Technical Difficulties at the CFP Board
Another update as of 8/14/08, see below and also read comments from Carol Lee Roberts, CFP®, Managing Director of Examinations and Education for the CFP Board.
Initially I wasn’t going to say anything about my recent experience with the CFP Board and some of the technical issues I have encountered over the last few months. But today the third issue came up, and I’m beginning to get concerned that operations inside the CFP Board aren’t going as smoothly as possible.
Back in June (after the exam registration deadline), I received an email message from the CFP Board that indicated either my payment or my registration was incomplete. Calls flooded the Board from concerned exam applicants. It turned out the email was sent in error to most (all?) applicants and we were told not to worry; our registration for the exam was not in jeopardy. Nevertheless, be still my beating heart!
Then on the exam itself, I believe there was an error on a test question. I feel that one question did not reflect changes to tax law in 2008 as compared to 2007. Keep in mind that long term capital gain tax rates changed for taxpayers in low income tax brackets. I suspect the question was updated in 2007 and rotated through the bank of questions. It likely was not on the March 2008 exam and when it appeared in the July exam, reviewers missed it. That’s all I can say about this issue without violating the disclosure policy established by the Board, but you get the idea. Besides, I could be totally wrong on the question!
Then late Tuesday I received an email message about a Determinant Survey the CFP Board uses to perform data-mining of exam takers. The deadline for survey responses is August 25, according to this email:
So I clicked the link to the survey and received the following error message!
Alright CFP Board; what is going on inside that is causing these technical problems? Do I need to be concerned that my exam might not be scored properly? If I allegedly fail, do I need to request a hand scoring review?
It’s unfortunate that other turmoil occurred earlier in the year within the CFP Board’s umbrella, and then this array of technical problems starts to pile on top. For the money paid by certificants, I would hope that these issues are not a harbinger of more serious internal management problems.
I apologize to anyone from the CFP Board reading this, but I must be honest, these issues are affecting my confidence in the Board of Standards.
8/14/08 Update: It turns out the link to the survey was sent out prematurely. Oops. See the CFP Board’s most recent communication:
On Tuesday, August 12, 2008, you were sent an e-mail from CFP Board asking you to complete an Exam Candidate Questionnaire. This e-mail was sent in error, and the questionnaire is not currently available. If you tried to access this link provided in the e-mail, you found a message stating that the deadline to respond to the survey had ended.
We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this e-mail may have created during your busy day, and we wish you the best as you await your results from the July 2007 CFP(R) Certification Examination.
Sincerely,
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
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August 14th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I am responding to your posts regarding technical difficulties at CFP Board. We regret that you have encountered technical and communication problems related to our exam.
We are aware of and regret the operator error associated with the erroneous e-mail sent to exam registrants in June. We caught and corrected that miscommunication within an hour by sending an e-mail to all registered candidates including our apologies. The expired survey you received after the exam was also sent in error. While we conduct these surveys periodically in collaboration with our colleagues in academia, no survey had been scheduled following the July exam. We realize that these operator errors are confounding; we want to apologize and assure you that we are taking steps to ensure that these types of errors do not recur.
The problematic test question that you referred to in your post was picked up by our standard quality control process. Following each exam, and prior to exam scoring, items that are identified as problematic based on candidate input and statistical anomaly. These items are reviewed individually by the Council of Examinations at a Problem Item Notification call. Those deemed inaccurate or imprecise are removed from the exam scoring. This is an integral component of our comprehensive approach to ensuring the validity of each exam.
As someone who has been through the CFP® certification process, I am keenly aware of the time, effort and financial commitment candidates make to prepare and sit for the exam. I also know first-hand, that sitting for the exam and waiting for the results can be very stressful. I want to assure you that CFP Board is dedicated to creating and administering an exam that is valid, reliable and legally defensible. While we admit that our e-mail communications are subject to error due to human intervention, we are making every effort to strengthen our processes to minimize, and even eliminate, these errors.
Sincerely,
Carol Lee Roberts, CFP®
Managing Director, Examinations & Education
August 14th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Carol,
Thank you for providing your comments and specifically addressing the concerns I raised. As you are likely aware, the CFP Board is under a considerable amount of scrutiny based on many of the recent publicied events in 2008.
I imagine you can understand my frustration after encountering multiple technical issues relating to the administration of the most recent exam. Although, I must admit that my standards and expectations can be higher than others as I am passionate about efficient operations and detail-oriented issues: this is the main reason why I maintain FPPad.com.
I trust that your proactive efforts to optimize the CFP Board’s internal processes will result in accurate and effective communications to all candidates now and in the future. The Examinations & Education division of the CFP Board will continue to be an essential component in promoting the merits of the CFP® Certification, viewed by many as the standard in identifying compentent financial professionals.
Thanks again,
Bill Winterberg
FPPad.com
September 12th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I understand the problems with the email and the survey. Can you give me the practical reason on why it is taking over 8 weeks to grade the exam and get the grades out? At least post the results on the site or email them to us. I have lost a lot of confidence in the board to keep up with the times and to be able to maintain the level of respect for the marks.
Now when will my exam results really be released?????
September 15th, 2008 at 7:22 am
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September 15th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Carol, can you explain this?
Last week I called the CFP board and was told that the results would be sent out by Friday. I called the CFP board today after not receiving the letter and they said the results were delayed and they now do not know when the results will be sent out. Depending on who you talk to at the CFP board, explanations vary from “there was a glitch” to “technical difficulties” to “we have not been given any information, any information you have been given is incorrect, including wherever you heard that results would be mailed on Friday.” In fact, I was told by one operator that the information I was told did not even come from the CFP Board hotline! Really? So I made it up then? Great customer service skills… How frustrating! It’s been almost 9 weeks! I just want a straight answer. My confidence in the CFP is rapidly falling.
If the Board really does understand the work that goes into studying for the exam and the stress involved in waiting for the results as you say, you would think they would make more of an effort to keep test takers well informed and/or work on speeding up the turnaround time.
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:10 am
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