National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification
Protecting and Promoting Since 1981
Season's Greetings from the NCTRC Board, Committees, and Staff!
Annual Certificants’ MeetingThe Annual NCTRC Certificants’ meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 4:30pm EST via Zoom. The meeting will last about one hour, and the following topics will be reviewed: acknowledgement of members of the Board of Directors and Standing Committees, I.C.E./NCCA accreditation status, standards updates, exam information/pass rates, marketing news, nominations and elections, NCTRC accomplishments over the past year and will allow certificants the opportunity to ask questions about the credentialing program. Attendance at the meeting is not mandatory. If you would like to register for the meeting, please send an email to nctrc@nctrc.org and include “Your Full Name will attend the meeting” in the subject line. NCTRC will reply to your message with the link to access the meeting by Monday, December 6. If you are unable to attend the live meeting, it will be recorded and posted to the NCTRC website. If you have any questions about the meeting, please contact NCTRC at 845-639-1439 or nctrc@nctrc.org.
Certification Standards Change – Effective January 1, 2022As announced in February 2018 and included in Appendix A: Standards Changes, of the NCTRC Certification Standards, the TR content course requirement will increase from 5 TR content courses to 6 TR content courses, effective January 1, 2022. Please note that all applications submitted to NCTRC on or after January 1, 2022 will need to meet the new NCTRC Certification Standard.
This standard change pertains to the submission date of professional eligibility applications only, an applicant does not have to take and pass the exam prior to the standard change. The new standard will read as follows for both the Academic and Equivalency Paths: “A minimum of 18 semester or 24 quarter credit hours of RT/TR content coursework. A minimum of six (6) courses in RT/TR is required and each course must be a minimum of three (3) credit hours. Two (2) of the required RT/TR courses may be taught by the applicant as an educator in a college/university/academic program. Educators may not enroll in their own courses to meet certification requirements.”
New Job Analysis and Exam Content Outline Coming in 2023NCTRC would like to thank all those who participated in the Job Analysis Study Survey. Your input is critical to the profession. The Job Analysis Study has been completed. The updating of the Job Analysis is critical to the validation of the certification program because it identifies the tasks and knowledge areas that are important for competent performance by CTRSs. The study was conducted to answer the essential questions: “How frequently does the CTRS® use the knowledge, skill or competency presented in each task” and “How
critical is it that the CTRS® know and perform the knowledge, skill or competency presented in each task.” The study findings serve as the basis for the NCTRC Certification Exam Content Outline and informs CTRSs about content areas for continuing education related to recertification. The implementation of the revised exam content outline will commence with the January 2023 exam. Information about the 2021 Job Analysis and the revised exam content outline will be available from NCTRC in 2022.
Shaun Geise elected “Chair-Elect” of the NCTRC Board of DirectorsShaun Geise, CTRS was elected to the position of Chair-Elect of the NCTRC Board of Directors at the Board's fall meeting. Shaun, who has served in the capacity of Vice Chair and Treasurer as a member of the Executive Committee during the past 2 years, will assume the position of Chair of the NCTRC Board of Directors in April 2022. Shaun earned his Bachelor of Science degree in therapeutic recreation from Indiana Institute of Technology. He currently works at Ferraro Behavior Services, LLC as the Compliance Coordinator of Therapy Services. In his role,
he oversees the day-to-day operations of the therapy departments which consist of 31 Recreational Therapists who practice across the state of Indiana. In addition, Shaun provides oversight and compliance for state related issues and regulations, and coordinates compliance with NCTRC guidelines during all internships.
Recertification DeadlineIf your five-year expiration date is December 31, 2021, you should begin reviewing the rules and standards governing NCTRC Recertification. A complete copy of the NCTRC Recertification Standards can be viewed at the NCTRC website. Please submit your recertification application and fee via My NCTRC
Login no later than December 31, 2021. Please be aware that the Recertification review process can take from 4-6 weeks for NCTRC to complete. Important NCTRC Recertification reminders: - Please do not submit Continuing Education documents with your application. If your application is selected for audit, you will be sent an email requesting that you upload your original, official documents to NCTRC via MY NCTRC Login and a employment verification form confirming the completion of 480
hours of professional work experience.
- All continuing education hours must be related to one of the NCTRC Job Analysis Knowledge Areas (Foundational Knowledge, Assessment Process, Documentation, Implementation, Administration of TR/RT Services, Advancement of the Profession) and need to total 50 hours completed over the five-year certification cycle.
Continuing Education: The Opportunities are Endless- Internship Students – A CTRS® can earn a maximum of 15 continuing education credit hours (5 hours earned for each internship experience) by supervising a maximum of three (3) internship supervisory experiences per recertification cycle.
- Equivalency Path Applicants – A CTRS® can earn a maximum of 6 continuing education credit hours (2 hours earned for each equivalency path applicant) by supervising a maximum of three (3) equivalency path supervisory experiences per recertification cycle.
For additional information, please review the Internship Supervision for Continuing Education form and/or Supervision of Equivalency Path for Continuing Education form.
- Hospital/Agency Education: Many work-related educational sessions or in-services may be acceptable for recertification. (Please be aware that topics such as Infection Control, CPR, First Aid
and Life Saving are not accepted.)
- Academic Coursework: Coursework can be audited (8 hours per academic credit) or taken for credit (15 hours per academic credit). Academic courses may be taken online or through correspondence.
- Teleconferences/Audio Seminars: A growing number of continuing education providers sponsor teleconferences.
- Home Study Programs: Several organizations provide continuing education via professional journal review and home study courses. Like many online programs, educational material can be purchased for completion over an extended period.
- Internet: A simple search for “continuing education” will provide many opportunities for consideration. Many of the internet/online-based continuing education programs can be purchased for a reasonable fee.
Remember that NCTRC offers a Continuing Education Pre-Approval Process. This process is designed to assist CTRSs in obtaining approval of pending or completed continuing education prior to the submission of a recertification application. It allows for official confirmation of continuing education to CTRSs who are not certain if specific continuing education opportunities meet NCTRC recertification requirements. This process is available to all current CTRSs and can be utilized at any time during the five-year certification
cycle. To learn more about the online recertification process, please view the Recertification Tutorial. Also, if you have suggestions for other tutorials you would like NCTRC to do, please let us know by emailing nctrc@nctrc.org.
Go further with an NCTRC Scholarship.An NCTRC Scholarship recognizes the achievements of those who seek to advance their knowledge and professional competency to improve the quality of recreational therapy services.
NCTRC is now on Facebook. We are excited to open this new avenue of contact between you and the organization.
Recertify and Reinvest in Yourself.NCTRC knows how hard you worked to obtain the CTRS® credential. Continue your professional journey by renewing your CTRS® certification.
Thank you for your continued support of NCTRC and the CTRS® credential!
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