26th February 2008, 04:10 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by 1man1desk
I would see Chartered Institute status for the IFA working more like the Civil Engineers, accountants, IEMA, etc.
1. at an early stage in your career, you obtain appropriate qualifications/references/experience and join the institute;
2. you work through certain career-path requirements, including CPD requirements, to progressively upgrade your membership;
3. at a certain point, you can apply for Chartered status.
Many of the institutes have very strict rules on the quantity, nature and content of the CPD you do and how it is verified, and on the nature and quantity of the experience you gain before applying for Chartered status. Many of them require you to sit professional exams or undergo oral examinations at intervals, usually as part of the application for Chartered status. Some of them also require continuing CPD logs etc. for re-validation at intervals even after Chartered status is achieved.
For institutions that take this approach to Chartered status, it is generally something that is attained after quite a few years of continuous professional experience - rarely before your late 20s, generally some time in your 30s. In some professions, it is usual for clients to specify that certain roles may only be performed by Chartered individuals, while in others it may be a legal requirement (not 100% sure about that).
In archaeology, the type of roles that I could see being restricted to Chartered individuals might be the person in overall charge on site (i.e. Project Officers or equivalent) and Project Managers. I could see curators making enforceable requirements in this respect.
While it is true that many professional organisations require years of professional service to achieve chartered status others do not - to be a chartered surveyor for example requires 2 years of training after graduation so many people achieve this in their early to mid 20s. Personally I'd prefer a more senior individual to be called a Fellow.
However I think the issue probably isn't so much what the title 'chartered archaeologist' means as to what a chartered institute can achieve. If a 'chartered' IFA requires ALL archaeologists (curators as well!) to be registered with it, to adhere to its professional standards, to undertake CPD, and re-register on a regular basis then it will raise standards across the board. Because everyone would be a member it would be in a better financial state and would be able to exert much greater influence on government policy and other professional bodies in the construction industry, and act as a regulator on its members. If work was not up to standard it would have a greater disciplinary influence which may, very occasionally, lead to the ultimate sanction of expulsion from the industry.