- Navigator CE Course Application
- Subscription to Vertafore/Sircon
- General Guidelines for Navigator CE Courses
Navigator CE Course Application
Indiana Navigators are required to complete at least two (2) hours of Navigator continuing education (CE) per year from an IDOI-approved Navigator CE course provider. Any individual, insurance trade association, accredited college or university, educational organization, or Application Organization, may submit Navigator CE courses for approval by the Commissioner of Insurance. Applications must be submitted at least thirty (30) days prior to the course begin date. Applications are reviewed by the IDOI Education Advisory Council, which meets publically the second Thursday of each month. Notices of a public hearing are posted on the IDOI Home page. Navigator CE courses are valid for two (2) years from the date of approval.
- Navigator CE Course Application
- Application must be mailed to: Indiana Department of Insurance, c/o Navigator Director, 311 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2787.
- Application must include: (1) One original set of all documentation; (2) a nonrefundable $40.00 filing fee per course, or a yearly filing fee of $500 for all courses; (3) course content outline/agenda showing the hours and minutes for each topic; (4) a detailed business resume or biography for each instructor; and (5) all other course and study materials. Fees must be paid by check or money order made payable to: Indiana Department of Insurance. No cash payments will be accepted.
- View 760 IAC 4-9 - Continuing Education for rules pertaining to Navigator CE courses.
Subscription to Vertafore/Sircon
Once approved, a Navigator CE course provider must subscribe to Vertafore/Sircon within 14 days of course approval. Subscription to Vertafore/Sircon allows the provider to enter course dates, locations, and update contact information of the course that is viewable online to the public. Subscription also allows the provider to generate certificates of course completion for Indiana Navigators, submit new or updated course applications to IDOI, and renew the course.
General Guidelines for Navigator CE Courses
The following are some important guidelines that Navigator CE courses must follow. Additional rules pertaining to Navigator CE courses are available in 760 IAC 4-9.
- One (1) CE credit is equal to fifty (50) minutes of classroom instruction and a ten (10) minute break. One (1) credit hour is the minimum that will be approved for Classroom or Self-Study courses. Eight (8) hours of classroom time is the maximum credit allowed per day.
- A provider may advertise a CE course after submission to the IDOI but before its approval. However, the provider must clearly indicate in any advertisement of the course that course approval is pending.
- Classroom and Self-Study courses may be approved for CE credit. Videotaped, Internet, and satellite broadcast programs may also be approved.
- A Self-Study course means study material in a textbook, computer based software, or internet format designed for individual study by a student, which requires a closed book, proctored examination. The provider must submit all the course material that the student will receive for the Commissioner to review. Audio tapes are not an acceptable self-study format. Self-study courses are subject to the following requirements:
- All examination questions must be multiple choice. There must be four options for each question. True or false questions are not accepted.
- There must be a bank of questions with three different exams.
- A computer-based course that includes a computer-based examination must be designed to prevent the student from skipping the education materials before taking the examination.
- The number of questions required by credit hour:
- Twenty-five (25) questions are required for eight (8) hours of credit or less
- Fifty (50) questions are required for greater than eight (8) hours of credit
- Seventy-five (75) questions are required for greater than twelve (12) hours of credit
- A student must correctly answer 70% of the examination questions in order to pass the Self-Study course and receive CE credit.
- When taking a Self-Study examination, the student must do all of the following:
- Sign an affidavit, supplied by the provider that states that the Navigator did not use outside help, such as an open textbook or another individual, in taking the examination.
- A second certified Navigator must sign the affidavit verifying that the second Navigator witnessed the first Navigator's examination and no outside help was used. A Navigator who takes the examination in a testing center that administers tests for professional designations may have a representative of the testing center sign the affidavit rather than a certified Navigator.
- The signed affidavit must be returned to the provider. The provider must retain the original affidavit for four (4) years.
- The provider must grade the examination and mail the results to the student no later than fourteen (14) days after the date upon which the student mailed the completed examination to the provider.
- The acceptable procedure to determine appropriate credit hours for textbooks, workbooks, and other printed material is based on forty-four (44) lines per page, twelve (12) or more words per line, and ten (10) pages. One (1) credit hour is equal to 5,280 words. Thirty-two (32) lines per page would require fourteen (14) pages to equal one (1) credit hour. No credit is given for appendices, glossaries or chapter questions.
- Each educational segment within a convention program or an association annual meeting must be submitted individually for CE credit.
- Providers must staff entrances and exits of meeting sites and provide a sign in/sign out system to take attendance and monitor individuals who leave the meeting or seminar. Individuals who arrive late (more than fifteen (15) minutes) or remain away from the meeting or seminar for extended period(s) of time shall not be given credit.
- Once approved, the course cannot deviate from the approved outline. A new application with a revised outline and hours, and course application fee must be submitted and approved. All additional dates/locations/times must be reported to the Vertafore/Sircon database prior to the course presentation. The system will deny credit should the dates/location/time not match the scheduled offerings.
- In the event a provider objects to the number of hours assigned to a CE course or the Commissioner disapproves a course, the provider may appeal the Commissioner's decision. The appeal must be made in writing to the Commissioner within thirty (30) days after the Commissioner's decision. The Commissioner must consider any appeal filed by a provider. The decision of the Commissioner is the final administrative order. Appeals can be submitted to: Indiana Department of Insurance, c/o Navigator Director, 311 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2787.
- Recruiting or soliciting producers or Navigators during an approved CE course is prohibited.
- A provider must provide each Navigator who attends a CE course, or passes a Self-Study CE course, with a certificate of course completion no later than ten (10) days following the completion of the course. Course completion certificates can be downloaded from the provider's online Vertafore/Sircon account.
- For two (2) years following a CE course, the provider must provide a duplicate certificate of course completion upon the request of a Navigator who completed the CE course. The certificate must be provided within ten (10) days of the request.
- No later than ten (10) days after a request from the IDOI, the provider must deliver to the IDOI a list of the Navigators to whom it has delivered a certificate of course completion for a specific Navigator CE course.