Course and Continuing Education policies
Terms of Use
Last updated April 2024. Here's what changed:
- Non-substantive updates.
Here's what you agree to when you take one of our courses
1. You are who you say you are, and you're taking the course for the purposes set out in the course.
2. You will never share your login credentials with anyone (even us; we'll never ask for your password in the process of resolving a support issue). Login sharing is a violation of these terms of service. It's also unkind. It allows the person you share your info with to steal our content, and ultimately forces us to raise prices for everybody else.
3. Course access may be time-limited. Access windows are published on course pages.
4. By purchasing a course from us, you are purchasing a temporary, revocable, non-exclusive license to use our content solely for the purpose set out in that content (generally either continuing education, exam prep, or other professional learning). You may not copy, share, or redistribute any portion of any of our courses in any form (print, digital, or otherwise) without our written consent.
5. If we reasonably believe you have violated any of these terms of use, we may, at our discretion, un-register you from current courses and block you from purchasing, registering for, or completing additional courses in the future.
6. You will not use our web site, learning platform, or any of the resources available therein for any purpose that is illegal, unethical, defamatory, discriminatory, or otherwise problematic.
7. You release and hold harmless High Pass Education, our affiliates, partners, and assignees, and anyone else involved in the construction of your course, from any liability whatsoever arising from your purchase or use of the course. You agree to address any concerns about your interactions with High Pass Education content that cannot be resolved through our support services exclusively through the Grievance process outlined below.
8. You also have read and agree to each of the policies below, including but not limited to policies on refunds and cancellations.
General Administration
CE Director
The CE Director has final responsibility for all course content and administration, including record-keeping; responding to inquiries, requests, and grievances; and ensuring that all course content and CE practices meet or exceed current standards of our CE approval bodies. The current CE Director can be reached at any time at ce@highpass.com.
In the event of a change in personnel or administrative responsibilities, this address simply will be turned over to the new CE Director. To ensure all CE-related inquiries are responded to in a timely manner, at least two staff members will have access to email sent to this address at all times. If there is a change in CE Directors, our continuing education approval bodies will be notified within 14 calendar days.
As of April 2024, our CE Director is Benjamin Caldwell.
LMS Platform
As we provide our continuing education courses online, we utilize a Learning Management System (LMS) for course registration, delivery, production of CE certificates, recordkeeping, and related administrative activities. We select our Learning Management System (LMS) on the basis of its features, flexibility, security, and fit with our strategic aims. We evaluate our LMS on at least an annual basis to determine whether to renew our contract with them or move to another LMS provider.
CE Time Awarded
Hours for Continuing Education credit are awarded in accordance with the current policies of our CE approval bodies and applicable state laws. One hour of CE time is equal to 60 minutes of instructional time.
Values and Commitments
Current ethical and clinical standards. High Pass Education is committed to offering continuing education courses that train LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs to treat clients in an ethically and clinically sound manner based upon current accepted standards of practice.
Accountability. High Pass Education is committed to high standards of accountability for ourselves and for our continuing education customers. We collect data during and after our courses on course satisfaction, learning, and the achievement of specific behavioral goals for each course. (For example, a post-course survey sent after a customer completes a course on professional wills would ask that customer whether they actually have implemented a professional will for their practice.) We evaluate our overall goals and achievements on at least an annual basis.
Non-discrimination. High Pass Education does not discriminate against any individual or group with respect to any service, program or activity based on gender, race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age or other prohibited basis. We do not require attendees to adhere to any particular religion or creed in order to participate in training. High Pass Education will not promote or advocate for any modality of treatment that is discriminatory or likely to harm clients based on current accepted standards or practices.
Course Development
Instructors
Course instructors are chosen on the basis of licensure, advanced training, clinical (or other relevant) experience, publication history, presentation skill, and reputation. Instructors are expected to be highly knowledgeable in the topic area presented. The CE Director is responsible for assessing and verifying instructor credentials.
Course Elements
Each course we offer has at least three linked learning objectives. Courses may include a variety of components in multiple media, including video, audio, print- or text-based, and other multimedia. Courses are arranged in a fixed-order format. Participants must complete each component within a course before advancing to the next component. Within each course, there are two final components: A quiz assessing participant learning, and a survey addressing course satisfaction. No participant will be awarded a certificate for a course without completing these components. To ensure that the individual receiving CE credit participated in the course, the following measures are utilized:
- All course access is password-controlled. Users must register for an account with us and use their unique login and password to access any course content. Password sharing is prohibited.
- Courses awarding CE hours must be progressed through in a specific order.
- All courses include interactive elements such as quizzes and surveys at various times within the course. This ensures participants are gaining knowledge from the content they are receiving. Users cannot advance within a course until a quiz is completed successfully.
Course Evaluations
Course evaluations must be completed prior to our LMS considering a course to be completed and issuing a continuing education certificate for that course. Course evaluations address each of the following (and may address other components):
- Whether the learning goals and objectives were met;
- Course appropriateness to participants’ education, experience, and licensure level;
- Effectiveness of the presentation, including use of experiential or active learning;
- Relevance to the practice;
- Currency and accuracy of the information;
- Instructor’s knowledge of the subject matter and clarity of delivery;
- Instructor’s responsiveness to participants;
- Instructor’s ability to utilize course-appropriate technology to support participant learning;
- Suitability and/or usefulness of instructional materials;
- Location, facilities, technology, administration of the program;
- Accessibility for distance-learning support (i.e., were questions or problems addressed effectively and in a timely manner?);
- Technology’s support of participant learning; and
- User-friendliness of course technology.
Marketing
Advertising
All course marketing clearly indicates CE approval status (i.e., which organizations recognize a course for CE credit) and all disclosures required by the approving organization. All marketing includes links or relevant contact information for customers with questions, accessibility needs, or grievances.
Maintenance of Records
Our LMS allows for the collection and maintenance of detailed records for each course. Retained records include but are not limited to:
1. Syllabi and components for all courses
2. Time and date of all course enrollments and completions
3. Course instructors’ CVs or resumes
4. Names and license numbers of licensees who enrolled in the courses
5. Records of course completion issued to licensees who attended the course
6. Security measures in place for electronic transmission of information
All records will be maintained for a period of at least five (5) years. Records will be kept electronically and stored on our learning management system platform. This platform is password-protected and uses the https (secure http) protocol with strong audit trails. Anonymous login is not permitted. Records related to course instructors (for example, records related to instructor selection, cosponsorship agreements, and instructor CVs) will be maintained digitally through our LMS platform for a period of at least five years. Any related physical records will be maintained at our business office for a period of at least five years. Participants may retrieve their records at any time by simply logging into the LMS. Alternately, customers may request their course completion records by emailing ce@bencaldwelllabs.com. We may charge customers an administrative fee for staff time spent retrieving records that are accessible to users through the LMS.
Privacy and Security
Usage information for our courses is collected primarily in aggregate form to help us determine the effectiveness of our course offerings. Our LMS collects significant data on users’ actions within the LMS to help us ensure our courses meet our goals. As part of our data gathering, we ask customers to complete quizzes and surveys on their course experience and their activities following course completion. We do not, however, collect detailed personal information on our customers beyond that which is necessary to administer the courses. We routinely evaluate our data collection procedures to ensure they do not collect more information than necessary to meet our educational goals.
Personal information is gathered through the https (secure http) protocol, and each user’s information is password-protected. Anonymous logins are not permitted. Our LMS is an industry leader in providing key security features to both content providers (like us) and end users.
We do not collect or retain any financial information from our customers. All payments are processed through Stripe, an independent payment processor. As reported on their web site, “Stripe has been audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.” Among other protections, Stripe will only interact with web browsers through the https (secure http) protocol. As they report, “All card numbers are encrypted on disk with AES-256. Decryption keys are stored on separate machines.” More information on Stripe’s security practices related to the handling of customer financial information is available at https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe.
Customer Requests and Grievances
Requests for Accommodations
We will take reasonable steps to accommodate customer requests for disability accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Requests for accommodations related to continuing education courses may be submitted via email to ce@highpass.com. Many accessibility features are already included in modern web browsers. All of our videos are closed-captioned. Requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and the CE Director makes a final determination on what accommodations will be offered. While we aim to provide reasonable accessibility for all of our offerings, accommodations may take up to 90 days to provide.
Refunds/Cancellations
Users who registered for a course but have not accessed any component of that course may request a full refund within 7 days of submitting payment for the course. After 7 days, or after any course component has been accessed by the user, payment is non-refundable.
No customer will receive a certificate for partial completion of any course.
Transfers
Courses cannot be transferred or exchanged after purchase. Login sharing is not permitted.
Grievances
High Pass Education will respond to grievances and complaints in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by course participants in writing to the CE Director via the Support option on our web site or via emailed to ce@highpass.com.
If a grievance concerns a course, its content, or level of presentation, the CE Director will mediate and will mediate and be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, High Pass Education will either:
- ask the participant to provide additional information on their concern, so that it may be clearly defined;
- amend course materials;
- move the participant to a different course;
- provide payment credit toward another course; or
- provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.
In no event will High Pass Education’s responsibility for resolving a grievance exceed the purchase price of the course in which the customer was actually enrolled. In marketing materials, we may summarize this policy as follows:
“High Pass Education will respond to grievances in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by course participants to ce@highpass.com. In no event will our responsibility for resolving a grievance exceed the purchase price of the course in which the customer was actually enrolled.”
All complaints and grievances will be retained for a period of no less than five years in accordance with our record retention policy. Complaints and grievances are reviewed as a group on at least an annual basis to identify patterns or systemic concerns.
Administrative Review
Annual Review
Each of the following is reviewed on no less than an annual basis:
- Goals of the CE program
- Security and appropriateness of the LMS platform
- Data collection and retention procedures, including data security
- Appropriateness of the policies contained in this document
- Internal compliance with the policies contained in this document
- Grievances (reviewed to minimize future grievances and ensure internal compliance)
Review of Goals
The CE program goals are evaluated on at least an annual basis as noted above. CE program review is led by the CE Director and includes input from all company staff. The framework in place for periodic evaluation and revision of the programs’ continuing education goals is composed of ten steps. The steps are interdependent, such that they might be addressed in a nonlinear sequence; however, an order does exist – each step provides information for subsequent progress. The steps are as follows:
1. Specify, select, refine evaluation objectives (determine indicators)
2. Establish standards/criteria (performance measures) where appropriate
3. Plan appropriate evaluation design
4. Select and/or develop data gathering methods
5. Collect relevant data
6. Process, summarize, analyze relevant data
7. Contrast data with evaluation standards/criteria
8. Report and provide feedback on results
9. Assess cost-benefit/effectiveness
10. Reflect on (evaluate) the evaluation