Good/bad experience with SC Board

[Bob Ipock]

I live 10 miles from the NC/SC line. Had a fairly large appraisal firm just over the line call about the 7 Hour USPAP Update.

I have never tried to get "approved" to teach in SC but told them I would look into it. Then I called the SC LLR-Appraisers board I was directed to the "education dept" and spoke to some lady. She did not have the first clue about the procedure and insisted that I would have to send the USPAP book, USPAP manual, course materials, outline and description of the schedule for EVERY 15 MINUTES OF THE CLASS. She said the printed outline in the front of the 7 Hour Manual would not be good enough.

To make a long story short, I asked her to have her superior to call me and he did. He was more knowledgeable about the procedure and reduced the "hoops" by at least 50%.

My situation was resolved in a fair and reasonable way and I was impressed with the common sense and familiarity with procedure that this fellow had. His name was William Tiller and he is the Education Manager for the SC Board.

One of the reasons CE cost so much is the foolishness that is required to get classes approved as well as the $$$$$ required by each state board. . I have no problem sending in the MONEY that they all want but I wish classes and courses were simply approved by the AQB and each state board would not have to duplicate the process.

Requiring redundant, unnecessary hoops to jump thru is a prime reason state boards are alwys poor-mouthing about having no funds. Standardized requirements are much less costly and time consuming. Perhaps the standardazation of AQB education materials will expand to CE as well.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

One of the reasons CE cost so much is the foolishness that is required to get classes approved as well as the $$$$$ required by each state board.

IMHO, a lot of these hoops serve a purpose. I am not a fan of conspiracy but the existing schools at the time of the implimentation of USPAP lobbied hard to see that not every Tom Dick & Harry would be teaching in competition with them. At that time NAIFA and AI were much stronger organizations than they are now...financially and memberwise.

Unless you were a regional or national provider of education, the deck was stacked against providing cheap appraisal classes. Those rules remain. Even today providing a CE course "on line" would be a real hurdle for all but the largest providers. Everyone now seems to be teaching a "Frauds & Flips" class for instance...

Arkansas is not extraordinarily expensive but the process is time consuming and the instructor does have hurdles to jump. It is entirely up to the board to 'make or break' you.

The end result is that the same classes get taught over and over and a new "CE" course is then sold to the smaller schools who cannot afford to spend the time it takes to create it.

I have spent 18 months trying to get a mineral rights course off the ground. It is supposed to be before the board soon, but they have to rule A - I can teach it. B - the sponsor is qualified and C - we have to get someone to attend it. Hopefully, we (the sponsor - NWA appraisal section) can offer it with a USPAP course we intend to offer in the spring. It's not easy to get a new class approved and off the ground. And appraisers have a real tendency to wait until weeks before the license is due then rush around to the closest, easiest, and cheapest class they can find...There are not a great number of appraisers who are really interested in expanding their horizons.

 

[Bob Ipock]

27 pages of applications and doccuments and a check for $300.00.....just finished. Too late for the Post Offise today but will get it in themail Tuesday.

This is for 2 courses. 7 Hr. & 15 Hr. USPAP Courses.

This is nuts for 2 courses required by the AQB and approved by TAF.

 

[Lawrence R.]

William Tiller.

That would be "Bo" Tiller. I have never dealt with him, but his predecessor was pretty nice too. He is the education director.

The lady you spoke to was most likely Laura McDaniel. Very nice, but has a monotone voice?

Both are staff, neither is elected, I think.

The big problem that I have with our board is no individual, per se, but the fact that you dont get the same story twice, as evidenced by your experience.

 

[Don Clark]

I Agree

I agree. My state of Virginia is probably the only state that does not require pre-approval of CE Courses. The only approval that is required is for pre-license courses. To teach those you have to be certified as an instructor, and the courses have to be approved. But not for CE. As long as any CE course that is at least 2 hours long meets the criteria outlined on the state web site, the course will be accepted. I have done many 2 hour courses that were part of a breakfast or dinner meeting. But, it does cause some problems. If there is a problem with a course or a provider, you are on your own as to any complaint against them. You would have to file a complaint with their state if you were dissatisfied with the course or instructor. I have taught in states from coast to coast when I taught for McKissock. It was a hassle they had to deal with and was not an easy task. Some state don't want you to teach in their state unless you are licensed in their state. I have taught in South Carolina. I found their process to not be that difficult. Now, I generally teach in Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Maryland. That is enough. But, I would consider other places if someone else took care of all the paper work. Think what a nightmare it must be for someone putting on a national event and trying to get approval for CE courses for the event.Horrible I am sure.

 

[Oregon Doug]

Don,

Have you (or anyone else) taught in Oregon? If so, how did it go?

I don't know much about our CE provider requirements, but I'm always fishing for feed back.

Thanx,
Oregon Doug

 

[JSmith43]

I would like to see courses put on that were interesting enough that the audience wouldn't need CE credit coersion via a government entity to attend

 

[Don Clark]

Don,

Have you (or anyone else) taught in Oregon? If so, how did it go?

I don't know much about our CE provider requirements, but I'm always fishing for feed back.

Thanx,
Oregon Doug

I have never taught there Doug. Last time I was there was 1956 in Portland going through on a Greyhound bus from Seattle to a U. S. Navy school in San Diego. Beautiful country. When I taught for McKissock I did a course in San Francisco & one in Riverside.

 

[Bob Ipock]

Back to North Carolina.

Just finished all the paper work to be "approved" to teach the 7 HR USPAP Update as an elective for the NC Real Estate Commission. This is to help appraisers get dual credit for one class.

15 pages and $100.00. Several more of these to do, should have had them done earlier in the month.

 

[Couch Potato]

Set the criteria, should be able to approve courses.

So UC are you in favor of states giving blanket acceptance to any course approved through the AQB Course Approval Program? That would sure seem like a reasonable solution to the redundant paperwork.

I would like to see states adopt a policy of accepting courses approved by the AQB and courses offered through a regionally accredited school for CE as a blanket policy. I could see some restrictions on the courses from a regionally accredited school, that they must be taught by particular departments, PE probably shouldn't qualify for CE, but very few subjects don't have some application to appraising. English, Math, Physical & Earth Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Art, Business, Information Systems, to name the ones that quickly come to mind, all have applicability to the appraisal profession.

I'm not suggesting states totally get out of the course approval business. They are needed to approving things such as courses about state laws and regulations, as well as courses from providers that don't desire to offer their services out of state. They could still collect their money by charging a fee for a license to teach appraisal courses in their state.