You asked, we listened! Finally, you can now renew your membership and ratings online at the same time with one payment! Although USPA will continue to accept the paper renewal forms for some time, you now have another option at your fingertips, accessible even on your smartphone! USPA released the online rating renewal functionality this past month, and several members have already enjoyed this new feature. Here’s how it works:
Part One: Verification and Tracking of Individual Requirements
Verifiers can sign off on a requirement here:
uspa.org/verify.
At the bottom of that page is a link to a help video.
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For each rating, there are several requirements a rating holder must meet each year. Rating renewal requirements are now verified individually and can be tracked as they happen. According to the rating they hold, current S&TAs, instructors, examiners and judges are now able to log in and verify other rating holders for the following: PRO; coach; and AFF, static-line, IAD and tandem instructor. (You cannot verify your own ratings.) This part of online rating renewals is the first step for members to renew online with their membership. Each requirement is verified and tracked separately so that members can get requirements verified as they happen and collect all of them for when they are ready to renew.
Managing their ratings from the Credentials tab of the user profile, verifiers can view the individual requirements they have verified for others. Likewise, members can view renewal requirements with valid dates that have been verified for their ratings. When they have all of the requirements collected for a specific rating, a “Requirements Complete” indication is present in their profile. They will be able to add the ratings that are ready for renewal to their cart when they renew their membership.
Tandem medicals are included in the requirements tracking portion. Tandem instructors (expired and current) are now able to upload a copy of their medical directly to USPA Headquarters from their profile. They can use a button on their credentials tab, or this link:
uspa.org/me/Credentials/TI-MED.
The member will be able to see that this was accepted, along with the expiration date, in their profile within two business days.
Ratings that have been expired less than two years are also eligible for verification, and the requirements necessary are indicated for you.
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The “old” way …
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Online Renewals instead…
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Trying to coordinate being at the DZ the same time as your certifying official to get their signature on paper.
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Texting your certifying official and asking them to log into their profile and verify a requirement for you because your paths didn’t cross at the DZ last weekend.
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Trying to remember when it was you helped with that first-jump course.
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Having your supervising instructor immediately mark your requirement done after that first-jump course.
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Searching through your logbook to try to find when you did that demo jump to renew your PRO rating.
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Right after that demo, asking your certifying official to verify the individual requirement so you don’t forget.
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Renewing your membership online with one transaction, but still having to use the paper form for your ratings.
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Renewing and paying for your ratings and membership in one simple online transaction.
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Having to mail in a paper form with a real envelope and stamp because you can’t send your credit card information by email.
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Typing your own credit card number into a secure online interface instead of calling it in or mailing a form.
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Part Two: Paying for Your Ratings With Your Membership or Renewing Later
Once you have met all requirements and have had each one verified for the ratings you want to renew, you will be able to select those ratings when you renew your membership. This interface for renewing membership has one added step for rating holders that lists out ratings that are ready to renew that they can add to their cart. Once the member completes the checkout process and pays for their membership and rating renewal, within a few minutes, their ratings will automatically renew alongside their membership expiration and be visible in their profile and on their digital card:
uspa.org/mycard.
There is an annual fee for rating renewals that you only have to pay once per membership cycle. So, for example, if you want to renew your membership before it expires but you did not get all of your requirements met for one of your ratings, you can still renew just the ratings that are ready to renew. Then later, after you get the requirements for the last rating verified, you can get it renewed as well without having to pay the annual rating renewal fee again. This means you are able to renew expired ratings at any time of the year, as long as the verified renewal requirements are valid.
Note for Examiners
In order to renew an examiner rating, you must renew the associated instructor rating (or any instructor rating for coach examiners), plus conduct a rating course for each discipline within the last two years, and—for tandem, AFF and coach examiners only—attend a standardization meeting. USPA Headquarters can track and automatically verify these two examiner-specific requirements. In your profile, you can see if these requirements have been recorded and use them toward your examiner rating renewal. This means examiners no longer need to secure paper signatures from other examiners in order to renew their examiner ratings; you only need to have your instructor rating requirements verified as normal. USPA has populated examiners’ records from courses and standardization meetings from data since 2017. If you do not see your course or standardization meeting in your verified requirements, email safety@uspa.org with the dates and a short description, and staff will update your record to reflect your activity.
Preview of Coming Attractions
The verification of rating renewals will soon be expanded to include tracking requirements toward licenses and new ratings, to include online exams via the USPA Library. Soon after, members will be able to apply for and purchase new licenses and new PRO, judge and instructional ratings, all of which can be instantly issued.