by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Just returning from vacation I was reflecting on the day I spent with my family at a water park. As I mentioned to my wife at the time, I loved the fast slides and crazy curves coming down but hated the long, arduous climb back up the six or so stories required to experience those short moments of exhilaration. While for me those climbs back up reminded me of my age (all too easy to forget during the tube ride down), they also serve as a reminder of the progress of the field of educational consulting.

It has truly been a long, difficult climb. Misunderstandings about the role of consultants among our school-based colleagues are legendary, but we worked hard to correct that image, rising one step at a time. Media reports that concentrate on the 1% of unethical, unscrupulous consultants have made the climb tougher still, but again we have been persistent in demonstrating who we are and what IECA members believe in. Recent media reports have generally provided families with the clear distinction between IECA members and those unable to earn membership—evidence that the climb, however difficult, is worth the effort.

I have long felt that our young profession faced yet another difficulty in the absence of any degree or certificate program in independent educational consulting. This felt to me analogous to trying to climb that ladder with a few rungs missing.

For years we responded to inquiries from the media and general public, and advised those who sought entry into this profession what was required of educational consultants. In doing so we laid out the educational and professional experiences necessary for success. However, there was no educational program, beyond the Summer Training Institute run by the Independent Educational Consultants Association—a fantastic program, but not seen publicly as the equivalent of a degree or certificate granted by a major university.

It is with this background that I’m pleased to report that the first-ever Certificate in Independent Educational Consulting has been officially approved by the University of California to be offered as part of the extension program through UC Irvine. For several years programs have existed at UCLA and UC Berkeley, among others, in College Counseling. This is the first program to recognize educational consulting as a separate and distinct field with courses in the principles of educational consulting, financial aid, serving students with learning disabilities, as well as summer and gap year advising, and consulting with students possessing artistic and special talents. It will also cover those critical small business skills including entrepreneurship, marketing, PR, and ethics.

This new program, developed in a partnership between UC Irvine Extension and IECA, kicks off this fall with the Principles of Educational Consulting course, and several classes added in the winter session. More details will be available on the UC Irvine Web site in mid-September and a special, no-cost webinar will be offered next week (pre-registration is required) that will examine the program, its requirements, the coursework, and related educational opportunities important to succeed in the field. Do join in this webinar, led by IECA members Steve Antonoff (CO) and Bari Norman (FL), as well as myself. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th; follow this link for more details and to register. For additional information about the program and courses being offered, contact Amanda Yngelmo at ayngelmo@uci.edu or 949-824-9304.

This new development will allow us an easier climb up the ladder and we should all welcome this development for the profession.

Related posts:

1. First Webinar Explores the Growth in Consulting
2. UC/Irvine Expecting Crowd for Webinar
3. New Pew Study on Graying of Workforce & Independent Educational Consulting
4. New Study Debunks the “$40,000 Educational Consultant”
5. Years-Long Effort Results in Major Step Forward for the Profession of Educational Consulting

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 am and is filed under Consulting Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.