Training Policy for Students Purpose The VATSIM Scandinavia Training Policy for Students establishes general requirements, training procedures, and responsibilities and expectations of all students training for ATC ratings and endorsements. The training policy is based on the VATSIM Global Controller Administration Policy ( GCAP ) and VATEUD Division Training Policy ( DTP ). Requirements VATSIM and VATEUD The student must fulfil the requirements described in GCAP and DTP. Good standing The student must be in good standing with the VATSIM Scandinavia training department, mentors and the VATSIM Scandinavia FIR communities. Language All students should be able to communicate and provide air traffic control service in English, the internationally accepted language for air traffic control. Number of training requests The student may only have one training request at a time, including requesting training in other vACCs on VATSIM as a visiting controller. Internal transfer VATSIM Scandinavia students have possibility to control in any other country within VATSIM Scandinavia as visiting controllers after having completed familiarisation training. Consequently, in general there should not be any need for internal transfers between the countries within VATSIM Scandinavia. Thus, if a student has completed an internal transfer from one country to another within VATSIM Scandinavia, there will be a cooling off period of one (1) year before any training request in the previous country will be accepted. Readiness If the student is requesting training or, is in training for a higher rating or endorsement, the student must be ready for further practical training. Specifically, the student should have been actively controlling, be up to date, and have working knowledge and reasonable practical controlling skills at the student's current rating level. Active The student must have been controlling actively at least 5 hours within 30 days before scheduling any practical training session(s). Current To be considered current, students must: know the latest operating procedures at the current rating level, and have installed prescribed controlling software versions and necessary additional files, for example, the latest sector files package. General Training Procedure Requesting training The student should request training from VATSIM Scandinavia’s training management system Control Center ( CC ), found at the VATSIM Scandinavia website. Training Queue Expected waiting time The student will initially be placed in the training queue. The time spent in the queue will vary significantly depending on mentor availability, training demand, season, and other factors. Waiting times are often difficult to predict, and students are kindly asked not to repeatedly contact staff members asking for estimates. They are instead encouraged to study procedures, observe active controllers, and engage in other activities that will later benefit their training process. Confirm interest While waiting for an available mentor or assignment, the student will also receive a monthly training confirmation email. To maintain their place in the queue, the student has to confirm their training interest within two weeks of receiving the email. Failure to confirm will automatically close the training request. It is the student's responsibility to check their inbox, spam filter, etc., to make sure that continued interest for training is confirmed. It's also possible to login to Control Center and directly confirm ongoing interest for training in the training system. Training assignment Depending on the type of training, the student will be assigned a mentor or enrolled in a training programme. Upon assignment, the student is required to establish contact with the mentor, the Training Lead, or Training Team member within 7 days. Otherwise, the training request will be closed without any prior notification. Practical training Students are expected to study theory between sessions and always be prepared when showing up for training sessions. Mentors spend considerable amounts of their spare time mentoring students, and an even balance between time spent in practical sessions and time spent on self-studies is expected from the student. Local Training Procedures All countries in VATSIM Scandinavia may have local procedures building upon this policy. This policy cannot be overruled, but it may be elaborated upon and impose additional deadlines or expectations. The student should read and adhere to the local training procedures for the FIR where they have applied for training. Local Training Policy - Norway Training - Sweden Training - Finland Training - Denmark Responsibilities and Expectations In summary, VATSIM Scandinavia expects the following from a student enrolled in ATC training: VATSIM The student should adhere to the VATSIM Code of Conduct General Rules and Controller Conduct. VATSIM Scandinavia Member Obligations The Student must follow the Member Obligations in the Constitution of VATSIM Scandinavia (Section 4.4.1) during training, CPTs, and while providing ATC. Communication Initial contact The student shall make initial contact with the mentor or staff of the training programme within seven (7) days of assignment. Respond The student must maintain regular communication with the mentor and training staff. Regular communication means answering emails or Discord chat messages within at least seven (7) days.­ Planning The student is able to make and follow plans. Time The student should propose at least one date for a training session every 14-day period. If availability permits, at least one session per week is a recommended average. Show up The student should show up on time to all scheduled sessions. Cancel The student should be cautious and respectful when cancelling a training session and should give as much prior notice as possible if any unforeseen problem arises. Repeated late cancellations of training sessions will result in an investigation of the student's training eligibility. Pause The student should notify their mentor if they are absent and are unable to train for more than a 14-day period so that the training request can be paused. Pausing the training request is intended for shorter periods during holidays or travel. Pausing the training for longer periods than 90 days will lead to automatic cancellation of the training request. Unavailable If either the student or mentor is unable to schedule a session within any 30-day period, the training staff must be involved, and the training will be marked as inactive and will result in an investigation into the student's training eligibility. Controller Practical Test Scheduling It is the student's responsibility to provide dates of availability for a controller practical test in due time to the Training Lead or Training Team Member. The student must be prepared to find an alternative date based on examiner availability. Failure to do so will result in the removal of the Solo Endorsement until a date for the controller practical test has been scheduled. Commitment Set aside time The student is prepared to commit to at least 5 hours each 14-day period for training, self-study, and availability. Drive to improve The student reads the training report after each completed training session and, to the best of the student's ability, actively works to improve knowledge, use of practical functionality, and practice based on the feedback from the mentor. Prepare The student should show up to training sessions well prepared with own questions and answers to study questions from the mentor. Respectful behaviour The student understands that the mentors commit their spare time to train others. Feedback The student accepts constructive feedback both during training and after CPTs respectfully and understands that the mentor or examiner provides feedback in order to develop the student as a controller professionally. An example of mature behaviour is to resist the initial reflex to start to argue and just say: ” Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback for me so I’m able to improve as ATC." Violation The Training Director or the Training Lead may impose restrictions on the training request if the student does not fulfil the expectations and responsibilities. A training request may be closed after the student has twice violated the above mentioned expectations and responsibilities, and has received at least one written warning.