Professional Standards Institute (PSI) Policies

PSI policies are reflected on this page and are subject to change without notice.

The policies of the Professional Standards Institute fall under two categories:

1. Certification Policies
2. Organizational Policies

  PSI Certification Policies

Certification Requirements

Professional Standards Institute (PSI) certifications are "true" competency-based, vendor-neutral, and role-based certifications. PSI believes that a certification should reflect the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities an individual has attained through "real-world" experience and education; therefore three levels of certification are offered. The requirements for certification are posted on the Certification Requirements Page. The specific requirements for certification are posted on the individual certification pages for each certification. Applicants may only apply to and work on one certification at a time.

Certification Evaluations

Certified PSI staff and Subject Matter Experts will conduct all evaluations on Competency-Based Assessments and other submitted work. Automated processing of evaluations will not be used. Certification eligibility and evaluations will be accomplished as required by the certification requirements and published rubrics. Evaluators will use the same tools and methods used by university faculty to check for plagiarism. A Senior PSI Staff Member will review all final certification award and non-award decisions.

Peer evaluations will be performed on the Competency-Based Assessment and other submitted work. Peer evaluations will be accomplished by Certified PSI staff and authorized Subject Matter Experts (SME). Certification assessments may change without notice. Authorized rubrics will be used to conduct peer evaluations. In addition, certification applicants will receive constructive feedback on all assessments.

Certification Application Re-Submission

• Eligibility Phase (Phase 1): If it has been determined that an applicant is not qualified to move on to the Competency Assessment Phase, the applicant may resubmit the application and supporting documents one time after the non-eligible decision has been made. If the applicant does not meet the eligibility requirements after the second attempt, the applicant can re-apply for certification after waiting one year and improving their eligibility to apply.
• Competency Assessment Phase (Phase 2): If an applicant does not pass the Competency-Based Assessment, the applicant can resubmit the Competency-Based Assessment one time at no cost after the first attempt. If an applicant does not pass the second attempt of the Competency-Based Assessment, the applicant can re-apply for certification after waiting one year.

Established Certification Eligibility Criteria

Certification applicants must meet minimum certification eligibility criteria prior to being considered for certification. The following is the established minimum criteria:

• Professional Level
  • Must meet one of the following requirements:
    1. Five (5) years of experience
       OR
    2. Four (4) years of experience plus associate degree OR technical/career certificate or diploma
       OR
    3. Three (3) years of experience plus bachelor's degree
  • 25% of required experience must be within the last 5 years
• Senior Level
  • Must meet one of the following requirements:
    1. Eight (8) years of experience
       OR
    2. Seven (7) years of experience plus associate degree OR technical/career certificate or diploma
       OR
    3. Six (6) years of experience plus bachelor's degree
  • 25% of required experience must be within the last 5 years
  • Must have 2 years of project lead or supervisory experience
• Master Level
  • Must meet one of the following requirements:
    1. Twelve (12) years of experience
       OR
    2. Eleven (11) years of experience plus associate degree OR technical/career certificate or diploma
       OR
    3. Ten (10) years of experience plus bachelor's degree
       OR
    4. Nine (9) years of experience plus master's degree
  • 25% of required experience must be within the last 10 years
  • Must have 2 years of project lead or supervisory experience
  • Must have 2 years of managerial experience

Note: Some specialized certifications may have different minimum certification eligibility criteria.

Experience and Education Requirements

The following are specific experience and education requirements:

• Experience:
  • Experience must be relevant and verifiable.
  • The experience requirement must come from US-based companies.
• Education: (college degree, technical/career certificate or diploma)
  • Must be in a relevant field.
  • The education requirement must come from U.S. based institutions.

Certification Periods

Certifications at the professional-level and senior-level have a five (5) year certification period and require re-certification after the certification period. Master-level certifications do not expire and do not require re-certification.

Professional Career Portfolio

PSI Certification Holders will be provided a Professional Career Portfolio and a web link to the portfolio. The Professional Career Portfolio will contain PSI Certifications. PSI Verified Experience, PSI Verified Education, Published Article(s), Research Paper(s), Industry Projects, and Awards can be added during re-certification.

Professional Career Portfolios will remain active as long as PSI Certification Holders hold and maintain an active PSI certification, AND maintain an active membership. Active membership is maintained by simply logging in to the member accounts at least one time each year.

PSI Employer Network

PSI will establish and maintain the PSI Employer Network to help connect PSI Certification Holders with potential employers. There will be no cost to become a member of the PSI Employer Network. Once a company becomes a member of the PSI Employer Network, they will have access to view all Professional Career Portfolios of PSI's Certification Holders that have made their portfolios available. Employers will then be able to connect to Certification Holders using the contact form on the Professional Career Portfolio. In addition, PSI Certification Holders will be able to browse the list of employers in the PSI Employer Network and contact employers that have provided a preferred method of contact.

Certification Statistics

It is Professional Standards Institute's policy not to publish or release the numbers of certifications awarded. PSI believes that 'quality' trumps 'quantity' when it comes to certifications.

No Employment Guarantee

Professional Standards Institute does not guarantee employment or acceptance of certification credentials. No organization should make this guarantee. It is up to each individual employer as to which credentials they accept. The certifications offered through Professional Standards Institute are not a license to practice in any field. Certification holders must meet all federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding licensure.

Certification and Eligibility Cancellation

The following member conduct or actions will result in PSI membership being cancelled, certifications being revoked, certification eligibility being withdrawn, and a permanent ban on membership and future certification applications:

• Providing false or misleading information on the member profile, certification application, or supporting documents.
• Violation of the PSI Code of Professional Standards and Ethics.
• Violation of member, certification, or application agreements.
• Submitted work that is not original work, contains plagiarized or copyrighted materials, or received any assistance in its creation. Evaluators use the same tools and methods used by university faculty to check for plagiarism.
• Compromising the security or integrity of the Competency-Based Assessment, such as discussing, disclosing, or posting any information about the Competency-Based Assessment.
• Not cooperating in the investigation of the activities listed above.

Certification Fees

The assessment, certification, and re-certification fees are posted on the Fee Structure page and are subject to change. These fees are non-refundable.

International Applicants

At this time we do not accept international applicants. We do not have international offices or staff to verify experience or education.

  PSI Organizational Policies

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Recruitment

Subject Matter Experts (SME) are recruited to develop new certification programs and to perform peer evaluations of submitted Competency-Based Assessments and other submitted work. SME's must meet the following requirements:

• Experience and Education Level: SME's must meet the requirements for the master level certification in their field of expertise.
• As a Peer Evaluator: SME's must hold the certification for the certification they will be assigned peer evaluation duties.
• PSI Certification Holders: Our certification holders are given preference for SME positions.

Note: We will post SME Recruitment Announcements on this site as needed.

Privacy Policy

Any business or personal information collected will be for the sole purpose of conducting business with our clients and customers. Professional Standards Institute will use secure industry practices to protect personal and privacy information. We do not sell or release any personal information about our clients or customers to anyone outside our organization without their explicit permission or court order. Our web sites do not track, collect or distribute business or personal information not entered by visitors using cookies or any other method. Our policy is to collect the minimum information necessary for conducting business.

Advertising Policy

We do not accept or place advertisements on our site from other companies and organizations. We do not mail or email unwanted advertisements or spam email to our customers or clients.

Website Policy

We do not use tracking cookies or any type of cookies on our websites. We do not have any annoying popup windows on our websites. We do not lock windows or functions on our websites.

We design and develop our organizational websites and web applications to be simple, intuitive, and easy to use. We provide a method for users and visitors of our websites to easily contact us. If a website problem has been discovered or reported to us, we will work to correct the problem immediately.

Customer Service Policy

We strongly believe in Professional Competence, Conduct, and Integrity. We strive to establish long-term relationships with our clients and customers by providing quality services and products. The bottom line in our Customer Service Policy is 100% Customer Satisfaction. All complaints and disputes will be processed within 48 hours. See the complaint policy below.

Complaint Policy

Upon receipt of a complaint regarding our services or products, the complaint will be reviewed and researched by a staff member within 24 hours. If the issue is valid and resolvable, it will be resolved as soon as possible. The staff member will submit feedback to the individual submitting the complaint within 48 hours. If the issue is not valid, the staff member will submit feedback to the individual who submitted the complaint within 48 hours explaining the situation. If resolution goes beyond 48 hours, the staff member will provide status on the situation on a weekly basis until the issue is resolved. The Executive Director will be the final reviewer and approver in all complaints.

Contradiction Policy

If a policy on this page contradicts with information provided elsewhere on the PSI website, the content of the policy will take precedence.

Executive Director Exceptions

The Executive Director may make exceptions to the certification and organizational policies on this page on a case-by-case basis to meet unique needs.

Office Hours

Professional Standards Institute office hours for support and other business are from 8:00am to 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.