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Certified Ice Technician (CIT) Recertification Course - Classroom-based (RTC)

  • Tuesday, October 12, 2010
  • 8:30 AM
  • Wednesday, October 13, 2010
  • 4:30 PM
  • Hamilton, ON
  • 7

Registration

(depends on selected options)

Base fee:

NOTE: Course fee includes 13% GST

CIT Recertification Course - October 12 and 13, 2010
Dave Andrechuk Arena
14 Hester Street, Hamilton, Ontario

Instructor: Terry Piche, RRFA, CIT

Background
The Ontario Recreation Facilities Association (ORFA) introduced the Certified Ice Technician (CIT) professional designation in 1997. This NHL-recognized credential was designed to acknowledge the academic excellence and specialized expertise of individuals who work in artificial ice operations. Overwhelmingly, the CIT designation has been the most sought-after of all the ORFA professional designations. Today, close to 70% of arenas, ice and refrigeration job postings specifically state the preference to recruiting those individuals who hold the CIT professional designation.

Since 1997, over 800 individuals have been awarded the CIT designation. More recently, there has been discussion and reflection, based on industry needs and legal counsel, that to ensure these individuals remain current in industry best practices and knowledge, that a recertification program be designed and implemented.

Recertification
Recertification is a very common self-regulation approach taken by many professional associations seeking to ensure its members represent the most qualified individuals within a particular industry-sector or profession.

Recertification will help CITs update their skills and knowledge on the latest ice and refrigeration technologies and techniques, and on current industry information and legal requirements to ensure safe, effective and efficient ice facilities operations. It also assists the employer to meet the Occupational Health and Safety Act's requirement to ensure the workplace has competent workers. Recertification will further enhance the integrity, value and validity of the CIT professional within the recreation facility industry and among the sport and recreation sector, government agencies and the broader public sector.

The guiding principles for CIT recertification are to ensure the process is appropriate, accessible, attainable and affordable for all CITs.

Effective January 1, 2010, CITs will be required to recertify every five years. This new requirement is retroactive to January 1, 1997 and includes all CIT recipients from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2009. Individuals will recertify according to the following schedule:

CIT Certification Year CIT Recertification Year
1997-2001
2010
2002-2004
2011
2005-2007
2012
2008
2013
2009
2014
2010
2015
Etc.
Etc.

The CIT Recertification Process
  1. The ORFA will contact the recertifying CIT members in the month of October of the year prior to their recertification year. For example, CITs who obtain their professional designation in 2010 will be required to recertify in 2015; the ORFA will contact them in October 2014 and provide them with recertification information for the following year.

  2. The CIT member has three options to recertify:

Option 1: Write the ORFA CIT Challenge Exam
This classroom-based exam will be scheduled in March and September at the ORFA office in Toronto and at selected regional locations around the province, as needed. The exams will be proctored by ORFA staff and/or selected ORFA training instructors.

To assist the challenge exam participants, the ORFA will prepare a syllabus of subject matter topics that the participants should review prior to writing the exam. As well, the exam writers will be encouraged to obtain the latest version of ORFA's Refrigeration Manual: Ice Rink Applications (2007) as well as ORFA's training manuals in Ice Making and Painting Technologies and Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations.

The exam will contain questions comparable to the exams in the original three courses (Basic Refrigeration; Ice Making and Painting Technologies; Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations). The exam fee will be $125.00 plus applicable taxes.

If the member fails the CIT Challenge Exam, he/she will have the option to rewrite the CIT Challenge Exam, at the same fee, or register to participate in the CIT Recertification Course (classroom or online) and complete that final exam. If the member once again fails the exam in either scenario, then he/she will be required to re-take the three CIT certification courses: Basic Refrigeration, Ice Making and Painting Technologies and Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations.

Option 2: Take the ORFA CIT Recertification Course (classroom-based)
This course will provide a comprehensive review of information contained in the original three courses (Basic Refrigeration; Ice Making and Painting Technologies; Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations) as well as highlight updated best practices. The course will include a final exam. The course will be taught over a two-day period. Participants will be required to prepare pre-course work so that time in class may be spent on more advanced subject matter. The recertification course will be offered in the spring at the Annual Professional Development Program held at the University of Guelph. Regional offerings will be considered, as required.

The registration fee for the classroom-based course will be $370.00 plus applicable taxes.

If the member fails the CIT Recertification Course (classroom-based), he/she will have the option to re-take the CIT Recertification Course (classroom or online), at the same fee, and re-write the exam or choose to write the CIT Challenge Exam. If the member once again fails the exam in either scenario, then he/she will be required to re-take the three CIT certification courses: Basic Refrigeration, Ice Making and Painting Technologies and Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations.

Option 3: Take the ORFA CIT Recertification Course (online)
This course, developed in partnership with the Office of Open Learning, University of Guelph, will mirror the information presented in the classroom-based course and include a final exam. The course will be approximately three weeks long and will be facilitated online by an ORFA content expert. The online course will be made available in the fall of each year.
The registration fee for the online course will be $495.00 plus applicable taxes.
If the member fails the CIT Recertification Course (online), he/she will have the option to re-take the CIT Recertification Course (classroom or online), at the same fee, and re-write the exam or choose to write the CIT Challenge Exam. If the member once again fails the exam in either scenario, then he/she will be required to re-take the three CIT certification courses: Basic Refrigeration, Ice Making and Painting Technologies and Ice Maintenance and Equipment Operations.

Recertification Course/Exam Content
The information used to create the CIT Challenge Exam and presented in the CIT Recertification Course (classroom-based and online) will address the subject matter at the same level of intensity and scrutiny as the information presented in the original three courses. As such, the recertification information will:

  • Review current theory, advanced principles and best practices
  • Present the latest in technologies, techniques, tools
  • Review legal liabilities and responsibilities
  • Test to measure the skills and knowledge to work competently as an ice technician professional.

Non-recertification
If a CIT fails to recertify within the allotted time frame, a notice will be sent reminding the individual of his/her professional requirement. The individual will be provided a grace period extending to the next offering of the CIT Challenge Exam or the CIT Recertification Course (classroom-based or online). Failing to act on the notice, the individual will be advised that his/her CIT professional designation will be suspended and will not be reinstated until he/she writes the CIT Challenge Exam or successfully completes the CIT Recertification Course (classroom-based or online). Until that time, the individual is not permitted to represent himself/herself as a Certified Ice Technician. During the suspension period, the individual must maintain his/her individual membership with the ORFA.

For More Information
Please contact:

Sharon Dias, Administrative Assistant
Ontario Recreation Facilities Association
1 Concorde Gate, Suite 102, Toronto, Ontario M3C 3N6
tel: (416) 426-7299 fax: (416) 426-7385 email: admin@orfa.com

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