NT4CM State Coordinator Information
This page provides information about the responsibilities of being a state coordinator.
Spring
Join NT4CM
Review the State Participation Options, then indicate your interest in being a state coordinator by completing the State Contact and Participation Form. Return the form to nt4cm@ed.gov by the deadline indicated on the form.
Participate in Conference Calls
State coordinators participate in regular conference calls with the Steering Committee. The calls take place every two weeks or less frequently, depending on need. You will receive an agenda and call-in number a day or two before each call; and meeting minutes are distributed a few days after each call. The meeting minutes will indicate the date of the next meeting so you can mark your calendar.
Start Planning Your Autumn Training
It is the state coordinator's responsibility to determine the training dates and locations. In order to find the dates most appropriate for your counselor population, you might wish to work individually with district contacts who oversee counselors. They'll know which dates to avoid due to existing commitments.
Another of your responsibilities is to recruit qualified trainers. The ideal trainer is a financial aid administrator or state higher education agency representative with plenty of experience and success conducting training or information sessions on financial aid. Call upon your own network; and check with your state/regional association of student financial aid administrators. You also might wish to recruit at any conferences or other events where financial aid professionals will be in attendance; feel free to use our fact sheet that provides an overview of NT4CM.
Get ideas for free training locations and for ways to collaborate with local and regional organizations on our FAQs page.
Summer
Finalize Training Details and Trainer Assignments
Map out your trainings, including location, times, and trainers. Get firm commitments from the trainers but have substitutes ready just in case.
Watch for the announcement of the training of trainers webinar, which is usually held in August. We require that all trainers participate in the webinar. If a trainer misses the webinar, he or she can catch the archived version afterwards.
Make sure your trainers know what is expected of them and have the materials they need.
During the summer (probably in August), the NT4CM team will ask you to submit information about each training session - where it will be held, when, how many people you expect, etc. If you are an Option A or B state, this information will be the basis for where to send Instructor's Manuals and Participant Guides - and how many to send. If you are an Option A or C state, this information will help us set up online registration for your workshops. (See Autumn below.)
Advertise Your Training
The e-Library will have fact sheets and templates that you can use in outreach to encourage counselors and mentors to register for your state's NT4CM training sessions.
For advertising ideas from experienced state coordinators, visit the FAQs page.
Autumn
Registration
For Option A and C states, the NT4CM Steering Committee will work with each state coordinator (1) to create a state NT4CM training registration page that lists all of the available training sessions in your state along with the session dates and locations, (2) to create a registration form for each training session and (3) to draft the confirmation e-mail that counselors receive once they submit their registration. The information you provide in the data call form that we send you will be used to populate the registration system.
As counselors register, we will provide you on a regular basis with an Excel spreadsheet listing registrant information for each training session. We will also deactivate/close registration based on your requirements.
Certificates of Completion and Appreciation
A Certificate of Completion template for NT4CM training participants and a Certificate of Appreciation template for NT4CM trainers will be available in the e-Library. Information on the templates and how to use them is provided in the e-Library.
CEUs
Visit our CEU information page to learn what your responsibilities are. Note that there are certain steps that you must take (e.g., returning an evaluation summary within 60 days of each workshop) in order for the National Board of Certified Counselors to certify CEUs for your attendees.
Evaluations
The NT4CM evaluation is available both online and on paper. Please choose which version your state will use, and let us know. If you use the online version, we will provide you the URL to give to attendees. If you use the paper version, you will be able to download it from the e-Library, use it at the trainings, and then collect the hard copies.
Autumn/Winter
Evaluation Summaries
If you use the paper version of the evaluation, you will be required to compile a summary of responses on a spreadsheet provided by the NT4CM team. The spreadsheet for each workshop is due back to NACAC within 60 days of the workshop.
