Your Agreement

By using and accessing our Websites, you’re agreeing to this Credential Verification Policy, our Terms and Conditions of Use, our Privacy Policy, our Security Policy, our Terms of Membership, our Use of WABC Credentials Policy, our Copyright Policy, our Trademarks Use Policy, our Accessibility Policy, and our Other Terms, Policies and Guidelines. If you do not agree with all our terms, conditions, policies and guidelines, or any posted amendments to our terms, conditions, policies, and guidelines, you may not use or access our Websites.

WABC Coaches Inc. (hereafter called “WABC”) reserves the right to change these terms, conditions, policies and guidelines at any time, and solely at its discretion. If possible, we will provide advance notice of significant changes. However, it is your responsibility to check these terms, conditions, policies and guidelines regularly. Your continued use of our Websites after we have made changes signifies that you accept the changes, whether or not you have actually reviewed them.

Scope of Credential Verification Policy

This Credential Verification Policy applies to your use of any and all of the Websites now, previously and/or to be owned or operated by WABC Coaches Inc., its subsidiaries and/or affiliated companies (collectively referred to in our Terms and Conditions of Use as the “Websites”).

Purpose of Credential Verification Service

WABC remains committed to leading business coaching excellence. In a non-regulated industry like business coaching, credibility is paramount. At WABC, we support credible business coaches, and another way we do this and maintain our high standards as a professional association is through our credential verification service.

This service requires current WABC members who hold academic degrees or professional designations from institutions and organizations other than WABC to have those credentials verified by us if they wish to list them in materials that display WABC trademarks. Materials include but are not limited to promotional materials, résumés, business cards, websites, email signature blocks and social media platforms. This requirement also extends to WABC materials including our website and member correspondence including but not limited to letters and certificates.

Credential verification builds public trust in the credibility of the business coaching industry as a whole, and in the distinct value of current members promoting their WABC affiliation to clients and organizations. 

Your Degrees

What Degrees Are Eligible

WABC will, at its sole discretion, recognize only those academic degrees issued by institutions that are accredited or licensed by government-approved accreditation licensing bodies in their respective countries. 

How Many Degrees You Have to Submit

You will submit all degrees (e.g., undergraduate, graduate) that you have earned if you wish to use them as explained in the Purpose of Credential Verification Service section above. 

How Often You Have to Submit Your Degree for Review

Once.

Your Designations

Defining a Designation

A designation is a distinguishable title or initials you have been granted the privilege to use by virtue of completing a program or belonging to an organization (e.g., Certified Quality Manager, CQM; Chartered Accountant, CA).

How to Know if You Have Been Granted a Designation

You have been granted the privilege to use a designation if the institution or organization that offered the workshop, program, course, membership, etc., has given you documentation that indicates the use of a specific title or initials. Completion of a program or acceptance as a member does not automatically grant you the use of any title or initials. Before proceeding to add your designation for our review, please carefully review your relevant certificates, letters and other documentation to ensure that you actually received a designation. Many programs, even at the university level, do not lead to a designation (e.g., a program that issues a certificate of achievement in Advanced Coaching Skills may confer no designation).

How Many Designations You Have to Submit

You will submit all designations that you have earned if you wish to use them as explained in the Purpose of Credential Verification Service section above. 

How Often You Have to Submit Your Designation(s) for Review

Once, if the designation(s) doesn’t require renewing. Designations with renewal dates need to be resubmitted at the time they are renewed.

How the WABC Review is Done

Overview

WABC requires proof of your degree(s) and designation(s) from the issuing institution or organization. We will verify both the degree’s and designation’s full name and initials (if applicable) with the issuing institution or organization. We verify the initials (e.g., BA, PhD, CMA) because they are often used in place of the degree’s or designation’s full name. The initials, which may be trademarks, are therefore very important. 

General Process

There is no standard form that institutions and organizations around the world can use to confirm the degrees and designations they have issued. For WABC to ensure that your credential information is complete and accurate, we need specific details from each issuing body. Asking the issuing body to send those details, rather than relying on transcripts and certificates, is the best and fastest way to verify credentials.

The general review process for both degrees and designations (including designations’ renewals) proceeds as follows:

1. You fill out our Credential Verification form.
2. You contact the issuing institution or organization and ask them to email WABC the necessary information. To facilitate this, WABC provides email templates (for both degrees and designations) with all the necessary information you need to request. In those cases where the institution or organization provides the verification via another method (e.g., mailed letter, out-sourced third-party verifier), WABC will work with you to obtain the required information.
3. Once the information is received, WABC carries out its review and contacts you with the results.

Note:

If the institution or organization charges a fee to provide degree or designation information, you will be required to pay the fee.

What the WABC Results Mean

If your degree(s) or designation(s) is approved, it means:

• You may, in any materials that display WABC trademarks, show the degree’s or designation’s full name and/or initials as indicated by WABC, as this means they are in accordance with the issuing institution’s or organization’s standards.

If your degree(s) or designation(s) is not approved, it means one of the following:

• You didn’t submit a degree or designation but instead submitted something that falls outside WABC’s review service (see “What Degrees Are Eligible” and “Defining a Designation” sections above). In this case, we remove this item from your record and you can simply list that you have completed a program, course, etc. 
• You submitted a degree from an institution that is not accredited or licensed (see “What Degrees are Eligible” above). You may not list this degree in any materials that display WABC trademarks (see “Purpose of Credential Verification Service” above). If you do want to list the degree in your materials, then you may not show any of WABC trademarks.
• You were found not to be a graduate of the program or a holder of the degree or designation, and thus knowingly provided false information and attempted to commit fraud. At a minimum, this action may lead to your being expelled from WABC.

Where Your Credential(s) Appears on Our Websites

Verify a Credential/Member

The purpose of this mandatory directory is for the public to obtain your verification profile that includes our credential verification results as follows: 

• Only an approved third-party degree is listed* and the information provided is the degree’s full name and its applicable initials and the issuing institution’s name
• Only an approved third-party designation is listed* and the information provided is the designation’s full name and its applicable initials and the issuing organization’s name

*The exception is if you choose not to have your non-WABC degree or designation displayed publicly on our Websites. In that case, a short remark appears that directs the public to contact you for more information.

Your verification profile will also include any WABC credentials (including legacy credentials) you currently hold or have held in the past. The information provided is the WABC credential’s full name and its applicable initials and its status (e.g., approved, suspended, revoked). (As further statuses are displayed, this section will be amended accordingly.)

For more details about the Verify a Credential/Member directory, refer to our Terms and Conditions of Use.

WABC Business Coach Locator

The purposes of this opt-in directory are for the public to search for individual business coaches they might want to hire and for WABC members to search for individual business coaches they might want to contact on a professional basis. The credential verification results included in this directory are briefer and as follows:

• You may elect to list the non-WABC degree’s or designation’s initials after your name and the WABC credential’s (including a legacy credential’s) initials after your name. This directory also includes a Verify icon so viewers of your profile can easily locate you in the related Verify a Credential/Member directory.

For more details about the WABC Business Coach Locator directory, refer to our Terms and Conditions of Use.

Information Shared With Third Parties Who Request Credential Verification From WABC

When third parties (e.g., prospective clients, employers) contact WABC to request credential verification, WABC proceeds as follows:

• WABC Credentials: WABC provides status verifications to third-parties without your consent and regardless of your current status with WABC. WABC responds by email to the requestor (and copies you (another good reason to keep your email address current with us)) with the basic details (e.g., the credential’s name and initials (if applicable); the credential’s granting and expiry or renewal dates (if applicable)).
• Non-WABC Credentials: WABC provides status verifications to third-parties without your consent but only if you are a current WABC member. WABC responds by email to the requestor (and copies you (another good reason to keep your email address current with us)) with the basic details (e.g., WABC membership status, credential verification status (indicating if WABC reviewed it), and if relevant, the credential’s name and initials (if applicable) and the issuing organization’s name.  

If you opt not to have a non-WABC credential listed publicly on the Websites, a brief remark appears indicating that you have chosen to not have a non-WABC credential listed. It is fully expected that the public may also wish to contact WABC for verification purposes. When this happens, WABC proceeds as explained above.

Use and Retention of Your Information

Your credential information forms part of your member record and is publicly displayed on our Websites in two places (see the “Where Your Credential(s) Appears On Our Websites” section above).

For details about the retention of your information, refer to our Privacy Policy. For more information about how we secure your information, see our Security Policy.