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Apply for Certification

To become a Certified Master Facilitator requires that you submit four items for review and assessment.

  • You must demonstrate that you meet the experience requirements for certification by documenting your relevant facilitated sessions over the three-year period prior to application.

  • You must submit reference letters from a minimum of five clients.

  • You must provide a written submission that responds to questions about your knowledge and experience across each of the 30 sub-competencies that make up the Master Facilitator Competencies.

  • You must submit a written facilitator guide and a video of you facilitating a session based on a topic and specific participant role plays provided by INIFAC.

These four components are divided into the following two stages:

Stage-I Package

Email

  • Email
  • Application Form
  • Experience Form
  • Emailed Letters of Reference

Fax

  • Hard-Copy Letters of Reference

Phone / Mail

  • Certification Fee ($900)

Qualified!

Stage-II Package

Email
  • Written Submission
  • Facilitation Plan

Mail
  • Video
  • Participant Forms - signed

 

Provisional
CMF

Certified!

Certified
Master
Facilitator

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A. Prepare and Submit Your Stage-1 Package with Payment

  1. Start the first stage of the certification process by downloading from the INIFAC website the forms that you will need for Stage-1:

  2. Follow the instructions to complete the documents.

  3. Submit the electronic forms portion of your Stage-1 Package via email to info@inifac.org.

    • Application

    • Experience List

    • Emailed Letters of Reference

  4. Submit by fax any hard copy letters of reference, ensuring that each letter is properly annotated (see instructions). The fax number is 425-614-2606.

    The information you provide on experience will be seen ONLY by the INIFAC Executive Director. The Executive Director will use this information ONLY to verify your experience as a facilitator. This information is NOT made available to the assessor team, nor to any one else. This information will not be distributed, released, copied or used for any other purpose. Once the CMF process has been completed all material other than contact information will be carefully destroyed or deleted. INIFAC expressly prohibits the use of candidate information for any other purpose than for certification evaluation.

  5. Submit your payment ($900).

    • You may pay by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, American Express) by contacting the INIFAC office at 703-909-8810. Once we have received your credit card information, we will begin processing your application immediately.

    • You may mail a check, payable to International Institute for Facilitation, to:

      International Institute for Facilitation
      16913 SE 25th Street
      Bellevue, Washington 98008

      We will begin processing your application once your check is received in our offices.

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B. Processing of Your Stage-1 Package

  1. You will receive an email notice when your Application is received. You will receive a second email notice once all components of your Stage-1 Package are received and your Stage-1 Package is ready for processing.

  2. The INIFAC office will create a tracking record and file for your candidacy and review your Application for completeness.

  3. The INIFAC office will review your Experience Form to ensure that each facilitation session meets the "distinct" requirements. Any session that does not meet the "distinct" requirements will be disqualified.

    • If disqualified sessions reduce your number of "distinct" sessions to under 30, the INIFAC office will notify you by email and mail that you did not pass Stage-1 due to disqualified sessions. (See below.)

    • For a candidate who fails in Stage-1 due to disqualified sessions, the facilitator may, on a one-time basis, submit, within 30 days of the disqualification notification, up to 10 additional sessions for verification. These sessions must have occurred during the three-year qualifying period. There is an additional fee for the extended submission. (See below.)

  4. If you pass the "distinct" sessions requirements, the INIFAC office will select a random sample from the remaining "distinct" sessions for session verification.

    • The INIFAC office will contact this sample by e-mail or, if necessary, by telephone to verify that the session occurred. The INIFAC office will make up to three attempts to contact each sponsor in the random sample.

    • A session will be labeled as unverifiable if a response is not received after three attempts or if the contact person cannot verify that the session occurred.

    • Based on the number of unverifiable sessions in the sample, if any, the INIFAC office will determine an "estimate of verifiable sessions." (See the glossary for how this estimate is computed.)

  5. The INIFAC office will notify you by email and mail that you have passed Stage-1 and have "qualified" for the Certified Master Facilitator certification if the estimate of "verifiable sessions" is 24 or above (i.e., 80% of the target).

  6. The INIFAC office will notify you by email and mail that you did not pass Stage-1 if the estimate of "verifiable distinct sessions" is below 24. The notification will identify any disqualified or unverifiable sessions.

    • For a candidate who fails in Stage-1 due to unverifiable distinct sessions, the facilitator may submit on a one-time basis and within 30 days of the disqualification notification, up to 10 additional sessions for verification. These sessions must have occurred during the three-year qualifying period. These sessions will be added to the candidates experience list. And a random sampling will be taken again, excluding the sessions previously verified. There is an additional fee for the extended submission. See below.

  7. Your Stage-1 package processing will typically require 2-4 weeks.

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C. Prepare and Submit Your Stage-2 Package

  1. Start the Stage-2 certification process by downloading from the INIFAC website the forms that you will need for Stage-2. (Note: You may choose to begin completing the Stage-2 information before receiving notification of the successful completion of Stage-1.)

  2. Follow the instructions to complete all documents.

  3. Within a week of your receiving email notification of the completion of Stage-1, the INIFAC office will assign a session topic and send you participant envelopes by mail to be used during the video facilitated session.

    • Please note: the participant envelopes must NOT be opened by the facilitator. The envelopes must be opened, in the view of the camera, by the participants during the session, as described in the video instructions.

    • The envelopes contain specific instructions for behaviors the participants are to exhibit during the session. These behaviors will help the assessors get a better understanding of your abilities to deal with a variety of situations.

    • It is imperative that you, the facilitator, not open these envelopes nor see the contents of the envelopes prior to the end of the session.

  4. Recruit participants and a videographer to handle the video equipment.

  5. Prepare your Detailed Facilitation Guide according to the instructions.

  6. Prepare and hold the facilitated session according to the instructions.

  7. Complete the documents related to the session. Have participants sign the relevant forms.

  8. Submit the electronic forms portion of your Stage-2 Package via electronic mail to info@inifac.org.

    • Written Submission Form, along with any additional Experience/Reference forms you may have required

    • Detailed Facilitation Guide for the video session

  9. Send by mail the other portions of your Stage-2 Package

    • Video

    • Signed session participant forms

    By mail, send to:

    International Institute for Facilitation
    16913 SE 25th Street
    Bellevue, Washington 98008

  10. Please note: Videos will not be returned. We recommend that you copy the video to have a backup in case of damage or loss in the mail.

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D. Processing of Your Stage-2 Package

  1. You will receive an email notice when your Written Submission is received. You will receive a second email notice once all components of your Stage-2 Package are received and your Stage-2 Package is ready for processing.

  2. Upon receipt of your complete Stage-2 Package, the INIFAC Office will assign an assessor and a reviewer to your candidacy.

  3. The INIFAC office will distribute your entire Stage-1 and Stage-2 Packages to your assessor.

  4. The role of the assessor is to perform the preliminary assessment.

    • The assessor will perform a thorough review of your Written Submission, Reference Letters, Reference Feedback, the video session and facilitation guide.

    • The assessor will score each element across the CMF competencies and sub-competencies.

    • The assessor will provide detailed comments on the Written Submission and Video Submission.

    • The assessor will prepare a preliminary scoring sheet.

  5. Upon completion of the preliminary scoring, the assessor will forward the scoring sheet and your entire Stage-1 and Stage-2 Packages to your reviewer.

  6. The role of the reviewer is to ensure that your assessment is a fair reflection of your performance against the competencies.

    • The reviewer will review the materials and the assessment scores and comments

    • The reviewer will note any area in which there is a difference between the reviewer's assessment and the preliminary score provided by the assessor.

    • The reviewer will confer with the assessor to review scores in question to resolve differences.

    • The reviewer has the ultimate authority for determining the final scores for the assessment.

  7. The reviewer will submit the final scoring sheet and the Stage-1 and Stage-2 Packages to the INIFAC Office.

  8. The INIFAC Office will notify you by email and by mail the results of your assessment. You will receive written feedback from the certification process and a detailed breakdown of your certification scores.

  9. If you meet the requirements for the CMF, a certificate will accompany your mailed notification.

    To meet the CMF requirements, you must score 4.0 or higher in each of the six competency areas on both the knowledge assessment and the performance assessment and have documented at least 30 "distinct" facilitated sessions, with at least 80% estimated as verifiable.

  10. The INIFAC office expects your Stage-2 packet processing to require 5-7 weeks.

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The Costs

Certification Costs

The Certified Master Facilitator/Provisional CMF assessments require a program fee of $900. Credit cards are accepted. Click here to pay securely online. Checks should be made payable to the International Institute for Facilitation and mailed with your Stage 1 Packet information. The program fee includes:

  1. Analysis of your Experience and verification of a sample subset

  2. Verification of your Client References

  3. Review and assessment of your Written Submission

  4. Review and assessment of your video Session and Detailed Facilitation Guide

As a result of the certification program, you will receive:

Written feedback on your written submission

Written feedback on your video submission

Detailed breakdown of your certification scores

Overall assessment rating:

  • Advanced: Score 4.0 or higher (out of 5.0) in each competency area in the knowledge and performance assessment.

  • Accomplished: Score 3.0 or higher in each competency area

  • Associate: Score 2.0 or higher in each competency area

  • Apprentice: Score under 2.0 on one or more of the competency areas

Successful candidates will also receive a certificate and will be listed on the INIFAC website as long their certification is maintained.

Certification Refunds, Resubmissions & Cancellation Policy

  1. For a candidate who fails in Stage-1 due to disqualified sessions, the facilitator may, on a one-time basis, submit up to 10 additional sessions for verification within 30 days of notification by the INIFAC office. The fee for the additional submission is $100.

  2. For a candidate who receives the Provisional CMF, who resubmits the experience form with additional sessions, the fee for verifying the additional sessions is $100.

  3. For candidates completing Stage-2 without qualifying for CMF or Provisional CMF status, they can resubmit within 3 years of the prior submittal. The resubmission fee is one-half of the standard fee. The Stage-1 documentation does not need to be resubmitted.

  4. Cancellation Policy: $75 non-refundable application fee. Balance of fee is fully refundable within 30 days upon written request. 50% of application fee is refundable up to 6 months of the date of your application. The application fee is good for 3 years from the date of application. After 3 years, you will have to reapply and pay the application fee.

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Continuing Certification Requirements

INIFAC is committed to the development, maintenance, evaluation, promotion and administration of a rigorous, experience and examination-based process culminating with the issuance of a globally recognized professional credential.

Individuals who have attained the CMF must demonstrate an ongoing professional commitment by satisfying INIFAC’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program once every 3 years.

Terms of the CCR program and the Application Submission forms are in this handbook. Click Here.

learn about...

Preparing Stage-1 Package

Processing Stage-1

Preparing Stage-2 Package

Processing Stage-2

Costs

Pay Online

Continuing Certification Requirements