I am thinking of offering brief seminars on principles of economics, economic policy and applied economic analysis to anyone who is interested. My intention is to offer these seminars in a "continuing education" type of format but without going through some school. However, I would like to be able to give my potential students some kind of certificate of attendance or something similar. Is there any academic agency, commission, private or public organization that I can affiliate myself with that would allow me to do so? The institution in question does not need to be reputable, U.S.-based or anything like that. My only requirement is that it is a legal one (the last thing I want is problems of legal nature). Could anyone recommend anything?
OK. Perhaps I should rephrase this. I will take the best institution there is, as long as it is a legal one.
Is anyone aware of the legal ramifications of offering non-degree documents? I mean, you can't just start handing out diplomas or degrees but what about something like "certificate of completion" or "recognition of achievement"?
I am currently teaching at the Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, MD. I tried doing it through them. The process is very bureaucratic and despite my efforts nothing has happened yet. I have not received a rejection from the shool's official (quite the opposite) but it has been two years already and I would like to move on with my idea. I have done my due dilligence and know that the demand for such course exists.
I would go with who FEMA and many other gov agencys use... IACET - International Association for Continuing Education & Training
I can read. However, I was just wondering if anyone knew for certain that, for example, it would be legal to hand out a "record of achievement" form. If it would be, going through a school would not only be unnecessary, it could be potentially filled with administrative headaches. Though I can understand why (even if that is the case) that you would be hesitant to do so though even if offering such credentials would be legal; it does seem safer to have an institution's stamp of approval.
I don't see anything wrong with just issuing a certificate yourself to someone who completes your course as long as it is not in some field that requires a licence. Why share the income. You could set up a fictitous name company or LLC ("Economics R Us" or "Smith Economics Forum" for example). Consultant provide such forums in my industry.
You don't have to be affiliated with a college or university to offer training or instruction. Private companies offer non-credit training programs to their employees all the time, without any involvement from outside schools. Of course, if you have no academic affiliation, then your classes will have zero value in terms of academic credit. But as long as your students understand that you are offering non-credit courses, then there is no problem. Similarly, you don't have to be affiliated with a college or university to offer certificates of completion. Of course, if you have no such affiliation, then your certificates will have zero academic value. But as long as you don't represent your certificates as academic degrees or the equivalent, then there is no problem. Private companies routinely issue "certificates of completion" or "certificates of participation" to employees who get in-house training. In fact, Microsoft offers a variety of free online certificate templates for this purpose. Just download one that you like and use it.
Thank you all for your feedback. So far it looks as if the only two options before me are to look into affiliating myself with the International Association for Continuing Education & Training (IACET) or registering my own company. I will definitely explore both options and get back to you as which one is more feasible.
If you want to start it up on your own, you can have your program evaluated by ACE (American Counsel on Education) for granting Continuing Education Units, or college credit. I don't know how this works, but it's something you can look into ACE | Home
You should also check out MyiCourse.com. That's where we have set up our architect continuing education courses.