[KLUG Members] Dropping CIS enrollments

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> > In one sense other professions have been doing this for a long time.
> > After all, what is a CPA - someone who passed a test.
> I think that in most states to be a CPA you need both a set of tests passed
> and an accounting degree with specific courses.

Yes,  I think your right.  I was referring to the concept of a "CPA",
not the exact implementation.

I agree that a general college education is *WAY* better then a
collection of certificates IN THEORY.  "General" education classes [
history | literature | philosophy | sociology ] add a tremendous amount
of value to a person.  One can get a great deal out of them - if one is
looking to or tries.  But they don't (presently, in my experience)
impose any kind of filtering mechanism;  this greatly diminishes the
actual utility of using a college degree as an evaluation tool (just
looking at if from the staring-at-pile-of-resumes end).  If a student
isn't willing 'to try' - that student should fail the *&@^$&*@ course!  
Why should you have to wonder if someone with a college degree can write
a coherent couple of dozen pages of documentation?  Or research and
analyze a problem/process (IT related or not)?

> I would guess that there will never be just one IT cert, since the field is
> much broader and more amorphous than accounting.

Sure.  But you do get things like the Cisco certifications - where you
just KNOW the person has the stuff nailed down and has to be able to
manage at least some level of stress in order to pass the practical
portions.