WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
IALD’s Proposed Global Certification
Program
BY ARMANDO F. RAMIREZ, CAE
In May 2009, the architectural lighting design profession faced one of its
greatest challenges: The Texas State
Legislature passed legislation banning
architectural lighting designers located
in or outside Texas from practicing in the
state, instead relegating the practice of
architectural lighting design to architects.
As passed, the legislation had major
implications for the industry, as it could
set a precedent for other jurisdictions
in and outside the United States to curtail the practice of architectural lighting
design. The International Association of
Lighting Designers acted quickly through
concerted efforts to have the damaging
legislation rescinded.
This incident clearly identified a need
to legitimize the profession before legislative bodies and the public. It was this
need that prompted IALD leadership to
consider creating a global certification
program for architectural lighting designers.
Although no global universal standards
exist for architectural lighting design,
IALD felt that a substantive body of
knowledge was present within the profession and was therefore ready to consider
creating its own unique design certification to assess practitioner competence
against industry best practices. With
that in mind, the IALD board of directors created a Credentialing Task Force
charged with conducting a feasibility
study to determine the viability of such
an endeavor.
Lessons Learned
During of the past 18 months, the IALD
Credentialing Task Force has focused on
making a recommendation. Although the
final recommendation will not be complete until July 2012, the following important lessons have been learned:
• Do your homework: Given the complexity and costs involved in creating
a certification program, conducting
a feasibility study is always the first
step. The feasibility study allows you
to explore the pros and cons of creating a certification program, identify the
key drivers for the certification, and
determine whether core competencies
can be identified and assessed. The
feasibility study also provides a business plan that identifies issues of governance, administration and finance.
• Select the right assessment expert:
As part of any feasibility study, the support of an assessment/psychometric
expert is critical in guiding a group
through the complexities of assessment. Groups considering a certification program should talk with several
assessment experts to determine who
is the best fit.
• Look beyond traditional assessment
models: Although most certification
programs follow traditional assessment models, the IALD Certification
Task Force determined early in its
discussions that a performance-based
assessment through a portfolio review
would be the best vehicle for assessing the skills of architectural lighting
designers. According to Judith Hale,
Ph.D., president of Hale Associates
and the International Association for
Performance Improvement, this type of
certification is performance-based, not
test- or-education based.
“This means people can be certified
because their work and how they do
it satisfies the standards, not because
they can pass a test or completed a
training or education program,” she
says.
To ensure the validity and reliability
of an assessment, it is best to work
with an expert that is experienced in
guiding a group with these specific
needs. The process by which candidates submit work projects cannot be
overlooked, either. The performance
assessment model for certification may
not fit all organizations or professions,
but it is worth exploring.
• Get international involvement for
international buy-in: Because IALD
has envisioned its proposed certifica-
tion program as a global certification
program, the task force it formed to
study the question is composed of
practitioners from various parts of
the world to ensure a well-rounded
perspective. This has been key in
identifying universal core competen-
cies across national lines and securing
support from the global architectural
lighting design profession. In order to
maintain global perspective and secure
buy-in from multiple constituents, the
task force has made a concerted effort
to reach out to architectural lighting
designers across the globe, as well
as sister and affiliated organizations.
Without buy-in from the global com-
munity of constituents, an interna-
tional certification program is bound
to fail.
Armando F. Ramirez, CAE, is manager, member
services, for the International Association of
Lighting Designers. He may be reached at (312)
527-3677 or armando@iald.org.
