IEEE Communications Society

1
IEEE Communications Society

• Development of a Certification Program in
• Wireless Communication Engineering Technologies
• WCET
• September 2007 Status Report

2
IEEE ComSoc WCET Certification

• Customers the potential Certificate holder and
  the employers of Certificate holders.
• Sept. 2007, on schedule?
• Chosen demographic the 3-5 year engineering
  practitioner, with degree in EE or related
  discipline.
• Wireless Communication Engineering Technologies

3
2006 to August 2007 Recap

• IEEE New Initiatives Committee approved
  Certification Initiative
• November 2006, using advanced 2007
  authorization contract signed with Professional
  Examination Service (PES) Celia Desmond, Program
  Director Jack Howell, Program Manager John
  Pape, Marketing Bruce Worthman, Finance Rolf
  Frantz, Industry Relations Jean Niblett, Project
  Management.
• Outside market assessment (Holmes Corporation)
• Certification should be anchored in
  corporate/industry need and commitment.
• Levels of commitment include
• Level One Obtain industry champion(s)
• Level Two Gain pre-purchase commitment(s)
• Level Three Involve the industry in product
  and/or test development
• Leverage initial certification line of business
  success to fund infrastructure and serve as a
  replicable expansion model.

4
Practice Analysis Task Force (PATF)2-3
Face-to-Face Meetings, Teleconferences

• 4-5 December 2006, meeting with 16 of 20 PATF
  members to develop initial draft Delineation of
  Domains of Responsibility, Tasks, and Knowledge
  for certification.
• PATF 12 from industry, 4 from academia, and from
  7 different countries.
• Teleconferences/Email follow-up
• 21-22 May 2007, meeting with 16 of 20 members of
  PATF to incorporate Focus Group and Independent
  Reviewer feedback and finalize the Delineation.

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Regional Focus Groups

• 11 Regional Focus Groups in Spring 2007
• February 15/16 Barcelona, 2 groups _at_ 3GSM
• March 7/8 Lima, 2 groups _at_ IEEE Region 9
• March 14/15 Hong Kong, 2 groups _at_ WCNC
• March 22/25 Kuala Lumpur Kota Kinabalu,
  Malaysia _at_ IEEE Region 10
• March 27/28 Orlando, 2 groups _at_ CTIA WIRELESS
• April 14 Sofia, Bulgaria _at_ IEEE Region 8

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Independent Reviewers

• A task force of Independent (volunteer) Reviewers
  currently active in the wireless communications
  industry began work on 23 March 2007.
• Independent Reviewers each had a 2-3 hour task.
  Their input and the Focus Group results were
  reviewed at the 21-22 May PATF meeting in NYC.

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June Sept. 2007

• Validation of the Delineation end of Phase I
• A Pilot Survey was sent to 100 invited reviewers
  on 15 August 2007.
• A revised Survey, based on the Pilot Survey and
  covering the final version of the Delineation, is
  being sent to 10,000 industry professionals
  with the purpose of validating the Delineation
  against the actual work experiences captured in
  the Survey - September 2007
• Compile data, disseminate to PATF, Steering
  Committee, hold meeting / teleconference to
  finalize the practice analysis. (end Phase I)
• On following day of two-day meeting, Steering
  Committee/Certification Board meet to review
  PES-prepared (hypothetical) exam specifications.

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Next Steps - Phase II

• Phase II Question and Exam Development
• Define required Question Reference Material
  June 07
• Create Glossary of Terms Sept 07
• RFP and select Computer Based Test delivery
  vendor Sep 07
• Create large pool of Question Writers (up to 100)
  JulyOct 07
• Send out question writing assignments, create
  question database NovDec 07
• Establish Question Review Committee Nov 07
• Review and validate questions Question (Item)
  Review Committee JanFeb 08
• Establish Exam Committee, develop and compile
  examination FebMay 08
• Develop, market, administer practice exam
  MayAug 08
• Give initial exam, determine Passing Point Sept
  08

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Phase II Governance Structure
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Phase II Organizational Deliverables

• Industry Advisory Board. Throughout the process
  of developing the certification exam, an Industry
  Advisory Board will be recruited from senior
  managers at both large and small companies in the
  wireless industry. This Board, along with the
  Steering Committee, will provide on-going
  guidance as to the needs of their companies and
  how they intend to make use of the certification.
• List of early endorsing companies. Industry
  input and support is critical to the success of
  any certification project. Most important goal a
  substantial list of early endorsing companies
• Question Review Committee
• Standards Development Committee (passing score,
  etc.)
• Examination Development Committee
• WEBOK Development Committee

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ComSoc Program Director

• Volunteer currently Celia Desmond
• Oversees all work for all areas of the
  certification project.
• Ensures that decisions from each decision making
  body are transmitted to all other groups which
  need to know the information.
• Supervises the core certification team and staff
  support.
• Chairs the ComSoc Steering Committee and works
  directly with the Senior Industry Advisory Board.

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ComSoc Program Manager

• Staff currently ComSoc Executive Director.
• Responsible for implementing certification
  program policies emanating from the organization.
• Coordinates with the vendor on all aspects of the
  certification program and its deliverables.
• May (in the future) also be point of contact for
  all candidate inquiries.

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ComSoc Steering Committee

• Chaired by Program Director.
• Responsible for monitoring progress in the
  development and implementation of the
  certification initiative.
• Develops/reviews existing policies and procedures
  and proposes changes where appropriate.
• Serves as a resource to the Certification Manager
  and the Program Director.
• Recommends strategies to further the growth,
  development, and value of the credential.

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Senior Industry Advisory Board

• Advises Program Director and Steering Committee
  on overall direction with input about industry
  trends, etc.
• Assists ComSoc in obtaining buy-in from major
  industry segments and companies.
• Major customer segments represented.
• Meets annually.

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Question Review Committee (ad hoc)

• Standing core group of at least twelve members,
  who would initially write, but subsequently
  oversee, the review of questions submitted before
  they are entered into the question (item) bank.
• May generate a specific ideas for questions which
  can be included in the assignments to Question
  Writers.
• Ensure question content is current, accurate, and
  can be referenced to a specific task/knowledge in
  the test specifications that answers can be
  supported by a specific, authoritative, and
  available reference that there is one and only
  one correct answer for each question that the
  distracters are plausible, and that the question
  is free of bias towards any group.
• This group would meet at annually, or more often
  if necessary. To ensure continuity, members
  should serve for at least three (3) years, with
  new members being introduced on a staggered basis.

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Examination Development Committee

• A subject-matter expert group, large enough to
  represent the range of content and key
  countries/regions, six to eight members, and
  different from those individuals on the Review
  Committee.
• Responsible for reviewing the examination drafts,
  and signing off on the final version.
• Final validation that the questions are
  accurately referenced that the examination meets
  test specifications that the examination
  adequately samples a representative coverage of
  the content that the answer can be supported by
  a specific, authoritative, and available
  reference that there is one and only one correct
  answer to each question that the distracters are
  plausible and that the question is free of bias
  towards any group.
• This group would meet at least annually. To
  ensure continuity , members should serve for at
  least three years, with new members being
  introduced on a staggered basis.

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Standards Setting Committee

• Larger than the Examination Development
  Committee, ten to twelve members. Large enough to
  represent the range of content and key
  countries/regions.
• Responsible for defining the passing score which
  would represent the standard of competence
  necessary for certification, based on the goals
  of the certification program and informed by the
  statistical data.  This standard would be carried
  forward from examination form to examination
  form.
• Committee may be involved in the final approval
  process each time the examination form is
  revised.
• This group would meet to set standards for the
  first administration. The committee would meet
  again, by conference call, only when updates are
  made to the practice analysis.

18
WEBOK Development Committee

• Chaired by a member of the ComSoc Steering
  Committee.
• Establishes overall structure for the WEBOK.
• Locates experts to prepare the chapters.
• Supervises development of the chapters.
• Ensures chapters meet quality standards.

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Phase II Publication Deliverables

• Certification Candidate Handbook April 08
• Available to anyone looking for information about
  WCET.
• Includes application process, reference materials
  lists, and descriptions of areas of knowledge
  included in exam.
• Practice Tests - Two Types April/May 08
• First samples of types of questions that could
  be used on the actual exam.
• Second eventually created from actual questions
  used on the exam but since retired.
• Question Bank of 600
• WEBOK Wireless Engineering Body of Knowledge
  TBD
• Created as a study tool for the exam.
• Will not directly reference the exam to comply
  with ANSI regulations.

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Want to participate, keep up to date?

• Go to the certification web site,
  www.comsoc.org/cert.
• Under the heading, How You Can Help, click on
  the link for Question Writers and fill out the
  nomination form
• To stay current read or click on copies of the
  monthly Certification Corner column in IEEE
  Communications Magazine.
• Or EmailCelia, c.desmond_at_ieee.org,
• Jack, j.howell_at_comsoc.org, or
• cert_at_comsoc.org