Host a Course

If your agency requires a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Vendor Agreement to host NHI training, please note that NHI's terms have been updated. Hosts who have not established an MOU since January 2015 should contact NHI at 1-877-558-6873 or NHICustomerService@dot.gov.

Hosting Responsibilities

NHI and Host responsibilities related to providing an NHI course are described below. Additional information about how to host a course and the NHI course catalog are available on the NHI Web site.
Assistance is available by contacting NHI at 1-877-558-6873 or via email at NHICustomerService@dot.gov.

NHI is responsible for:

• Providing skilled, knowledgeable instructional staff
• Shipping the course materials to the designated location
• Providing a list of public seat registrants and FHWA participants to the host
• Providing marketing assistance if requested and as time allows
• Collecting fees from public seat participants who register for a session on the NHI Web site

Hosts are responsible for:

• Providing training facilities and equipment
• Coordinating all logistics regarding the facility
• Communicating session information including session location and access information with all participants, including FHWA and public seat participants
• Communicating with NHI to request public seats and assess local charges
• Paying course fees (FHWA hosts do not pay for FHWA participants but may collect fees for public seat participants)
• Coordinating with the assigned instructor
• Accepting course materials and delivering them to the site
• Providing an accurate list of participants to the instructor
• Printing and providing certificates of participation to the instructor
• Contacting NHI for session marketing assistance
• Contacting NHI to obtain approval to increase a session maximum and to cancel sessions

Additional information related to these responsibilities follows.

Host Participants

Host participants refer to any participant who the host registers for the session. These may include the host organization's employees or others. The host is responsible for paying the fees associated with these individuals and providing a list of these individuals to the NHI instructor. Any fees that the host collects for external participants should be forwarded upon receipt to:

National Highway Institute
Attn: NHI Scheduler
1310 North Courthouse Rd. Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201

If the host prefers that NHI register and handle billing for all external participants, the host can request that NHI open public seats and direct external participants to the NHI Web site for registration in the session.

FHWA Hosted Courses

FHWA offices may request to host an NHI Course. There is no charge for FHWA employees in an FHWA hosted session. Standard fees apply for any non-FHWA employee participating in the session, including FHWA contractors and state employees. Non-FHWA employees must be registered as public seat participants. NHI reserves the right to approve any FHWA host requests and to cancel FHWA hosted sessions for insufficient registrations or other cause.

Public Seat Participants

In order to reach class size minimums, the host may request that NHI open public seats. This allows other transportation professionals to attend the session, which can add a beneficial level of diversity of experience to your session.

The host should request the number of public seats needed to fill the course to the desired session size, considering the anticipated number of host and FHWA participants. The desired session size is between the course minimum and maximum listed in the course description on the NHI Web site.

Public seats are sold on the NHI Web site on a first-come, first-served basis. The host organization cannot designate any of these seats to specific individuals, as they are open to the public. Public seat registration closes three business days before the course begins.

FHWA Employee Participants

Three seats are reserved for FHWA participants in every course until 15 business days prior to the course start date. Hosts are not charged for FHWA personnel attending NHI sessions at their locations or for any instructor expenses. The FHWA participants' attendance is not credited towards the class minimum size for invoicing, but the FHWA employee is counted toward the class maximum size for the purpose of classroom capacity.

NHI Fees Assessed to Course Hosts

Course fees, which include the cost of materials for each participant, are listed on the NHI Web site with the course descriptions. The host will be charged at the price per participant times the number of host participants. In addition, the host is responsible for meeting the course minimum size through a combination of host participants and public seat participants.

NHI will charge the host for the additional number of participants needed to reach the course minimum if the course is held with less than the minimum participants. Therefore, if registration for a course is lower than anticipated, it is important for the host to contact NHI prior to the cancellation period (15 business days) to discuss a remedy. With sufficient notice, NHI can increase marketing for the course to attract additional attendees. When the session is listed on the NHI Web site at a fixed price, the host will be invoiced for the total session amount less the fees collected by NHI for public seats.

Local Charges

Hosts may request that NHI charge public seat participants an additional fee to recover all or part of direct costs associated with hosting the course. Local charges are not assessed to FHWA participants. However, FHWA participants are not permitted to receive any host provided amenities (e.g., snacks and beverages) without paying the cash value to the host organization. Therefore, hosts providing food and beverages during training sessions must coordinate with FHWA participants to determine whether they intend to participate in food and beverage purchases and how to handle reimbursement. If advanced coordination is not possible, then the host should not include FHWA participants in any food and beverage totals.

NHI requires hosts to contact the NHI Scheduler at 1-877-558-6873, or via e-mail at NHICustomerService@dot.gov, to coordinate local charges prior to the confirmation of the session. Hosts will not receive a refund from NHI to cover associated expenses incurred in hosting the session. Instead, the additional amount collected from public seat participants is credited to the host's final invoice for its participants in the course. It is important that local charges assessed to public seats do not exceed the amount the host owes NHI for its participants. NHI reserves the right to request verification of the additional expenses associated with the session.

Course Scheduling Confirmation

Sessions are not officially confirmed until the hosting organization receives formal confirmation from NHI.

Participant Cancellation

Either NHI or the participant will notify the host or local coordinator if a public seat or FHWA participant registered through NHI's website cancels his or her enrollment. The host will not be assessed additional charges if a public seat participants registered through the NHI website cancels his or her registration within the 15 day cancellation period, thereby dropping the course participation below the course minimum.

The host is responsible for any participants who register directly through the host. The host will be assessed the additional fees if cancellation by these participants results in fewer than the course minimum participants.

Session Cancellation

If the host cancels the session and it is not an emergency situation (see weather cancellation below), the host is required to contact NHI at 1-877-558-6873 or via email at NHICustomerService@dot.gov. As of January 1, 2016, cancellation must be requested no later than fifteen (15) business days prior to the course start date to avoid a cancellation fee of $1500. In the case of an emergency or weather related closing, the session cancellation fee will not apply. The cancellation fee will also not apply to sessions hosted by FHWA offices.

In the event of cancellation, it is the host's responsibility to contact all participants (including the instructor(s) and those registered for public seats). There must be verification that the registrants received the cancellation notice. Notice to participants traveling from other locations is especially important, so that they may alter or cancel their travel arrangements. In order to notify participants of the session cancellation, the host must contact NHI Customer Service to obtain a list of enrollees and their contact information.

Emergency and Weather Related Cancellations

NHI follows the local host office's policy for inclement weather or other emergencies. If the host's office in the location of the course closes, then the course must also be stopped during the closure. When a course is canceled, the host must inform NHI immediately of the session status and determine plans for the remainder of the course. The host must also contact all participants and the instructor if the course is not yet in session.