FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT: ICRM Annual Business Meeting: September 24, 2016Full disclosure: I manage AIIM's CIP, a certification, that, while complementary to the CRM and probably the CRA, is competitive at least from a payment/financial/"how do I or my company pay for this" perspective. I am also a CRM and member in good standing of the ICRM.
The ICRM launches its third professional certification:
Certified Records Analyst (CRA)
The CRA provides another opportunity to be a member of the ICRM. By achieving the CRA designation, records management professionals demonstrate a solid foundation in Records and Information Management (RIM); potentially on their way to attaining the CRM. CRA’s are knowledgeable and experienced in active and inactive records systems. A CRA’s knowledge includes such areas as electronic records and information; regulatory compliance-related requirements; the lifecycle management of records and information; and more.
This certification provides an opportunity for immediate certification to those existing CRM candidates that have already successfully passed Parts 2-4 of the examinations; while still retaining the ability to continue on to the CRM. The CRA allows newly educated and experienced records management professionals the ability to become a member of the Institute; thereby improving their opportunities for career advancement and increasing the number of educated and credentialed millennials to meet the demand for RIM and Information Governance (IG) positions in the global marketplace.
“We are excited to deliver the CRA certification to the RIM profession! This new certification follows our time-tested approach and allows for more professionals to obtain a value-added RIM credential while promoting the continuance of their individual development. We fully expect many to use the CRA as a spring-board to achieving their CRM over a timeline that meets their individual needs.” – Brice Sample, CRM – President
A CRA may vote in elections of the ICRM, may not hold office but can serve as a member or chairman of an ICRM Commission, Committee or Taskforce, may attend the ICRM Business Meeting and may attend the ICRM Annual Reception held annually at the ARMA Conference. Further, CRAs are granted access the ICRM website, the membership directory and all publications and information provided as a benefit of ICRM membership.
Candidates for the CRA, upon submitting an online application to the ICRM, will be approved to sit for Parts 2-4 if they properly document achievement of a 4-year (bachelor’s degree) from an accredited institution of higher education and also demonstrate one-year of professional Records and Information Management (RIM) experience. Alternately, one year of professional Records and Information Management (RIM) experience can be substituted for each year of college education.
Founded in 1975, the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM) is an international certifying organization of and for professional records managers. The Institute confers three designations: the Certified Records Manager (CRM); the Certified Record Manager/Nuclear Specialist (CRM/NS); and now the Certified Records Analyst (CRA).
My thoughts, both my own and after some discussion of it with some folks at ARMA16. I think it's an interesting approach but will be challenging. The entry criteria appears to be the same as for the CRM, which is daunting, given that at most organizations a "records analyst" tends to be a lower-level position than a records manager. It eschews Part 1, on management, which makes sense, but also Part 5, on technology, which doesn't make as much sense to me today in 2016. It also requires analysts to join the ICRM at $200/year, which again may be prohibitive for someone at the typical records analyst level.
I certainly wish the ICRM well, but I wonder whether this is going to be more hassle than benefit and how many people will actually go after it.
4 comments:
Not sure how one could consider this to be daunting
"The preferred qualifications for applying for either the CRA or the CRM are a college degree (four-year or bachelor’s degree) and one year of professional records and information management (RIM) experience. One additional year of professional RIM experience may be substituted for each year of college not completed (i.e. a high-school graduate with five years of professional RIM experience could apply). For example: Bachelor degree (Graduate degree implies completion of Bachelor degree) PLUS one year professional level RIM experience OR
3 years college PLUS two years professional level RIM experience OR
2 years college PLUS three years professional level RIM experience OR
1 year college PLUS four years professional level RIM experience OR
High School Diploma or GED PLUS five years professional level RIM experience"
Parts 2, 3, 4 cover the following topics
Part 2 Records and Information: Creation and Use
Part 3 Records Systems, Storage and Retrieval
Part 4 Records Appraisal, Retention, Protection and Disposition
full details about all 6 parts can be found here
http://www.icrm.org/examination-outline/
which in my humble opinion are the main areas tha analyst should be concerned with. as for Part 5 each of the above exams cover some aspect of technology.
finally the CRA provides a certification for individuals who do not want to pursue the CRM, who find taking all 6 exams to be daunting. as for $200/yr in dues well think of it this way that is about 3 Vente Starbucks per month
I don't generally publish anonymous comments but I'm pretty sure I know who you are. Regardless, I don't see how you can argue it's not daunting, given that it's identical to the CRM, which I have heard literally, not exaggerating an iota, HUNDREDS of records managers tell me they don't think they are qualified or ready for.
Your point about Part 5 misses the gist of my point, which is that either a) Parts 2-4 cover sufficient tech that there is no further need for Part 5 or b) there are things on Part 5 that are not on Parts 2-4 AND that analysts wouldn't need to know. So um...who's doing the scanning? Because as I look at the outline (http://www.icrm.org/examination-outline/) almost everything on Part 5 would be the role of an analyst rather than a records manager in 2016.
Sorry, Anonymous. I stand by my point and don't find any of yours compelling at all.
The CRM is definitely a top tier certification but also very expensive and the requirements are high. I definitely can be daunting for anyone trying to advance in the profession. The certification shows advanced skills but the catch 22 is how would someone get the skills without the certification. This is coming from someone who has spent years in the profession.
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