CONTINUING EDUCATION
Smartria and Kitces.com | August 09, 2022
Smartria®, a powerful, easy-to-use cloud-based software solution designed to meet the specialized compliance management needs of investment advisors, compliance teams, operations teams, consultants, and attorneys, has announced a partnership with Kitces.com to provide online education content for CE credits through the Smartria platform to address the North American Securities Administrators Association’s (NASAA) Investment Adviser Representative Continuing Education (IAR CE) Model Rule. Kitces.com is home to the Nerd’s Eye View financial planning industry blog published by Michael Kitces, and a leading provider of advanced education for financial advisors.
“Smartria is proud to partner with Michael Kitces and Kitces.com, the preeminent industry thought leader in advisor education, We were very deliberate in our selection—we wanted to work with a partner who shared our vision of software as a partnership and was committed to helping us deliver a solution that meets our clients’ needs at scale. Smartria’s partnership with Kitces.com is a natural fit as we continue to innovate our compliance platform with new and distinctive offerings.”
-Mac Bartine, CEO of Smartria
Under the partnership, investment advisers who activate Smartria’s new IAR CE feature will gain instant access directly from the Smartria dashboard to all of the Continuing Education content provided by the Kitces.com Members Section, including not only the Nerd’s Eye View blog content, but Kitces white papers and webinars as well, which can fulfill both their new IAR CE obligation, as well as crossover CE credit for CFP certification, CPA licensees, Enrolled Agents, and advisors with advanced designations from the Investments and Wealth Institute and the American College. Future integrations under the partnership will facilitate automated firm-wide tracking and reporting in Smartria of all an investment adviser’s Kitces-earned IAR CE credits for all of their team members, to ensure annual compliance as additional states pass the NASAA Model Rule and implement their own IAR CE obligations in the coming years.
As financial advisors, we’re already subject to a myriad of overlapping rules and regulations, and overlapping Continuing Education obligations, and so as soon as the NASAA Model Rule was finalized last year, we began the process to qualify our Kitces.com educational content for IAR CE in addition to all of the other financial advisor licenses and designations we already covered, With CE demands continuing to rise, we’ve been developing our own systems to be able to better integrate with existing advisor platforms to facilitate multi-designation CE, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Mac and the rapidly growing Smartria team to power their IAR CE solution, as our first CE integration partner,said Michael Kitces, Chief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com.
NASAA’s Model Rule was announced on November 30, 2020. Under the rule, an investment adviser representative is required to complete 12 CE credits annually to maintain their IAR registration. The rule applies to all registered IARs of both state-registered and federal covered investment advisers. Compliance begins with existing IARs and newly registered IARs in states that have adopted the model rule as of Jan. 1, 2022, which currently include Maryland, Mississippi, and Vermont.
About Smartria
Smartria is a leading compliance software platform for RIAs, hybrid RIAs and RIA networks. The firm’s software excels at making the complex and often frustrating world of regulatory compliance simple to manage and easy to understand. Smartria’s unique roles for compliance consultants and distributed management of large corporations make its solution able to handle any compliance problem for any sized company. For more information, please visit www.Smartria.com.
About Kitces.com
Kitces.com publishes the #1 financial planning industry blog, Nerd’s Eye View, and provides a wide range of advanced educational content for financial advisors through both nerdy long-from educational articles, research white papers, in-person and virtual live events, on-demand and livestream webinars, and online courses. The Kitces.com Members Section provides continuing education credits for a wide range of financial advisor licenses and advanced professional designations, including CFP certification designations from the Investments & Wealth Institute and American College, CPE for CPAs and Enrolled Agents, investment adviser representative (IAR) CE obligations, and more.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY,CONTINUING EDUCATION
CompTIA Spark | August 08, 2022
With a new, exclusive focus on youth programming and a single-purpose commitment to helping young people unlock their potential through technology, Creating IT Futures has changed its name to CompTIA Spark, the social impact nonprofit organization announced today.
CompTIA Spark will focus on delivering high-quality tech education and resources to middle schoolers through an innovative online learning hub. Building on the success of TechGirlz, a program that provides tech-centered learning opportunities for girls ages 11-14, CompTIA Spark aims to make technology engaging, accessible and inclusive for middle school students who are at a critical age to explore their interests.
"Our mission is to spark an interest in tech because in today's digitally driven world, tech fluency is just as important to future success as reading, writing, and math, Young people have their sights set on big and varied dreams, but what's clear is that whatever path or passion a young person chooses, technology education will play a critical part in their journey."
-Charles Eaton, chief executive officer of CompTIA Spark
The CompTIA Spark middle school program, scheduled to be piloted during the 2022-23 school year, will be delivered through an online learning hub that can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. The hub is designed as a one-stop shop for students and teachers to access a range of fun, inspiring tech-related courses and resources, spanning topics from artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to mobile app development, podcasting, graphic design and more. Programs serve a diverse range of learning preferences and interests and can be taught by any adult who wants to bring high-quality tech education to their students or community, whether they have tech experience or not.
A unique feature of the learning hub allows content to be mapped to students' existing interests and curated across different "careers clusters" — from finance to manufacturing and marketing to the arts. Students can discover career paths and future learning opportunities that align with their passions, strengths, and growing capabilities and confidence.
Nearly every career is a tech career in today's digital world. There are so many great job opportunities out there that require tech knowledge and not enough skilled people to fill those roles. Thousands of rewarding, well-paying jobs will go unfilled unless an expanded pipeline of new, diverse talent is created, That's why CompTIA Spark's middle school programming will have a big impact on thousands of young people's lives regardless of whether they ultimately choose a career in the tech industry. We want to show students that tech is for everyone — and about so much more than just coding or computer engineering,said Eaton.
Alongside the middle school program, CompTIA Spark will continue to support other programs with a focus on youth, including TechGirlz, acquired by CompTIA in 2019, CyberPrep Explore and CyberPrep ITF+.
While an independent nonprofit, CompTIA Spark operates as the social innovation and impact arm of CompTIA — the leading nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce— which founded the organization. This unique connection to CompTIA means CompTIA Spark is plugged in to developments in the industry, keeping pace with its constant evolution. Additionally, its curriculum has ties to real certifications, helping to provide clear future pathways for students who want to take their interest to the next level.
About CompTIA Spark
CompTIA Spark is a social impact organization that works to unlock people's potential though technology. It aims to bringing high quality tech education to youth — whatever their background — making tech exciting, accessible and inclusive, and building skills and confidence for life. The organization was founded in 1998 by CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce. Formerly known as Creating IT Futures, CompTIA Spark is a registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit.
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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
PowerSchool and Liwa Education | August 08, 2022
PowerSchool, the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced Liwa Education in the United Arab Emirates has selected PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS), PowerSchool Enrollment,
PowerSchool Unified Classroom®, PowerSchool Unified Insights™, and PowerSchool Unified Talent™ solutions to support its ongoing growth in the Middle East. Once all the PowerSchool solutions are implemented, Liwa Education will be able to manage student information, course enrollment, personalized learning, advanced analytics, recruitment and talent operations through a unified interface. Further, Liwa Education’s new PowerSchool additions will help the organization simplify future reporting and analytics-based initiatives to better support student outcomes.
“We love that the PowerSchool suite expertly integrates various PowerSchool solutions and data into a unified and accessible interface, Implementing PowerSchool’s products will give us the opportunity to modernize our e-learning platforms without compromising student outcomes. The comprehensive reporting features will provide great insights on all aspects of learning for our various stakeholders, and we look forward to utilizing PowerSchool to support our continued growth and expansion in the future.”
-May Saqqa, Director of Marketing and Enrollment, Liwa Education
Previously, Liwa Education utilized over ten different technology solutions to facilitate regular instruction, assessments, learning support, standards mastery, and other academic needs. While functional, key information was spread across the various solutions and was difficult to quickly access when needed. As Liwa Education expands its footprint in the UAE by opening additional K-12 schools and nurseries in the United Arab Emirates, it selected PowerSchool based on the company’s integrated solutions that were scalable for a variety of real-world education scenarios.
As one of the leading education institutions in the Middle East, Liwa Education needed a trusted and unified suite of education technology solutions capable of managing all aspects of its administrative and learning operations, We’re proud to provide Liwa the solutions they need as they open their newest schools, plan for continued expansion, and continue offering a world-class education to students across the UAE,said Craig Greenseid, Chief Revenue Officer, PowerSchool.
Liwa Education is an established educational leader, recognized in providing an accessible, high-quality, American curriculum education in the United Arab Emirates for the past three decades. Its schools and nurseries across Al Ain and Abu Dhabi offer a challenging American curriculum education, combining the essence of Emirati values with a rich set of core competencies that produces confident, resilient, and courageous young leaders. Initially founded as Liwa Private School in 1992, the institution has seen tremendous business growth and received numerous accolades for its program offerings in the region. Among the awards earned over the years, notable acknowledgements include receiving the “His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashed Al Maktoum’s Award” for Distinguished Academic Performance and the “His Excellency Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award.” Liwa Education will begin offering classes featuring its American curriculum for the 2022-23 school year at the Liwa International School Al Qattara (LISQ) in Al Ain.
About PowerSchool
PowerSchool is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to power the education ecosystem with unified technology that helps educators and students realize their full potential, in their way. PowerSchool connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents, with the shared goal of improving student outcomes. From the office to the classroom to the home, it helps schools and districts efficiently manage state reporting and related compliance, special education, finance, human resources, talent, registration, attendance, funding, learning, instruction, grading, assessments and analytics in one unified platform. PowerSchool supports over 45 million students globally and more than 14,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States, and sells solutions in more than 90 countries.
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