Professional qualifications and AIC

Well I guess I will stick my nose in it again. I wonder if some of
the folks that are objecting to certification are doing it out of
fear. Some of our colleges have been in this field for decades. They
may not be fellows or professional associates just because they
never got around to applying, didn't know enough people to recommend
them, or feared that if they asked they would be rejected. Being a
fellow does not necessarily make one qualified as a conservator. If
you were a member back in the 60's all you had to do to be a fellow
was to pay for that status. My father was one example, he joined in
1960 as a fellow. I was just a member as he didn't see the point in
paying the extra money for both of us to be fellows. One could have
joined in the 60's, been an administrator and be grandfathered in as
a fellow and not have any of the skills or knowledge to be a
conservator. Now if you will note in the last forum art care is only
accepting fellows and PA and the AIC only recommends fellows and PA
when you contact AIC for a conservator in your area. How do they
know if these fellows and PA are really qualified to recommend. I
believe that some of the fear comes from the unknown. Examples: Who
is going to make up the tests for certification? What are their
qualifications to be the ones who certify.

What questions are going to be on those tests? What material would
one want to review for the tests? Would one be able to repeat the
certification if they failed? Who would know if one failed? If they
were an owner administrator and had conservators working under them
would they have to take the same certification? Would this become a
state law which would put one out of business if they were not
certified? Are these some of the issues that may cause fear? They
are some of the questions that I have heard from AIC members. I have
just recently applied for the status of PA but I have been a member
since 1960. I am 60 years old and I felt like it was about time that
I at least applied for PA. Personally I am for certification. It
would set a standard for our profession.

Bill Wiebold
Wiebold Inc
413 Terrace Place
Terrace Park, Ohio 45174
USA
800-321-2541
Fax: 513-831-2815


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:11
                  Distributed: Tuesday, July 15, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-17-11-012
                                  ***