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| Subject: | RE: [gislist] Do GIS Professionals Have A "Professional Association?" |
| Date: |
01/08/2004 10:15:01 AM |
| From: |
Sonny Parafina |
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I'm not against certification, I just think (like others) the URISA process
is flawed. The claim that GIS is too broad is a false claim. I strongly
believe that there should be a written and practical exam. I bring up the
CISSP because Information Security also requires very broad domain
knowledge, it covers networking, cryptography, physical security, wireless
applications, and on and on. Other industries do this without all the
hand-wringing about fairness and how long they have been doing this. The
goal of certification is to show that a person possesses a well known core
of information and that they can apply this information to solve problems,
not how long they have managed to remain employed in the industry.
BTW, the URISA certification is not the only one. ASPRS has Certified
Mapping Scientist/Technologist (GIS/LIS) certifications as well. It
predates the URISA certification by several years.
sonny
-----Original Message-----
From: gislist-bounces@lists.thinkburst.com
[mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.thinkburst.com]On Behalf Of RICK GRAY
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 9:03 AM
To: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com
Subject: RE: [gislist] Do GIS Professionals Have A "Professional
Association?"
I'm sorry, but I tend to disagree with most of the GIS certification
nay-sayers. I think URISA took the appropriate approach to their
certification process - grandfathering and all.
Certification provides "proof" on paper that you have met certain
standards. The points system that URISA employs to determine your
eligibility is a valid tool - similar to marks in school. Grandfathering
merely expedites the process for those who have been doing GIS work for
eons with no formal recognition. There really is no other way, outside
of an unwieldy and potentially unfair examination process. Unfair for
the reasons many have discussed - GIS is just too large and disparate.
The proof of the effectiveness of the certification process will likely
not be apparent for many years. By that time the qualification process
will undoubtably have tightened and become more refined. The
effectiveness will be determined by the number of people who acquire the
paper, and by the number of employers who determine that certified
applicants really are better than the rest. If they are not, then the
piece of paper will be useless and nobody will bother to apply.
In the meantime, it gives those who care to go through the process a
potential edge in the workforce - just as taking specialized courses,
getting a degree in GIS, etc. will do. Having the qualifications
doesn't mean that you are any better at the job than a person without
them, but it does indicate a measured level of competency.
My two cents worth.
Rick Gray
GIS Specialist, Ontario Weather Network
http://www.ownweb.ca
GIS Instructor
Ridgetown College, University of Guelph
http://www.ridgetowncollege.com/
Tel. 519-674-1554
E-mail: rgray@ridgetownc.uoguelph.ca
Ridgetown: -81.883 W, 42.450 N
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