steve and  the rest - It has been my experience that people are willing to
make exceptions, though  I am undoubtedly dealing with a skewed
perspective. There are a small number of  "unschooled" archaeologists lucky
enough to be working in the field at a level above shovel hand. Being one
of them, I am torn as to my opinion on the whole issue. For every grad
student who can't set up a transit there are probably 10 "amateur
archaeologists" with a basement full of "arrowheads". One thing that a
college education hopefully instills  in students  is the importance of
proper respect for the resource and the  excavation and reporting of sites.
This of course can be learned elsewhere, but having a college degree may be
the easiest way to show  prospective employers you are an Archaeologist.
         There was a rousing debate at the MAAC meetings this fall on issues that
skirted this one and the one thing I came away with was the willingness of
CRM firms to do a fair amount of on the job teaching . What they really
want are people who show up knowing how to write and think critically. This
of course could be said of many fields.
        My question. As an archaeologist  who has attended and participated in
many conferences, has been in charge of excavating and writing up sites,
and is currently field supervisor at a long term research/public
archaeological project, does my lack of degree keep me out of organizations
like COVA and SOPA ? I am under the impression it does.   One last bit of
advice to steve and anyone else within earshot. Go back to school or you
will always be working for someone who did.
___________
Eric Deetz
[log in to unmask]
 
http://www.apva.org