Personnel Certification What is it and How should

Personnel Certification What is it and How should it be conducted? Roy A. Swift, Ph. D. Senior Director, Personnel Credentialing Accreditation Programs CFP April 2010

Personnel Certification: Purpose Basic Definitions Characteristics CFP April 2010

Purpose of Personnel Certification To Protect the Public! CFP April 2010

Definitions – ISO 17000: 2004 - Vocabulary n Conformity Assessment Ø n Third party Conformity Assessment Activity Ø n Demonstration that specified requirements related to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled. Conformity assessment activity that is performed by a person or body that is independent of the person or organization that provides the object, and of user interests in that object. Certification – third party conformity assessment activity Ø Third party attestation related to products, processes, systems or persons Ø Personnel Certification is a “type” of certification CFP Slide 4 April 2010

Characteristics of a Personnel Certification It is NOT an Exam at the “end of training” n Created for high stakes examinations to validate knowledge and skills have been acquired Ø Ø n n n National Security Affecting the health of an individual Safety Financial Protection Based on a systematic scientific study of the job/practice Creation of an examination that meets psychometric standards for testing Formal study to determine pass/fail Time limited Due process procedures in place to remove the certification Ø Ø Ethical behavior Incompetence CFP Slide 5 April 2010

Accreditation CFP April 2010

ANSI Accreditation n Third party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks ANSI is a third party accreditor that meets ISO/IEC 17011 – General Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies In addition to CFP, operates personnel certification accreditation under ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 – General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certification of Persons CFP Slide 7 April 2010

ANSI Certification Accreditation Program under ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 n n n International Standard Nationally Adopted: American National Standard Requirements within the 17024 Standard Related to Training Ø Ø shall assure that the activities of (certification) bodies related to it do not compromise the confidentiality and impartiality of its certification …certification body shall not offer or provide training or aid others in the preparation of such services, unless it demonstrates how training is independent of the evaluation and certification of persons to ensure that confidentiality and impartiality are not compromised CFP Slide 8 April 2010

Principles for an Alternative Solution n n Public accountability of proctors by publishing who no longer is able to proctor Much more auditing by the provider of the test administration sites Annual witnessing of two test sites by ANSI in addition to the regular on-site visits More CFP Standards as to what constitutes an acceptable test site and the acceptable environmental conditions Establishing a registry of “proctors” who have passed an acceptable CFP training program provided by the certification agencies CFP Slide 9 April 2010

Point of Contact: Roy A. Swift, Ph. D American National Standards Institute Headquarters Operations 1819 L Street, NW Sixth Floor Washington, DC 20036 Tel: 202. 331. 3617 Fax: 202. 293. 9287 25 West 43 rd Street Fourth Floor New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212. 642. 4900 Fax: 212. 398. 0023 rswift@ansi. org | webstore. ansi. org | www. nssn. org CFP Slide 10 April 2010