All state-approved schools are part of ABMP’s Massage School Alliance, but many schools choose to upgrade to school membership to benefit from an array of additional resources and materials. These links let you explore different levels and benefits of school affiliation with ABMP, and introduce you to ABMP’s referral credit program for schools and the ways that ABMP supports your students and instructors.
> Why ABMP: A Clear Difference
> Massage School Alliance
> Upgrade to ABMP School Membership
> Referral Credit Program for Schools
> ABMP Supports Your Students
> ABMP Supports Your Instructors
Massage School Alliance
ABMP’s Massage School Alliance is designed to serve training programs across the country. As a state-approved massage and bodywork training program, you’re already a part of the Massage School Alliance and receive these free services and benefits:
A complimentary copy of the following ABMP publications:
- Massage & Bodywork magazine (6x/year)
- Body Sense client magazine (2x/year)
- Different Strokes newsletter--the voice of ABMP (6x/year)
- Knead to Know student newsletter (4x/year)
- The ABMP School Connection newsletter for school administrators (4x/year)
- The Massage Educator instructor newsletter (4x/a year)
- Student Success Guide and Massage Year Planner educational resources (one each)
Complimentary services and information including:
- Access to the Student Success Curriculum
- An invitation to ABMP’s School Issues Forum
- A school listing on www.massagetherapy.com
- Access to the referral credit program for massage schools
Schools who upgrade to ABMP school membership receive additional benefits and can opt to participate in ABMP’s insurance program for schools.
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Upgrade to ABMP School Membership
School Membership Application
Schools wishing to formally affiliate with ABMP can join as an ABMP School Member. In addition to the resources provided to all Massage School Alliance participants, School Membership provides schools with:
- Access to all professional and student member benefits on the website
- A complimentary website and e-mail account.
- A discount on an Enhanced School Listing.
- Complimentary classified ads and job postings.
- ABMP identification materials.
- Access to ABMP online networking forums.
- Instructor group discount on membership.
- Access to ABMP student resource materials.
- Liability insurance for the school (optional)
- Business personal property insurance (optional)
Membership Options for Schools
A Complimentary Website and E-mail Account: ABMP school members can utilize the same great marketing tools all ABMP members get--a free website and e-mail address. For schools that already have a web presence, you can use your ABMP site as a teaching tool for business class or a separate presence for a clinic or outreach program.
Discount on an Enhanced School Listing: School members enjoy a 20% discount off the $350 list price of an annual subscription to the Enhanced School Listing on
www.massagetherapy.com and the student prospect database. The student prospect database provides an affordable way to identify prospective students and school members save $70.
Complimentary Classified Ads and Job Postings: You can reach potential employment candidates through
ABMP’s job listings and classified ads.
ABMP Identification Materials: A handsome wall certificate and door decal show the public your school is committed to the profession.
Access ABMP’s Online Networking Forums: Communicate and collaborate with fellow educators on ABMP’s online networking forums accessible to members at www.abmp.com.
Access to ABMP Student Resource Materials: Utilize the ABMP
Student Success Curriculum and its attendant online student resources in your classroom.
School Membership Without Liability Insurance: Do you want
ABMP School Membership resources but don’t need liability insurance? No problem. For just $175 a year you have access to all our online tools and the printed publications that come with membership.
School Membership With Liability Insurance: The cost of
School Membership with liability insurance varies depending on your student population and number of campuses. Find out the details of insurance for schools or contact your school liaison for one-on-one support.
- 50 graduates or less per year at a campus--$775
- More than 50 graduates per year at a campus--$925
- Multiple campuses--$800 each campus
Business Personal Property Insurance: With business
personal property insurance, schools can protect the equipment, supplies, and contents used in their businesses. Please note that business personal property coverage is only available if liability insurance is purchased. *
- $10,000 of business personal property insurance per year--$185
- $25,000 of business personal property insurance per year --$385
For more details, please visit our “Liability Insurance for Massage Professionals” section.
*Note: The insurance coverage descriptions above are illustrative only. Refer to a copy of the policy for specific coverages, limitations, exclusions, terms and conditions. This insurance information is provided by our insurance agent and the insurance company underwriting our program and is not a contract; it is a partial illustration of benefits, conditions, limitations, and exclusions. In the event that there is confusion or conflict between the policy language and any information provided, the policy language shall control.
Education Team Contacts
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Anne Williams, Director of Education
anne@abmp.com
800-458-2267, ext. 644
303-679-7644 |
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Jennifer Argenbright, School Liaison
Jennifer@abmp.com
800-458-2267, ext. 636
303-679-7636
Region: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Virgin Islands, and Washington. |
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Melanie Gourley, School Liaison
Melanie@abmp.com
800-458-2267, ext.626
303-679-7626
Region: California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. |
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Kathy Laskye, School Liaison
Kathy@abmp.com
800-458-2267, ext.649
303-679-7649
Region: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. |
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Taffie Lewis, School & Instructor Liaison
Taffie@abmp.com
800-458-2267, ext.629
303-679-7629
Region: Colorado, New Jersey and Texas. |
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Referral Credit Program for Schools
ABMP will give your school a $20 referral credit for each new ABMP Certified, Professional, or Practitioner level member whose application includes your school's name and/or your school’s ABMP identification number in the referral section.
ABMP Student-level members who elect to upgrade upon graduation and/or licensure now receive a first year introductory rate of $150. We will still provide your school with the $20 referral credit for such an upgrade as long as the application includes the school's name and/or the school’s ABMP identification number. ABMP has passed back to schools more than $500,000 in member referral credits since 1997.
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ABMP Supports Your Students
ABMP supports your students with a student membership program designed to help them achieve their academic goals and build the skills they need to be successful professionals. When students sign up as members, or when schools sign students up as members, students receive:
Membership Options for Students
Student Membership WITH Liability Insurance
- $65—up to 12 months in school
- $95—12 to 18 months in school
- $125—18 to 24 months in school
Student Membership WITHOUT Liability Insurance
- $45—up to 12 months in school
- $65—12 to 18 months in school
- $85—18 to 24 months in school
> Individual students can sign up online.
> Or, schools can sign up groups of students by simply submitting a spreadsheet.
Why Do Some Schools Sign Up All Students as ABMP Members?
Many schools sign up all of their students as members of ABMP and include the cost of student membership in tuition. Why do they do this? The resources. Schools want their students to have access to tools that can support their academic success and ensure their skill level as professionals when they graduate. Schools who sign up their students can easily develop student success workshops using ABMP’s
Student Success Curriculum, or utilize student membership materials and topics from the
Student Success Curriculum in orientation. This pre-preparation for the challenges of massage school ensures that students are ready for the “heavy lifting” of anatomy and kinesiology classes. Research at the first year college level indicates that schools, that take the time to teach key study skills report lower attrition rates and higher grades for students. The online resources available to students through membership support instructors by providing structured tools to teach important skill sets such as time management, goal setting, note taking, textbook reading, and exam preparation.
Student members receive a free website and e-mail account as well as access to professional membership business tools. Schools who sign up all of their students as members can use these tools in two ways. First, schools can have students design their own websites for their professional practice and start using their e-mail account as part of business classes. Students can create their entire business portfolio including business cards, letterhead, brochures, client newsletters, and business forms using ABMP’s easy to master programs. This gives students a great head start on their careers and enriches business class activities.
Second, ensuring that all students have an e-mail account allows both instructors and administrators an easy way to communicate with students about grades, financial aid, missed assignments, and more. Students can send in homework to instructors via the Internet. As the post-secondary student population continues to get younger, the use of online communication will increase, and schools will find that this is the most effective method for reaching out to students.
ABMP offers both an insured and uninsured student membership option so that schools can make the right choice for the level of membership that will best address their student’s needs. If you want to talk through your options and find out more about our resources for your school and your students
contact your school liaison for one-on-one support.
> Individual students can sign up online.
> Or, schools can sign up groups of students by simply submitting a spreadsheet.
Why Do Some Schools Require that Students Have Liability Insurance?
ABMP student members have access to numerous tools and resources to assist with their academic and professional success. In addition, the optional liability insurance that can be included in their membership provides unique, individual protection.
Many schools believe that their institutional blanket liability policy covers all administrators, instructors, and students in all situations. This may or may not be the case depending upon how the policy is written. It may only provide coverage if the school is named in a suit, but not if individuals are named. It may cover negligence but not general liability. It may be limited to on-site activities and not cover internships or exchanges outside of school. It is important that you review your policy carefully to know exactly what your coverage entails and what circumstances may be exempt from your policy.
There are several benefits of providing students with individual liability insurance or requiring students to hold liability insurance. This would protect them in the event that they were named individually in a suit. For example, if a fellow student or client in student clinic was injured, the massage therapy student’s individual policy typically would provide coverage, minimizing the risk of claim on your school policy. It is not uncommon for companies to raise premiums or cancel school policies if there are significant claims. Providing individual coverage may decrease this possibility.
Injuries inflicted by one student on another are a high claims area for ABMP. Faulty equipment set up, inappropriate technique use and failure to identify contraindications can all lead to serious injury. In one instance, an injured student was paid $2750 by the school’s policy because the responsible student did not have individual liability coverage. Another claim by a student injured after receiving stretching during an in-class exchange was paid by the responsible student’s individual policy, saving the school over $5600.
These instances seem minor compared to the $11,750 paid by a school’s policy after a table collapsed with a student on it, or the $28,000 paid to a client injured in student clinic. Individual student policies can protect the school from these types of payouts.
To talk through your insurance options and find out more about ABMP’s resources for your school and your students,
contact your school liaison for one-on-one support.
Individual students can sign up online.
> Or, schools can sign up groups of students by simply submitting a spreadsheet.
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ABMP Supports Your Instructors
As part of your school membership, your instructors can access student development materials, course-specific curricula, forms, templates, business resources and more. ABMP also offers a group discount on professional membership and liability insurance for a school’s instructors. Tools to support instructors include:
Why Do Some Schools Promote Instructor Membership?
Many schools promote instructor membership with ABMP for two primary reasons. First, schools recognize that it’s important for each instructor to hold his or her own liability insurance policy (see below for
details), and second, it gives instructors access to tools that help them create positive learning experiences for students. The wide variety of resources online in ABMP’s student, professional, and instructor sections provides a range of teaching tools for important classes like anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, business, massage theory and practice, and more.
One great idea is for instructors to use the website and e-mail account that comes with their professional membership as a way to communicate with students. From K-12 to college, instructors are finding that the Internet provides an effective means of staying in touch with today’s student. For example, if a student misses a class she can download the homework assignment directly from the instructor’s website and not fall behind. Lecture and demonstration notes can be posted to support student learning. A quiz or practical exchange reminder can ensure students remember classroom supplies for exchange days or prepare for an exam they might otherwise forget. As the post-secondary student population continues to get younger, the use of online communication will increase, and schools will find that this is the most effective method for reaching out to students.
ABMP is dedicated to developing products that will inspire and encourage great teaching. New teacher resources include
The Massage Educator newsletter, online instructor resources, and a new textbook called
Teaching Massage: Fundamental Principles in Adult Education for Massage Program Instructors.
Teaching Massage was developed as a textbook and online continuing education program with noted massage textbook publisher Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. This textbook was created to support both schools and instructors by providing a comprehensive resource to improve the quality of teaching across the country. All of ABMP’s share of proceeds from sales of the textbook and the online program will be donated to support the
Massage Therapy Foundation and the
Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. If you want to talk through your options and find out more about our resources for your school and your instructors
contact your school liaison for one-on-one support.
I Want to Promote Instructor Membership Through ABMP’s Corporate Program.
Why Do Some Schools Require Instructors to Hold Liability Insurance?
ABMP professional members who are instructors have access to numerous tools and resources to assist with their professional success and that of their students. In addition, the liability insurance that is part of their membership provides unique, individual protection. This is critical for the school because it is standard practice to individually name all involved parties in a lawsuit (school, instructors, assistants, etc.).
Many schools believe that their institutional blanket liability policy covers all administrators, instructors, and students in all situations. This may or may not be the case depending upon how the policy is written. It may only provide coverage if the school is named in a suit, but not if individuals are named. It may cover negligence but not general liability. It may be limited to on-site activities and not cover internships or activities outside of school. It is important that you review your policy carefully to know exactly what your coverage entails and what circumstances may be exempt from your policy.
There are several benefits of providing instructors with individual liability insurance or requiring instructors to hold liability insurance. Insurance would protect them in the event that they were named individually in a suit as a result of private practice, employment, teaching, or providing continuing education on your campus. For example, if a student, teaching assistant, or client in student clinic was injured, each individual with a policy would have liability coverage, minimizing the risk of claim on your school policy. It is not uncommon for companies to raise premiums or cancel school policies if there are significant claims. Providing individual coverage may decrease this possibility.
Injuries inflicted by an instructor on a student account for the highest insurance payout on record at ABMP. Faulty equipment set up, inappropriate technique use, and failure to identify contraindications can all lead to serious injury. In one instance, an injured student was paid $500,000 by the school’s policy following an injury suffered in class at the hands of the instructor. ABMP offers a group discount to instructors as part of our corporate program.
To talk through your insurance options and find out more about our resources for your school and your instructors contact your school liaison for one-on-one support.
I Want to Require Instructor Membership Through ABMP’s Corporate Program.
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Halfway through 2009, the pertinent question is: Hey, how you doing?
