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Written by Randy Banderob
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Friday, 14 December 2007 |
 So you have finally finished that last course that you needed to move up to the next category. What do you do next? The board does not automatically recognize that you have changed categories, so you need to follow these steps:
First, you don’t want to miss out on any retro-active pay, so you need to let the board know that you are expecting a category change. If you do so and you meet the deadlines set out in the Collective Agreement, you will be eligible for some retro pay. If you completed your course over the summer and you give written notification of this to the Human Resources department by December 31, then you have until February 28 to have all pertinent documentation arrive at the board in order to receive back pay to September 1. Similarly, if you completed your course between September 1 and January 1, and you give written notice of this by February 28, you have until June 30 for your documents to arrive at the board in order to receive back pay to January 1. Finally, if you have completed your course by February 28 and you give written notification of this by May 1, you have until June 30 to have your documents arrive at the board to receive retro-pay back to February 28.
Next, download Certification Form #2 from the Provincial website. Visit www.osstf.on.ca . In the left-hand menu, click Services ➔ Certification ➔ Application ➔ Forms. Form #2 is a PDF document which is easily printed. Complete the PERSONAL INFORMATION section and check the first box in the RE-EVALUATION section. Next, check the appropriate box indicated the course(s) / degree(s) completed. Finally, sign and date the bottom of the form.
Mail the Certification Form #2 to the OSSTF Certification Department; the address can be found at the top of the form. Include all relevant documentation with the form. For most people, this documentation will consist of the transcript sent to you by the university at which you took your course. For those members who took their course in a non-university setting, such as the Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB, there is no transcript provided. Instead, the member will need to print their updated Certificate of Qualification from the Member’s Area of the Ontario College of Teachers website (www.oct.ca ).
Once the Certification Department receives your Form #2 and the relevant documents, it will take a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks before you receive your 8½ x 11 certificate stating your new Group Rating. Photocopy this and send it in to Human Resources at the board.
A letter will accompany your Group Rating Statement which will explain how to proceed to the next highest group (if possible). Keep this letter on file for future reference.
The Federation strongly recommends that before any member takes a course, he or she should get a course approval from the Certification Department to ensure that it will be acceptable for the purposes of upgrading. Please use Form #3 to ensure a quick and accurate response.
Here is a tip to speed things up . . . you can also fax the form and then mail your transcript(s). Faxing the form gets the application into the queue earlier. Transcripts cannot be faxed because the Certification Department must receive the official transcript, however, a Certification of Qualification from the OCT can be faxed.
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Changing Categories 
