ATLANTA (Xplor) – October 28, 2003 – StaffingTools, Inc., together with the National Council for Skill Standards for Graphic Communications, are co-recipients of this year’s EDSF (Electronic Document Systems Foundation) Excellence in Education Award for Innovation in Continuing Education. StaffingTools’ CEO, Craig Hane; and Edmond L. Kelley, Executive Director, National Council for Skill Standards; are accepting the award here at the Xplor 2003 Conference. The EDSF award is for the jointly-developed NC Digital Imaging Certification Examination (DICE) online testing program for imaging operators in the printing, publishing and advertising industries. The EDSF is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to the document communications industry. The organization presents its Excellence in Education awards to recognize academic institutions and independent educational organizations for their pioneering efforts relating to the document communications industry. According to the EDSF, “recipients stand out through their original programs, state-of-the art technology while also using their curricula, coursework, and overall efforts to promote the industry.” “We’re honored to receive this prestigious EDSF Excellence in Education Award. We’re very proud of the online skills certification program we’ve developed with the National Council for Skill Standards, and we remain committed to providing the most comprehensive online training and certification programs for the graphic communications industry,” says Hane, who adds that two StaffingTools students had achieved DICE “Master” status – i.e., proven competence in the all four DICE categories – over the last year. According to Ed Kelly, “Skill certification continues to grow as a vital part of the overall training and development of technical professionals across U.S. industry. The value of certification covers a wide array of strengths, from increased quality of work, higher productivity and decreased turnover to its use as a competitive differentiator in the workplace. The National Council for Skill Standards is pleased to be recognized by EDSF for Educational Excellence and Innovation in Continuing Education. This award clearly supports the principle that training is required for companies to be competitive, and that solid training begins with industry skill standards.” StaffingTools’ NC DICE Certification Exams The National Council for Skill Standards are a listing of competencies – i.e., what an operator should know and be able to do - written for the expert level of performance. Skill Standards were developed by a collaborative group of concerned leaders from industry management, associations, education and labor, under a matching grant from the United States Department of Education, and awarded to the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF). In 2002, The National Council for Skill Standards teamed with StaffingTools to develop online certification exams. The resulting NC DICE Certification program available through www.StaffingTools.com offers Digital Imaging Certification Exams in four categories: Job Engineering; Image Acquisition; Composition; and Digital Output. Imaging candidates taking the online exam should have at least three years of experience in their imaging work area of expertise. The series of four technician examinations that comprise the Digital Imaging Certification measures the candidate's knowledge and experience with current prepress digital imaging software applications. Each 90-minute online DICE exam is computer-interactive and available anytime, 24/7, via a standard Internet connection. To take the exam, register at: http://www.StaffingTools.com/ncss/public/ncssreg.asp Imaging personnel may take any of the DICE Series based on experience alone: those interested in prior review and study may take StaffingTools, Inc. online prepress training courses and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF) Digital Imaging Certification Review Program developed by StaffingTools, Inc. and GATF. Combining core and operating skills, the NC Candidate’s Procedures Guide contains a description of each of the four examinations with a topical listing of imaging tasks, work areas and functions; sample test questions are included. Ninety minutes is provided for each of the examinations: registration is $150 for each. Since the DICE exams have been administered, two candidates, Matt Elliott, Director of Technology, MacKay, Inc. in Florence Kentucky, and Shawn Connors, Printing and Digital Technology Faculty, Nova Scotia Community College, Halifax, Nova Scotia; have reached “Master” certification status, achieving certification in all four categories: Job Engineering; Image Capture; Composition; and Digital Output. NC DICE Certification Credits StaffingTools and the National Council for Skill Standards credit the success of the NC DICE online testing program to the support of key industry professionals who contributed to the development of the program. For the design and writing of the knowledge-based core and operating test items, the NC engaged the services of Hal Hinderliter, Hinderliter Consulting and Creative Services, former Director of the GATF, Robert E. Howard, Center for Imaging Excellence and co-author of the GATF Imaging Skills Training Program. Subject Matter Experts (SME) with current expert-level digital imaging operating skills – following the operating tasks of the GATF Imaging Program – contributed test items to the education and training staff of StaffingTools.com, for organization and formatting. William McCulloch, Director and James Mendes, Testing and Certification Manager, both of the Adobe Solutions Network, directed a separate group of Subject Matter Experts to address the development of performance-based test items. Industry organizations contributing SME to the item writing phase of the project include: Appalachian State University, Dr. John Craft, Assoc. Prof.; Graphic Arts & Imaging Technology; The Castle Press, Betty Dieterle, Prepress Manager; Enovation, Inc., Steven Ross, Electronic Sales & Support; Fuji Photo Film; USA/Graphic Systems, Eric Neumann, Product Development Manager, Color Input Products; Green Printing Co., Vicki Stone, Director, Prepress Operations; Heidelberg USA, Inc., James Burke, Director, Prepress Service and Training; Japs-Olson Co., Chris Illa, Production & Workflow Manager; Williams Printing Co., Thomas Jefferson, Regional Prepress Representative; Graphic Communications International, Curtis Thormodsgaard, President; and PDFexperts.com, Bill Carberry, President.