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WILL NEW ICF RULE DOUBLE THE COST OF GETTING THE ACC CREDENTIAL?
Click Here to Register for the 60-Hour Fast Track Intensive Coach Training Program Commentary by Jeffrey E. Auerbach, Ph.D., MCC Is there an accelerating pace of coaches becoming certified by the International Coach Federation? Absolutely! However, it is about to become more difficult and more expensive to obtain the first level International Coach Federation Credential – the Associate Certified Coach (otherwise known as the ACC). Why? Because beginning July 1, 2008 ICF is imposing a significant new requirement for ACC Applicants who have not yet graduated from an Accredited Coach Training Program. To understand the sometimes complex ICF requirements one should read ICF’s rules directly from their website. But I will give you the gist of the issue here. To follow this story the reader must understand a few important details. The first is that there are three ICF credentials: ACC (Associate Certified Coach) (Relatively easy to get); PCC (Professional Certified Coach) (Harder to get but the one you ultimately want) and the MCC (Master Certified Coach) (Extremely difficult to obtain - requires 2,500 hours of coaching experience). The reader must also understand the definition of an ACTP (Accredited Coach Training Program), an “ACTP Application” and a “Portfolio Application”. I will briefly describe these terms here and the reader is strongly encouraged to visit the International Coach Federation’s website for additional information. The easiest credential to earn from ICF is the ACC, since it only requires 100 hours of coaching experience and can be obtained with only 60 hours of coach specific training. Please notice that I said it “can” be obtained with only 60 hours of training. That is true, although it is easier to obtain if one has completed an Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) which by ICF’s definition must contain at least 125 hours of coach specific training and must have completed the rigorous accreditation process of the International Coach Federation. The College of Executive Coaching’s 128-hour Certified Personal and Executive Coach training track is an ICF ACTP. If one is a graduate of an ACTP the person does NOT need to complete an oral exam through the ICF to obtain the ACC or PCC credential and may use the streamlined “Graduate of an ACTP Certification Application". If one is NOT yet a graduate of an ACTP, but has completed 60-hours of coach specific training, the person may still apply (once they have their 100 hours of coaching experience) for the ICF ACC, but they will have to use the more time consuming “Portfolio Application” and they will need to take an oral exam through ICF. Although the exam is not currently considered difficult by several knowledgeable people intimate with the process, many people find that this is a major benefit of completing an ACTP (although they still go through a similar type of oral examination through their ACTP). (Please note that in the future, the ICF ACC exam scoring will likely become more difficult.) But here is the rub: Beginning July 1, 2008 ICF will require new ACC Portfolio Applicants to ALSO have completed ten hours of “Mentor Coaching”. The bottom line is that the ACC Portfolio applicant will then have to hire an ICF PCC or MCC certified coach to conduct that mentor coaching. How much will that add to the certification cost for the portfolio applicant? Most PCC’s charge at least $250 or $300 per hour (and MCC’s substantially more), hence this could easily add another $3,000 to the portfolio student’s cost. The rationale for the ICF Board making this change is the belief that receiving ten hours of coaching on one’s coaching, or if one graduates from an Accredited Coach Training Program, makes one a substantially more competent coach. It is hard to argue with this thinking which is widely held by the ICF Credentialing Committee. On the other hand, this means that future ACC Portfolio Applicants will have to invest almost twice as much to obtain the ACC than previous ACC’s did. Hence, there are many coaches who are near to having 60 hours of coach specific training, who want to become ICF certified as soon as possible, and who have, or are near to having, the required 100 hours of coach specific training, that are trying to get their Portfolio applications in before the July 1st deadline. This is understandable since it could mean a savings of $3,000. Hopefully, those coaches will eventually continue with additional training and/or Mentor Coaching to help build their competence. Understandably, many coaches want to get the ICF credential as soon as possible and then continue with more mentoring or training a little later. This makes sense for many coaches since holding an ICF credential may help them obtain coaching clients because then the coach has the credibility of the ICF credential, which is the most respected and credible coaching certification available. The desirability of holding an ICF credential is often mentioned in the media and is increasingly being sought by organizations as they hire internal coaches. If your goal is to obtain the ICF ACC Certification as soon as possible, especially if you already have some coaching experience, we urge you to contact Kaysie Herrera, MBA, Program Director, at (805) 474-4124, now so she can advise you in how you could quickly obtain the hours of training you need to meet the deadline. Information on starting dates of courses that will help you meet your requirements can also be obtained at the Calendar. Please note that in addition to the 60 hours of coaching education ICF requires for the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) they also require 100 hours of coaching experience (which can have occurred before some of the coach training) and the passage of an ICF ACC Portfolio exam. The prospective student is encouraged to read the ICF requirements directly at the ICF website and carefully note the difference between the ICF ACC Portfolio versus graduate of an ACTP applications: http://www.coachfederation.org/ICF/For+Current+Members/Credentialing/Become+Credentialed/ACC/ Specific questions about ICF credentialing should be directed to International Coach Federation staff. It is also important to remember that those of you who will have completed the full Accredited Coach Training Program (our 128-hour track) by the time of their ICF application, will not be affected by this new ICF rule since when you are a graduate of an ACTP the new mentor coaching requirement will not apply.
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