Fitness and Lifestyle Management – Field Placement Information

Introduction

Welcome to the Field Guide for the Fitness and Lifestyle Management certificate program. The instructions below will walk you through the process of preparing for fieldwork.

We advise all students to bookmark this page so you always have access to the most current placement information.

Program Overview

The final requirement of the FLM certificate program is a 95-hour Fitness and Lifestyle Skills Applications course. This course is designed to provide you with an opportunity to apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that you have learned throughout the prerequisite courses.

As a field placement student, you are responsible for completing 95 experience hours on-site at your assigned field placement agency. Please note that your hours can include a 15-minute break each day but do not include your lunch period. Field placement hours can be completed all at once or in varying time periods throughout the term, your schedule must be agreed upon with your placement agency prior to the start of your placement. All placement hours must be completed by the final day of the term.

Placement Deadlines

In order to complete the placement option for this program, students must:

Completing the documentation and securing a placement location can be a complicated process and students should start the preparations early. It may take 8-12 weeks to complete all placement requirements. If your documentation is not complete and/or you are not cleared for placement by the program deadline, you will have to wait for the following term before you can register again. There are no exceptions. This can delay your progression in completing your program and may result in you incurring additional fees.

Placement Eligibility

In order to be eligible for field placements, students must meet the following requirements prior to the deadlines:

1. Academic Clearance: students must successfully complete all theory courses prior to the placement course start date. This will be confirmed by the academic area after the Intent to Complete Placement Form deadline.
2. FLM Intent to Complete Placement Form: this form must be submitted prior to the deadline to confirm your intent to register for field placement, and ensure you are added to the master tracking list. This form is completed entirely online in just a few minutes.
3. ParaMed Clearance: the FLM program requires students to meet the following requirements. Upon completion, these requirements must be confirmed through ParaMed, our partner organization. Please get started on the ParaMed Clearance process as early as possible to ensure you are able to meet your deadlines.
   1. Police Records Check(PRC): if you live in an area with high demand for police checks, it may take up to 12 weeks to receive this document. If your local police station requires a letter from the college, please complete the online request form.
   2. Standard First Aid/CPR Level C: students must provide current certification from a Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance or equivalent First Aid course. This course must be completed in-person to be valid, online first aid certification will not be accepted.
4. Secure an appropriate placement agency: it is the student’s responsibility to confirm their placement agency, dates, hours, etc. All supporting documentation confirming your agency will be submitted in your course on AC Brightspace.

How to Secure a Placement

Getting Started
Students in the FLM program who choose to complete placement will be connected with the Facilitator following the Intent to Complete Placement Form deadline. The Facilitator will provide support in finding and securing placement locations. In order to get started, students should:

1. Update your resume
2. Determine your availability: be prepared to let the agency know exactly what your placement period will look like. Have your availability (working days and hours) as well as your preferred start and end dates defined before you contact agencies. Remember you should plan to finish at least a week prior to the end of the semester in case you need to make up placement hours due to extenuating circumstances (illness, weather, etc.).
3. Research agencies in your area that you may be interested in working with. Some of the best resources to identify potential agencies include:
   1. Google Search
   2. LinkedIn
   3. Reaching out to personal contacts in the field

Contacting Potential Placement Agencies
We highly recommend that students reach out to their potential placement agency by phone and follow up with an email. Do not expect your agency to agree to host you for placement in your initial phone call, you should allow them time to review your request and get back to you with a final decision.

1. Contact your prospective agency by phone. Be prepared to summarize:
   1. Who you are: indicate your full name, and that you are an Algonquin College student studying in the FLM certificate program.
   2. What the purpose of your contact is: you are hoping to complete a 95-hour placement with the organization.
   3. When the placement period would be: indicate the start/end period and your availability (days per week and hours per day).

      Ask the agency if there is a particular person you should reach out to by phone or email to provide further details. They may refer you to HR, a hiring manager, or they may prefer that you send them the details to follow up with the appropriate contact.

2. Send follow-up communication by email, including:
   1. Who you are
   2. If contacting the person you spoke to by phone, thank them for the time they have taken to speak with you and consideration of your request
   3. If contacting someone you have been referred to, indicate who has referred you, and the reason for your contact
   4. A brief summary of your request, including your objective and the key placement dates/hours
   5. Attach a copy of your resume
   6. Invite the agency to contact you for an interview or further information prior to making a decision
   7. Include a date for follow up, approximately one week after the initial contact.
3. After your date for follow up has passed, if you have not heard back from the agency, send a follow-up email asking for a final decision so you can determine your next steps.

Confirming Your Placement
After you receive confirmation from the placement agency, you will need to submit your supporting Contract and Consent Form through your AC Brightspace course.

Registration

Online registration is not available for part-time placement courses. Part-time students will be provided with the next steps to register after the placement deadline has passed if they have submitted the FLM Intent to Complete Placement Form and have successfully completed all theory courses.

Please note registration does not guarantee placement; part-time students must have Field Placement Officer permission to register for all placement and seminar courses. Students will be withdrawn if placement requirements are not met by the placement deadline.