So what responsibility does CSI have to keep it’s word.
“CDT is a lifetime achievement and does not require renewal.” CSI website
Did I miss the fine print that said “or until we change our mind and not make it lifetime and start charging you for it.”
Am I missing something?
I feel this is again going back to communication and listening to the membership. Too many questions were ignored, or institute did not want to take the time to talk to the membership at large. For example, those of us that teach the CDT review classes. If I am going to pay for a review class, I think one is entitled to expect the teacher is competent in CDT. How many of you on this blog have even read the new manual? Lot has changed.
Ronald, who is on this committee and what were their marching orders from Institute. Mr wiseman is a bit reluctant to give this information, or to provide meeting minutes, agendas, etc.
Thanks
Ron, I also wanted to comment on “There is probably no legitimate certification that does not require renewal or requires no fee for renewal.”
This seems like a very broad statement that isn’t true even in our own industry.
I can take a professional certification exam through Autodesk for any of their software. It is a certification that you had the knowledge and specific skill set required to meet a set standard at the time of the test. There is no renewal fee.
I’m not sure why the CDT would be any different.
I earned my CDT (and joined CSI) at an employer’s urging. However over the subsequent years, I’ve developed such a disdain for CSI’s antics, posturing, etc., I wish I could have rid myself of the CDT cert (dropped membership long ago after leaving that employer), but never could having also earned the “lifetime without renewal” status. I can finally rid myself of of this cert…forever…until CSI decides to re-think it’s position…again?
While it’s probably true that anyone can create a certification for anything, the point here is making CDT a certification that complies with national standards.
Several years ago, the discussion was that the existing CDT would be left behind, retaining whatever value it had to those who used it. The replacement for the CDT was to have a new name so there would be no confusion, and the original pledge that the CDT was forever would be unaffected.
That is way too logical!
Isn’t what Sheldon describes what essentially happened with LEED AP? It was a one time test, good for life, no renewal. Then USGBC changed their mind and created the specialties (BD+C, ID+C, etc.), but they said if you earned the LEED AP, go ahead and keep using it, you earned it. The specialties do require continuing ed, renewal fees etc. They never dropped you if you didn’t get the specialty, you just can’t add a few more letters beyond LEEP AP. They also introduced LEED Green Associate to cover prerequisite requirements for the advanced LEED AP with specialty certifications. LEED Green Associate also carries continuing ed requirements, and it is dropped when you earn an advanced certification.
In a discussion (perhaps on CSI connect) someone suggested calling it a CCDT and you become a Certified Construction Documents Technologist. If you want the CCDT designation, take the new test and earn it, or keep the old CDT designation you earned for life. Eventually CDT usage will drop as people retire, or stop using it, or pursue the advanced CCDT certification and replace it.
CSI could have a lot of disgruntled former CDTs on their hands by taking away something that had been awarded for life. At least USGBC was aware enough to not take anything away and just rename some stuff, and let the legacy LEED APs continue on if they wanted to.
Anon: The certification committee is responsible for direction and development of CSI’s certification program. This conversion has been discussed and planned over several years–it was not a decision made overnight.
Brian: Autodesk’s certifications are for their own products only and I highly doubt that they would come close to conforming to ISO/IEC 17024 “Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons,” which is the international standard for personal certification programs.
Guest: Both the AP and the updated BD+C et. al. certifications are clearly programs of LEED since each start off with “LEED,” which made the transition easy. With the CDT, it’s a different situation. Changing the name was considered, but the CDT does have some good brand recognition, and if we were to change the name, then we would be starting from scratch. Thus, it was determined to keep it as “CDT.”
Making the CDT a certifications will open it up to greater acceptance by other organizations and agencies. NCARB a few years ago dropped the CDT as an acceptable means for experience hours, but have retained the CCS and CCCA (https://www.ncarb.org/gain-axp-experience/experience-requirements/setting-o). Now that the CDT is moving to a certification, talks with NCARB are in progress to add it back into the AXP experience requirements.
Some people will not like it, and that is understandable and accepted as reality. As the quote from John Lydgate goes, You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you cant please all of the people all of the time.
The decision was made in the interest of progress for the greater design and construction industry and its many and varied professions.
That all sounds good. Im sure it makes sense to a lot of people. The problem I have is that I specifically chose to pay to get my CDT because there was no renewal. Lifetime achievement had/has value to me. Ive done LEED and dropped it bc I cant stand the maintenance effort.
Its not a matter of not liking it. I held up my side of the contract and paid my fee. CSI is choosing to not hold up thier side of the deal. I have ethical issues with that big time. You cant just change the terms of service after the fact and maintain respectability.