What is an ACCT PVM?

Blackbox OE has been a Professional Vendor Member (PVM) with the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) since 2014 (previously as Pivotal Learning Pte. Ltd.). A PVM is a company that has successfully completed an accreditation process for the areas they would like to be accredited in. For Blackbox OE, our focus has always been on developing practitioners and hence we are PVMs for Training and Certification. You will hear of other PVMs been accredited for Installation and Inspection as well, or even a combination of them.

The PVM accreditation process is a very stringent review which determines whether a vendor adheres to the ACCT Accreditation Policies and Procedures as well as the ACCT Standards. The process include:

Applicants are required to submit a form providing some information about the background of our organisation. It is useful to have referrals from other PVMs or established practitioners whom had worked with you previously. In our case, we were thankful to have PVMs from Project Adventure and High 5 Adventure Learning Centre write recommendations for us to include in our application.

A panel from the Vendor Accreditation Panel will start to look into the Pre-Application submission and determine whether a Pre-Application Site Visit is necessary.

Now this is when the company will send all relevant documentation such as Policy and Procedure, Training Manuals, Assessment documentation, Insurance etc. for the Panel to review its suitability.

A site visit is typically between 2-3 days involving a Technical Reviewer ( TRs will need to be a current PVM) and a Administrative Reviewer (ARs can be ex-PVMs). This process includes observations, interviews and documentation review.

The Site Visit Team will submit a Review report with recommendations to the panel. The panel will then go through the information and decide whether further actions are needed before awarding the vendor the coveted PVM Status.

As we are located in Singapore, you can imagine it is quite a huge undertaking to fly in the reviewers for the accreditation process! However, having another party to look at our training critically is very important to us, and we look forward to this opportunity every 3 years.

So as a PVM for training, what are some items we are required to have in our courses and certifications?

  1. Training Syllabus and training guides for each level of training.

Each course or workshop that we conduct has to be carefully designed and in compliance with the ACCT Training Standards, as well as the Practitioner Certification guidelines. Of course at Blackbox OE, we have our own “special ingredients” to make our training stand out, but as a PVM we do not deviate from these standards and guidelines to ensure that we are offering quality training to our participants. Our trainers make use of a specially crafted Trainers’ Guide to guide them in the delivery of the lesson.

  1. Testing Policy for the Applicant

We have a clear assessment policy that is made known to every participant in our assessments. This is to ensure that the assessment process is fair for our participants, and they are aware of the options and consequences of their decisions during the assessment. And that is why during Blackbox OE’s assessment,  you will find that we will start with an Assessment Briefing that lays out our testing policy clearly so that participants know what to expect. We will also take the chance to emphasize that we will never assess according to our own personal preferences, but rather to an agreed standard, so as to be fair to our participants.

  1. Practical and Written Skills Test

Designing an assessment is not easy if you are not trained. As a PVM, we are required to ensure that our assessment criteria are aligned to the ACCT standards. We will literally cross reference each skill we are testing for to the relevant ACCT standard statement. This is to ensure that we are not testing to our personal preference again. And to ensure that we cover all the requirements in the standards so that an ACCT practitioner can be assured that they meet all the requirements of the ACCT certificate.

  1. Trainers & Testers Competency

Trainers and Testers are required to meet the ACCT Qualified Course Professionals guidelines. This set of guidelines determine what are the experience levels required. Did you know that a Level 1 Trainer/Tester needs to have over 120 hours of training attended, over 800 hours of documented work experience, and must have provided at least 280 hours of training to practitioners! The requirements for a Level 2 or Challenge Course Manager (CCM) trainer/tester are even more stringent! This helps ensure that the trainers and testers deployed on the ground have the necessary experience to do the job. As part of the accreditation process, we are required to submit detailed portfolios of our lead trainers and testers. We also have an obligation to ensure that the trainers or testers we employ at Blackbox OE meets these stringent requirements so that our participants get the quality training they expect.

  1. Certificates

This might sound simple but PVMs have to ensure that the certificates they issue meet the ACCT’s requirements. This is so that practitioners’ certificates reflect accurately their level of training and their competencies. Take a look at how a Blackbox OE ACCT Certificate looks like and how it tells a story about the Certificate Holder.

These are just some of the requirements a PVM training must meet in order to be accredited by the ACCT. In addition, a PVM must submit an annual report in the format required by ACCT to ensure adherence to the requirements as a PVM.  It takes a lot of effort to maintain this status and if at any time a PVM falls short of these standards, the ACCT can revoke a PVM’s status.

We would also like to encourage practitioners to hold PVMs to these high standards and to keep the ACCT informed of any sub-standard training and certification happening on the ground. In this way we can then ensure that the Challenge Course industry in Singapore can reap the full benefits of the ACCT standards and improve the quality of our Challenge Course professionals.

So the next time you sign up for a Blackbox OE ACCT certification, you can be assured that as PVMs, we provide quality training and certifications through distinctive learning experiences so that YOU can be confident of providing better OE experiences for YOUR participants!

If you would like to find out more about the ACCT PVM programme, you can check out https://www.acctinfo.org/become-an-acct-professional-vendor-member