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Re: Certifying Liberal Arts Majors for a High-Tech World



I agree that the test might not do much, but I think it's important for
Liberal Arts grads to have opportunities to get into these kind of jobs,
even if they don't have the specific technical programming skills.  I got
my BA in 1993 in Political Science and Latin American Studies, and was a
waitress for a few years after graduating because there were so few
opportunities for someone with my degree. (then went to South America to
teach English, being fed up with waitressing). Of course, that was when
the WWW was just being invented (wasn't Mosaic started in '93?), so I felt
like I graduated at a time when it was harder for Liberal arts grads to
find jobs without getting an advanced degree in addition to the BA.  
I, like Robyn, was without computer skills until a few years ago, proving
that it is possible to learn technical skills given the opportunity (if I
can do it, anyone can! :> )


************************************
Lisa Potter
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


On Thu, 4 May 2000, Robyn Pretzloff wrote:

> I don't know how much a test will do.
> 
> But it is a start. I'd rather see then offer some kind of real certification
> like A+ where students could choose what they wanted to get certified in.
> Perhaps the test could also be used as a way to help students decide which
> later certification they'd like to persue.
> 
> I had practically no computer skills when I graduated from undergrad w/a degree
> in English. I did gain some from working for 18 months at an insurance company,
> but I have to say that when I came to SILS in Aug 98, I felt like I knew
> nothing about computers and the web. And for the most part, I did.
> 
> -- Begin original message --
> 
> > This in from NewsScan, but I recommend the full NYTimes article at
> > http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/cyber/education/03education.html
> > 
> > TECH CERTIFICATION FOR LIBERAL ARTS GRADS
> > A four-hour online certification examination called Tek.Xam has been
> > developed to offer liberal arts graduates a way to demonstrate to potential
> > employers that, whatever their degrees may indicate, they have mastered the
> > technical skills necessary for careers in today's organizations. "It's very
> > clear there are millions of college students who are earning degrees in
> > areas that don't indicate technology skills -- liberal arts, education and
> > other non-tech areas," says Tek.Xam executive director Brian Regrut. "While
> > many of the students taking the exam may not be able to program C++, they
> > could work in marketing or manufacturing where those skills are needed.
> > There's a big hole American businesses need to fill." So far, 67 academic
> > institutions in 24 states have offered a pilot or formal version of the
> > test, and about 1,700 students have taken it. (New York Times 3 May 2000)
> > http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/cyber/education/03education.html
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> -- End original message --
> 
>