I'll vote for that! Duty of the New IFA.

[Unitof1]

[quote]There are many 'field' archaeologists who do not use a trowel….…..There are also many archaeologists who make equally valuable contributions to the study of past societies without using a trowel.[quote]

what relevance was the standards of watching briefs, evaluation, excavation to them?

[BAJR Host]

quote: by more people joining the IfA and working within the organisation to ensure that these aspects are actually delivered on the ground.

I did.. I worked with... I offered... I still offer.. suggestions were made.. resources offered

Why would I join an organisation that I did not believe in and leave one that I did? As gorilla so rightly says .. lets see some action. You say rightly that

quote: this is exactly what the IfA is trying to achieve now,

and has been since it started... [:I]

Will the IfA stand by a requirement for all ROs to raise salary by the amount suggested, or will it remain a suggestion? Will council Units get regrading, and the IfA help to get across the board acceptance of same job same pay... the JEGs scores should reinforce that.? If it will nail colours to the mast, I will add my small support --- or will pressure from council groups and larger contractors force the issue?

What next is what I would like to know... and I am sure what most people would like to know... and in the current climate of lay-offs and restricted work, what can you do? :face-thinks: This is a big question, but one that needs answered quicker than two decades.



"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Paul Belford]

Not sure that I can (or should!) comment on your own experiences...

...however I am also not the one to comment on the broader strategy and policy items either, I am not sure exactly what is coming next - apart from the CPD requirement and restructuring of the RO system and new membership application procedures. Plus more training initiatives withthe ATF. For more detail you need to ask someone who was at the AGM and/or is on Council.

All I can say is that I see good work being done, and in the absence of any other professional association I am happy to be part of this one. I do recognise that it is far from perfect, but I am confident that things will improve for the profession as a whole.

Sadly the economic crisis will not help - we are [u]all</u> at risk of losing our jobs, houses etc. - but that is hardly the fault of the IfA!

[gorilla]

"I presume therefore, that you are about to join the IfA (if you have not already done so) and get yourself onto Council to try and steer the organisation more swiftly in the directions you have outlined?"

Actually, yes... I am in the process of joining and certainly hope to air my views. Yet, will I be heard? And, even if I did get heard, would it make any difference? A sense of weldschmertz comes over me whenever the IFA issue comes up (much the same feeling with the issue of metal detectorists). I'm a bit weary of same old, (f)lame-old things being brought up here (and elsewhere).

Am I joining because it's (ethically) the right thing to do... to be able to change things from the inside, or because my boss has asked me to and the company is willing to stump up the fees. Do I want to be a member of a club that has people like me as members? If someone like the BAJR host can't make a difference in the IFA, then what chance do I stand?

I think you hit the nail on the head with... "given that archaeology is an unregulated unchartered profession and that membership (as individuals and organisations) is entirely voluntary." In my world (and I know that not everyone will agree to this) it should be regulated, chartered and compulsory to join. Then, and only then, would I feel that I belonged to a worthy institution and not a voluntary-club or hobby-society. I'd actually be proud to say that I'm an archaeologist... because I had earned that title, I had the respect and back-up of my peers/fellow professionals and I paid my dues. Certainly, to ensure that no wannabe TT-watching armchair enthusiast or, more-so, any corner-cutting, shyster operator could ever call themselves an archaeologist.

[Paul Belford]

quote:In my world (and I know that not everyone will agree to this) it should be regulated, chartered and compulsory to join. Then, and only then, would I feel that I belonged to a worthy institution and not a voluntary-club or hobby-society. I'd actually be proud to say that I'm an archaeologist... because I had earned that title, I had the respect and back-up of my peers/fellow professionals and I paid my dues. Certainly, to ensure that no wannabe TT-watching armchair enthusiast or, more-so, any corner-cutting, shyster operator could ever call themselves an archaeologist.

With you all the way there. Good luck in your application, and in changing things!

[BAJR Host]

quote:Sadly the economic crisis will not help - we are all at risk of losing our jobs, houses etc. - but that is hardly the fault of the IfA!

Nobody would say that.. I don't think anybody has.

quote:All I can say is that I see good work being done, and in the absence of any other professional association I am happy to be part of this one.

and I would agree... though I would also ask, what are you joining...? I am glad to see a more inclusive sounding organiation (though I fear that it was already such, jsut some people decided to be deliberately pedantic - which was not the IFAs fault) In real terms though, has your membership meant that wages of your staff have gone up? That they get more training than they would if you were not a member? That the career structure is now one that allows progression? that there is now a set of universally accepted standards that are upheld and maintained across the board? The IfA are the ones to lead these, and lead others... If they say jump... you should say how high? but currently, people can say... I will only jump this high.. and thus everyone else will only jump that high too.

This is seriously not an IfA knocking thread again... it actually looks very positive... what it does seem to highlight is that.. "visible action required" is a request from archaeolgoists of all types

It is telling that you can name the initiative but not know whats happening?

quotelus more training initiatives withthe ATF. For more detail you need to ask someone who was at the AGM and/or is on Council.

This is a clear case of communication failure... People want to see a shop window into an organisation that is full of amazing things and opportunities - not a shuttered window, where you can hear muffled voices -- in reality, BAJR is one of the only places where IFA members can tell non IFA how good it is and why.. ironic!

and to gorilla, who perhaps sums up the majority view of both IFA and non IFA

his kind words :

quote:If someone like the BAJR host can't make a difference in the IFA, then what chance do I stand?

Indeed it is what I thought, i truely believed that a difference could be made, I am perhaps not known as a team player.. but I am also used to saying then doing... this perhaps was difficult in the enviroment. the IfA needs friends and allies... and should not ignore the comments of others. You should join the IfA, you should be part of it -- some in the IfA feel it is a waste of time and money - others feel it is the best their is. You can only tell, once you have been part of it.

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Paul Belford]

quote:In real terms though, has your membership meant that wages of your staff have gone up? That they get more training than they would if you were not a member? That the career structure is now one that allows progression? that there is now a set of universally accepted standards that are upheld and maintained across the board?

No. And what's more I have to pay my own membership fees as my employer does not!

quote:It is telling that you can name the initiative but not know whats happening?

Perhaps it is, or perhaps I just haven't paid that much attention to it! Sadly there are too many things to do and not enough time in life to do them all with equal thoroughness.

[Unitof1]

Still, at least we all know what a watching brief is

[BAJR Host]

A special code of unitof1 please ASAP!

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Talisien]

I will consider joining the IfA when I see the new membership procedures. At the moment they are far too cumbersome. Why not use a system similar to the British Cartographic Society, the Geological Society or similar professional bodies? Currently, the IfA currently remains too ephemeral as a representational professional organisation to attract sufficient members to make it an effective body.