Return keyword from max value held in multiple columns

I am attempting to return a keyword of 'Novice', 'Journey' or 'Expert' based on dates held in three columns and the userid.

The date references the day when that user achieved that level of competence. A sample of the data would be like:

create table t_ (userid char(3),
novice date,
journey date,expert date)

insert into t_ values ('ABC',

to_date('10/15/2003','dd-mon-yyyy'),
to_date('12/15/2003','dd-mon-yyyy'),
to_date('1/15/2004','dd-mon-yyyy'))

insert into t_ values ('DEF',
to_date('1/15/2004','dd-mon-yyyy'),
null,
to_date('12/15/2003','dd-mon-yyyy'))

insert into t_ values ('XYZ',
to_date('10/15/2003','dd-mon-yyyy'),
to_date('12/15/2003','dd-mon-yyyy'),
null)

My other issues are that the dates may not be Novice least to Expert max (just in case entry is fouled up) and the issue of nulls. Can anyone help me? Received on Mon Dec 20 2004 - 14:23:11 CST