1. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 GISCI’s GISP® Certification, Evolution, and Future Directions Rebecca Somers Somers-St.Claire GIS Management Consultants Bill Hodge GISCI Geospatial Credentialing Forum October 8, 2014 Dulles, VA GIS Certification Institute

2. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 GISP® Certification Development and Status Update and Alignment of GISP® Certification Future Directions for GISCI Certification What it Means Now 2 Overview

3. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 GISP® Certification Development and Status Feasibility & Discussion Dev. of GISP® Certification Process GISCI Nearly 6000 GISPs URISA Certification Committee 1990s 20011997 2014 2004 Current GISP® Certification Process: Portfolio—experience, education, contributions 3

4. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Professional Certification Development Feasibility GISP® Cert.GISCI 6000 GISPs Comm. 1990s200119972014 2004 GISCI GISP® Certification NCCA/ICE (Nat. Commission for Certifying Agencies/Institute for Credentialing Excellence) ANSI/ISO ~20052009200219892013 2003 2012 NCCA/NOCACertification StandardsICE Update ANSI/ISO 17024: Personnel CertificationUpdate 4 2011-12 Start accred. & exam

5. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Professional Certification Standards NCCA and ANSI set professional certification standards NCCA and ANSI accredit certifying organizations GISCI plans to meet these standards and achieve accreditation for the GISP® Certification and any other certifications it may develop 5 Certification is for protection of the public, not just advancement of the profession.

6. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Professional Certification Standards Validated by a Job Analysis Independent Accreditation – Assessment instrument—process & result – Certifying organization’s operations – Certifying organization’s governance 6

7. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Job Analysis Job Definition & Certification Purpose KSAs Tasks Linkage & Validity Assessment Instrument Certification Job Analysis Resources: Lit., References, BoK, Best Practices Psychometric Validation/review 7 Certification/Assess- ment Specification

8. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Job Analysis – Essential method for determining the content of a certification assessment – Must adhere to accepted methodology – Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness – Unambiguously required by psychometric standards Not directly derived from – Competency model or skills list (GISCI used the GTCM Tier 4, core technical competencies, as a guideline) – General BoK (GISCI used GIS&T BoK used as reference) – Best practices Professional Certification is Based On 8

9. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Addition of an exam to strengthen the GISP® certification Align with Job Analysis Prepare for accreditation GISP® Certification Update 9

10. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 First direct job analysis for GIS professionals Several focus groups of job incumbents spanning all sectors, job types, and levels of experience (more than 50) Validation survey--more than 350 individuals spanning all sectors, job types, and experience levels Results vary somewhat from GIS&T BoK and GTCM—mostly in emphasis Job Analysis 10

11. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Exam Development Job Analysis Exam Blueprint Exam Content Pilot Cut Score Final Exam 11

12. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Validate (with respect to Job Analysis results) Adjust (to Job Analysis results) Alignment of Portfolio Requirements 12

13. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Exam (to supplement portfolio) Process validation and documentation Operational adjustments Governance adjustments Preparation for Accreditation 13

14. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Not only validate GISP® certification through accreditation… GISP® certification will serve as foundation for other certifications Established standard certification process: – Can be applied to new certification development processes – Can be integrated with other certification development processes (standard linkages) Moving Forward 14

15. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Sponsoring organization or interest group discuss with GISCI—define job/certification Determine relationship to GISP® certification GISCI follow standard certification development process (job analysis, validation, etc.) SMEs, job incumbents, and resources from across industry Certification granted and operated by GISCI Business driver—membership/activity for sponsoring organization Additional/Specialty GIS Certifications 15

16. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 GISCI Job Definition & Certification Purpose KSAs Tasks Linkage & Validity Assessment Instrument Certification Job Analysis Guidance on Resources Psychometric Validation/review 16 Certification/Assess- ment Specification Industry-wide Job Incumbents & SMEs Job Description/Scope Membership/ Services “Sponsor” Relationship to GISP ® Additional/Specialty GIS Certifications

17. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Job Analysis – Essential method for determining the content of a certification assessment – Must adhere to accepted methodology – Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness Not based on – Competency model or skill list, BoK, or best practices – These are references Certifying organizations need to follow Professional Certification standards, practices, and guidelines Additional GIS Professional Certifications Based On 17

18. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Two-part GISP® certification process: Portfolio and Exam Begin application process at any time with either component 6 years to complete application What to Expect 18

19. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 GISCI Geospatial Core Technical Knowledge Exam® Blueprint Knowledge Area Conceptual Foundations Cartography and Visualization GIS Design Aspects and Data Modeling GIS Analytical Methods Data Manipulation Geospatial Data Weight 12% 14% 29% 17% 15% 13% 19

20. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Exam pilot late 2014 GISCI Geospatial Core Technical Knowledge Exam® summer 2015 All GISP® certification applicants will be required to take the exam once it starts What to Expect 20

21. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Minimal change in the portfolio component 5 year renewal period Renew without exam What to Expect 21

22. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 Other certification developments Stay tuned… – Watch for announcements – Visit gisci.org Sign up to participate in exam development at gisci.org What to Expect 22

23. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 More than just an exam… Alignment of GISP® certification and GISCI with accepted professional certification development standards and practice Validation of GISP® certification Stronger foundation for additional/related GIS certifications Summary 23

24. Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers10-3-14 www.gisci.org Bill Hodge, GISCI Executive Director: bhodge@gisci.org bhodge@gisci.org Rebecca Somers, GISCI Exam Development Project Manager: rsomers@somers- stclaire.comrsomers@somers- stclaire.com For More Information 24