CEA Tutorial Section 6: Cooperative Offerings, Joint Providerships and Sponsorships

• What is the difference between a cooperative offering, a joint providership and sponsorship?
• How do I get started with a cooperative offering?
• Is there a cooperative offering fee?
• How do I register a course with a cooperative offering?
• Is it a cooperative offering if university credit is offered?

What is the difference between a cooperative offering, a joint providership and sponsorship?

A cooperative course/offering(s) is when an ASHA Approved Continuing Education (CE) Provider joins with an organization or entity that is not an ASHA Approved CE Provider to plan, deliver, and evaluate a continuing education course/offering(s) for ASHA continuing education units (CEUs), and a fee is incurred.

Providers that conduct cooperative CE course offerings with other units or departments within the same institution or organization may be liable for a cooperative fee if those units (a) were not described—in the original application for CE Provider approval—as being a part of the organization seeking ASHA Approved CE Provider status or (b) have not been included in an ASHA CE–approved change in the scope of the ASHA Approved CE Provider.

A joint providership course/offering(s) is when two or more ASHA Approved CE Providers team up to jointly plan, deliver, and evaluate a course/offerings(s). One of the ASHA Approved CE Providers must take responsibility for the registration and reporting of the course/offering(s) to ASHA. There is no fee incurred or due to ASHA when two or more ASHA Approved CE Providers offer a course.

However, if multiple organizations work together to plan, conduct, deliver, and evaluate a course/offering(s), and one or more of the organizations are NOT ASHA Approved CE Providers, then this is considered a cooperative course/offering(s) and a fee is incurred.

Sponsorship is when an entity/organization provides financial and/or in-kind support for an ASHA CE course/offering(s) but is not involved in the planning, delivery, or evaluation of the course. The organization providing sponsorship has no influence over the content of the course. Financial Support is defined as money given by another organization used to pay all or part of the costs of a CE course. In-Kind Support is defined as support or contributions of things such as products, materials and equipment; volunteers; professional or other services; publicity; etc.; not money. This is not a cooperative offering.

Promotional Wording for Sponsorship

To clarify that another organization is a sponsor of a course/offering(s) or is providing sponsorship in the form of financial or in-kind support, here are some recommended options for the wording you can use to disclose to learners prior to the beginning of the course.

• Sponsored by...
• Financial support for this course provided by...
• Facilities and refreshments provided by...
• Equipment/materials for use in this course provided at no cost by...
• Equipment/materials for use in this course donated at no cost by...

How do I get started with a cooperative offering?

As the ASHA CE Provider, you take full responsibility for the course//offering registration and reporting for ASHA CEUs. You must work closely with the other party during the planning, promoting, conducting and reporting the course. The ASHA Continuing Education Administrator remains the primary point of contact and must be the one to contact ASHA CE staff with any questions regarding a cooperative course offering. However, you are not required to attend the course.

Conducting courses with other organizations requires the Provider to clearly communicate expectations and deadlines. When conducting cooperative offerings, it must be made clear to learners that the ASHA Approved CE Provider is responsible for reporting participants to the ASHA CE Registry and how to contact them with questions.

Providers have asked ASHA CE for a sample contract, policy or guidelines to use with outside organizations. To that end, ASHA CE has created the following document:

• Cooperative Course Sample Contract/Policy Template [DOC] Use this template to establish roles and responsibilities between your organization and the cooperative party.

You may also want to direct organizations interested in conducting a course cooperatively to resources that are available to non-ASHA Approved CE Providers.

Is there a cooperative offering fee?

• A cooperative fee is due for each offering of a cooperative course.
• Cooperative fees must be paid (either credit card or check at the time of course submission.The course offering will not be registered until payment is received by ASHA.
• Cooperative fees are nonrefundable. If a cooperative course offering is canceled, then the cooperative fee may be applied to another cooperative course offering registered within 12 months of the end date of the originally scheduled course offering. Providers must request this credit.
• There is no co-op fee if all parties are ASHA Approved CE Providers; for each offering, indicate whether it is a joint providership and list the Provider ID code is applicable.

How do I register a Course with a Cooperative Offering?

• Verify that your organization has agreed to engage in cooperative offerings by looking up your provider status in the provider listing. If you need to update this information, review the Cooperative Course and Offering Orientation and submit the Application to Engage in Cooperative Agreements.
• Cooperative offering information is included in the “Registration and Cancellation” section of the CE Provider Portal.
• Check "Yes" to the question "Is this a Cooperative Offering?"
• Fill in the co-op organization name, contact person, phone number, and e-mail address
• Include payment information at the prompt.
• Cooperative offering registrations (and payments, if any) must be received by ASHA at least 30 days prior to the start date of the course.

Note: The ASHA CE Brand Block, course information (instructional level and ASHA CEU amount) and Speaker Disclosures are required (not optional) on the promotional materials. You do not have to have a representative at the course.

Is it a cooperative offering if university credit is offered?

That depends...

• If the Approved ASHA CE Provider is the university offering credit, it's not a cooperative offering.

However...

• If the ASHA Approved CE Provider is one department of a university (e.g., Communication Disorders Department), any courses with other departments would be cooperative offering.
• If the ASHA Approved CE Provider is not the university AND not approved by the university's CE Department to offer CE courses for that university, it would be a cooperative offering.

Contact your provider manager to discuss your course if university credit will be offered in addition to ASHA CEUs.

[Provider Only Home Page | Previous Tutorial Section | Quizzes | Next Tutorial Section | ceprovider@asha.org]