SAS Certifications Among Student Population in China on the Rise
The SAS Global Certification Program is pleased to report that China is currently leading other countries around the world in terms of the percentage growth of certifications awarded. SAS Global Certification News recently interviewed China’s SAS Education country manager Eric Wu to collect his insights as to why SAS certifications are growing in his region of the world. 

“One of the reasons that we’re growing is related to student candidates. We’re seeing more and more students, especially those preparing to enter the job market, contacting us about our SAS certification program,” said Wu. Many of those students may be motivated to get certified by an attractive discount program designed by SAS China with university faculty and students in mind.

Wu continued: “Realizing that the exam costs are a barrier for most Chinese students, nearly a year ago, we began offering 50% discounted certification exam vouchers to students and faculty. In addition, we’ve reached out specifically to Chinese students and have communicated frequently asked questions about the SAS certification process.”

Also important for certification growth in a nation as populous as China is the ability to have testing facilities in place to meet the demand for SAS certification. “Our testing services provider Prometric has hundreds of testing centers available to our users throughout China, so students and other SAS users can easily find exam locations in most of China’s major cities,” said Wu.

Wu pointed out that the recent increase of student exam candidates in China is contributing to SAS China’s certification program growth in the short term, but he also stressed the significance that this current growth trend may have for the future. “These students today will constitute a large user group in China in the future, thus extending the use of SAS and broadening the business analytics software user community worldwide,” concluded Wu.

New SAS^® Certification and Training Packages Available in SAS UK, Belgium and Luxembourg
Similar to SAS Education teams in the US, France and India, SAS Education teams in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Luxembourg are now encouraging SAS certified professionals and non-certified SAS users to achieve new SAS credentials by offering bundled packages of specific SAS training courses and certification exam preparation materials at discounted rates. 

The new packages provide SAS users with everything needed to prepare for a certification exam and include blending learning options. Don’t miss the chance to take advantage of the value included within these SAS training and certification combination package offerings:

United Kingdom:
Performance Plan A prep package

Base Programming

• What is a good first course to take?
  This Inside SAS Education video addresses a common question new SAS users ask: where do I start with training? Kent Reeve, SAS Education manager and instructor, offers three good places to start in this short video (less than four minutes).

• Use a Microsoft Excel file to create a user-defined format
  This sample provides full code that allows you to easily generate a user-defined format from an MS Excel spreadsheet containing variables and descriptions.
  

Advanced Programming

• How do I combine my SAS data sets and eliminate duplicate rows at the
  same time?
  A SAS Instructor Tip: Programming video illustrates how to resolve this commonly asked programming question. Cynthia Johnson, SAS Education manager and instructor, uses sample data and provides programming code in this brief video (about two minutes in length).

• ODS Packages: Putting Some Zip in Your ODS Output
  This paper covers the powerful abilities in the Output Delivery System (ODS) by using packages and package templates. For example, in their most basic usage, ODS packages allow you to simply and easily create ZIP files from your ODS output. Learn about the potential of ODS packages and how easy they are to use.
  

Predictive Modeling

• SAS® Enterprise Miner™ Client Deployment Methods
  This usage note describes three common ways of deploying the SAS Enterprise Miner client.

• Allocating libraries for use with SAS Enterprise Miner 5.x
  This usage note explains where in SAS Enterprise Miner 5.x LIBNAME statements (or other initialization code) can be specified.
  

Platform Administration

• SAS Platform Administrator Fast Track
  This training course is suggested preparation for the SAS Platform Administration exam. It is an intensive five-day course providing accelerated learning for those SAS users who will administer the platform for SAS Business Analytics. The SAS Platform Administration 1: Essentials, SAS Platform Administration 2: Security, and SAS Platform Administration 3: Advanced courses are available to provide the same type of information in a more detailed approach over a longer period of time. See the training path for a SAS Platform Administrator for an illustration of how these courses work together.

CRM Segmentation and Clustering Using SAS Enterprise Miner
In this instructive guide, Randy Collica employs SAS Enterprise Miner and commonly available techniques for customer relationship management (CRM). Step-by-step examples and exercises illustrate the concepts of segmentation and clustering in the context of CRM.

Step-by-Step Programming with Base SAS Software
Step-by-Step Programming with Base SAS Software provides conceptual information about Base SAS software along with step-by-step examples that illustrate the concepts.

Greg Smith
Assistant Professor, MIS department Williams College of Business at Xavier University
Cincinnati
Greg is pleased to report the value he sees in the university’s recent collaboration with SAS to offer an on-campus SAS predictive modeling certification exam. Read more.

We would like to hear how SAS credentials are empowering you and your organization to achieve success. You may see your success story featured in an upcoming SAS Global Certification News issue. Send your story along with your contact information to sascertificationnews@sas.com.

In addition to exams being administered by Prometric, SAS Certification test events are held at local SAS offices.

BELGIUM
All exams offered

• Tervuren – Dec. 18

BRAZIL
Base and Advanced Programming exams

• Sao Paulo – Dec. 18

DENMARK
All exams offered

• Copenhagen – Dec. 3, March 25 and June 17

FRANCE
All exams offered

• Vincennes – Dec. 18

GERMANY
All exams offered

• Heidelberg – Dec. 11, Feb. 12 and June 7
  

HONG KONG
Base Programming review training and exam (starting date)

• Hong Kong – Dec. 1

INDIA
Base Programming exam

• Chennai – Dec. 5

Advanced Programming exam

• Bangalore – Dec. 22

Predictive Modeling exam

• Bangalore – Dec. 22
• Mumbai – Dec. 22

ITALY
Base Programming review training and exam (starting dates)

• Milan – Feb. 8
• Rome – Feb. 22
  

Advanced Programming review training and exam (starting dates)

• Milan – March 10
• Rome – March 2

Predictive Modeling exam

• Milan – March 5

KOREA
All exams offered

• Seoul – Dec. 30

THE NETHERLANDS
All exams offered

• Huizen – Jan. 7

NORWAY
All exams offered

• Oslo – March 22 and July 2

SWEDEN
Base and Advanced Programming exams (Predictive Modeling exam available upon request at time of registration)

• Stockholm – March 26 and May 21

UK
Base and Advanced Programming exams

• Manchester – Dec. 21
• Marlow – Jan. 18
• Glasgow – Feb. 15

Predictive Modeling exam

• Marlow – Dec. 18

UNITED STATES
All exams offered

• Cary, North Carolina – Dec. 7
• Charlotte, North Carolina – March 15
• Seattle (SAS Global Forum) – April 10
  

SAS Global Forum 2010
April 10
United States: Seattle
SAS Global Forum is the premier event for SAS professionals worldwide. Registered attendees can receive a 20% discount on the SAS Education training courses and SAS certification exams held in conjunction with this conference. Arrive in Seattle a few days early and take advantage of this great opportunity! 

We hope you enjoyed this issue of SAS Global Certification News. Have a question, comment or suggestion? Want to see something covered in the next SAS Global Certification News? Simply e-mail the editor.

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