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Kevin Theobald, IALD, the new president of the International Association of Lighting Designers, reports on credentialing, an issue of extreme importance to lighting designers, and explains what the IALD is doing about it.
Following the refinement process, a survey will be fielded to a broad group of major stakeholders, including IALD members, non-member lighting designers as well as members of other lighting associations and related industry professions both in the US and globally. This broad survey is a key component of the task force’s efforts and is scheduled for dissemination in early 2012. If you receive this survey, please complete it as it will assist the process and outcome enormously.
“The task force has observed that if the architectural lighting design community doesn’t define the industry in which we practice and measure competency against a validated standard, there is the very real danger that others will force regulation upon us, or determine our destiny without our control,” Becker stated. “The risk is real, which is why it is imperative for the lighting community to answer the call and complete the credentialing survey when they receive it.”
EXPLAINING CREDENTIALING To date, the task force has held several open-forum meetings and webinars to ac- quire the feedback and input from this wide audience, as well as to provide a greater understanding of credentialing concepts. It has become clear that there is a great deal of confusion regarding certification and licensure, as well as a disagreement regard- ing which type of credential will best serve the lighting design industry.
“These sessions have been critical in gath- ering views from designers around the world and supplying information to the industry on our progress, as well as to clear up misconceptions regarding the development of a professional certification programme,” commented David Becker. “For example, if someone has familiarity with another cre- dentialing body’s process, like the multiple- choice test used to administer the NCQLP certification in the United States, they tend to believe that method is the only one available to measure competency.” Currently the task force is exploring a portfolio-based methodology to evaluate lighting design competence. When asked
THE LOW DOWN ABOUT CREDENTIALING...
Credentialing permeates current discourse within the lighting design industry. The subject of numerous maga- zine articles, blog posts and online discussions, credentialing was also the topic of presentations at the 2010 and 2011 IALD Enlighten Americas and 2011 PLD-C conferences. Despite the amount of information available, misconception and misinformation regarding credentialing are widespread.
WHAT IS CREDENTIALING?
“Credentialing is the process by which an entity, authorised and qualified to do so, grants formal recognition to, or records the recognition status of, individuals, organisations, institutions, programs, processes, services, or products that meet pre-determined and standardised criteria,” according to the 2005 Institute for Credentialing Excellence Guide (ICE, formerly NOCA). Credentialing is an umbrella term that includes both certification and licensure.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CERTIFICATION AND LICENSING?
Licensing is a mandatory process administered by a government agency, and its benchmarks are intended to measure basic competency. Certification is a voluntary process whereby an industry body grants an individual time-limited recognition and use of a credential based on pre-determined and standardised criteria. It is intended to recognise higher-level competence.
The IALD is interested in addressing higher level design competency. While licensing standards differ in each jurisdiction around the world, this credential would be international in scope. Local jurisdictions might elect to adopt the rubric of a professional certification in lieu of developing a licensing program from scratch.
IS MY PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP A CREDENTIAL? Membership in a professional society, no matter how rigorous the qualification and review process, is not in itself a credential. The membership review processes for the IALD and other lighting design associations do not meet the standards for credentialing programs as set by the credentialing industry. Because membership review is an internal process, it has not gone through the intensive verification process establishing domains of practice and core competencies that is needed to meet the rigorous standards of a professional credential.
HOW WILL THE CERTIFICATION ASSESSMENT REMAIN VALID AND KEEP UP WITH CHANGES IN THE PROFESSION AND INDUSTRY? The certification program would conduct a job task analysis to determine if the elements of the certification pro- cess need to change to reflect current trends in the architectural lighting design profession. In well-structured certification programs, a job task analysis is conducted every 3-5 years.
WILL THE PROPOSED CERTIFICATION REQUIRE CERTIFIED PRACTITIONERS TO RECERTIFY? Yes. Just as the program undergoes a review every 3-5 years to ensure it measures a high standard of compe- tence, certified practitioners must occasionally recertify to ensure that they themselves maintain a high level of competence. Because the proposed certification is intended to be an expression of continued competency, some form of recertification would be necessary.
HOW WILL THE CREDENTIAL BE RECOGNISED BY LEGISLATORS INTERNATIONALLY? A certifying body that has conducted formal studies to establish and validate core competencies and practice domains would be an authoritative voice to assist legislative entities in defining the scope of a profession. It would be important to leverage opportunities to highlight the strength of certified lighting designers in front of legislative bodies. This would be particularly important in instances where governmental agencies are attempt- ing to limit and define the scope of the profession.
WHO WILL QUALIFY FOR THE PROPOSED CREDENTIAL?
An individual would have to meet certain criteria to be eligible to apply for the credential. It is too soon in the IALD task force’s work to know the exact parameters limiting eligibility. Typical eligibility requirements include such parameters as: education, length of time in practice, level of responsibility, etc. The task force is currently exploring potential requirements.
HOW CAN I SHARE MY THOUGHTS ON LIGHTING DESIGN CREDENTIALING?
If you receive the early-2012 survey, please complete it. Your input is invaluable and helps to ensure that as many perspectives from the architectural lighting design profession as possible are covered by the outcome of the task force’s work.
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