News and Announcements

 

 

Sight Folder Submissions

Headquarters has frequently been receiving Navigation 09 sight folders without the necessary form ED-33.  This form is required per Section 6.42, Sight Folders, of the Operations Manual and is used as a dual form for both exams and sight folders. Alternatively, squadrons may use the Sight Folder eED-33 Form, accessible on Educational Department web pages under "Order Course Materials", to prepare a printed form that must be submitted with the sight folders to USPS Headquarters. All information for processing member records is taken from the ED-33 or eED-33 before the folder is sent to the ONCom for evaluation. Effective immediately, sight folders received without the accompanying ED-33 or eED-33 will be held until either one of these printed forms is received. NOTE: There is NO facility to send either the ED-33 or the eED-33 electronically to HQ. One of these printed forms MUST accompany the sight folders when they are sent to Headquarters. (21 Jul 10)

Inflatable Life Vests on Planes

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has published a flyer that clarifies what constitutes prohibited items on aircraft. Because of the compressed gas cartridges that are a part of inflatable life vests, they fit this description, but there is an exception. See the TSA flyer (894KB, PDF) under "Disabling Chemicals & Other Dangerous Items" for details. You are also advised to bring this flyer with you just in case your local TSA authority questions carrying your inflatable life vests and spare cartridges aboard. (22 Jun 10)

Enrolling Non-Member Students in USPS University and Ordering Exams

Exams can now be ordered for non-members. Please follow the attached procedure 67KB, PDF) for enrolling the non-member students in USPS University and ordering exams. The non-member will get a certificate number that may be used for all future courses and seminars and will become their membership number on joining USPS. The enrollment only needs to take place once for each student. (14 May 10)

Laser Fire Extinguisher Training System Available

Thanks to the Educational Fund, we now have a $12,000 laser fire extinguishing training system. This system helps in training and practice with various types of fires using a simulated fire and a laser pattern projected from the extinguisher nozzle. Results are scored for time to extinguish the fire. This system is ideal for Boat Operator Certification and boating events. It is available through HQ Marketing. We recommend districts coordinate events. To see some pictures click here. (17 Apr 10)

PowerPoint/Flash Problems

If you have been trying to use PowerPoint for one of our courses or seminars and receive the error message "Some controls on this presentation can't be activated. They may not be registered on your computer.", try the following few steps from Microsoft Tech Services that should help resolve the problem:

The error message you are seeing is usually related to a flash OCX file not being properly registered on your computer. You could try the following to resolve your issue:

1. Quit PowerPoint.
2. Run the following command (using Start -> in the start search box, type in the following command):
   regsvr32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash.ocx"

Note that the exact path may vary and the command should be applied to any of the following files that exist in the noted directory:

• flash.ocx
• flash8.ocx
• flash9.ocx

This information was contributed by R/C Wil Hugli. (17 Apr 10)

2010 Printing of ABC 3

Important information concerning the 2010 printing and shipping of ABC3 as well as review answer sheets and PowerPoint files is now available on the Basic Public Education Committee web page. (07 Apr 10)

New Boating on Rivers Locks and Lakes Seminar

A brand new seminar—Boating on Rivers, Locks and Lakes—is now available for shipping. The seminar is designed to meet the needs of our large inland boating membership and the general public. Seminar topics include The Western Rivers System of Navigational Aids; River Boating; and Locking Through. The seminar is particularly suited for introducing students to experienced local boaters and their squadron because the exchange of local information and experiences can be one of the most interesting and important parts of the seminar.

Each student will receive a full color student guide.

Both Student Kits and an Instructor Kit that includes both the Student Guide and the Instructor Guide and CD may be ordered from the Ed Dept online catalog. (12 Mar 10)

Educational Department Notice Regarding On The Water Policy

Now that USPS has moved aggressively into on the water training, it is essential that we maintain the highest standards to assure safety of all involved and minimize any liability or property loss. From this point forward, any on the water activity must use a program approved by the Boat Operator Certification and On The Training Committee and be pre-scheduled by the involved squadron or district. Please see EDN-90 for details. (20 Feb 10)

Instructing USPS Programs to the Public

The USPS National By-Laws have been amended to remove the restriction against instructing courses to the public. Now, squadrons have the option of instructing any USPS program to anyone. We ask that you charge market prices for non-members and retain deep discounted costs for members as an inducement to join.  We also ask that you consider our partner organizations for discounts including U.S. Sailing, Coast Guard Auxiliary, BoatU.S., corporate members, and others. Pricing is a squadron prerogative. Please see “Guidelines: Squadrons/Districts Offering Educational Programs” for details. (20 Feb 10)

Educational Department Reorganization

Read about the new Educational Department reorganization in the latest edition of Currents. (07 Feb 10)

Orlando Storefront Presentation

Tom Kemp, USPS HQ Marketing Manager, will give a presentation in Orlando on the Storefront Concept for Seminars. Click here for the PowerPoint presentation (3355KB, PPT). (22 Jan 10)

Short Web Addresses

To make it easier for you to cite and use the Educational Department web pages, we've shortened three of our most used web addresses.

• To get to this page—the Educational Department home page—you can enter into your browser either www.usps.org/eddept or just usps.org/eddept. Either address will bring you to this page.
• To find a public boating course, you can use either www.usps.org/findacourse or usps.org/findacourse. Either one will take you to the search page where a user can find a USPS public boating course close to home.
• To find a seminar, you can use either www.usps.org/findaseminar or usps.org/findaseminar. Either one will take you to the search page where a user can find a USPS seminar close to home. (22 Jan 10)

Materials and Exam Orders

The Standard Order Form (SOF) for materials orders and ED-33 for exam and sight folder orders have been taken off the drop down "Order Course Materials" menu from all EdDept web pages. Please use the On-Line Catalog and Shopping Cart for materials orders and the On-Line Exam Ordering drop down menu for exam orders effective immediately. The Sight Folder eED-33 Form may be used in place of the standard ED-33 for sight folder submissions. Errors on manually completed forms cause added work for Headquarters personnel and can be avoided by using the on-line processes, all accessible from any Educational Department web page under "Order Course Materials". (11 Nov 09, updated 21 Jul 10)

Weems and Plath Discount

Weems and Plath is offering USPS members a 25% discount on anything ordered via their web site. Check out the details at the Weems and Plath store. (11 Nov 09)

Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary Course Credits

Did you know that members who have certain Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary certificates can get credit as having passed USPS courses? Check out the Frequently Asked Questions page for details. (11 Nov 09)

Seminar Student Notes and Instructor Manual Changes

Evaluating our education materials and considering what we were handing out to our students, we have decided to change several things. Starting with the Rules of the Road seminar, some student notebooks will take on a new look—in color with slide notes. The new look in the student manual is more professional, in color, and has greater value as a take home. With this change, some instructor manuals will be eliminated since the information is part of the slide presentation. The decision to eliminate the instructor manuals was one of eliminating duplication. The IM material was already part of the Power Point Presentation. So it made sense to reduce duplication where possible. Using Slide Presenter mode instructors will have access to the slides and notes as well as the students seeing the slide. This may require instructors to check out their computer and projectors to gain experience in using the dual screen options so that the projector shows the slide as you see the slide and notes on the computer screen. This is another good application of our technology to support education. (11 Nov 09)

Spanish Translations of ABC3 Exams

The ABC3 Exam #1 and Exam #2 exams have been translated into Spanish. The catalogue numbers are 02-73-121 for the ABC3 Spanish Final Exam 1 and 02-73-122 for the ABC3 Spanish Final Exam 2. The old Form A exam is already available in Spanish. The Spanish translations are available in the on-line Materials Catalog right after the English exams. (28 Oct 09)

Check Status of On-Line Orders

Thanks to the efforts of P/C Dan Bartell, a new capability to check the status of on-line Educational Department material and exam orders is in place.  Using a web browser, authorized members who can order educational materials can now check the status of their material and exam orders that were submitted on-line.  Just use the new pull-down menu selection "Check On-Line Order Status" under "Order Course Materials" on any EdDept web page.  Note that this capability does NOT allow checking of orders placed by hard copy means (postal mail or faxes). (14 Sep 09)

America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Computer Settings

New instructions for setting your computer options to run America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition, using Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Shockwave Player are available on the ABC3 web page. (01 Sep 09)

Take a Course and Maybe Win a Prize!

The Educational Department has received a grant from the USPS Educational Fund that rewards squadron members for taking advanced courses.  A competition in each of several course categories is being offered and prizes will be awarded via a drawing of all students that successfully complete the course by passing the final exam.  The contest began July 1, 2009 and ends June 30, 2010.  The awards will be announced and presented at the Seattle Governing Board, August 30 – September 4, 2010.

Bob Sweet, National Educational Officer, urges all squadrons to schedule these courses in the next year and encourage all members to enroll.  Bob also said that squadrons could “team up” by offering the courses at centralized locations. See the flyer (PDF, 300KB) for more information. (04 Aug 09)

Presentations to Promote Seminars

Two PowerPoint presentations are available to help promote USPS seminars. The Train-the-Trainer presentation (488KB) was provided at the 4-district conference in Hampton, NH.  It goes through the process and provides tips for planning and delivering seminars.  It also links to the second "Have Fun" presentation (6823KB) which can be used before each seminar to showcase USPS. (03 Jan 09)

Detroit Governing Board Presentations

Three presentations given at the Detroit Governing Board meeting in September are now available. The first is a slightly modified version of the EdDept Overview briefing given at the Open EdDept meeting (PPT, 6790KB), the second is the On The Water (OTW) presentation given by D/6 (PPT, 368KB), and the last is the insurance update presentation (PPT, 120KB). This version of the EdDept Overview briefing is the preferred presentation that DEOs might give to a Fall Conference audience beyond the SEOs. (07 Oct 08)

Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) Registrations

United States Power Squadrons is now offering MMSI registrations to most recreational boaters. Get more detailed information from the Marine Electronics web page or the USPS MMSI web page. (17 Jun 08)

Educational Department Presentations from the Annual Meeting, February 2008

Presentations on EPIRBs (PPT, 6643KB) and the status of the USCG Rescue 21 (PPT, 4626KB) were provided by the Coast Guard to the DEOs and the Open EdDept meeting in Dallas. (10 Mar 08)

A PowerPoint presentation (5592KB), tailored for the Spring District Conferences, has been prepared based on what was presented at the Dallas Annual Meeting.  It includes narrative notes to go with the slides. (28 Feb 08)

Running the Old Maptech Digital Chart Training CD under Vista

Please note that the following instructions apply to a previous version (5.07d) of the Maptech CD. The latest version (5.08 for Windows XP/Vista) works fine under Vista without any special procedures. (Updated 09 Mar 08)

Maptech's Offshore Navigator (and related products, such as Offshore Navigator Lite and Chart Navigator Viewer) was created long before Microsoft Windows Vista was released. As you may be aware, Microsoft Vista is designed to restrict access to certain core components of the operating system, in order to make the system more robust and secure. Unfortunately, by doing this, older applications must be run "As Administrator" and in "Windows XP Compatibility Mode" in order to function correctly.  Click on this Maptech link to get instructions for how to do this.  Just a reminder, once you have this Chart Navigator software on this CD loaded and operating, you can download and use any charts you would like from Maptech following the “Download - Free NOAA Charts” link on this page.

Boating Course Assistant

Major changes have been made to this program so it is very important for all BCA users to switch to this revision. Older versions do not support the new ED27 data reporting standards, so the data will not get to where it is required and worse, the course graduates may not get credit for taking the course. The new version also manages Seminars and supports importing student data from the email generated by the online pre-registration form.
For more information and to download the new version, please visit: BCA Download.

Boat U.S. Hurricane Resource Center

Be prepared for hurricane season with tips from the Boat U.S. Hurricane Resource Center.
Read more...