New Program Data
The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) administers the Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) examination. Schools have to meet NCBTMB requirements to become an assigned school. There are (54) assigned schools, in Florida. Assigned school contact information, name of business or organization, city, and details may be located online at http://.ncbtmb.org.
LMT practitioners must re-certify every two years by completing 24 hours of continuing education and complete a minimum of 100 work hours in the field, effective Jan. 1, 2013. There are 31, 810 current LMTs and 47 Message Therapy Apprentices (MTA) listed on the Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) website online at (http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us), in Florida.
A list of massage therapy continuing education courses (CEU) offered in the community and statewide is posted on the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) website at
http://.ncbtmb.org. NCBTMB lists massage therapy CEU providers, by provider number, category of massage therapy focus, number of CEU hours, and course title.
Statewide, NCBTMB lists (221) active continuing education providers and details of provider classes offered. There are (21) current CEU providers listed on the NCBTMB website that offer classes to the Tampa Bay community and surrounding area for certified message therapy school graduates. Specifically, there are (2) massage therapy CEU providers in Clearwater, (10) in St. Petersburg, (6) in Tampa, (1) in Largo, (1) Pinellas Park, and (1) Pembroke Pines. http://.ncbtmb.org.
S. Burnell
Susan,
What has this information sparked in your thinking about your own programs?
Christopher Nickell
Our school is specifically an MBA program, and that's it. There are countless MBA programs around. All of the Cal States and UCs have them, as well as many other private colleges. A list can be found here.
http://www.find-mba.com/california
This information tells me that our program does not stand out simply because it is an MBA program. We need to stand out for other reasons.
One thing that makes us unique, is that our MBA is in Executive Management and Entrepreneurship, The entrepreneurship part is especially unique. Any offerings we can gear towards that aspect will make us stand out, and make people see us as more than just another MBA program.
Regardless of the courses offered or developed, the institution has to gain as much revenue as possible from this collection. Some thing to consider is to break up the curriculum. For example, a degree program may require x number of courses. However, within the required program, there may be a lesser number of courses that can be offered for a "certificate" which will be composed of a select number of course offerings from within the main program.
Allen,
Yes - Yes - Yes! In addition to this...focus on the "required" number of credits per program. Nothing makes less sense than a 54 credit certificate program and a 108 quarter credit associate's degree. Maybe when the money didn't matter in our business 10 years ago, you could give Program Directors the freedom to create as many courses and credits as they wanted, today that is not rhe case. Many times, an academic operator who has experience in both operations and academic affairs can effectively guide both sides of this equation toward a happy place. 1+1's and "required" credit amounts are two keys to efficiency.
Christopher Nickell
Jennie,
This is great - find a niche. Also provide the best world-class service to students that you can. That is the easiest and cheapest way to stand out.
Christopher Nickell
In conducting research regarding continuing education courses in our community, I have found that there are many options for continuing education courses online through sites like the National Association for Continuing Education and CE Broker. As far as in-person courses, there are several options available through state and private schools, colleges and universities. Our school offered Nursing continuing education courses for nurses, but there was not enough interest from the community and the courses were discontinued. Now that we have implemented two nursing programs, we will be revisiting the option of offering CEUs for nurses again.
List all the new continuing education courses offered in your community or elsewhere. What discoveries have you made and what ideas do you have for new courses to offer?
