REVISED GRID FOR MICRO LEVEL APPROACH

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REVISED GRID FOR MICRO LEVEL APPROACH

Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 1

Cover sheet

Country: FRANCE

Sector:

Bank IT

Level:

EQF Level: 6

NQF Level: 2

Institution (private / state): SYNTEC (Branche)

Name of the study program: Professional Qualification Certificate – Company Network Administrator (CQP ARE) - -

Duration (in years/months): One Year

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 2 1) State of play/ macro level

(please provide a short résumé of the macro level grid (1/2 – 1 page), how could the situation in your country be summarized concerning qualifications at Level 5 &6, what is the national context, (what is considered to be HE, how could the learning culture be characterized, etc.)

The overall situation of higher education has been presented in previous pages. (Only some general information on vocational qualification certificates will be presented in this section).

As a professional diploma or degree, a Professional Qualification Certificate officially certifies that a person has the necessary knowledge, skills and competences to perform certain professional activities.

CQP specificity: it was design by the social partners, for a specific profession, and it may be obtained either by VAE or by training courses.

In the field of Information Technology, Engineering, Consulting, Fairs and Exhibitions, CQP ACIR (Assistant Designer in Restoration Engineering) has been delivered since 2002, followed in 2005 by CQP ARE (Company Network Administrator, with possible web specialisation) the by CQP ASY (IT Systems Administrator). Other CQP are currently under development, and the Syntec-CICF sector – comprising consulting and engineering companies – has created two new professional qualification certificates (CQP): «Database Administrator» and «New Technology Developer» at the initiative of the IT Syntec Department for Employment and Training.

These two new certificates add to the 3 already existing qualifications: « Company Network

Administrator», «Company Network Administrator, web specialisation» and «System Administrator».

These qualifications may be either used to validate prior learning acquired through professional experience or may be delivered as initial or continuing training.

A CQP designed and issued by a professional sector enables employees, job-seekers or young people under 26 who are willing to complete their initial training to obtain a recognised operational

qualification. It certifies a specific qualification and its related competences and it allows for national recognition. Very well adapted to occupations in enterprises, CQP allows for: improving employees’

qualifications, fostering career development to retain employees and capitalise on their skills, recruitment and training of staff for the key businesses of a company and overcoming the recruitment difficulties.

Since March 2008, Syntec-CICF has issued over one hundred CQPs «Company Network Administrator» and «System Administrator».

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 3 2) Short presentation of the institution and the selected program

(please provide a short summary about the institution and the background of the selected program you are presenting (origin and history of the selected program, accreditation and building process,etc, core elements of the organisational structure (e-learning, specific modules in the evening, weekend, assessment procedures, etc..)

SYNTEC Federation aims to bring together all knowledge-based occupations. Syntec represents nearly 1,250 groups and French companies specialised in Engineering, IT services, Education and Counselling, Training. FAFIEC is OPCA (Joint Collection Organisation Authorised by the State) – enterprises in the IT, Engineering, Consulting, Fairs and Exhibitions fields. The policy guidelines for employment and training are defined by the CPNE (Joint National Commission for Employment).

The main priorities of the training policy in the field are:

• To develop competences and promote access to employment and ensure job retention and career development;

• To encourage companies to develop employees’ competences on priority issues (collective actions and thematic priorities) for the future, funded by FAFIEC mutual funds;

• To highlight the regional dimension of competence needs;

• To facilitate access to training for small enterprises;

• To develop competence and qualifications certifications and use of VAE ;

• To raise awareness of occupations in the field to enhance their image among the youngsters;

• To promote equal opportunities to training for all types of audience.

FAFIEC, OPCA in the IT, Engineering, Consulting, Fairs and Exhibitions field aims at supporting enterprises in their efforts to promote continuing vocational training and provides funding to this purpose. In this context, the organisation contributed to the development of CQP, and particularly of CQP ARE.

Syntec-CICF - IT, Engineering, Consulting, Fairs and Exhibitions sectors – created the Professional Qualification Certificate (CQP) Company Network Administrator (ARE). This CQP may be delivered with or without the website administrator specialisation. It meets industry expectations in the field of network administration, whose occupations require both technical and methodological competences and customer relationship skills. 7 training providers are authorized to deliver such training: AFIP, AFPA, AFTEC, CESI, CIEFA, CML and IEF2I.

Training objectives:

To train network administrators to perform tasks and develop competences that are specific to this occupation.

The role of a company network administrator is to manage the necessary resources for expected output of the company network according to the professional rules and to the provisions agreed upon in supply agreements or service agreements concluded with users of various profiles. Their activities involve both management of infrastructure (systems and networks) and of applications such as

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 4 messaging and group work.

Course description:

Unit 1: Systems

S1- Administration of server systems S2- Administration of local networks

S3- Administration of users in heterogeneous environment Internship 1

Assessment upon completion of Unit 1

Unit 2: Services

S4- Development and production deployment S5- Quality of service

S6- Technical support to users Internship 2

Unit 3: Telecommunications S7- IT security

S8- Interconnection of remote networks Internship 3

Unit 4: Transversal

S9- Technological supervision S10- Company organisation S11- Communication techniques S12- IT law

S13- English

Professional context

Test upon course completion

Methods of training validations:

· Throughout training, ongoing assessments (average scores required for each unit)

Assessment upon completion of Unit 1: Systems S1- Administration of server systems

S2- Administration of local networks

S3- Administration of users in heterogeneous environment Assessment upon completion of Unit 2: Services

S4- Development and production deployment S5- Quality of service

S6- Technical support to users

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 5 Assessment upon completion of Unit 3: Telecommunications

S7- IT security

S8- Interconnection of remote networks

Assessment upon completion of Unit 4 : Transversal S9- Technological supervision

S10- Company organisation S11- Communication techniques S12- IT law

S13- English

· Then a final test upon completion of training

This end of course test involves a panel (jury) of assessors, professionals in the field of systems and network administration. This jury includes from alternate training courses, provided that no tutor directly assesses a candidate who has worked in his company.

The jury makes and motivates their decision to award (or not) the Professional Qualifications Certificate based on four distinct assessment criteria:

· result of ongoing assessments, provided by the training organisation,

· examination of internship logbook,

· written and oral presentation of a synthesis work, delivered upon course completion

· further questions, during the interview with the candidate.

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 6 3) Access regulations/ recognition of prior learning or prior experiential

learning

Please describe in full detail

• Who are the target groups for these programs (traditional students/adults)

• What access conditions exist (explaining regulations/procedures/agreements with other institutions, also for ‘case by case’ practices, role of involved ministries, etc.)

• Standards for validation of prior/experiential learning

This certification is available as alternate training under professionalization contracts: training courses target holders of Bac+2 IT diplomas.

Target groups:

Holders or applicants with level III national education:

· DEUG Math - Physics

· BTS

o IT

o IRIS (IT and networks for industry and technical services)

· DUT

o IT

o Electrical engineering and Industrial IT o Statistics and data processing

o Telecommunications and Network Engineering o Services and communication networks

Professional degrees level III in Informatics (Ministry of Labour)

o higher technician in IT management superior (research and development, manager operator)

o IT developer

o higher technician in IT and telecommunications networks o higher technician – IT maintenance and service

o higher technician – IT support

willing to perform company network administration activities.

Training courses are open to continuing training candidates.

VAE may be applied.

4) Relationships with employers and institutions Please provide detailed information about

• contributions of companies in programs, equipment, finances

• participation of professionals in normal courses, together with academics

• university courses combined with periods in companies, apprenticeship

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 7

• The viewpoint of the employers regarding the described programs (e.g. how is the level of acceptance, attractiveness of the program/the graduates, preferences of certain levels, etc.)

CQP ARE was designed by the industry based on needs indicated by companies in the field.

Training is provided by activity fields and an internship period is provided for each field.

Assessment is field-related, then transversal competences are assessed, with participation of professional and company tutors.

Funding is provided by FAFIEC (Joint Collector Organisation) with resources of member companies, allocated for alternate raining and continuing vocational training.

5) Current situation regarding learning outcomes

(please describe to which extent and how the presented program is based upon the principals of learning outcomes, meaning the three descriptors of –EQF (knowledge, skills and personal and professional competences) and/or how much the design of the program is representing the content based approach)

Validation for CQP is done field by field, taking into consideration activities undertaken during internships. CQP is close to a competence-by-competence certification model. Nevertheless, the learning outcomes description is not complete as referenced to the three EQF descriptors, at least as currently presented.

6) Links between the subsystems (vocational, general and higher education) Please describe

• Which kind of links and bridges exist between the different subsystems?

• Links and bridges existing with other qualifications for access to the programme and for continuity after completion of the programme

• Are these links and bridges negotiated?

• Are they only a form of recognition?

• Are these links and bridges included in a strategy or just happening?

• What are the obstacles (institutional, legal, pedagogical, cultural, and technical?) Having a professional development purpose, CQP leads to development within the company or within the field: the CQP ARE holders occupying a Network Administrator position will fall under:

- coefficient 95 of the grid for engineers and managers, if they have obtained CQP or after 3 years work experience in IT infrastructure management, either by VAE, or by VAE and continuing training.

The work experience condition may be of 2 years for employees who have completed the entire training course as part of a professionalization contract or period. The network administrator position will involve autonomy and responsibility levels specific to the coefficient 95.

- coefficient 450 of the ETAM grid if they have obtained CQP after having completed the entire training course, without prior work experience. If the certificate holders’ competences and skills entitle them, after one year of coefficient 450, they will be promoted to coefficient 500. After

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Alain NICOLAS SCUFC Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines Page 8 another year of coefficient 500, they will be promoted to coefficient 95 of the grid for engineers and managers.

CQP ARE was mapped at level II, which means EQF level 6.

Though there is no direct link with a national diploma, it may be integrated as part of validation of prior learning or of validation of studies, when returning to studies.

Some branches have begun to establish links between CQP and professional Bachelor 7) General reflexive section

Please state

• What were the challenges in obtaining all necessary information for the case study?

• What are your prepositions and recommendations?

• What hasn’t been said?

The link between CQP and national diplomas has not been formalised yet.

CQP focuses more on immediate operationalisation.

The possibility to build bridges between the two types of certification should be based on an in-depth analysis of competences developed as a result of training, including the issue of long-term

development as well as analysis of transversal and generic competences that guarantee adaptation along career path.