There has been some discussion of the Secretary of Interior's standards for
cultural resource professions, so I thought it would be appropriate to
circulate them for those who have not actually read them. To clarify, they
do not apply only to National Park Service realms. The NPS, as a bureau of
the Dept of Interior, has general oversight responsibility for the entire
Federal compliance system, however, which is why many staff are involved
with external technical assistance. The standards are supposed to be
enforced for any work done on Federal lands, with Federal funds, or under a
Federal permit. They do not apply to literally all persons working on a
Federally sanctioned project, but must be met by key personnel with
responsibility for performance of the contract, permit, etc. (like the
principal investigator and project director). It is ironic, to say the
least, that Federal archeologists do not necessarily have to meet those
standards to do their jobs. The Office of Personnel Management
qualification standards for archeology, which Smoke Pfeiffer directed you
to in an earlier posting, do allow job applicants to demonstrate experience
that would be equivalent to having received a "required" academic degree.

In fact, a former NPS Chief Archeologist earned only a B.A., but his
competence as an archeologist was never doubted by anyone (even by a
cantankerous elitist like me). And, by the way, let me offer public
apologies to anyone who took offense at an earlier comment referring to a
source of my occasional stomach pains. I readily acknowledge the fact that
there are plenty of extremely competent working archeologists who lack an
advanced degree (and a lot of amateurs with no formal training at all who
do better work than some of our colleagues, for that matter). There is a
world of difference between someone just out of undergraduate school with
B.A. in hand and maybe one field school as practical experience--the person
I had in mind--and someone who has continued to work in the field for many
years with ever increasing experience and responsibility, much like a
traditional apprentice in other career paths. Academic degrees only hide
one's ignorance, as the poet John Ciardi once remarked in a commencement
address, and earning them generally has more to do with how much nonsense
you can tolerate along the way than your ability as a scholar. I really
didn't know very much that was terribly useful about doing archeology when
they mailed me my piece of paper, but I'd like to think that I've learned a
few things since then through practical experience. The legal system has a
hard time making those distinctions, unfortunately, and instead prefers
arbitrary absolutes when it comes to the archeological profession.

At any rate, the official SOI standards are below for various fields. The
qualifications define minimum education and experience required to perform
identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment activities. In some
cases, additional areas or levels of expertise may be needed, depending on
the complexity of the task and the nature of the historic properties
involved. In the following definitions, a year of full-time professional
experience need not consist of a continuous year of full-time work but may
be made up of discontinuous periods of full-time or part-time work adding
up to the equivalent of a year of full-time experience.

History

The minimum professional qualifications in history are a graduate degree in
history or closely related field; or a bachelor's degree in history or
closely related field plus one of the following:

1.    At least two years of full-time experience in research, writing,
teaching, interpretation, or other demonstrable professional activity with
an academic institution, historic organization or agency, museum, or other
professional institution; or
2.    Substantial contribution through research and publication to the body
of scholarly knowledge in the field of history.

Archeology

The minimum professional qualifications in archeology are a graduate degree
in archeology, anthropology, or closely related field plus:

1.    At least one year of full-time professional experience or equivalent
specialized training in archeological research, administration or
management;
2.    At least four months of supervised field and analytic experience in
general North American archeology, and
3.    Demonstrated ability to carry research to completion.
In addition to these minimum qualifications, a professional in prehistoric
archeology shall have at least one year of full-time professional
experience at a supervisory level in the study of archeological resources
of the prehistoric period. A professional in historic archeology shall have
at least one year of full-time professional experience at a supervisory
level in the study of archeological resources of the historic period.

Architectural History

The minimum professional qualifications in architectural history are a
graduate degree in architectural history, art history, historic
preservation, or closely related field, with coursework in American
architectural history, or a bachelor's degree in architectural history, art
history, historic preservation or closely related field plus one of the
following:

1.    At least two years of full-time experience in research, writing, or
teaching in American architectural history or restoration architecture with
an academic institution, historical organization or agency, museum, or
other professional institution; or
2.    Substantial contribution through research and publication to the body
of scholarly knowledge in the field of American architectural history.

Architecture

The minimum professional qualifications in architecture are a professional
degree in architecture plus at least two years of full-time experience in
architecture; or a State license to practice architecture.

Historic Architecture

The minimum professional qualifications in historic architecture are a
professional degree in architecture or a State license to practice
architecture, plus one of the following:

1.    At least one year of graduate study in architectural preservation,
American architectural history, preservation planning, or closely related
field; or
2.    At least one year of full-time professional experience on historic
preservation projects.
Such graduate study or experience shall include detailed investigations of
historic structures, preparation of historic structures research reports,
and preparation of plans and specifications for preservation projects.