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Education Management System (EMS) USER GUIDE
NMLS Course Application Process
Version 3 August 2016
NMLS State Regulatory Registry, LLC
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NMLS Course Approval Application Overview This user guide is intended to assist you through the entire course application process. You will submit your new course application by using two online application platforms. This guide makes note of those two platforms and alerts you when you will have to pay close attention to detail during the application process. If for any reason you encounter a problem during the course application process, you may email SRR Staff at [email protected]. There are 3 steps associated with submitting courses for approval:
Step 1: Preparing Required Documentation Step 2: Completing and Submitting the Online Course Application Step 3: Accessing the Course Provider Portal (Basecamp) and Uploading Required Documentation
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Step 1: Preparing Required Documentation
In preparing your courses submissions, please be aware of the following reference documents which are available in the course provider page of the NMLS Resource Center:
Policy on Criteria for Granting Approval for a Course to Become NMLS Approved Functional Specification for All NMLS Approved Courses Process for Approving Courses (includes course evaluator’s form)
Course Naming Examples Course Syllabus Example
As part of the course application process, you will need to submit all course material for NMLS for review. Please have the following course specific documents saved electronically and ready to upload prior to beginning the online application process:
Course Approval Application Form: Go online and visit the Course Provider Resources Section of the NMLS Resource Center.
Download and complete the Course Approval Application Form located in the course approval area of the site. This information will be used during the course review. NOTE: NMLS has four (4) course application forms each corresponding to a specific delivery format: classroom, classroom equivalent (webinar), online instructor-led or online self-study. Course Description/Marketing Language: This is a description of the course that is usually a few sentences and is intended to inform the student what subjects the course will cover. The more detailed the course description, the more likely a student will be to purchase the course. Course Syllabus with Learning Objectives and Time Allocations: This document provides a summary or outline of the course and the content to be covered. The syllabus needs to also contain the Learning Objectives associated with the course (those key points that the student needs to know by the end of the course). You also need to note how much time is going to be allocated to each module of instruction in order for the course evaluators to determine if the course meets the minimum number of required hours requested. Instructor Roster/CV/Resume (specific to this course): Provide a list of the instructors who have or will be teaching this course. A copy of their resume should be posted to the Course Providers folder in Basecamp. NOTE: The instructor resume is not required if it has previously been provided to NMLS. Course Content: NMLS will evaluate the course as it is intended to be presented to students. Accordingly, evaluators need to see the course and content in its entirety. Please prepare any instructor guides, grading keys, student content, outlines, etc.
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*Special Note Concerning Online Courses Courses taught online need to be submitted for approval in their “ready-to-take” format. As part of the Course Content upload, you need to provide NMLS with the location (URL) and login information required to enter and evaluate the course. You need to provide at least three (3) logins for online courses. These logins will be used by a content evaluator, a technical evaluator, and a NMLS/State evaluator. You may also be required to participate in a webinar to demonstrate to NMLS/course evaluator(s) how your LMS works. The Functional Specifications for All NMLS Approved Courses provides detailed requirements for how courses must be configured for approval. Please ensure our course meets the requirements prior to submitting it.
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Checklist
Before moving on to Step 3, you should have completed the following:
Visited the Course Provider Section of the NMLS Resource Center.
Become familiar with the Policies and Processes associated with NMLS approved courses.
Prepared the following required documentation:
The “Big 5” Documents Required to Be Uploaded/Submitted
- Course Approval Application Form
- Course Description/Marketing Language
- Course Syllabus with Learning Objectives and Time Allocations (details on how much time is being allotted to each module or subject)
- Instructor Roster/CV/Resume (specific to the course)
- Course Content including any instructor guides, exams, quizzes, case studies, grading keys, student content, outlines, etc.
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Step 2: Submitting the Online Course Application
Now that you’ve completed Step 1 and have your documents ready for uploading, let’s move on to Step 2. Let’s get started:
1. Go online to the Education Management System. The website should look similar to the one shown below.
2. Login to your provider account.
3. Once logged into the system, click on the Submit New Course Application button at the top of the page.
4. On the Submit Course Application Page, please note the fields below: Course Name: Enter the name of the course as it is to appear in the NMLS Course Catalog.
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ALERT! Given the need to track and record specific agency education requirements, course names must conform to the NMLS course naming convention. Details regarding how courses should be titled are contained in the document titled “NMLS Process for Submitting Courses for Approval” available in the NMLS Resource Center. Also available in the NMLS Resource Center, under the header “Administrative Notices” are several examples for how courses should be titled. The course naming convention is also contained in the Functional Specifications for All Classroom Formats. Course Description: Course descriptions cannot be longer than 500 characters. NMLS reserves the right to edit any description that is longer than 500 characters. Be sure to carefully edit and spell check the course description prior to submitting it to NMLS. Course descriptions are intended to provide an overview (i.e. a description) of the course and will appear in the NMLS Master Course Catalog. The space may not be used for marketing purposes. Descriptions may not include any language that is intended to promote the provider and/or its services. Text submitted in all-caps will be rejected. NMLS reserves the right to edit or remove any course description that it deems to be inappropriate. Requested Hours: Input the number of hours you desire the course to be approved for. Please note: courses will only be accepted and approved if the course meets the minimum number of hours associated with the SAFE Act requirement it is intending to satisfy. Accordingly, a course can only be registered under one category and may not count for less than the number of required credit hours as required by the SAFE Act. For example, there cannot be a 2 hour individual core Federal Law course since the minimum number of hours required to satisfy the SAFE Act requirement for Federal law for both pre-licensure and continuing education is 3 hours. Instruction Method: Choose one of the four classroom instruction methods:
- Classroom: defined as traditional instruction where instructors and students are located in the same physical location.
- Classroom Equivalent: defined as an instructor-led course where the instructor and students may be in two or more physical locations (also known as a webinar or distance learning).
- Online Instructor Led: Course is defined as an instructor-led course where the instructor and student interaction is conducted through an online classroom (commonly referred to as a Learning Management System (LMS)).
- Online Self-Paced: to be used for CE courses only, defined as being a self-paced online course which may or may not have an instructor assigned to it. Note: courses can only be approved for one format at a time. If you are intending for the content to be approved for more than one format, then you must submit the course for approval multiple times.
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Course Category: Identify which course category you are seeking approval for. Note: courses can only be approved for one category at a time. If you are intending for the content to be approved for more than one category, then you must submit the course for approval multiple times. Course categories are as follows: Pre-Licensure Education (PE):
- Individual PE Core Courses o Federal Law: course must be a minimum of 3 hours o Ethics: course must be a minimum of 3 hours o Lending standards for the nontraditional mortgage product
marketplace: course must be a minimum of 2 hours
- PE Core Course: intended to fulfill the three core requirements. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 3 hours of ethics and 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage for a minimum total of 8 hours.
- PE Elective: course designed to fulfill any number of hours of the 12 hours of undefined instruction. The course must be a minimum of 1 hour.
- PE Comprehensive: course intended to fulfill all of the pre-licensure requirements of the SAFE Act and does not contain any State-specific content. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 3 hours of ethics, 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage lending and 12 hours of elective content for a total of 20 or more hours.
- PE State Comprehensive: course intended to fulfill all of the pre-licensure requirements of the SAFE Act as well as meet a State requirement for a specific number of hours taken from the 12 hours of electives. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 3 hours of ethics, 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage, a specific number of hours of State required education (taken from the 12 hours of electives), and the remaining number of elective hours for a total of 20 or more hours.
Continuing Education (CE):
- Individual CE Core Courses:
o Federal Law: course must be a minimum of 3 hours o Ethics: course must be a minimum of 2 hours o Lending standards for the nontraditional mortgage product
marketplace: course must be a minimum of 2 hours
- CE Core Course: intended to fulfill the three core requirements. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 2 hours of ethics, and 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage for a minimum total of 7 hours.
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- CE Electives: course designed to fulfill the 1 hour of undefined education. The course must be a minimum of 1 hour.
- CE Comprehensive: course intended to fulfill all of the continuing education requirements of the SAFE Act and does not contain any State-specific content. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 2 hours of ethics, 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage and 1 hour of elective content for a total of 8 or more hours.
- CE State Comprehensive: course intended to fulfill all of the continuing education requirements of the SAFE Act as well as meet a State requirement for a specific number of hours taken from the 1 hour elective. The course must contain 3 hours of federal law, 2 hours of ethics, 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage, and a specific number of hours of State-required education (using the 1 elective hour) for a total of 8 or more hours.
State Agency: Please identify if the course is a state agency specific course. If so, select the proper state agency from the drop down menu. If it is not a state agency specific course, please leave blank. Identify if Open to Public or Not: Generally you will click that course is open to the public and anybody can register for the course since it will appear in the NMLS Master Course Catalog. If you are a company and the course is intended only to be offered to internal staff then do not check the box.
After you have completed this page, click the “Next” button.
5. The next screen is a series of questions that are intended to validate that you own or have permission to use the material contained within the course. Please answer the questions honestly and provide specific details as required.
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After you have completed this page, click the “Next” button.
6. You will now be presented with the Fee Summary page. Please review the fee summary very carefully. All fees in the system are NON-REFUNDABLE. Click the Next button to acknowledge the fees.
7. The next page you will see is the Attestation page. The attestation page contains the NMLS Standard of Conduct Agreement. Please click the NMLS Course Provider Standards of Conduct link. You will need to read through this document before proceeding to the next page. Once you have read the Standards of Conduct, sign the electronic signature and click Next. Important: With your e-signature, your organization agrees to abide by the NMLS Course Provider Standards of Conduct.
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7. After you click the Next button, the Confirmation screen displays. If you need to edit any of the information you can do so by clicking the Previous button on the bottom of the screen. If the information is accurate, please click Submit Application to proceed.
8. Once you’ve clicked the Submit Application button you will be required to pay the application fee. You can pay by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or ACH payment. Please select your desired method and enter in the required information. Once complete, click Submit.
Important: If you decide to pay with ACH, under bank account type, ALWAYS select personal checking. Do not select business checking. Business checking will result in an error message and the payment will not be processed.
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9. Can you see the Payment Successful screen? Congrats! You have completed the
first phase in submitting your course for NMLS approval. You should print this
page for your records. A confirmation email should be arriving in your inbox
shortly as a receipt. Please continue to Step 3 to complete your application.
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Step 3: Accessing Provider Portal and Uploading Documentation
Within 24 hours (Monday – Thursday, Please give up to 72 Hours if applying Friday-Sunday) of receiving your confirmation email, an email message will be sent to you with a link to your course application project.
If you have not received a link to the Course Provider Portal within the proper timeframe listed above, please contact SRR Staff at [email protected]. The evaluators will be unable to start reviewing your course application until you have uploaded the required documentation to the provider portal.
1. Log into the Course Provider Portal
2. In the right corner of your screen, you will see a “Your projects” Section.
Click on the course project that pertains to your application.
3. You will now be taken to your course’s application overview page. Click on
the tab labeled “Files.”
4. Click on the “Upload a file” button near the top right corner.
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5. Choose the “browse” button to select the appropriate file from your
computer.
Documents Required to Be Uploaded/Submitted
- Course Approval Application Form
- Course Description/Marketing Language
- Course Syllabus with Learning Objectives and Time Allocations (details on how
much time is being allotted to each module or subject)
- Instructor Roster/CV/Resume (specific to the course)
- Course Content including any instructor guides, exams, quizzes, case studies,
grading keys, student content, outlines, etc.
6. Click “Upload the files.”
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7. Once all the files are uploaded and the course is ready to be reviewed, notify NMLS by sending a message through the project. Mark the box to notify SRR Staff then click send.
ALERT! Check the box to notify SRR Staff so we get an email notification. Otherwise, we will not be notified that the course is ready for review.
Congratulations! You have just completed the Course Application Process.
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OK, I submitted my course application, now what? Good question. Once the required course content has been uploaded, the course will be reviewed and evaluated. Your application will be evaluated based upon the criteria guidelines posted in the NMLS Resource Center. You will be notified via the message board located under the “message” tab in the course application project once the initial review is complete with the application status, course evaluation form and next steps
Please remember if you have a problem contact SRR Staff at [email protected].
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OK, now that I’ve done all of that, now what? Once your course has been approved and you have set up your course offerings (see the Creating Course Offering user guide) the course will appear in the NMLS Master Course Catalog which is published every morning M-F. The course catalog contains the master listing of every course approved by NMLS and is posted in the NMLS Resource Center where students can access it and search for courses. After a student searches the catalog and finds a course they want to take, they can contact you to register for the course. In addition to having your course appear in the NMLS Course Catalog, you can also market your course as being NMLS approved either through your own catalog or on your web site. You may also use the “NMLS approved” logo with the course number next to the specific course offering to let students know that the course has undergone the review process and that they will get either pre-licensure or continuing education credit for taking the course. When marketing your courses please pay close attention to follow the standards associated with using the NMLS name (the standards are found in the “Policy on use of NMLS Name in Course Marketing” available in the NMLS Resource Center). After a student has completed your course you will need to return to the EMS to report student course completions (credit banking). Detailed instructions for credit banking are contained in the USER GUIDE: Reporting of NMLS Approved Course Completions (Credit Banking), which is available in the course provider document section of the NMLS Resource Center.
