22nd June 2013, 02:22 PM
Sorry for the rather long post, but I thought it was time to stop lurking 
I am a non-archaeologist, in fact an electrical engineer (but my other half is one) and I cannot see what the fuss is about the IFA gaining a charter (properly described as a Royal Charter of Incorporation). The IFA is currently a company limited by guarantee, registered under the company's act, and so is an independent legal entity. What will change is that the IFA will be outside the company's act and instead the Royal Charter will be its governing law.
The problem for you guys is what legal powers the IFA is asking for in its charter, is it just the right to style its members as Chartered?
In the engineering world we have tonnes of Charted Institutes .. virtually one for each flavour of engineering there is. However the styling of yourself as a Chartered Engineer and the standards you have to meet for this are governed by an independent body called the Engineering Council. This way any chartered engineer you meet in the UK will have achieved the same basic level of expertise, whether he or she is Mechanical, Electrical, Civil or something more esoteric.
The other thing to remember is that the title Chartered is just a description of ability. What that ability is, depends on the institution doing the setting, if the institution is academically minded, charted will mean of the ability of a senior lecturer or professor, if it is management minded then someone of the middle layer and above. It basically means senior/experienced/knowledgeable, but in what, is dependent on the people writing the rules.
I would like to point out that Engineers in the UK also have two other types of Professional Registration, Incorporated and Technician. Where Chartered = Senior Manager, Team Leader, Incorporated = Subject Matter Expert (But not a manager of people) and Technician = Practitioner.
In the longterm if I was you guys I would be pushing for a similar tripartite registration, let Chartered Archaeologist mean the same as Chartered Engineer, someone who loves paper and process more than getting their hands dirty and take pride in being an Incorporated Archaeologist or an Archaeological Technician, who actually goes out, digs and discovers stuff.
I am a non-archaeologist, in fact an electrical engineer (but my other half is one) and I cannot see what the fuss is about the IFA gaining a charter (properly described as a Royal Charter of Incorporation). The IFA is currently a company limited by guarantee, registered under the company's act, and so is an independent legal entity. What will change is that the IFA will be outside the company's act and instead the Royal Charter will be its governing law.
The problem for you guys is what legal powers the IFA is asking for in its charter, is it just the right to style its members as Chartered?
In the engineering world we have tonnes of Charted Institutes .. virtually one for each flavour of engineering there is. However the styling of yourself as a Chartered Engineer and the standards you have to meet for this are governed by an independent body called the Engineering Council. This way any chartered engineer you meet in the UK will have achieved the same basic level of expertise, whether he or she is Mechanical, Electrical, Civil or something more esoteric.
The other thing to remember is that the title Chartered is just a description of ability. What that ability is, depends on the institution doing the setting, if the institution is academically minded, charted will mean of the ability of a senior lecturer or professor, if it is management minded then someone of the middle layer and above. It basically means senior/experienced/knowledgeable, but in what, is dependent on the people writing the rules.
I would like to point out that Engineers in the UK also have two other types of Professional Registration, Incorporated and Technician. Where Chartered = Senior Manager, Team Leader, Incorporated = Subject Matter Expert (But not a manager of people) and Technician = Practitioner.
In the longterm if I was you guys I would be pushing for a similar tripartite registration, let Chartered Archaeologist mean the same as Chartered Engineer, someone who loves paper and process more than getting their hands dirty and take pride in being an Incorporated Archaeologist or an Archaeological Technician, who actually goes out, digs and discovers stuff.