Thanks for the update. This note is addressed moreso to my fellow Board members about the future direction of the League: While we are waiting and saying “ this is simply not the time to try and do this,“ W5YI-VEC successfully conducted a remote session and is rapidly developing a solution that will be scaled out. This was reported by Lucky225 (his real name) WA6VPS on Twitter. He was one of the VEs. https://twitter.com/lucky225/status/1243624205750423552?s=21 I think it is a mistake to shun this or slow walk it. I do understand we are under constraints but yet again we see the League being surpassed. We can dismiss some of these other outfits “upstarts” but this is W5YI-VEC who is not a so-called upstart and who also administers commercial radio exams. Also remember that in many industries that these “upstarts” have disrupted industries and changed them forever, pushing aside the old guard - Uber, AirBnB, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, to name a few. Sincerely, I do hope that we can figure out not only this but also other ways to once again lead the amateur radio landscape as we have done in the past. This is more than just one issue. It’s a question of philosophy, and where we want the League to be in the future. 73 Ria, N2RJ On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 5:11 PM Shelley, Barry, N1VXY (CEO) < bshelley@arrl.org> wrote:
Good afternoon.
I’m going to try and respond to the several levels of questions/issues raised by Mike, Mickey and Ria in this one email so it’s likely going to get a little long. But once I sit down to write this, I’m going to stick with it and hopefully not let the other crises of the day divert me.
First, let me respond to Mike’s questions about what is actually being accomplished by the ARRL VEC in the early days of the Governor’s “Stay Safe, Stay Home” policy edict which has put all our VEC staff ( as well as almost everyone at HQ) working from home. We are:
- Processing existing test sessions that have been submitted through our e-file web page and are transmitting those to the FCC for processing. The FCC is functioning and processing normally so far. Any sessions that had been mailed to HQ but not received by this past Monday are not being processed because no one is at HQ to process them. - Exams are being processed from sessions where the VE teams have the ability to scan and send PDF documents to ARRL VEC. These teams send only papers with FRN numbers, no Social Security numbers. - Filing individual and club license changes and renewals that are emailed or phoned in directly to VEC, and that are forwarded from circulation staff and hq@arrl.org. - Processing VE applications and renewals which are surprisingly up as the crisis has gone on. Maybe because of people’s desire to help and not understanding how the situation is affecting the process. - There are a whole host of other functions managed by the department which can be done remotely.
However, as you can suspect, the work processing test sessions is going to dry up in a couple of weeks at most as none are currently being given. We’ve processed almost 200 cancellations. As of Monday, we were caught up on processing everything that had come in the mail.
What we are not doing is:
- Processing test sessions that have been sent via mail since Monday. - Paper exams are not being sent out because no one is in the office to do so. (Again, Governor’s edict) - Process credit cards or checks until we’re back in the office.
Depending on how long the edict lasts, we will have to deal with sending out the new Extra Class exams for tests post the July 1st deadline.
With that said, let me address the issue of what people are describing as “remote exams”:
We are well aware that there are people standing at the front gates shouting loudly and angrily about what they believe to be the concept of “remote testing” by the VECs for amateur radio exams. And I understand the motivation given the vast number of test sessions that have been canceled due to the pandemic.
Further, I should tell you that, in principle, I agree that the current system of delivering amateur radio exams is antiquated and well behind the technology curve. We should be looking to change the system.
However, having said all that, I have to strongly say that this is simply not the time to try and do this.
Currently, there are two VEs that everyone points to as the “model” for remote testing. They are both designed to deliver only a very limited number of exams with an unusual amount of administrative effort to set them up and, in one case, the process still requires one proctor in the room with the examinee. Their solutions are not close to being scalable in the volume we would need to deliver to even some small portion of the ARRL VEC. And that assumes we could train enough of our VEs in the process/technology required in a short period of time to accommodate the current situation. And I don’t want to be the one to recommend putting two strangers together in a room during this health crisis.
And let’s please remember, the process of delivering amateur exams remotely is more than just putting the capabilities for taking an exam electronically into the hands of the examinee. There is an entire front and back-end process that supports that event. From registration to grading to submission of the session paperwork and, ultimately license issuance. I would submit that if we’re going to change the system, all of this should be done. And I hesitate to point out the obvious, there’s no one to process the exams if the exam session paperwork is submitted through the mail as most are.
The question of capabilities to manage a change is a major issue. While we like to think that our community, and by extension the VEs, are technologically savvy, our experiences with LoTW and ARES-Connect (I know, I said it) have proved to us that this is simply not the case. We have at least 4 FTEs at Headquarters on the phones for most of the day dealing with users of these two systems. If we’re going to make a major technological change in the VEC exam process, we need to consider how we’re going to train the thousands and thousands of ARRL VEs in the proper use of any new technology. Just a reminder, we have over 4,000 active VE teams.
And finally, before we make a major change, we need to consider the resource commitment necessary. Everyone, including the FCC and the ARRL are currently working under conditions of limited or reduced resources. Trying to introduce a major change in the VEC system for delivering and administering amateur radio exams would be extremely ill advised. Honestly, when we do this, we will need to totally retool the ARRL VEC as we don’t have the necessary skill sets in that department to take on the kind of sweeping change that are being discussed.
Again, I firmly believe the system should be changed. But we should do it in a way that will best serve the community. We have the option of trying to do this right or trying to do it fast and risking the decades of credibility and trust that the VEC system now enjoys. I believe we should do it right.
I am more than happy to discuss this or respond to any questions. But please keep in mind, we’re all working under some very unusual circumstances and responses may be delayed.
I hope everyone is staying safe.
73,
Barry, N1VXY
_______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv