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Certification Report/New MembersMeet the New Kids on the BlockGary Stigall, CSTE Chapter 36 now has over 70 dues-paying members, an increase of about 25% in the past two years. Much of the credit goes to Oscar Medina, Certification Proctor and Director of Engineering at KNSD (TV). Through his personal encouragement and management-approved incentives, the station now has a staff of mostly SBE-certified engineers and operators. The coolest achievement award goes to Bruce Rogow, Chief Engineer of KPBS-FM. He managed to become the chapter's first Certified Broadcast Networking Technologist (CBNT). For the record, he found the sample questions, as well as the book, Networking for Dummies, very helpful. He took the exam while at the Public Radio Conference at Orlando, Florida, and says he only used 45 minutes of the allotted three hours. Achieving CBT by license was Matthew Beresford of the Navy's USS Constellation, whom we recently featured. Matthew attends our meetings when in port and tells me that upon discharge he's planning on a career in broadcasting in the Tennessee/Kentucky region. Congratulations to William Cyree of Spring Valley, new Certified Broadcast Technologist. Congratulations as well to Art Axtell, Michael Fouch, and Janet Warren, KNSD (TV) NBC 7/39, newly Certified Television Operators. And chapter Program Chairman Randy Phillips of Cox Communications recently recertified as Senior Television Engineer, CSTE. The next local certification exam window is August 18-28, with applications due by July 7. Applications, information, and study materials are available at www.sbe.org. Questions regarding the local exams should be addressed to Oscar Medina. Phone him at 858-279-3939. New Exam PoliciesTerry Baum, national SBE Certification Committee Chairman, explained some new certification test procedures this month. For one, those taking the senior level exams will have three essay questions to choose from instead of one. If the questions are sufficiently disparate, at least one question will draw from the applicant's experience and "should reduce the 'exam anxiety' that applicants sometimes feel." A second policy change involves a private proctoring option for taking the exam. Some applicants for certification, according to Baum, "are reluctant to sit for certification exams because the local Certification Chair and fellow test-takers will know of his or her attempt at taking the test, even though under our existing Certification policy no one except the applicant is ever informed of an examination failure." To address this concern, the SBE will allow "private proctoring" of Certification Examinations for any applicant who completes a special application and pays an additional fee. "The entire application and test administration process will be handled at the National level and will not involve the local Certification Chair or anyone else at the applicant's chapter. This will provide 100 percent privacy for applicatnts who desire it, and eliminate the possibility of anyone else in the local chapter knowing about either the test administration or outcome." Contact the SBE staff in Indianapolis for more information and forms. New Chapter MembersWelcome to new member Leon Messenie, KPBS-TV Maintenance Supervisor and Philips guru. KPBS is always well-represented at meetings here. Welcome to new Student Member Jacqueline Godinez of San Diego State University. Thanks, too, to Douglas Herman for joining us. For more information or an application for membership, see the SBE headquarters website, www.sbe.org. |
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