POLICIES & CONDITIONS

1. In order to qualify for course scholarships through Project CREATE, participants must be employed full-time in a South Carolina public school for the duration of the semester (or school year) in which they are awarded scholarships funds.
2. CREATE is not a vehicle for re-certification, adding another area of special education licensure for personal preference, or for continuing professional development. Individuals considering a career change into special education, however, are eligible. CREATE exists solely for the purpose of growing a highly qualified special education teacher force in South Carolina public schools.
3. Participants must be qualified each year (after July 1) for course scholarships. Add-on certification course worksheets and acceptance letters/programs of study need to be submitted only once. Employment Agreements need to be submitted once; only when the participant accepts employment at a new district must the Employment Agreement be submitted again. Restricted alternative certificates (RAC) and PACE-ED enrollment must be verified annually. All participants must submit a CREATE application annually.
4. Upon completion of Special Education certification through Project CREATE, the participant must remain employed as a special educator in a South Carolina public school a minimum of three (3) years, or be subject to a reimbursement penalty (with interest) to the State Department of Education for all project-sponsored courses in which the participant received scholarship funds.
5. Participants will grant project officials authorization to use information from their CREATE application and from completed course work for evaluation and research purposes, with the understanding that the participant will never be named personally or identified publicly in any presentation or written report.
6. All course work sponsored through Project CREATE and its 11-member college consortium has received prior approval from SC Office of Educator Certification for purposes of initial or add-on certification in special education.
7. Participants who are seeking add-on certification are responsible to complete and submit SDE’s Request for Change form, and will secure their own official transcripts of course work completed from the respective college to submit to the SC Office of Educator Certification.
8. Project CREATE cannot guarantee that certification courses will count toward course requirements in a master's degree program at any of the universities in South Carolina with State-approved teacher education programs. Participants may either seek advanced approval through their college program advisors for a CREATE certification course to be applied toward their degree program, or they may submit transcripts of course work completed through Project CREATE to their respective college for transfer consideration, at which time appropriate university officials will make a determination on whether the course can be applied toward the candidate’s degree program. The goal of CREATE is certification, not an advanced degree.
9. Project officials retain the right to refuse course scholarships to any potential or qualified participant who exhibits unprofessional or unethical behavior, or who causes the project to unnecessarily forfeit grant funds through withdrawal from, or failure in, a course.