In today’s episode of Tails of Testing, we hear from Craig Mills, a consultant who recently retired from his position as Senior Vice President for Professional Services at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). Make no mistake, though—his retirement isn’t a slow one. He chats about why he’s so excited to stay involved with the assessment industry, witness the changes that are taking place, and even attend conferences. We’re getting excited about the ATP Innovations in Testing 2022 conference, and as it turns out, so is Craig!

Video Transcript

[Onscreen: A split-screen of Brodie and Craig chatting virtually.]

Brodie Wise
Hi, everyone. It’s Brodie Wise. Thanks for joining again. I’m the EVP at Internet Testing Systems, and today I’m excited to have with me Mr. Craig Mills. Craig, welcome.

Craig Mills
Thanks, Brodie. It’s good to be here.

Brodie
So, Craig, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is [that] you sort of retired from NBME. Is that true?

Craig
It is. I describe it as not working full time for a single organization anymore. I’m doing some volunteer work and doing a little bit of consulting and just kind of seeing things that are fun and interesting and stepping into them.

Brodie
That’s awesome, Craig. I worked closely with you when you were at NBME, learned a lot from you, and one of the things I’m going to miss is when we would travel, go down to ATP or over to ATP, depending on where it is. Are you still engaged with ATP? Are you planning to go this year?

Craig
I am. I’m looking forward very much to going to ATP. It’ll be my first conference since E-ATP in 2019. First face-to-face conference. And I’m really looking forward to connecting with the industry again.

Brodie
Yeah, I didn’t even think about that. Yeah, I haven’t gone to anything since 2019. So, that’s great, you’re still engaged. But why? Why stay engaged with this if you’re retired and you’re just doing volunteer work? Why is it important?

Craig
A lot of reasons, Brodie. This profession has been really good to me. I’ve had the opportunity, been in the right place a couple of times, to be associated with teams that have done some groundbreaking work—some of the computerization stuff, some performance testing—and it’s just given me great pleasure. And I like staying involved. I’m really excited about some of the changes that are happening in the profession right now. I’ve always been very enamored with the opening doors aspect of testing, and seeing people get access to higher education, to certifications, whatever, through assessment, through good assessment, is a rewarding thing. And at the same time, we have to recognize that testing doesn’t work as well for every group as we’d like it to. And there is an emerging social consciousness about what we’re doing in this profession that I think is long overdue. I’m glad that it’s starting, and to the extent I can help with that a little bit, I’d like to do that. I also think that we’re starting to move away from our reliance on multiple choice items, starting to do more performance stuff. And I think that will open doors for different people as well. So, if there are places where I can volunteer and help out or, you know, somebody wants to pay me to help out, I’m happy to do that. But mostly, going to ATP is giving back to the profession that has done so much for me. And at ATP in particular, I think it’s the case that I gave the opening keynote at the first ATP conference in Carmel Valley.

Brodie
Wow.

Craig
So I’ve been part of that organization for a long time, and now I have time to do a little more for them.

Brodie
That’s powerful, Craig. First opening keynote. That is something they will never ask me to do. So, just to put it at a certain perspective. They might have to ask you to pull you in to do it again, though. I like that. Now, thanks for sharing that, Craig. I know I’m personally looking forward to going down and just getting to see people face-to-face again and learn. And one of the things that I find really valuable is when I get to see people like you who are a wealth of knowledge in this industry, and you really help people like me just completely continue to grow and get better an understanding on what to do. And the best thing is, and I think it’s what you just touched on, is that you don’t stand for the status quo. You constantly are looking at ways to change and evolve and challenge and push. And the fact that you’re doing it just, you know, pro bono, coming down, supporting the group, it’s a testament of what you’ve done for this industry. So, thank you, Craig.

Craig
Well, you’re going to make me blush, Brodie.

Brodie
No, no, you have a huge impact on all of us.

Craig
It’s a privilege to be involved.

Brodie
Yeah. So, since this is my forum for, I call it the Tails of Testing, the wagging tails, since some people don’t realize that we misspelled it on purpose. But that’s just a whole other thing. I always like to leave it with any words of encouragement or something that you think you would like to leave with this crowd.

Craig
I think measurement has been slow to change. But, over the past three years, we have seen enormous changes in the business of measurement, how we do it, and we have seen an openness to experimentation. We have had to deal with some comparability issues, but I think we’ve learned that maybe we could forfeit a little bit of comparability in order to get some advocacy in what we’re doing. So, I would say embrace the change. I also am excited about some of the things that are happening with regard to diversity in the profession, particularly the new group Women in Measurement. I wish them the best. I think that could end up being a very powerful source of positive change.

Brodie
Great.

Craig
So, let’s go ATP, let’s get together, and let’s celebrate our accomplishments. Let’s embrace our future. And let’s embrace the social consciousness of the profession, as well.

Brodie
Great idea. Great point. I love it, Craig. I love it. Well, thank you for taking the time to chat with me. I’ll look forward to seeing you at ATP.

Craig
Glad to do it. I’ll buy you a drink, man.

Brodie
Excellent. Okay, see you soon.

Craig
Be well.

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About Our Guest