for quick-hit types of classes to allow you and your employees the opportunity to continue to learn about current and future technologies, as well as keeping yourself up to date on code changes, changes in materials, manners and methods.
These are better than the typical Webinar because they are generic in format and don’t really come across as a sales pitch, which usually leaves a bad taste in the students’ mouths and a sore spot in their mind.
You can review our offerings by going to the RPA University website from Heatspring at https://www.heatspring.com/partners/radiant-professionals-alliance. There are also some free short courses there to get you familiarized with the instructors’ teaching styles to make certain that you are comfortable with the teacher before you commit to the courses.
We are constantly looking for interesting topics and instructors. If you have some ideas, by all means please share those ideas with me at [email protected] and we will do our best to fit the bill with good courses and good instructors. We are gearing up for the fall kick off of our class offerings and student participation will be limited, so if you are in need of CEUs or have employees who are in need of some intensive hydronic testing, send them to the classes and make them better people.
And always remember that a good workman keeps his tools sharpened on a regular basis. If you don’t stop and look around to see what’s new and sharpen your tools, you may find yourself being passed up by some youngster packing a chainsaw.
Being a member of the RPA allows you to take these courses at a discounted price. It is but one of the many benefits of belonging to the RPA, and if you are not a member, but are interested in becoming one, please feel free to visit the RPA website, kick the tires, honk the horn, and slam the doors and see if you don’t agree that this is a very worthwhile organization to which to belong.
As a contractor member, it will cost you less than you spend on coffee on a daily basis. In fact, when you take into consideration the fact that three employees are allowed access to Members Only topics, it is less than $0.40 per day. We think it’s a pretty darned good deal if you take advantage of all we have to offer.
Check us out at http://www.radiantprofessionalsalliance.org/Pages/default.aspx. And as always, if you’d like to talk to me, my phone is always on, and I am more than willing to help you grow your business and grow radiant in the process. Tune in next month as we continue our series on the business of doing hydronic and radiant projects. Until then, happy hydronicing!
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