The Assessment Centre Study Group of South Africa

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Three months have already passed since our annual ACSG Conference in March. And apart from everyone talking about soccer, it is COLD! However, we still have fond memories of the 2010 conference.

Planning for 2011’s conference, which will be held from 16 to 18 March 2011 is going full steam ahead. Our theme for 2011 is:

Breaking Tradition – New Frontiers for Assessment Centres.

Please send us your abstracts for evaluation to include in the 2011 Conference programme (see the Call for Papers).

We have also been busy with other tasks:

Click on the Information tab above and look to the right hand side under the Navigation heading for Strategic Direction, you will find a draft document on the proposed new direction for the ACSG. When you read it, you will notice that we are not changing what we are already doing, but we want to add to the ACSG’s role and activities. Please give us feedback on the proposed strategic direction.

The AC Blog is about to become a reality. The purpose of the AC Blog is to be in conversation with each other throughout the year on Assessment Centre related issues. The discussion topic of the AC Blog will change quarterly. Each discussion topic will be introduced by one of the AC Blog Editors in the form of a theoretical (research supported) “article.” All ACSG members then participate in the ensuing discussion on the various issues raised. Once a month, the respective Editor will summarise the discussion and perhaps give the discussion new impetus. It is envisioned that the Editors are nominated every second year based on certain criteria. The Editors can enrol other ACSG members to assist them in their duties. The people who agreed to be the first Editors for the AC Blog are: Prof Rian Viviers, Prof Petrus Nel, Prof Deon Meiring and Francois de Kock. Thank you very much to these four brave people. The AC Blog is a new concept and will be refined as we continue with the AC Blog. The first topic for discussion will be Ethics (continuing our discussion from the 2010 Conference) and will be opened on 5 July 2010.

Please register as a user of the ACSG website to partake in the discussion on the current topic - Ethics. Click on "add a comment" at the end of the text to add your views.

We have also started discussions with the management of CPD Well to create a stream exclusively on Assessment Centres. CPD Well offers alternative ways to obtain our CPD points annually. We envision an option where we can obtain additional CPD points annually by working through ten published peer reviewed articles on Assessment Centres. Our initial discussions with the people from CPD Well were very positive. We are now awaiting the final decision from CPD Well on whether this dream will become a reality.

We are working on the possibility of obtaining access to academic databases for ACSG members. A database like EBSCO or EMERALD gives access to more than 4 000 articles published over the years on Assessment Centres! What a treasure chest of knowledge already available!! These databases can currently only be accessed if a person enrols for a post graduate degree at a university. We would like to make access to these databases available to all AC enthusiasts that are members of the ACSG. However, we need all the suggestions on how to do it, all the support possible and all the “door opening” ethically and humanly possible to enable this to become a reality. Please help us with this!