Teaching SCUBA

[SparticleBrane]

At our school we have different levels of volunteers. The first level, which is just slightly more involved than this, is essentially a glorified gopher.

I wouldn't jump on this person for undertaking this method of getting into a program -- sometimes the mentoring route from a university program is far superior than what you'd find anywhere else.

 

[Louma]

Some very useful info here both for the OP and anyone else who might want to help out during a SCUBA course. Know that there are agency policies and standards that specifically spell out who can do what during a course. Even if you have the qualifications to assist, TA, AI, DM, it is up to the instructor if you are going to do anything. And no one on this board knows as much about University SCUBA programs as Thal, so the OP got expert advice right from "the horses mouth".

 

[Thalassamania]

Some very useful info here both for the OP and anyone else who might want to help out during a SCUBA course. Know that there are agency policies and standards that specifically spell out who can do what during a course. Even if you have the qualifications to assist, TA, AI, DM, it is up to the instructor if you are going to do anything. And no one on this board knows as much about University SCUBA programs as Thal, so the OP got expert advice right from "the horses mouth".

I appreciate the voice of confidence, however, every institution is different, has different requirements and different procedures and (naturally) you are expected to know what they are. I've seen several situations were the mismatch between institutional needs and agency standards was so bad that the only solution was to run an "institutional" course, issue a University Certification Card somewhere through the semester, and then on the basis of that card certify the students through an agency using the experienced diver (mossback) provisions. When the institution carries its own instructional liability insurance that may be the best way to run the course and still get an agency certificate for the students.

BTW: To this day I usually show my University of California, Berkeley Research Diver Certification card from 1972, I have never been refused a rental, a boat trip, or anything else, anywhere in the world.