Our Grievance Procedure. 

Education Pathways, LLC is dedicated to upholding all legal and ethical obligations to ensure non-discrimination in its promotional activities, program content, and treatment of program participants. The responsibility for monitoring and assessing compliance with these standards lies with the Director of Continuing Education and the Social Work Consultant. In the event of a grievance related to continuing education programs or procedures, individuals are encouraged to inform the Director of Continuing Education via email promptly so that their concerns can be addressed in a timely manner. The current Director of Continuing Education at Education Pathways, LLC is Beth Hagan, Ph.D., who can be contacted at [email protected]. 

If the Director of Continuing Education is unable to resolve the issue immediately, she will escalate the complaint to the Social Work Consultant or a relevant Advisory Group member within one week. Every effort will be made to ensure the confidentiality of the complainant is maintained. The consultant will develop a response to the complaint and recommend any necessary actions, which will be communicated directly to the complainant. Grievances related to a specific course offering, its content, or costs may be addressed through adjustments to future offerings, providing a partial or full refund, or by offering an alternative opportunity. The participant who raised the grievance will be kept informed about the status of their complaint at all stages.

Role of Continuing Education Director: 

Beth Hagan, Ph.D., the Education Director, is responsible for program development, quality assurance, and compliance with regulations. Program development involves designing and overseeing the creation of continuing education courses tailored to meet the needs of social workers while adhering to state and federal regulations. This process ensures that the course content is relevant, up-to-date, and aligned with best practices in the field.

Quality assurance measures are implemented to guarantee that the educational materials uphold high standards of excellence, which includes reviewing course content, gathering user feedback, and making necessary adjustments. 

Regulatory compliance entails staying informed about licensing requirements and ensuring that the courses meet the continuing education needs of social workers across various states or regions in collaboration with accrediting bodies to uphold necessary standards. 

Role of Social Worker Consultant:

Rachel Kalina, LCSW, the Social Work Consultant, ensures that the curriculum is relevant, evidence-based, and aligned with current best practices in the field of social work. She provides expertise in developing course content that meets state licensing requirements and addresses the needs of social workers. 

She assists in creating instructional materials and provides feedback on course effectiveness. She plays a critical role in staying updated on recent changes in laws, ethical standards, and emerging trends in social work, which helps maintain the quality and integrity of the educational offerings. She engages with social work professionals to understand their continuing education needs and to ensure that the courses provided enhance their skills and knowledge in practical ways. 

Instructor Qualifications: 

Instructor Qualifications in the delivery of asynchronous distance education that  consists of written material, not a “live”  learning methodology, focuses on the development of the course material. 

The Content Team provides the course material that is reviewed and approved by Beth Hagan, Ph.D., and Rachel Kalina, LCSW. 

Beth has been providing educational programs for adults for thirty years and is a certified distance education instructor. Rachel completed her Master of Social Work degree at Washington University in St. Louis in 2011. She has worked in a variety of treatment settings across the St. Louis area including leading teen groups at an intensive outpatient treatment facility and doing community-based and in-home family therapy with clients in crisis. 

Evaluation and Quality: 

The Education Pathways Quality Assurance Team collects feedback from participants evaluations at the end of each course. The evaluations focus on content relevance, clarity of instruction, and overall satisfaction. 

The Education Pathways Learning Management System  monitors engagement metrics, such as course completion rates to identify areas that may need improvement. Regularly updating course materials based on industry standards and expert peer reviews also enhances the quality of the content. 

Course Delivery Formats: 

The company has used the NextPort Learning Management system to deliver the interactive classes that are created using Articulate and/or SoftChalk for more than twenty years. The Social Work classes that were approved and have been offered since August, 2023 by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling,  have been in Articulate. Recognizing that the needs of Social Workers are broader than other professions, the new classes will be housed on a new website that facilitates the offering of a library of classes. The current library has an inventory of 60+ class titles of varying lengths.