Certification Faculty Accreditation Training

In order to expand the Handbell Musician Certification program, we are seeking persons to become Accredited Faculty and teach Level 1 courses in Music Theory, Handbell Techniques, and Conducting. Ideally, these new faculty members will be located in different areas of the country to minimize the cost to Areas and local organizations of offering Certification classes, but geographic location will not be considered in accrediting new faculty.

The names and contact information for accredited faculty members will be posted on the Handbell Musicians of America website for Area leaders and local organizations to access.

There is a fee to attend Faculty Accreditation training, and new faculty can expect to pay an additional fee not exceeding $150 to receive the teaching materials for each course in which they are accredited.

Applications (including references) for Faculty Accreditation training are accepted at any time. Once accepted for Faculty Accreditation training, you may attend any training offered within the next 36 months.

Follow the links below for the application and recommendations forms. Before completing these forms, please review the information about the process that follows. Additional materials may be requestd after we have reviewed your application. Questions may be directed to the program coordinator at [email protected]

A schedule of when accreditation will be offered is available here.

Accredited Faculty Responsibilities:

• Present the established curriculum in a manner consistent with the other faculty, using the materials developed by the original faculty;
• Regularly (interval to be determined, probably every 2 or 3 years) work with other faculty to agree on curriculum modifications to maintain a collaboratively accepted standard;
• Negotiate with the sponsoring organization regarding dates, times, compensation, and reimbursement. Handbell Musicians of America does not set a fee schedule for your services to Areas and local organizations, although there is a standard fee schedule for National Events;
• Provide negotiated certification class dates, times, and registration contact information to the Certification Program Coordinator within two weeks of finalizing details;
• Complete evaluation of the course attendees within three weeks after the course ends, and provide that information to Certification Program Coordinator ([email protected]) and Vickie Iverson ([email protected]);
• Retain copies of testing materials completed by course attendees, and keep these copies confidential; and
• Preserve the integrity of Certification materials by not sharing handouts or examination details with those not attending an official Certification course. 

Faculty Evaluation

The Certification Program Coordinator and Executive Director will develop and administer a standardized evaluation form for training delivered by all accredited faculty. The evaluation will request feedback from both students and event organizers. Those evaluations will be reviewed after each class, and all the results relayed to the faculty member. Handbell Musicians of America reserves the right to withdraw faculty accreditation based on the results of these evaluations.

Training Details

At this time, we are accepting applications for faculty to be accredited to teach these Level 1 Certification classes:

• Handbell Techniques 1
• Music Theory 1
• Conducting 1

To apply to become an Accredited Certification faculty member, you must have passed the Level 1 course you wish to become accredited to teach. Preference will be given to applicants who have attended the class rather than tested out. Specifically:

• There is a $50 non-refundable fee to apply for Faculty Accreditation. This fee will be applied toward your training registration fee if you are accepted.
• You may become Accredited in more than one subject area.
• There is a limit of four attendees for each Faculty Accreditation training class.
• The results of the Faculty Accreditation training will be provided within 30 days of the end of class.
• The registration fee will be assessed only after you have been accepted for Faculty Accreditation training.
• These fees do not include the additional fee to receive the teaching materials. That additional fee will not exceed $150 per course, and is only required of successfully Accredited faculty.

Application Steps

Step 1: Written application

Complete Application

NOTE: The application can time out — you may want to compose your responses in a document outside of the form, and cut and paste them. Refer to this PDF to see text fields you’ll be asked to complete.

As part of the application, you are asked to submit evaluations from the most recent time you have presented or taught to the Handbell Musician Certification Program Coordinator, at [email protected].

Step 2:  Recommendations from three people

Download Recommendation Form

When at all possible, please ask people who have observed you in a classroom setting within the last two years to provide your recommendations. Those recommendations are more pertinent and useful than observations from rehearsals or individual lessons.

Step 3:  Submit two videos

Video 1:  The candidate

This video presentation must follow these criteria:

The applicant may be seated or standing for the video, but should show the applicant from the waist to the top of the head, filling the screen. Applicants may answer the questions below extemporaneously or with prepared answers. 

1. Introduce yourself as you would to a Certification class.
2. Why do you want to become a Certification faculty member?
3. What personal benefits do you foresee from being a Certification faculty member?
4. If selected as Faculty, what additional contributions can you offer the Certification program? (Those contributions could be to the entire program or to the subject area you wish to teach.)
5. Describe a difficult classroom situation you’ve encountered with a student, and how you handled it.
6. What else should we know about you?

The purpose of this video is to allow us to assess the applicant’s presentation style and commitment to the Certification program. Please limit the video to no more than 5 minutes.

Video 2:  Teaching Demonstration

Submit a video (at least five, but no more than 15 minutes in length) of you in a classroom situation where you are interacting with at least one student. The interaction can be discussion, demonstration, a Q&A, and/or correction of technique or gestures. We are seeking an accurate representation of your spontaneous teaching style and approach to students. Please ensure that we can see you on the video and that the sound is loud enough.

All videos should be uploaded to YouTube as an “unlisted” videos. The link to the videos should be sent to Sharon Schmidt, the Handbell Musician
Certification Program Coordinator, at certification@handbellmusicians.org.