GIS Certification Institute
GISCI’s GISP® Certification,
Evolution, and Future Directions
Rebecca Somers
Somers-St.Claire GIS Management Consultants
Bill Hodge
GISCI
Geospatial Credentialing Forum
October 8, 2014
Dulles, VA
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Copyright © 2014 GISCI and Rebecca Somers
Overview
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GISP® Certification Development and Status
Update and Alignment of GISP® Certification
Future Directions for GISCI Certification
What it Means Now
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GISP® Certification
Development and Status
1990s
Feasibility &
Discussion
1997
2001
URISA
Certification
Committee
2014
2004
GISCI
Nearly 6000
GISPs
Dev. of GISP®
Certification
Process
Current GISP® Certification Process: Portfolio—experience,
education, contributions
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Professional Certification
Development
1990s
1997
2001
2004
2011-12
2014
GISCI
Start accred.
& exam
6000 GISPs
GISCI GISP® Certification
Feasibility
1989
Comm. GISP® Cert.
2002
~2005
2009
2013
NCCA/ICE (Nat. Commission for Certifying Agencies/Institute for Credentialing Excellence)
NCCA/NOCA
Certification Standards
2003
ICE
Update
2012
ANSI/ISO
ANSI/ISO 17024: Personnel Certification
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Update
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Professional Certification
Standards
• NCCA and ANSI set professional certification
standards
• NCCA and ANSI accredit certifying organizations
• GISCI plans to meet these standards and
achieve accreditation for the GISP® Certification
and any other certifications it may develop
Certification is for protection of the public, not
just advancement of the profession.
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Professional Certification
Standards
• Validated by a Job Analysis
• Independent
• Accreditation
– Assessment instrument—process & result
– Certifying organization’s operations
– Certifying organization’s governance
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Job Analysis
Job Definition &
Certification Purpose
Job Analysis
KSAs
Tasks
Linkage & Validity
Certification/Assessment Specification
Psychometric
Validation/review
Assessment
Instrument
Resources: Lit.,
References, BoK,
Best Practices
Certification
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Professional Certification
is Based On
• Job Analysis
– Essential method for determining the content of a
certification assessment
– Must adhere to accepted methodology
– Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness
– Unambiguously required by psychometric standards
• Not directly derived from
– Competency model or skills list (GISCI used the GTCM
Tier 4, core technical competencies, as a guideline)
– General BoK (GISCI used GIS&T BoK used as reference)
– Best practices
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GISP® Certification Update
• Addition of an exam to strengthen the GISP®
certification
• Align with Job Analysis
• Prepare for accreditation
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Job Analysis
• First direct job analysis for GIS professionals
• Several focus groups of job incumbents
spanning all sectors, job types, and levels of
experience (more than 50)
• Validation survey--more than 350 individuals
spanning all sectors, job types, and experience
levels
• Results vary somewhat from GIS&T BoK and
GTCM—mostly in emphasis
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Exam Development
Job Analysis
Exam Blueprint
Exam Content
Pilot
Cut Score
Final Exam
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Alignment of Portfolio
Requirements
• Validate (with respect to Job Analysis results)
• Adjust (to Job Analysis results)
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Preparation for Accreditation
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•
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Exam (to supplement portfolio)
Process validation and documentation
Operational adjustments
Governance adjustments
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Moving Forward
• Not only validate GISP® certification through
accreditation…
• GISP® certification will serve as foundation for
other certifications
• Established standard certification process:
– Can be applied to new certification
development processes
– Can be integrated with other certification
development processes (standard linkages)
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Additional/Specialty GIS
Certifications
• Sponsoring organization or interest group
discuss with GISCI—define job/certification
• Determine relationship to GISP® certification
• GISCI follow standard certification development
process (job analysis, validation, etc.)
• SMEs, job incumbents, and resources from
across industry
• Certification granted and operated by GISCI
• Business driver—membership/activity for
sponsoring organization
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Additional/Specialty GIS Certifications
“Sponsor”
GISCI
Relationship to GISP ®
Job Definition &
Certification Purpose
Industry-wide Job
Incumbents & SMEs
Job Analysis
Tasks
Job
Description/Scope
KSAs
Linkage & Validity
Certification/Assessment Specification
Psychometric
Validation/review
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Assessment
Instrument
Guidance on
Resources
Certification
Membership/
Services
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Additional GIS Professional
Certifications Based On
• Job Analysis
– Essential method for determining the content of a
certification assessment
– Must adhere to accepted methodology
– Must demonstrate and document job-relatedness
• Not based on
– Competency model or skill list, BoK, or best practices
– These are references
• Certifying organizations need to follow
Professional Certification standards, practices,
and guidelines
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What to Expect
• Two-part GISP® certification process: Portfolio
and Exam
• Begin application process at any time with
either component
• 6 years to complete application
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GISCI Geospatial Core Technical
Knowledge Exam® Blueprint
Knowledge Area
Weight
Conceptual Foundations
Cartography and Visualization
GIS Design Aspects and Data Modeling
GIS Analytical Methods
Data Manipulation
Geospatial Data
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12%
14%
29%
17%
15%
13%
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What to Expect
• Exam pilot late 2014
• GISCI Geospatial Core Technical Knowledge
Exam® summer 2015
• All GISP® certification applicants will be
required to take the exam once it starts
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What to Expect
• Minimal change in the portfolio component
• 5 year renewal period
• Renew without exam
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What to Expect
• Other certification developments
• Stay tuned…
– Watch for announcements
– Visit gisci.org
• Sign up to participate in exam development at
gisci.org
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Summary
• More than just an exam…
• Alignment of GISP® certification and GISCI
with accepted professional certification
development standards and practice
• Validation of GISP® certification
• Stronger foundation for additional/related GIS
certifications
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For More Information
• www.gisci.org
• Bill Hodge, GISCI Executive Director:
bhodge@gisci.org
• Rebecca Somers, GISCI Exam Development
Project Manager: rsomers@somersstclaire.com
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