Ron Wasserstein, ASA Executive Director
Identifying tangible benefits for accredited members is the primary focus of a new subgroup of the ASA’s Accreditation Committee. “The intrinsic benefits of accreditation to the profession of statistics and to individual members were the initial foci of discussion,” notes Iain Johnstone, chair of the committee. “Now it is time to clearly identify additional, more tangible reasons why an individual would seek PStat status.”
To accomplish this, Johnstone appointed an “accreditation programming subcommittee,” chaired by Mary Batcher. Members of the subcommittee will work with currently and potentially accredited members to determine ways to add value to accreditation. They also will learn from our partner societies with established accreditation programs—Statistical Society of Canada, Royal Statistical Society, and Statistical Society of Australia, Inc. Send ideas to ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein at ron@amstat.org.
Members of the Accreditation Committee identified adding value as the essential next step in developing the ASA’s accreditation program during its meeting at JSM. Committee members also reviewed the processes by which accreditation applications are evaluated and were generally pleased with the way the system has worked during the program’s initial year.
An informal meeting for members interested in accreditation also was held at JSM. In an hour-long session, about 30 people heard presentations about the accreditation process and why members are choosing to be accredited. Di Michelson, Robert Ploutz-Snyder, and Jeremy Jokinen talked about their experiences applying for accreditation and the benefits of having done so. Johnstone and Wasserstein updated attendees on how to apply and how the review process works.
Visit the accreditation web page to learn more about the Accreditation Committee’s membership or the accreditation processes—including the criteria for accreditation and how to apply.
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