Sailors using the Navy College Program (NCP)/Voluntary Education (VOLED) and leaders advising Sailors will benefit from significant upgrades to required training with the addition of three interactive multi-media instructional (IMI) education tools available online Nov. 1.

"Service Members previously had to wade through static training slide decks to complete much of their required training," said Lt. Cmdr. Nick Turner, Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center VOLED program deputy director. "Based on Fleet feedback and improving industry standards, we have added three new IMI courses that should improve the experience."

(1) The Navy Tuition Assistance training IMI replaces the previous WebTA Policies and Procedures course, and emphasizes the tenets of Navy TA Policy and the WebTA application, approval, and authorization process. This IMI is available in the My Education Module of the NCP website.

(2) The Navy Virtual Counseling 101 training IMI provides Sailors with information and guidance on establishing education and career goals, selecting and applying to an academic institution, and an understanding of the higher education life cycle. This IMI course replaces the requirement for completing the Higher Education Preparation (HEP) course from Joint Knowledge Online (JKO). The Counseling IMI is available in the My Education Module of the NCP website, which is more convenient to the Sailor vs JKO. Sailors who have already completed the HEP course will not need to complete the Navy Virtual Counseling 101 IMI. Navy VOLED will continue to accept any HEP completion certificates until Jan. 1, 2018.

-- Each of the above IMI courses include an Education Sea Bag where lesson summary sheets, tip sheets, and web links related to voluntary education are stored. Throughout the course, when links and supplementary learning materials are presented, they will be saved in the Education Sea Bag. The contents of the Education Sea Bag will be available to save/download at the end of the course.

(3) The VOLED Essentials for the ESO/CCC (Education Services Officer-Command Career Counselor) IMI will provide ESOs and CCCs with an overview of Navy and DOD policies related to VOLED. The ESO-CCC VOLED Essentials IMI provides information and guidance on Navy College/VOLED programs and the many benefits, products, and services available to Sailors to help them pursue and complete their educational goals. The course includes a search feature which allows the user to quickly locate and review information on a specific topic. This IMI is available on the NCP website, with access to the course is open to all personnel: http://www.navycollege.navy.mil/information-for-commands/index.htm

According to Ens. Adam Davis, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) educational services officer, the new IMIs are a tangible improvement to NCP/VOLED.

"The interactive training is more dynamic and engaging, with knowledge assessment at the proper intervals," said Davis. "Not only does the new IMI training convey the information effectively, but it is better at keeping Sailors engaged while providing detailed information on program specifics - this is definitely a step in the right direction."

Completion of the TA and Virtual Counseling IMI courses will be automatically recorded in the Navy College Management Information System (NCMIS), eliminating the need for Sailors to upload or email a completion certificate to the Navy College Virtual Education Center.

"Our VOLED support structure includes a comprehensive array of self-service, contact, and virtual services," said Ernest D'Antonio, the Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center VOLED program director. "We are committed to providing the best possible education support services to our Sailors by constantly upgrading and improving our real-time, virtual, and online products, and greatly appreciate our service members' input, cooperation, and understanding as we work to perfect our new service delivery model."

The Navy College Program Mobile Application offers access to the NCP planning tools, including required training and the counseling scheduler. Sailors can download the app from the Apple or Google Play store at no cost. Search 'NCP App' in the stores. The URL for the Navy College Program website is: https://www.navycollege.navy.mil.

Sailors can also get the latest information by following Navy Voluntary Education on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NavyVoluntaryEducation/.

Additional information about the Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center can be found via: https://www.netc.navy.mil/netc/netpdc/Default.htm.


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