European Accreditation of Professional Statisticians By-Laws

Accreditation of European Statisticians

 

 

Article I.    Name

The name of the accreditation shall be Accredited European Statistician.

 

Article II.    Scope

1. The accreditation is a recognition that the accredited person has sufficient experience and other merits that all together indicate that he/she can serve as a statistician in an independent and professional way.
2. An applicant that fulfils the education and membership criteria, A and F respectively, can apply for candidate statistician. The intention is that the applicant will apply for full accreditation when criteria B-E is fulfilled.
3. The accreditation is based on documentation provided by the applicant.
4. FENStatS does not accept liability for the actions of any Accredited European Statistician.

 

  

Article III.    Participation of member organizations (Partners)

1. A FENStatS Partner notifies FENStatS that they intend to offer accreditation to their members. Notification is sent to FENStatS Executive Committee, according to instructions given separately.
2. Partners participating in the accreditation system are responsible for the approval process for its members.
3. Partners shall in the notification accept to follow these by-laws and other instructions issued under them and forthcoming amendments.
4. A Partner can withdraw its participation at any time by notifying the Executive Committee of FENStatS. Members already accredited by the recalling Partner will still be recognized as accredited statisticians by FENStatS. Applications under review shall be finalized by the withdrawing Partner.
5. A Partner that deliberately misuses, commits actions directed against the purpose of the system or its parts can have the participation revoked by the Executive Committee of FENStatS.

 

Article IV.    Role of FENStatS Executive Committee

FENStatS Executive Committee is representing FENStatS, and as such the ownership of the accreditation system.

 

Article V.    Role of FENStatS Accreditation Committee

1. FENStatS Accreditation Committee (AC) is handling the operative matters on behalf of the Executive Committee.
2. The AC is appointed by the Executive Committee after proposals from the Partners. It elects a chairperson among its members.
3. The AC will annually, and when deemed necessary, review the actions undertaken by Partners. A Partner that is not following the by-laws can be forced to withdraw its participation.
4. The AC is taking decisions of revokal of accreditation.
5. The AC shall keep documentation of the accreditation system and records of the accredited members.
6. A majority of the AC members shall be accredited, statisticians.

 

Article VI.    Role of participating member organizations

The Partners appoint a person representing themselves to FENStatS (hereafter the Representative) concerning accreditation.

1. The Partners appoint sufficient numbers of auditors, not less than three per Partner, for review of applications of their members.
2. The Partners may establish an appropriate local institutional organization in charge of the operation of the accreditation system.
3. The auditors are also allowed to consult with other experts if necessary.
4. Auditors shall be accredited, statisticians.

 

Article VII.    Application

1. A statistician, who is a member of a Partner can apply for accreditation. The application is submitted to his/her Partner organization.
2. By applying the applicant approves the rules and conditions set out in these by-laws, ethical guidelines and any other document issued under them.
3. The local institutional body, established by the Partner, accepts or rejects the application. An application can also be accepted given that certain evidence is appended to the application or certain questions are responded.
4. The decisions are reported to the AC.
5. The AC issues a proof of accreditation.

 

Article VIII. Recognition of foreign accreditations

1. The Executive Committee can, after hearing the AC, sign a mutual recognition with foreign organizations that provide systems for accreditation that is equivalent to the FENStatS System.
2. A statistician, who fulfills the requirement for European accreditation, and is accredited by a mutually recognized foreign organization, can apply for accreditation by submitting his/her foreign credentials.
3. An application according to point 2 is submitted to the AC for decision.

 

Article IX.    Financing

1. The costs for operating the accreditation system shall be carried primarily by the accredited statisticians on a non-profit basis.
2. The applicant is charged a fee for the application.
3. Accredited members are charged an annual fee.
4. FENStatS can charge the Partners parts of the fees under 2 and 3. The financial by-laws of FENStatS shall incorporate corresponding guidelines.

 

Article X.    Recall and time limits

1. An Accredited European Statistician can have his/her accreditation recalled.
2. An Accredited European Statistician that no longer is a member of a Partner shall no longer maintain status as accredited.
3. Accreditation is valid for a period of 5 years.

 

Article XI.    Revokal

1. An Accredited European Statistician that violates the by-laws, any law or ethical standard for which he/she is bound, is violating scientific principles or in other ways brings disreputation to statistics and statisticians, in general, can have his/her accreditation revoked.
2. An Accredited European Statistician that is being expelled from his/her member organisation can also have his/her accreditation revoked.
3. Decision on revokal shall be taken by FENStatS Executive Committee on request of the AC. A decision shall not be taken before the Partner and the member has been given a reasonable time to answer.
4. The Executive Committee decision is final.

    

    

 

Article XII. Ownership

1. Any proprietary property, including, but not limited to standards, procedures, instructions, logotypes and templates are owned and trademarked of FENStatS.
2. Any use not approved by FENStatS is illegal.
3. The accreditation is not transferable and does not apply to the Accredited European Statistician’s organization of affiliation etc.
4. The Executive Committee shall take necessary actions to protect the integrity of the system.

 

Article XIII. Interpretation

1. If in doubt or ambiguity, these by-laws and any other rule, shall be interpreted for the purpose set out in the preamble and in the FENStatS statutes.
2. The Executive Committee has the final decision in any question arising from an interpretation of these by-laws and any other rule.

 

Transitional rules

1. Referring to Article V(6): Before a sufficient number of accredited statisticians are available the AC can temporarily consist of other well-recognized members. Such members are encouraged to apply for accreditation.
2. Referring to Article VI(4): Before a sufficient number of accredited statisticians are available, the auditors can be elected temporarily among well-recognized members. Accreditations approved by not accredited auditors are revised by the AC.
3. Referring to Article IX: Cost for investing and build-up of the system shall be distributed over a reasonably long time, not to cause higher fees when the system is new than later.
4. Referring to Article IX(2): The fee should be in the span EUR80-EUR150.
5. Referring to Article IX(3): The fee should be in the span EUR10-EUR50.
6. Referring to Article X(3): Rules for re-accreditation is under development.
7. A Partner that is already applying a system of accreditation of their members can have that system’s compliance to FENStatS evaluated after application to FENStatS. If the system is found to be comparable, its members can have their accreditations transferred according to article VIII.

    

     

These by-laws are issued on 2019-07-07, and ammended on 2023-12-09 by junior accreditation.

This document in pdf              Public information

 

 

Appendix A. Criteria for accreditation

1. The following criteria are applied. Suggestions of proofs of each criteria are listed under each point in italics.
   
   A.  University degree
   A university degree at least at MSc level according to the Bologna criteria – majoring in statistics or equivalent.
   University diploma, transcripts etc.
   
   B. Work experience
   At least five years of relevant working experience as statistician
   CV, letters (2) of recommendation
   
   C. Professional development
   The applicants shall during the period after the education have an ongoing professional development in relevant fields (not necessary only in statistics).
   List (if not in the CV) and certifications etc
   
   D.  Communication skills
   Documented skills in communication of statistical concepts.
   Work examples (3) and letter of recommendation (can be the same as (B)).
   
   E. Compliance to ethical standards
   The applicant shall certify knowledge of relevant ethical standards and adhere to them.
   Enumeration and confirmation of acceptance.
   
   F.  Member in participating organization
   Confirmed by the participating organisation.
2. The Committee can, upon recommendation of the auditors, grant accreditation to an applicant that has achieved the merits stated above but lack documentation.
3. The Committee can, upon recommendation of the auditors, grant accreditation to an applicant with an older university degree as bachelor or similar.
4. The application shall consist of the documentation mentioned under (1) above and an application letter summarising the merits of the application.
5. The application shall include an undersigned agreement that the applicant is accepting the rules of the accreditation, especially criteria E (Ethical standards) where relevant standards shall be enumerated.
6. Unless explicitly stated, the application form, name, contact information and decision will be made public.
7. Unless explicitly stated, the contents of the application will be handled as confidential and stored during the whole period of the accreditation.
8. The application fee is paid on the submission.
9. Proof of accreditation is distributed electronically.