Dr. Irwin Solomon, Chairman of the Committee on Certification, requested that the Board on Professional Standards approve 20 applicants for certification. He specified that of these 20, 12 were approved in what is now termed part one of the certification procedure; that is, approved on the basis of the written material alone. Another eight were approved as an outcome of part two of the certification procedure: that is, after a review of additional, requested written material and/or an interview with the applicant conducted by two members of the Certification Committee. Dr. Solomon advised the Board that these interviews, lasting approximately one hour, are not designed to be stress inducing, but rather are intended to facilitate clarification of unresolved questions regarding the content of the application. They are carefully prepared
for, the members reviewing extensive material.
Dr. Solomon noted further that there had been a total of 21 applicants for part one, of which 12 were recommended for certification, and 14 for part two, of which eight were recommended. Deferred applicants were asked for further information and/or asked to fulfill further requirements. He went on to state that the applications themselves had varied widely in quality. Some were so exceptional that they could be accepted within a few minutes; others required lengthy discussion before a decision, one way or the other, was made. Some presented such serious problems that it was difficult to make recommendations easily. This was usually the case when the applicant had trouble graduating from his or her own institute.