SEIC Meeting & Resulting Policy and Curriculum Udpates

What happens at an ACA Safety Education & Instruction Council (SEIC) Meeting?! In the spring of each year, the ACA Office Staff host the SEIC Executive Committee and the SEIC Discipline Committees in Fredericksburg, Virginia - the home of the ACA office.

The Discipline Committees host meetings on Thursday: they speak about the ongoing projects or issues within their committee, plus they outline goals and timelines for upcoming work and programs. On Friday the entire SEIC Board meets to provide updates from all discipline committees, partnering organizations (such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the National Safe Boating Council, the Boy Scouts of America, etc). Individuals or committees who bring forth official motions to change or add to SEIC policy, revise ACA educational curriculum, propose the formation of new work groups, and have discussion about the strategic forward movement of the ACA's educational & outreach mission.

The Spring 2020 SEIC Meeting occurred on Friday, February 21st. During this meeting, five new motions were passed by the SEIC (with subsequent approval by the ACA Board of Directors). It is important that ACA instructors know about these motions and resulting curriculum updates/changes:

Motion 2020-02-21-A – Add Low Brace Turn

The low brace turn was added to the ACA Level 2: Essentials of Sit-On-Top Kayaking sample skills course outline as well as the instructor criteria; it is already included in the skills assessment outline, thus this motion brings all three documents into alignment in regards to this skill. The details of the curriculum can be found at www.americancanoe.org/Courses_Kayak

Motion 2020-02-21-B – Eliminating QuickStart and SmartStart

All ACA Level 1 sample skills course outlines (canoe, kayak, and SUP) have been amended to include sample outlines for a variety of time allotments (8 hours, 4 hours, and 1 hour). These new sample outlines eliminate the need for multiple entry-level course titles, and also provide consistent highlighting of the basic skills and information that all entry level paddlers need to know. Subsequently the ACA QuickStart and SmartStart curriculum documents have been discontinued. Select your discipline from the list at www.americancanoe.org/Courses

Motion 2020-02-21-C – Revised L3, L4 and L5 River Canoe Curricula

This motion provided for the period revision of the ACA Level 2-5 River Canoeing curriculum documents to include sample skills course outlines, skills assessments, and instructor criteria. Changes made include venue descriptions (course location), flat water maneuvers (National On Water Standards) compliant wording, the updating of solo canoe carving
methods, and other small grammatical housekeeping changes. Find the curriculum at www.americancanoe.org/Courses_Canoeing

Motion 2020-02-21-D – Revised L2-L5 Safety + Rescue Curricula

The ACA's Safety & Rescue Committee has done a phenomenal and thorough job of reviewing and revising their Level 2-5 curriculum documents to  clarify terminology and reflect industry best practices. Find the curriculum documents (with changes italicized within each document) at www.americancanoe.org/Courses_SR

Motion 2020-02-21-F – CMS Transition & IT Requirements for Instructors

With the development and launch of the Course Management System (CMS), the SEIC Policy Manual has added chapter 1.F., which mandates the use of the CMS as the sole course reporting platform. The exact wording of the motion is as follows: SEIC business is conducted via electronic communication. All Instructors, Instructor Trainers, and Instructor Trainer Educators must have access to a valid email address and use the Course Management System (CMS) for the submission of all course documentation, i.e., registration, reporting, insurance requests, etc.

The best source of information regarding the specifics of each of these motions are SEIC Meeting minutes and your Discipline Committee Chair. Find the past meeting minutes as well as the SEIC Roster & contact information at www.americancanoe.org/SEIC

Would you like to be more involved with the development and execution of ACA policy and curriculum? Get more involved with your discipline committee - reach out to the discipline chair about current projects and opportunities to contribute your knowledge and skills!