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Certification
Exam Review Board Information
Roles
and Responsibilities
Download
and view the MSPCC Timelines, Roles, and Responsibilities
(pdf)
Review
Process
- Upon
completion of an application, two credential reviewers are
assigned. Each credential reviewer assesses the education
(ED), work experience (WE) and letters of recommendation
(LR) for the applicant, assigning a score (ranging from
0 to 100) for each of the three components. The three component
scores are used to calculate the credential review grade
(CD), per reviewer, using the following formula:
CD
= p1 * ED + p2* WE + p3 * LR, where p1, p2 and p3 are
parameters, and p1 + p2 + p3 = 1.
Recommended parameter values are p1 = 0.25, p2 = 0.6,
and p3 = 0.15.
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If both of the two reviewers return a credential grade (CD)
that meets or exceeds the necessary threshold (CD >=
74), then the Credentials Review is passed. If both of these
reviewers' grades fail to meet the threshold (CD < 74),
the Credentials Review is failed. The applicant is informed
that the credentials provided are insufficient for certification
and some additional information is provided to indicate
the areas that are weak (see Potential Reviewer Messages
section below). If one passing grade and one failing grade
are returned, a third reviewer is assigned to break the
tie. The final determination is based on the best two out
of three reviews.
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If the Credential Review is passed, then two exam reviewers
are assigned. Once two exam grades (EX) are returned, the
applicant's composite grade is calculated based on the following
formula:
G
= p4 * (0.5(CD1 + CD2)) + p5 * (0.5 (EX1 +EX2)), where p4
and p5 are parameters and p4 + p5 = 1.
Recommended parameter values are p4 = 0.3 and p5 = 0.7.
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If the composite grade (G) meets or exceeds the necessary
threshold (G >= 74), then the certification is approved.
Validation of the approval may be required (see Certification
Board section below).
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Reviewer
Types
There
are two types of reviews that will take place as an application
is considered. The first is a review of the applicant's credentials.
Credential Reviewers are individual members of the
Certification Board. The second review is a review of the
exam submitted by the applicant. Exam Reviewers are
individual members of the Exam Subcommittee. The Certification
Board oversees the certification process and is expected
to provide final approval or denial of all applications, for
a period of at least one month following any change to the
MSPCC on-line system.
Upon
notification that a reviewer has been assigned to an application,
whether to review the applicant's credentials or an exam,
the reviewer should immediately ascertain whether there is
sufficient time, given current workload and other pending
reviews to complete the review. Credential Reviews should
take an average of 1 hour to complete; Exam Reviews
should average 2 hours to complete. If not, the reviewer
should log on to the M&SPCC web site and request that
the review be reassigned. Reassignment should only be made
when absolutely necessary, but will help to avoid overdue
reviews during vacations, extremely heavy work periods or
medical emergencies.
Reviewers
have two weeks to complete a review. The M&SPCC system
will attempt to balance the workload across reviewers. The
M&SPCC on-line system will automatically remind a reviewer
of upcoming due dates for reviews via e-mail. If a due date
is not met, the M&SPCC on-line system will mark the review
as overdue and subsequently reassign the review to another
reviewer. This reassignment occurs in an attempt to meet the
overall deadline for the application process and should be
avoided. Reassigned reviews will be earmarked as such and
should be given higher priority by reviewers.
To
submit a review, the reviewer must log in to the M&SPCC
web site. For Credential Reviews, the reviewer must submit
the name of the applicant, the grades for each component:
education, work experience and letters of recommendation.
The Credentials Scorecard may be downloaded for use in grading
an applicant's credentials in an objective and consistent
manner. For Exam Reviewers, the Exam Answer Sheets will also
be available for download. The Answer Sheets will provide
a non-inclusive list of accepted answers for the exams. However,
some questions will be subjective and the reviewer will have
to rely on personal knowledge and experience as well as available
references (i.e., texts, other professionals).
Reviewers
are strongly encouraged to communicate with other reviewers
to discuss issues with applications or exams currently under
review. An e-mail reflector, chat room or similar environment
will be established to support these discussions. Some issues
may result in recommendations for modifications to the certification
process. These modifications should be presented to the Implementation
Group or the Oversight Council, as appropriate, for approval.
Prior
to any application being approved or denied for certification,
a reviewer is expected to validate the certification result.
This validation is primarily for periods following the initial
on-line debut and subsequent system updates to insure proper
processing of applications. Reports may be generated to summarize
the relevant information in support of this validation step.
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Timelines
Applicants
have 45 days from the date the application is initiated to
complete all application items. If the application is completed
within the 45 days, the Credential Review is initiated.
Each
credential reviewer is given two weeks to review all
the application materials. If a reviewer is reassigned due
to an overdue review, and if a third review is needed and
it is also reassigned when overdue, the Credential Review
could take two months.
Once
the Credential Review is completed, the applicant is notified
that they have passed the Credential Review Phase and may
now complete the exam. The applicant must access the exam
within 30 days of its availability and must complete it within
30 days of initial access. If the applicant's credentials
are insufficient for continued consideration, the applicant
will be notified of which component is weak via a predefined
message selected by the credential reviewers.
Once
the exam is completed, Exam Review is initiated. Each exam
reviewer is given two weeks to review the exam. If a reviewer
is reassigned due to an overdue review, the Exam Review could
take a month.
Once
the Exam Review is completed, the applicant's summary data
is submitted to the Certification Board for validation. Only
one Certification Board member is needed for validation, but
a member must validate the certification status of the applicant
within two weeks. Once validation occurs, the applicant is
notified that the certification process is complete and whether
certification has been approved or denied.
Using
the information above, the maximum amount of time to complete
the certification process should not exceed seven months and
could realistically take under 3.5 months.
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