President's Message

Paul Kaiser

A remembrance of issues past

Way back in the summer of '85, I had the pleasure of attending my first IPMAAC conference. Ain't missed one since. As my term as president nears its end, I've become increasingly reflective on what IPMAAC has meant, and continues to mean, to me. What on earth made me go to that first conference? Why do I keep going back? How did this organization become such an important part of my professional life?

IPMAAC's 1985 conference was held in New Orleans--that may have had something to do with getting me to my first conference. But that wasn't the only, or indeed, the foremost reason. New York State had just completed work on a very complex, politically sensitive, innovative examination which had a high potential for Title VII litigation. The situation had all the elements of high testing drama. Harry Brull of PDI helped us to successfully cross that particular sea of troubles. It was at Harry's suggestion that we responded to IPMAAC's call for conference proposals and elected to present on our activities. Once in New Orleans, I realized that there were many other conference participants across the nation dealing with the same issues and problems that were beleaguering us here in the Northeast. Invited speakers (Keith Pyburn) suggested approaches to the legal challenges; technical experts offered solutions to some of the psychometric issues associated with our "innovative" exam; colleagues let us know that we were not alone--they had "been there and done that"; other presenters talked of their experiences and practices with various assessment approaches: I learned new things. The end result is that I got much more than I gave.

Jim Johnson recalls the issues that confronted the testing profession at the time of IPMAAC's founding: "In 1976, we were caught in a maelstrom created by conflicting political and legal demands for unrealistic perfection in the technical requirements for defending assessment methods and elimination of adverse impact in assessment." To consider how to respond to these pressures, a group of concerned practitioners, academics and consultants met in Chicago to form IPMAAC. They recognized that these issues were too broad to be dealt with in isolation. Collectively, their intellective prowess was magnified; together, they found succor. Their collaborative efforts helped us all to weather the storms.

New personnel management issues emerge about every other year. They are studied, discussed, explained and presented; then the profession moves on. Remember when the Civil Rights Act of 1991 was the "hot" topic? How many sessions did we have on the ADA? Whatever happened to the ADEA, TQM, and Workforce 2000? Affirmative action has evolved into cultural diversity. Reinventing government caused quite a stir--many of us are still grappling with its aftermath. Customer service, downsizing and decentralization are the current issues of the day. All these issues are important, most were interesting, many have faded from memory; but, none could be ignored.

IPMAAC has always been an organization dedicated to the advancement and understanding of psychometric principles. The focus of our conferences and training programs centers on increasing our knowledge and skills in personnel assessment and selection. As a group, we freely share our insights and experiences in test design, construction and evaluation. This is IPMAAC's core mission; this is what we do. However, this mission cannot be accomplished in a vacuum. The role of the personnel assessment professional has evolved. It is essential that we become informed players in the broader context of our jobs. Being able to write a good test and analyze its data is necessary, but not sufficient, for effective practice. Changes in political direction, new laws, efforts to improve governance, and emerging trends in human resource management all impact our work. It is to obtain information and find guidance in these areas that I keep coming back to IPMAAC conferences.

Yet, IPMAAC is not our sole resource in this arena. This year I had the good fortune to attend WRIPAC, MAPAC and ASPA meetings and the PTC/SC, PTC/NC and IPMA conferences. Not surprisingly, I was greatly impressed by the work of these organizations. Making connections with and becoming involved in the personnel assessment consortia in your region will contribute mightily to your professional development and understanding of the contextual environment in which you work. The exhortation is to become involved or to stay involved in professional organizations. You will be better prepared to do your job and will enjoy your work more for it!