FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions Concerning National Leadership Training (NLT) and Local Leadership Training (LLT) in CISV USA
1) I can’t attend the National Leadership Training Workshop fulltime, what should I do?
Please select another NLT Workshop date and location where you would be able to attend fulltime. It’s really not fair for some trainees to leave early or arrive late when the majority of participants have made special arrangements in their equally busy schedules to attend fulltime. The training committee and trainers cannot be asked to consider which special circumstances warrant excusal and which do not. Everyone’s special circumstances are challenging and difficult.
2) I will be a member of a program staff but I can’t attend the one Staff Only Training scheduled. Is there another workshop available for program staff training?
While all staff members are encouraged to attend the Staff Only training, we can accommodate a staff trainee at another NLT Workshop. Just please be certain to register at www.CISVUniversity.org as a Village, Summer Camp or IYM staff member so the training team can be notified they will need to prepare a role-specific breakout for a staff member at that particular Workshop.
3) Why can’t we just fly a National Trainer to our Chapter to train our leaders here?
CISV USA trains over 200 leaders and staff for CISV programs each year. What if all 22 Chapters asked for this special service? National Leadership Training Workshop dates are set and approved by CISV’s Board of Trustees in October of the previous year. We hope by establishing training dates early, Chapters can share the dates with all leader and staff candidates and select a leader who can attend one of the workshops on the dates provided. One-on-one National Leadership Training doesn’t allow for group-based experiential learning, a key component of CISV’s educational philosophy. We can’t ask our volunteer trainers to give up more than the eight weekends they already donate to prepare the curriculum and train all of our CISV USA leaders and program staff.
4) I need to leave my NLT Workshop to take an SAT exam on Saturday. It’ll only be a few hours. Can I make up the sessions I missed at some other Workshop?
We have a very clear attendance policy posted on the CISV University registration site. In order to register for any NLT Workshop, you needed to check the Terms and Conditions box indicating you understood the fulltime attendance requirement. If you still choose to leave an NLT Workshop for any amount of time, you will not be certified and will put your participation in a CISV program at risk. You would be required to complete the entire workshop in another location on another date to be certified. National Training does its best to simulate group process and group dynamics that are both key to understanding how to plan and implement CISV programming. This cannot happen if training participants do not attend all sessions. Allowing this to happen would be like allowing delegates to opt out of large chunks of their program (a week of a Summer Camp, for example). The National Trainers only have a short 18 hours in the training weekend to prepare program personnel for hundreds of hours of service and participation. You need to attend one workshop full time.
5) I went to National Leadership Training last year and was trained as a Village Leader. I understand my certification lasts for two years. Does that mean I can be a Summer Camp Leader this summer without going back to National Leadership Training?
National certifications are valid for two years for JCs, Village, IYM, Interchange, and Summer Camp leaders but only in the roles for which the participant was originally trained. In other words, if you were trained as a Village leader, you could serve as a Village leader the following year but if you’ve been selected to serve as an Interchange or Summer Camp leader you would need to attend National Leadership Training to serve in the new role. The same holds true for Junior Counselors and Seminar Camp delegates. If you were trained as a JC but didn’t end up going as a JC following NLT, your certification is still valid for the role of JC the following year. But Seminar Camp is a very different program for which additional training and another workshop is currently required.
6) I’m an Interchange leader in a two year Interchange. Do I need to return to be trained again this coming year?
No. Interchange leaders and Interchange Junior Leaders are now certified for two consecutive years. But you must attend Local Leadership Training in your home Chapter in both years.
7) My Chapter only got one JC spot and they selected someone other than me for the position. Can I still attend National Leadership Training in case my Chapter might get another JC invitation at a later date?
Yes, we encourage all JC alternates to do this! Your training certification as a Junior Counselor would be current for two years. If you were sixteen when you were trained, but your Chapter did not receive another JC invitation till the following year, your certification would still be valid and you could still be eligible for another JC spot as a seventeen year old.
8) If I am trained and certified as a JC, are the chances greater for me getting a JC spot if my Chapter accepts a late invitation?
If your Chapter falls next in the Chapter/invitation rotation schedule set at CISV USA’s National Board Meeting in October, JC invitations that have been returned late and picked up by other Chapters will most easily go to candidates who are already trained and certified. This is especially true when all National Leadership Training Workshops have already been held when the late JC invitation becomes available and is picked up at the last minute by a Chapter.
9) I was trained as a Summer Camp Leader last year. Can I go again as a Summer Camp Leader without attending National Leadership Training again?
Yes. Village Leaders, Summer Camp Leaders, IYM Leaders, Interchange leaders, and Junior Counselors are certified in their roles for two consecutive years. However, all persons serving in those roles in consecutive years must attend their Local Leadership Training Workshop in both years.
10) I was trained and certified as a Junior Staff for a Summer Camp last year. Is my certification still valid this year?
No, it isn’t. Village Junior Staff, Village Staff, Village Directors, Summer Camp Staff, Summer Camp Junior Staff, and Summer Camp Directors are presently certified for only one year at a time.
11) I’m a Seminar Camp participant this year. Do I need to attend both Local Leadership Training and National Leadership Training?
Yes. Attendance at both Local and National Leadership Training Workshops is required of all CISV USA leaders, CISV USA program staff, and CISV USA Seminar Camp participants.
12) I can’t get to the NLT site before midnight. Will the hosting Chapter be able to provide a ride for me?
Your NLT Workshop Site Coordinator will have to answer this question. Please make contact with your NLT Site Coordinator for your training site as soon as you have made your travel arrangements.
13) I’m 19 and have been selected as an IYM participant, do I need to attend National Leadership Training?
No, but you must attend Local Leadership Training in your home Chapter. Currently, IYM participants will only be trained at the local level.
14) Our Chapter is using International Staff for our upcoming Summer Camp. We really can’t afford to fly her into the US for National Leadership Training. Can she be trained in her own country?
Yes she can, but certain guidelines need to be met. The Chapter must follow all the steps for obtaining the services of International Staff as outlined on the CISV International Staff/Leader Application Form. Then the trainer responsible for delivering the training for your International Staff member must file a Leadership Training Documentation Form with a completed hard copy faxed or mailed to the CISV USA National Office and to the CISV USA National Leadership Training Chair.
15) I’ve been selected as a Staff member for my Chapter’s Village this summer but I live several hundred miles from my Chapter now. I will have no trouble coming to National Leadership Training but my Chapter can’t afford to fly me home to attend our Chapter’s Local Leadership Training Workshop. What should I do?
Please consider attending a Local Leadership Training Workshop in a CISV USA Chapter close to where you currently live. If this is not possible, contact your Chapter’s Local Leadership Trainer to see what kind of arrangements they can provide for you to be trained locally before attending your National Leadership Training Workshop. While Skype conversations may not be an ideal substitute for onsite training, the option could present an opportunity to cover a lot of basic information you will need.
16) Our Chapter’s Local Leadership Training Workshop is scheduled after I’m scheduled to attend National Training. Is that ok?
All participants of National Leadership Training are required to attend training locally prior to attending nationally. There are core components of CISV that will be assumed at national training. If a person attends national training and has not been trained locally, it is possible that the person will be lost, confused, or frustrated. It is the responsibility of the local Chapter to prepare the participant for national training. If, for some reason, the participant cannot attend the LLT workshop, the Local Leadership Trainer and Chapter leadership are responsible for determining an alternative preparation for the participant.
17) I’m the new Local Leadership Trainer for my Chapter but I’ve never been trained as a Local Leadership Trainer. What should I do?
You should register at www.cisvuniversity.org for one of the National Leadership Training Workshops as a Local Leadership Trainer and attend a National Leadership Training Workshop fulltime. Hopefully your role in the local Chapter was explained to you by your Chapter leadership and they have prepared a budget that will allow you to attend a National Leadership Training Workshop. By attending a National Leadership Training Workshop, you will be prepared by National Trainers to deliver a Local Leadership Training workshop based on the latest edition of the CISV USA Local Leadership Training Manual and Curriculum. Your certification as a Local Leadership Trainer will be valid for a period of three years.
18) Our Chapter picked up a late invitation for a Village. The CISV University website says that the National Leadership Training Workshop closest to us is now full. Is it possible to make room in that workshop for our leader?
We try very hard to maintain an educationally-sound learning environment for each of our National Leadership Training Workshops. That means we have thoughtfully determined how many spaces are advisable per workshop location and size. If the CISV University site reports a workshop is full and won’t allow your participant to register, you may contact the National Leadership Training Chair and ask to be put on a waiting list for that workshop. But if the list is long and there are several names already ahead of your candidate, the Chapter should consider making arrangements to send the leader to a workshop where space still exists. Generally, in accepting any late invitation, the Chapter will need to assume the responsibility of all that means – and sometimes it means having to send a leader or JC to a workshop where transportation costs will be higher than where everyone else in the Chapter is going or selecting a delegation leader who is able to attend a workshop on one of the dates that’s still available.
19) Should our Chapter routinely send alternate JCs, Village, and Summer Camp leaders to a National Leadership Training Workshop?
Yes! This is a great practice for your Chapter. In addition to having leaders and JCs prepared for late invitations that may come along or as emergency leader replacements, all those roles are now certified for two consecutive years meaning your alternates would not need to return to National Leadership Training the following year should they be selected as a JC, Village, IYM, Summer Camp, or Interchange leader for the following summer. They would however need to attend another Local Leadership Training as that is where they would be introduced to any new responsibilities required of them since they were last trained.
20) We have a Village leader who served as a program staffer last year, an Interchange leader the year before that, and a Summer Camp leader the year before that. Does he still need to attend Local and National Leadership Training?
Yes, he does. Currently there is no “grandfather” status to reach in the level of leadership training where a participant would no longer require it.
21) We’ve never required Local Leadership Training for program staff before. Why do we have to do it now?
CISV USA has been using the CISV USA Local Leadership Training Manual and Curriculum since the year 2000. In that first edition and every updated edition since, Local Leadership Training has been required for program staff in the following areas: CISV Background and Philosophy, Personal Attitudes and Values, Cultural Sensitivity, Roles and Responsibilities, Leadership Styles, Risk Management and First Aid, and CISV Forms. In the Introduction section of the LLT Manual all of these topics are in bold typeface indicating they should be addressed with “all CISV leaders, Program Staff, JCs and Seminar participants.”
22) I have plans for Friday night and I won’t be able to arrive until very late, well after everyone will have gone to bed. I live in the same city where the training is being hosted and can drive myself there. Can I just arrive Saturday morning?
Training officially begins at 8:30 am on Saturday morning. In 2004, the workshops always began on Friday night at 8 pm. With travel required for many folks, the National Leadership Training Committee (NLTC) changed the times of the workshop weekend starting in 2005. This was done so that participants could arrive inside a window of time on Friday night leaving wiggle room for canceled flights, flight delays, flat tires, unexpected traffic, getting lost, etc. Chapters should still plan, however, that everyone should arrive on Friday. Hosting Chapters often have hotel rooms booked and food prepared. In addition, the training team still plans activities for Friday night because usually at least two-thirds of the participants have arrived by the suggested 8 pm time. For that reason, when folks arrive Saturday morning after breakfast they often feel like they have already missed something and they have. The other thing is that by planning to arrive at the last minute, time is not built in for lateness – things like oversleeping, broken down cars, traffic, and other reasons. This can create ill feelings among the many people who have rearranged their lives to be there on Friday night. Check-in tasks that were accomplished by everyone else the night before will have to be restaged for the person who chooses to arrive Saturday morning. The NLTC has purposely asked folks to arrive the night before so the trainers can make the best use of their short 18 hours together in training. If trainees do choose to arrive late, it is always up to the discretion of the trainers (including their overall assessment of the participant) to grant or withhold an NLT certification. If the participant arrives late, is inattentive, disruptive, disrespectful or unwelcoming to CISV’s philosophy, he or she will not likely be certified. The trainers and NLTC take leader selection and training seriously and will not choose to put youth in the hands of someone who does not take their role in CISV seriously and as a priority.
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"My schoolyard perspective was replaced by a global one. My village address list was my own personal map of the world."
CISV participant, Canada
