decisions...decisions....

[rebel6460]

hey everybody.....

hope everybody is having a great weekend...i got a few things on my mind and im looking for some answears...okay as anybody knows i got screwed on my assistant divers certification by my past instructor...i went through all the tests and etc etc and i passed with a 93....all sudden my instructor "loses" my paperwork and changes his dive association....i was certified through I.D.E.A,. and when I approached them they told me that he was removed from the assocation and nothing could be done, talk about fustration!!! Now I have found a great dive shop and they are trying to get me to switch to SSI. My question is how does anybody feel about switching thier certs midstream.....i know that I.D.E.A. was top line back in 98...and i was going to make a career in diving...but....well all that has changed...i do rec diving when i can and i'd also would like to know what can I do about my "lost cert " besides eat all the training and start over? I'd appreciate any info anybody would care to share..thanks..safe diving

 

[jbd]

Given the circumstances, I would think that I.D.E.A. could have a course director work with you to evaluate you as being acceptable as an AI. It wouldn't take long to figure out if you had your stuff in order or were blowing hot air. If you had your stuff squared away it would seem to be a simple matter to run you through an abreviated course and grant certification.

Changing agencies midstream is done quite frequently. If you like the folks at the SSI shop then by all means make the switch.

BTW, I would bug I.D.E.A. for a written reason as to why they are writing you off so summarily.

 

[rebel6460]

hey thank you for the input...i will try writing I.D.E.A. and see what transpires, the thing that ticked me off was my instructor screwed me out of my cert and then told me that he changed agencys....funny thing is he's changed a lot of agencys seems hes done that a lot and i cant put my finger on it.....i thought once you were an instructor with a certain agency dont you remain a instructor? I mean can they revoke your agency licence??? But definately i will hound IDEA and see what happens...thank you so much for the input...

 

[jbd]

Being an instructor with any agency is pretty much a privilege not a right. The agencies have the right to revoke an instructors privilege to instruct under the agency's banner as tey feel the need to do so. This is most often done for reasons of misconduct according to the rules of the given agency.

I would be suspect of anyone who jumps from agency to agency as an instructor. Certainly there are plenty of instructors who have crossed over to two or three other agencies for valid reasons but generally its cost prohibitive to keep dropping one agency to join another just for the sake of doing it.

 

[scubabrn]

I have heard that to be an SSI instructor, you MUST work out of an SSI shop. In other words, if you decided to go it alone or move to a nonSSI shop, you would loose your SSI Instructors cert. Thats just what I heard, you may want to investigate it.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Agency hopping is a clear sign of trouble. Like jbd said, some instructors do cross over for valid reasons, but doing this regularly is costly. What scubabrn says is true. SSI instructors must have shop affiliation. If you start having problems with a shop you're associated with, you need to find another SSI shop to teach through. With most other agencies, you can just become independent.

 

[jbd]

I have heard that to be an SSI instructor, you MUST work out of an SSI shop. In other words, if you decided to go it alone or move to a nonSSI shop, you would loose your SSI Instructors cert. Thats just what I heard, you may want to investigate it.

I don't think this is completely true anymore. It seems like I have seen a thread that indicates that SSI has provisions for instructors that live more than some specific distance from a SSI shop to teach in an independent manner. There are several SSI instructors on this board so maybe they could clarify this.

 

[Dive-aholic]

SSI instructors can teach away from the shop, but they still must file all their paperwork through the shop. They can't file directly with SSI.

 

[SteveAD]

hey everybody.....

hope everybody is having a great weekend...i got a few things on my mind and im looking for some answears...okay as anybody knows i got screwed on my assistant divers certification by my past instructor...i went through all the tests and etc etc and i passed with a 93....all sudden my instructor "loses" my paperwork and changes his dive association....i was certified through I.D.E.A,. and when I approached them they told me that he was removed from the assocation and nothing could be done, talk about fustration!!! Now I have found a great dive shop and they are trying to get me to switch to SSI. My question is how does anybody feel about switching thier certs midstream.....i know that I.D.E.A. was top line back in 98...and i was going to make a career in diving...but....well all that has changed...i do rec diving when i can and i'd also would like to know what can I do about my "lost cert " besides eat all the training and start over? I'd appreciate any info anybody would care to share..thanks..safe diving

that the agency said he had been removed definitely sounds like an expulsion if an instructor simply fails to renew with an agency all the agency will usually say is he/she is not currently authorized to teach. as far as finding another idea instructor that might get a bit dicey, because anything alegedly taught by an expelled instructor is going to be suspect. hopefully you can find a sympathetic instructor who will help you to fast track straight to testing, but don't expect to get full credit for anything you completed with the first one.