Charter ======= PURPOSE ------- To ensure sufficient quantity of competent sysadmins exists to support a stable civilization; to bring about greater agreement on what makes a competent sysadmin and how to make one, the LOPSA zeroth Working Committee on Professionalization will recommend to the Board a definition of what 'profession' means in the context of Systems Administration. This would enable a gap analysis (where do we want to be; where are we now; what do we need to do to get from where we are now to where we want to be); however the gap analysis or the implementation of the remediation plan would be outside the scope of this working committee. We envision that with the success of the zeroth working committee, subsequent working committees would advance the purpose further, one bite at a time. The LOPSA Board of Directors shall appoint a current LOPSA member in good standing to be the Professionalization Committee Chair. If the Professionalization Chair is not a current member of the LOPSA Board of Directors, a liaison shall be appointed to the Professionalization Committee from among the current LOPSA Board of Directors. The Professionalization Chair shall then select other committee members from the community at will and as needed, an an ongoing basis. The Professionalization Committee shall conduct its work by evaluating various definitions of 'profession', as well as standards required by equivalent associations in other professions. An outside expert on professions and professionalization may be consulted. TIMELINE -------- The Professionalization Committee shall present definition of "Profession" to the LOPSA Board of Directors no later than June 30th, 2014. If the LOPSA Board of Directors chooses to reject the proposed definition, immediate notice shall be given to the Professionalization Chair following the decision, and the Professionalization Committee shall repeat the process of drafting and re-presenting the definition by October 31st, 2014. If the LOPSA Board of Directors rejects the revised proposal, the working committee shall be disbanded. If the LOPSA Board of Directors accepts the definition, this definition shall be communicated to the LOPSA membership at large no later than December 31st, 2014, and the working Committee dismissed with thanks. The Board may then plan a roadmap for continuing work on the furtherance of this project, and direct that a new Committee to continue the work is formed and so empowered, on a time schedule acceptable to the Board. TIMELINE SUMMARY ---------------- 30 Jun 2014 - present definition of "Profession" as pertaining to System Administration 31 Oct 2014 - re-present definition of "Profession" if needed 31 Dec 2014 - publish the definition The Professionalization Chair will be responsible for communicating all relevant needs to the LOPSA Board of Directors, through the liaison if such a position exists. This includes, but is not limited to, technical, financial, or marketing requirements, unless an alternative communication channel is sanctioned and available. Policy ------ The LOPSA Professional Content Committee (PCC) is a short term working committee established for the expressed purpose of laying the groundwork upon which future efforts to further the professional nature of system administration work can be built. The Board of Directors will appoint a current LOPSA member in good standing to serve as Chair, and if that individual is not a member of the LOPSA Board, a liaison to the committee will also be selected from among the Board members. A definitive timeline for the work of this committee is laid out in the charter, and the committee will be dissolved following the completion of its work. For the initial instance of the PCC, the goal will be to determine an acceptable definition for the term "profession", as it pertains to system administration, which will be adopted by LOPSA when evaluating its efforts to further the art and science of system administration. This common language will allow LOPSA to go forward with a clear understanding of its bailiwick and with the goal the future instances of this committee can utilize this work and expand upon it.