Last fall, I had received an e-mail that I was on a waitlist for the national online SLS with a projected class date of "late in 2018," and I have heard nothing since. I e-mailed the folks at national who originally gave me that date, but still no response. Is the administration understaffed as a result of the border-wall brouhaha, or is something else going on?
(Yeah, I know in-person SLS is better for networking purposes, but I can't get a hall pass from the family for an entire weekend at the other end of the state.)
Thanks, all!
Sorry, I can't resist: "Other end of the state," in Vermont? So that's what, like 20 miles? ;)
So yeah, true story about how "small" Vermont is: My wife is from that part of the state. When we'd been dating awhile, we travel to meet her parents, and then the next day her and I are going to go up to West Addison so I can hit the DZ up there that my friends were always raving about.
From Bennington to West Addison there's no good direct route. About 80 miles as the crow flies, 99 road miles, it took nearly 2 1/2 hrs to get there. Driving to the DZ is always a treat for me, and I get more excited the closer I get. But this was sheer agony.
The joke "Can't get there from here.." I think was written in Vermont. The tyranny of New England travel is that in many cases it a journey that "looks" like its not that far as the crow flies is really a lot further in practice because there's never any sort of mostly-direct Midwestern-style way to get there.
Quote from: hfriday on January 17, 2019, 02:02:52 PM
Is the administration understaffed as a result of the border-wall brouhaha, or is something else going on?
Is this (and the thread title) an attempt at facetiousness (i.e., humor) or a serious question?
I hope we're not going back down the "CAP is shutdown because of the government" road...
Quote from: hfriday on January 17, 2019, 02:02:52 PM
Last fall, I had received an e-mail that I was on a waitlist for the national online SLS with a projected class date of "late in 2018," and I have heard nothing since. I e-mailed the folks at national who originally gave me that date, but still no response. Is the administration understaffed as a result of the border-wall brouhaha, or is something else going on?
(Yeah, I know in-person SLS is better for networking purposes, but I can't get a hall pass from the family for an entire weekend at the other end of the state.)
Thanks, all!
I know that for the online UCC they are in the process of changing the system that it is delivered through; presumably it's the same with the other online courses. In that case, it will be sometime after the first of the year (I know, I know).
Sky,
This is a valid question from someone that does not know how NHQ works. Answer it at face value!
The CAP employees who work at National Headquarters work for for CAP Inc.
They are not government civil service employees and are not affected by the current Washington foolishness.
The CAP-USAF folks are members of the Air Force and they and the rest of the Department of Defense are not affected either.
The LR-ADOs are GS employees and might be depending on where their appropriation comes from.
If they are in the NDAA, then they would be unaffected as that was signed back in August and isn't an issue.
The Coast Guard is stuck because they only get funding under the NDAA during time of war, so most of their
money comes from DHS, and they've been under a CR for nearly a decade.
Volunteer operations (i.e. Units, Wings, etc.) are rarely affected in a meaningful way as few get much in the way
of Federal funding, and real-world missions fall under "essential" services that do get money when they happen.
If the venue for a CAP activity happens to be a base or similar that is shut down, that's one thing, but the average
unit, meeting on a GA airport or church basement will never see or feel the affects even when CAP has an appropriations issue.
First, yeah, Vermont is small. I get it. But the roads suck almost as bad as the weather. It takes as long to get to wing HQ in Burlington as it takes to get to Boston or, depending on traffic and time of day, NYC. In winter, it's even more up in the air....we have guys who legitimately miss meetings because of impassable roads. If I can do it at my computer, in my home, rather than put my professional development into hibernation..it seemed a no-brainer.
Second, I don't particularly believe that the shutdown is responsible for the glitch, but I want to politely and delicately ask if anyone knows what's going on, rather than send a nasty "what the %##&$$# is wrong with you people" e-mail. When that also was apparently ignored, or lost, or unnoticed, I went to the next resource: CAPTalk.
If everything is up and running, then why has the date been pushed back, and that without notification? I understand that CAP isn't always a well-oiled machine, but it does seem appropriate to tell people when their projected class date has changed...right?
Actually, your next resource is to go to National via your chain of command.
You ask your Wing PD, with your commander's permission of course, and if they don't have an answer they ask the region PD, etc.
CAP Talk might be good for advice, good or bad, but that's it.
Fair enough, from the official perspective. But I know there's a lot of aggregated experience here, so, while CAPTalk isn't the official next step, it's usually where I go next once stymied in my own research. I try not to climb the chain of command for anything I can just find out through colleagues.
The information that the UCC is undergoing some technological changeover and that SLS might be similarly "upgrading" right now, for example, is worth considering before I hassle people up at wing level.
Thanks to all for their contributions here.
Hal
Quote from: hfriday on January 17, 2019, 06:48:42 PM
Fair enough, from the official perspective. But I know there's a lot of aggregated experience here, so, while CAPTalk isn't the official next step, it's usually where I go next once stymied in my own research. I try not to climb the chain of command for anything I can just find out through colleagues.
The information that the UCC is undergoing some technological changeover and that SLS might be similarly "upgrading" right now, for example, is worth considering before I hassle people up at wing level.
Thanks to all for their contributions here.
Hal
Asking the wing level folks is appropriate as they may have been made aware of a pending change affecting the various courses that has not made it down to general membership. Also, it may spur them to ask and put the word out.
It's also helpful to briefly say what you've checked already as it will nip some of the nastier comments in the bud.
The online UCC is also seriously behind as well. This has nothing to do with the shutdown, and everything to do with standard CAP operations.
The platform the online classes used, CourseSite, moved to an upgraded site. So, SLS and CLC is being transferred to the LMS. As soon as it's complete, we'll run the next sessions. Col Aye, NCR/CC manages the UCC and it will transfer to the LMS after the SLC/CLC. In the mean time, I'm not sure if Col Aye will try to run on the new CourseSite.
Thanks, jjmalott...that seems to corroborate pretty definitively what others have suggested. So, we play the waiting game.
Thanks to all for the help.
Hal
Quote from: hfriday on January 17, 2019, 05:16:08 PM
First, yeah, Vermont is small. I get it. But the roads suck almost as bad as the weather. It takes as long to get to wing HQ in Burlington as it takes to get to Boston or, depending on traffic and time of day, NYC. In winter, it's even more up in the air....we have guys who legitimately miss meetings because of impassable roads. If I can do it at my computer, in my home, rather than put my professional development into hibernation..it seemed a no-brainer.
Second, I don't particularly believe that the shutdown is responsible for the glitch, but I want to politely and delicately ask if anyone knows what's going on, rather than send a nasty "what the %##&$$# is wrong with you people" e-mail. When that also was apparently ignored, or lost, or unnoticed, I went to the next resource: CAPTalk.
If everything is up and running, then why has the date been pushed back, and that without notification? I understand that CAP isn't always a well-oiled machine, but it does seem appropriate to tell people when their projected class date has changed...right?
When I was at Camp Ethan Allen, I was not prepared for this at all. Living there wasn't bad, but it takes forever to get anywhere.
Quote from: jjmalott on January 18, 2019, 01:29:23 AM
The platform the online classes used, CourseSite, moved to an upgraded site. So, SLS and CLC is being transferred to the LMS. As soon as it's complete, we'll run the next sessions. Col Aye, NCR/CC manages the UCC and it will transfer to the LMS after the SLC/CLC. In the mean time, I'm not sure if Col Aye will try to run on the new CourseSite.
1. Do we have an ETA on this?
2. Can a communication be sent to all the members on waiting lists?
Just got official word back. Apparently, it was a personnel/staffing issue which has since been rectified. I was told to expect an e-mail in the next couple of weeks with a class date.
I just got my UCC notification. Huzzah!
All it took was a little push. :)
The first testing session(s) for CAP's online SLS using LMS begins 11 Feb. If it proves successful, we'll add CLC.
Yes - I will be able to report out here, if people want, as I am in that first cohort.