Students working in the trading room

Three students from the School of Business -- David Mazzotta '03, Evan Smith '04, and Nolan Taylor '05 -- have met the requirements for the associate computing professional (ACP) certification. Issued by the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP), the ACP designation certifies and validates individuals' knowledge of the general computing industry and specific programming language or specialty-area knowledge and skills.

Holders of the ACP certification receive the international recognition of the ICCP and the privilege of using the ACP designation after their names and on their business cards.

The ACP designation is recognized by educational institutions, employers, and professional associations as evidence of a person's knowledge and commitment to the computing industry. As such, this designation is ideal for those individuals new to the computing industry or for recent college graduates who wish to gain professional credentials to substantiate a high level of computing knowledge.

Founded in 1973, the ICCP has dedicated itself to the establishment of high professional standards for the computer industry. Under the direction of its 6 constituent societies (Association for Computing Machinery, Association of Information Technology Professionals, Association for Women in Computing, Canadian Information Processing Society, Data Management Association, and International Society for Technology in Education) and 19 affiliated societies, ICCP promotes professional standards by offering the only broadly applicable and internationally recognized certification program in the profession.

Applicants for certification must pass the core examination and either one other main exam or two language exams. The main exam options are business information systems, communications, data resource management, management, microcomputing and networks, object-oriented analysis and design, office information systems, procedural programming, software engineering, systems development, systems programming, and systems security. The language exams are BASIC, C, C++, COBOL, Pascal, RPG/400, and Visual Basic.

The core exam covers a range of topics considered to be essential knowledge for every information-systems and information-technology professional. The three business school students who earned the ACP chose the management exam as their second examination because it best fit the curriculum that they pursued here at IC. The management exam emphasizes the practices and standards required of senior information-systems professionals engaged in the management and administration of systems-related activities.