GIA is the AUTHORITY of Gemology and Gemstones... they shouldn't be expected to provide courses on 'everything else' and should stick to what they do best! I'm a GJG, and a former GIA instructor, and feel like GIA is being slammed for not providing 'fluff' electives. A lot of 'selling' is based on one's 'people skills' and natural abilities to connect with their customer - a trait which can't necessarily be taught. GIA has a great thing going, should keep their scope narrow, and focus on Gemstones. p.s. I agree with Rhonda about the Distance Course 'affectiveness' and with Hedda that admissions should be more rigorous! That way a GG diploma would REALLY stand for something the way it used to...

Sarah---The point of my entire article has been...GIA should have a more rigorous admission...That is my food for thought...then it would stand for something more.

Shanu, you make do make good points - it's true that in college you do take elective, as well as GE courses to give you an opportunity to be well-rounded. I think the difference is that GIA is a "trade school". They teach about gems, and their focus probably needs to stay that narrow. Let's face it - if the GIA started offering appraisal education, customer service, etc - the industry would probably then start saying that GIA is trying to mold the entire marketplace. (meaning: they would be training people to grade the gems, value the gems, do sales, make the jewelry...etc.) I have to admit that I was very surprised that the admissions process wasn't more rigorous - it took me as long to fill out the admissions form as it does to sign up for community education classes, and that just seems wrong. It tends to make me wonder if it's more important for GIA to get their hands on their students money than it is to make sure that the people who enter the program have half a chance of finishing it, or even whether or not they have quality applicants. It just doesn't seem like the way a highly-esteemed education program would operate. I mean, I'm sure none of us would assume that Stanford, Princeton or even Harvard would take anyone regardless of their SAT scores or high school education. But then again - GIA *is* a trade school. As for their distance education program, it seriously needs to be overhauled if they really want to continue offering it to the general public. Personally, I DO think it can be a great program - but the school has to be willing to do the work to make it that way. One thing the program seriously lacks is GOOD feedback from the "instructors". For example, when I am finished with a gem identification worksheet - I send it in for feedback (assuming of course that I have missed a few gemstones). When I get it back, the only feedback I typically receive from my instructor are checkmarks beside the gemstones that were incorrectly identified. Explain to me how that helps? Perhaps giving me some kind of idea as to where I went wrong would have been more helpful... Yes, it would require extra work, but isn't that the point? To teach?? I became so discouraged that I ended up taking additional gemology courses not at GIA, but at Santiago Canyon College. (I am in So. CA) To say that I've improved would be an understatement - and it's all because I get much better feedback, so that way when I'm doing something wrong or not seeing something in a stone - I have someone that I can ask who is not going to give me a standardized response of "please see page #____ in your textbook". It's all about teaching...and THAT is food for thought. Finally, you (Shanu) make a very interesting point about appraisers. There are MANY out there that have not taken any kind of education programs for appraising - and figure that just because they sell, they can value - and they do their customers a complete disservice over and over again. This is why organizations such as the ASA (American Society of Appraisers) and the ISA (International Society of Appraisers) insist that their candidates take their rigorous education program, complete a certain number of hours of appraisal work, and submit two complete written appraisers before they can even become members. It's true that not every appraiser in the industry is an ASA or ISA candidate or member (just as not every jeweler, buyer, etc. in the industry has their GG from GIA), but as we read over and over again - it's becoming more and more necessary to have that extra education in order to be well-respected within the industry as well as by the public in general.

Rhonda...well said. We should chat. Shoot me an email. Shanu@gulianis.com