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FAQs on Facilitator Recruitment
1) Who can apply to be a CASB facilitator?
2) How many students will I be assigned?
3) What is the remuneration?
4) As a new facilitator, what training will I receive? Is training mandatory?
5) What are the Internet connection requirements of facilitating?
6) What are the hardware and software requirements of facilitating?
7) What are the criteria I would use to evaluate students' work?
8) When does CASB expect to send a contract for facilitation?
9) What kind of time commitment is involved?
10) Is it a requirement that I facilitate continually throughout the year?
11) Where can I get more information on each module and when they are offered?
12) I understand CASB assigns more than one facilitator to each cohort. What are the benefits to students?
13) Other than facilitation, are there other employment opportunities with CASB?
14) Where can I get more information about contract employment opportunities with CASB?
1) Who can apply to be a CASB facilitator?
Any CA who is a registered member in good standing of a provincial institute of chartered accountants can apply to become a CASB facilitator. All CAs possess the basic skills and background experience to become involved in the CASB program. If a potential facilitator has passed the UFE and is waiting to complete his/her articling time, the application will be accepted and considered. If the applicant has significant time left in his/her practical experience component, the application may be deferred to a later training session closer to the completion of the required three years of practical experience.
CASB screens applications to ensure that applicants are members in good standing with a provincial institute of chartered accountants and are neither under investigation nor have ever been investigated for violation of professional conduct.
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2) How many students will I be assigned?
CASB usually plans for a facilitator to have a cohort of between 10 to 15 students - typically assigning two or more facilitators to a cohort based upon the anticipated number of students. As the module start date approaches, student numbers may change due to late registrations or withdrawals from the module.
CASB will work with the facilitators to ensure that all facilitators have a reasonable number of students that can be managed in the time available.
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3) What is the remuneration?
Online facilitators are compensated on a per student basis.
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4) As a new facilitator, what training will I receive? Is training mandatory?
Training sessions are mandatory for all new facilitators. The purpose of the session is to introduce facilitators to the CASB philosophy and assist facilitators achieve the goal of a quality educational experience for students.
Facilitators are not paid for this session. CASB may assist with certain travel or other expenses associated with attending the session for people living outside the major centres.
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5) What are the Internet connection requirements of facilitating?
A reliable high-speed connection is essential. Facilitators are receiving and sending many files and a typical dial-up connection, while functional, adds significantly to the amount of time online facilitators spend on reviewing students' tasks and submissions each week.
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6) What are the hardware and software requirements of facilitating?
Contractors need a reliable system that supports Word 97 and Excel 97.
It is preferable to have a more recent version of both programs. CASB will supply a copy of CaseWare and a license for Profile. (Profile can be downloaded free of charge from the Intuit website.)
Contractors should obtain a copy of WinZip® as well.
Facilitators are expected to be proficient with Word and Excel. A familiarity with CaseWare is an asset.
Contractors will find it necessary to download, unzip and manage files on their computers. The ability to organize and manage a significant number of files is a requirement of online facilitation.
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7) What are the criteria I would use to evaluate students' work?
One of CASB's goals is to ensure facilitators have the support required to ensure students' learning experience is consistent and of the highest of standards. A number of assessment tools assist facilitators with these decisions. In addition, facilitators have technical support available to answer questions that may arise at any time during a module.
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8) When does CASB expect to send a contract for facilitation?
Simply attending a training session is not an automatic guarantee that CASB will contract an individual to become a facilitator. The need for facilitators is determined by final student enrolment numbers in modules and the availability of facilitators.
CASB emphasizes teamwork between facilitators assigned to modules and prefers to match newer facilitators with more experienced facilitators. This provides newer facilitators valuable mentoring opportunities, advice and immediate answers to questions that may arise during a module.
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9) What kind of time commitment is involved?
The time requirement for facilitators varies depending on experience as a facilitator, experience in the module and, the number of students in a cohort.
Experienced facilitators estimate 45 to 60 minutes per student, per week is required to provide students with the best possible learning experience. The actual amount of time an individual student may receive varies dramatically depending upon the amount of emails, bulletin board postings, and quality of submitted work.
A "first-time facilitator" will find there is an additional investment of time required until he or she gains a greater understanding of the processes in the CASB program.
Students typically submit their work on Friday night and facilitators are expected to return the reviewed work by Monday evening. Experienced facilitators report that approximately 65%-75% of time allotted is spent on the weekend. The remaining required time is allotted over the rest of the week answering emails, attending chat sessions and reviewing student resubmissions.
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10) Is it a requirement that I facilitate continually throughout the year?
Many facilitators are practicing CAs and, depending on the demands of their workplace, are not available 12 months of the year. CASB welcomes the commitment of facilitators throughout the year, or at variable times as schedules permit.
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11) Where can I get more information on each module and when they are offered?
Click here for CASB's schedule of key dates.
The schedule of key dates lists module start dates, face-to-face sessions and evaluations.
Facilitators should also review the CASB student guides for each module. These guides contain first-hand accounts from two recent students in each module about their experiences in that particular module. There is also a storyboard of the module content, which provides an overview of the areas covered throughout the module.
Follow this link to the modules on www.casb.com, click the particular module and click on the link for each module. On each page you will find an additional link for the student guide.
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12) I understand CASB assigns more than one facilitator to each cohort. What are the benefits to students?
Meeting the needs of students and maintaining high standards for facilitation is a primary goal of the CASB program. Teamwork between facilitators ensures that students are met if, for any reason, a facilitator must respond to an emergency situation (i.e. illness, or other personal emergency). Co-facilitators can cover for a short period. If the problem is expected to persist longer, facilitators contact the Director of Learning to arrange appropriate coverage for the cohort.
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13) Other than facilitation, are there other employment opportunities with CASB?
Yes. CASB requires CAs for case authoring, updating of module content and supporting materials. For case authoring and module content updating, preference is given to those individuals who have previously facilitated online. For case reviewing, contractors do not need to attend facilitator training prior to commencing work as training is provided at the case centres.
Must I be a CA working in public practice to be a CASB facilitator?
No. CASB facilitators bring a wide range of experience and backgrounds to their roles. CASB modules cover more than simply those issues encountered in public practice and this variety of experience is an asset to CASB and the students.
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14) Where can I get more information about contract employment opportunities with CASB?
Contact: Contractor Relations Officer
email: contractpositions@casb.com
Become involved in educating tomorrow's CAs. Give back to your profession.
The continued success of the competency-based CASB program is ensured through
the commitment of dedicated contract on-line and face-to-face interactive session
facilitators.
Facilitators are like "coaches" helping students acquire the competencies
needed to be successful in today's ever-evolving global business environment.
Facilitators guide students to the possible answers and help them understand
those answers.
Time commitments vary depending on the area of facilitation you choose and
facilitators attend training workshops which are held in one of several cities
in Western Canada.
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