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From: lamy@utai.UUCP (Jean-Francois Lamy)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: Degrees, grades...
Message-ID: <1376@utai.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 2-Mar-86 21:30:17 EST
Article-I.D.: utai.1376
Posted: Sun Mar  2 21:30:17 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Mar-86 22:30:44 EST
References: <4514@kestrel.ARPA> <3407@nsc.UUCP> <4588@kestrel.ARPA> <18@drilltech.UUCP> <5137@kestrel.ARPA> <636@nbires.UUCP>
Reply-To: lamy@utai.UUCP (Jean-Francois Lamy)
Distribution: net
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 31
Summary: 

In my experience the really good CS students were both bright and innovative.
Most exceptional students I've met had outside interests -- so much for the
grade-oriented automata myth.  The automata type students even had
difficulties finding jobs -- recruiters obviously were able to peek beyond the
very thin layer of varnish on their personalities.

The issue of which title to use is a sticky one...  I'm still puzzled by the
fact that the "programmers" in our AI Lab staff have M.Sc.s, while the
"analysts" at "Miracle Consultants" may have one-year-beyond-high-school COBOL
degrees... There is no such confusion between "technician" and "engineer",
and people usually understand that they are doing different jobs altogether,
that you don't become an engineer after having been a good technician for a
while.

In fact, up here in Quebec/Ontario "technicians" and "engineers" belong to
regulated professions, like lawyers, dentists, psychologists and doctors.
I've seen so many cheap shots by consulting firms that I sometimes think that
DP professionals should be regulated also (why not, your plumber and
electrician are...)  Perhaps the current legal mood in the States (sue
everybody in sight AND their mother) will push computer professionals in that
direction.

Will we ever see Registered Programmers and Registered Analysts (R.P. and R.A)?

-- 

Jean-Francois Lamy              
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto,         
Departement d'informatique et de recherche operationnelle, U. de Montreal.
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