In addition to tracking training associated with MPCTC (Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions) approved courses, you can also track training associated with courses not approved by MPCTC. For example, agencies may wish to track training attended by civilian employees such a telecommunications courses and other non-MPCTC approved courses.

These non-MPCTC courses can easily be added to the Skills Manager course catalog without affecting those approved by the (MPCTC), and without interfering with year-end reporting of training records to the MPCTC, or operation of the custom reports provided by MPCTC for evaluating officer compliance with state regulations. We, in fact, encourage individual agencies to extend the course catalog with their own course offerings as this allows them to  realize additional value from their investment in Skills Manager.

A "non-MPCTC" course, for the purpose of this document, is a course that is established and numbered by an agency other than the MPCTC. Because such courses are not approved by MPCTC, they do not qualify toward the annual in-service training requirement for certified police and correctional officers as required by state regulations.

The following instructions document the steps for safely adding your agency’s courses to the catalog in such a way that they will not interfere with the custom non-compliance reports and year-end reporting to the MPCTC.

The key to adding non-MPCTC courses to the catalog successfully is to add them under programs and subjects that are unrelated to those established by the MPCTC..

We recommend using the Course Catalog form to define new courses, rather the Browse Courses form. The Course Catalog form allows you to see the structure of the entire catalog (programs, subject, courses) more clearly, and this will help to ensure that you associate your courses with the correct programs and subjects. You can access the Course Catalog form by clicking a button in the toolbar as illustrated in the following figure.

The course catalog form will initially display the three programs (Police, Corrections, and Executive Development) implemented by the MPCTC to organize state-approved courses. Avoid entering non-MPTC courses in these areas of the catalog as they are reserved for state approved programs. (Adding non-MPCTC courses in these areas will cause the custom non-compliance reports to report inaccurately.)

You should add a new "program" to the course catalog to accommodate non-MPCTC courses. As you can see from the previous figure, the MPCTC has already reserved program codes (P) Police, (C) Corrections, and (E) Executive Development. Using a two-digit code to identify agency specific programs should avoid any future conflict with new program codes the MPCTC may eventually implement. The following example illustrates adding a new program to organize non-MPCTC courses offered by the Baltimore Police Department.

To add a new program . . .

1. Single-click the "Course Catalog" entry to highlight it, as shown in the previous figure.

2. Press the Insert button on your keyboard to open the Program entry form.
3. Enter a new program for "Baltimore Police" as illustrated in the following figure.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

The following figure shows the course catalog after the new Baltimore Police program is added.

To add a subject . . .

1. Single-click the "Baltimore Police" entry to highlight it.
2. Press the Insert button on your keyboard to open the Subject entry form.
3. Enter a new subject for "Firearms" as illustrated in the figure below.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

The next figure shows the course catalog after the Firearms subject is added to the Baltimore Police program.

The final step is to add your non-MPCTC courses.

To add a course . . .

1. Single-click the "Firearms" entry to highlight it.
2. Press the Insert button on your keyboard to open the Course entry form.
3. Enter a new course for "Advanced Qualification" as illustrated in the figure below.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

The following figure shows the course catalog after the new program, subject and course have been entered.

If you are interested in adding non-MPCTC courses to your course catalog and you have questions not answered by this document, please contact Carl Bart or Richard Browne of the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions at (410) 750-6500.  They will be delighted to council you with regard to modifying the Skills Manager course catalog.

by Steve Wesner

Crown Pointe Technologies , Inc. 

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