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Policies and procedures

Note, these are general Merrithew® policies. Refer to the specific course and facility policies when registering for instructor training at any of our Merrithew training facilities around the world.

Prospective pregnant, injured or post-rehabilitation participants

While it is considered safe and desirable to exercise during pregnancy and Pilates programs can be ideal in the recovery phase of injury, Merrithew courses can be quite demanding physically, and have not been tailored for pregnant or injured participants or those in a post rehabilitation phase.

For this reason, we are not able to accept course registrations from students who are knowingly pregnant or who are currently or recently injured. A major component of our courses is physical performance of all exercises. This necessitates that participants are injury-free, and able to participate fully, in order to fulfill this requirement.

Under certain circumstances, permission to participate may be granted for select workshop titles from our Post-Rehabilitation, Pre and Post-Natal, and Active for Life Specialty Tracks, as well as the Injuries and Special Populations course.

Extensions will be granted for those needing to earn CECs, at no additional cost. Requests for permission or extension must be submitted in writing to the Merrithew Education Programming Department at least 30 days prior to the workshop/course date and for CEC extensions. This allows us time to review and consider all factors as well as provide alternative recommendations in the event the request cannot be fulfilled. Please note that we receive a high volume of requests and those received less than 30 days prior to the workshop/course date will only be reviewed if time permits.

Auditing

Merrithew allows auditing of the following STOTT PILATES courses, as long as the student has previously taken the course:

**ISP can be audited if the original course was taken post-June 2007 to present

Merrithew allows auditing of the following STOTT PILATES Rehab courses, if the original course was taken post-June 2012:

Auditing is not an option for the Functional Anatomy Course, Foundation Courses and/or workshops (CEC/introductory) as the main goal of the workshops is continuing education and not certification.

Please contact your closest Training Center if you are interested in auditing.

Note: Students are asked to remain silent and not participate in any group work/discussions, or ask questions during the course, unless otherwise directed by the Instructor Trainer when auditing a course.

*In order to audit the STOTT PILATES Intensive Mat-Plus™ or Intensive Reformer 2nd Edition courses, you must have previously taken the IMP or IR, 2nd Edition course. If you have taken the IMP or IR 1st Edition course, you must complete the STOTT PILATES Beyond the Biomechanical Principles workshop to audit the IMP or IR 2nd Edition course. The workshop can be booked through a Training Center directly or through the Merrithew Corporate Training Center.

Absenteeism and make-up hours

It is strongly advised that make-up hours are done as soon as possible after they are missed - especially if it occurs in the middle of a course. This allows students to cover the missed material prior to returning to the course. Please note that this is done in private review at the student’s expense. Students have six months to make up any hours missed. If they exceed this timeline, the course is forfeited and the entire course must be retaken in order to examine and certify.

  • If you miss hours from the Matwork, Reformer, Cadillac, Chair, and Barrels course, you must make up these hours, preferably before the course concludes
  • The makeup hours policy is as follows: for the first 5 missed hours, each hour requires a half-hour private session with an Instructor Trainer (2:1 ratio). Beyond the first 5 hours, each missed hour requires a full hour of private session (1:1 ratio). For example, if you miss 4 hours, you need 2 hours of private sessions. If you miss 10 hours, you need 7.5 hours of private sessions (accounting for 2.5 hours for the first 5 hours and 5 hours for the additional 5 hours missed)
  • Rehab, Anatomy courses, ISP and Advance courses Any make-up hours for these courses are done on a 1:1 ratio due to the density of the course material and the expectation that it will take the same amount of time to teach one student as to teach a group
  • No time can be missed during any Foundation Course. If a student misses any time then the course must be re-taken

Note, Merrithew Training Centers must inform us via the submitted class list that a student has not completed a course. A note will be made on the student’s file. A letter of completion will be sent to the student when the Center has confirmed that the student has completed the remaining hours.

Date of certification

Upon successful completion of the exam, students are considered certified instructors from their exam date. If the student takes the exam on two separate days, the latter date is the date that they may refer to themselves as a Certified Instructor. CECs are then earned the next full calendar year after one becomes certified, regardless of what month they examine in.

Photography, video and/or audio recording

Photography, video and/or audio recordings of any Merrithew course/workshop is strictly prohibited. If there are exceptional circumstances that make this necessary, the student must apply for and receive express written permission from the Merrithew Education Programming Department and sign a contract restricting its use. This policy is to help us avoid any infringement on our intellectual property.

Observation hours

Observation hours can be logged during or after the course and can be accrued by watching a STOTT PILATES Certified Instructor teach clients, as well as observing the relevant course package DVDs. We recommend that 80% of observation hours be completed by watching a Certified Instructor teach. Please contact your nearest Training Center or STOTT PILATES Certified Instructor, to arrange for observation.

Eligibility

Candidates must be at least 18 years of age to participate in any Merrithew course, workshop or STOTT PILATES examination.

Exam special accommodations

Special exam accommodations may be arranged for students with disabilities or circumstances that prevent them from taking the STOTT PILATES written examination as outlined in our regular procedures. In order to be considered, a formal request supporting the student’s situation must be provided to the Merrithew Education Programming Department at exams@merrrithew.com at least 30 days prior to the scheduled examination date. This allows us time to review and consider all factors as well as provide alternative recommendations in the event the request cannot be fulfilled. Please note that we receive a high volume of requests and those received less than 30 days prior to the exam date will only be reviewed if time permits. Merrithew reserves the right to determine the reasonableness of the accommodation requested.

Cheating policy

Merrithew takes dishonest and unethical behavior very seriously. If a student is found to have cheated on any exam a mark of zero will be recorded for that exam and the student will be unable to re-take that exam for a minimum of six months. The re-take and any future exams will then need to be completed at our Toronto Corporate Training Center or at one of our Merrithew Training Centers and may not be proctored. The student will be required to pay for a STOTT PILATES Instructor Trainer to be present during the written exam. Merrithew will not be held responsible for any adverse effect this policy may have.

Certification appeals process

Students who choose to appeal their certification score may do so in writing to the Merrithew Education Programming Department within 30 days of their exam scores being issued. All appeals will be attended to within 60 days of receipt. This allows us time to review and consider all factors and provide a thorough follow up to the appeal submitted.

Grievance and appeals process

Students who choose to submit a formal grievance regarding their education training may do so in writing to educationadvisor@merrithew.com within 30 days of the course or workshop completion. Grievances should include details regarding the specific situation, the desired resolution of the grievance, and any other relevant supporting information. All grievances will be attended to within 60 days of receipt. This allows us time to provide a thorough follow up to the appeal submitted and review and consider all factors as well as provide alternate options in the event the desired resolution cannot be met.