The SAGE Report

by Gale Berkowitz
<gale@usenix.org>

USENIX Deputy Executive Director





Three meetings of the SAGE Executive Committee have been held since January 1, 1999. The most pressing issues for SAGE have been the SAGE Certification Project and the longterm strategic direction of SAGE.

SAGE Certification
The SAGE Certification Project is progressing well. Phase 1 was used to solidify project goals, plans, and procedures associated with the project as a whole. This phase has been completed.

We are now in Phase 2, the Occupational Analysis. This phase is viewed as supporting certification development, as well as education and training. It includes making use of available materials, incumbent interviews, and workshops. A survey is being conducted of job incumbents in order to build a description of the core requirements for system administration. The information derived from the occupational analysis will be used to determine the scope and content of Phases 3 and 4.

Two successful focus groups were conducted at the SANS conference in May in Baltimore. Two more are being organized in the California Bay Area, and another in the D.C. Metro area. Information derived from the focus groups will be used to develop the Web-based occupation survey to be conducted in July. Next steps include processing the information from the focus groups, interviewing members of the SAGE Certification Advisory Committee, and then developing and implementing a Web-based survey of systems administrators. We hope to launch the survey in September of this year.

Planning
Membership in SAGE continues to grow. The SAGE Executive Committee is holding a series of strategic planning meetings to map out the future direction of SAGE.

Other Ongoing SAGE Projects include:

How-To Notes
The How-To Notes are intended to be an ongoing, living, Web-based series. A How-To Notes Editor, Melissa Binde, has agreed to serve as the volunteer editor of the series. The first two Notes have been published in ;login:. The third appears in this issue, and other notes are being reviewed. SAGE encourages new ideas for How-To Notes, as well as volunteers to write the notes.

Mentoring Project
The purpose of the SAGE Mentoring Project is to guide and encourage apprentices in the development of all skills necessary for success as a UNIX or NT system administrator. It aims to develop leadership and mentorship skills among the mentors as well. It is a one-year pilot project. The Mentoring Pilot Project, under the direction of Mike Ewan, is moving forward, and apprentices have been selected.