Registered (Unprofessional) Archaeologist — More Expensive Than Adding Professional To Your Certification?
The Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) announced some time back that professional archaeologists without a graduate degree could now join their special club.
The catch? Well, with a mere four-year college degree, you could only be a “Registered Archaeologist” — the word “professional” being reserved for those who were masochistic enough to do graduate school.
Now we know what the price tag for this designation will be: $99/year.
Before we get into how worthless even the designation is, let’s stop and look at what someone with a master’s or PhD would pay for the higher-grade designation of “Registered Professional Archaeologist” — $135/year if you’re not part of one of the sponsoring or affiliated organizations. But wait! If you happen to hold membership already in AIA, AAA, SHA, or SAA, it’s only $55 a year! And it’s still only $85/year if you’re a member of one of the nine affiliated organizations.
Note that there’s no price drop for the poor RA designation.
Also, what’s this about a bachelor’s thesis? Back in my day, we liked our cars fast, and our bachelors illiterate.