History

The Certified Public Manager program was founded in Georgia in 1976 and was subsequently endorsed by other states as a model for training and developing professional public managers. The Georgia program grew out of informal meetings between the University of Georgia's Institute of Government, the Center for Continuing Education and the Training and Staff Development Divisions of the Georgia State Merit System of Personnel Management. Kenneth Henning, who is considered the father of the CPM program, championed the program. The program was modeled after the Certified Public Accountant program. The CPM program was designed as a professional training program, not as an academic program. With its focus on public management, it was designed to provide practical, job-related training to improve the practice of public management.

In addition to the formation of the Georgia program, other important events in the development of CPM took place during the late 1970's. In 1978, Arizona established a CPM program modeled after the Georgia program. In 1979, the U.S. Civil Service Commission awarded a grant for the purpose of assisting Georgia with the transfer of the CPM program to other states. The grant provided the means to support or assist with the establishment of CPM programs in Florida (1979), Louisiana (1979), North Carolina (1980) and Vermont (1980). The grant also facilitated the development of the National Certified Public Manager Consortium, formed in 1979.

The Florida CPM Program was created in 1979 at Florida State University. The program is administered by the Florida Center for Public Management and enrolls public managers from state, county and municipal governments throughout Florida.

NATIONAL CERTIFIED PUBLIC MANAGER CONSORTIUM

The original members in the Consortium included Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Vermont. The aim of the Consortium was to establish standards for state CPM programs and to serve as a review and accrediting agent. The Consortium currently has members who are the academic representatives of the 20 states that have Certified Public Manager programs, 17 of those have been fully accredited. Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin have CPM programs.

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC MANAGERS (AACPM)

AACPM is a professional organization formed in 1980 and is affiliated with the National Certified Public Manager Consortium. The purpose of the Academy is to provide a linkage between the CPM associates in the member states. The AACPM has a membership of 1,200. The members are also members of each of their state's societies who are admitted into the Academy. Currently, the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin have been admitted to the Academy. Washington, D.C., Alaska and several other states have expressed an interest in being admitted to the Academy.

Members in the Academy receive an Academy Newsletter, reductions in registration fees for Leadership and Management Symposiums, and discounts and other benefits for services offered through the Academy such as with AMAZON.COM, etc. Each year as part of its annual election process and officers meeting, the Academy selects a CPM who has exemplified the qualities desired in the profession as a recipient of the "Henning Award" named after Kenneth Henning. Additional information about the AACPM can be found on the Academy's Internet Homepage at http://www.cpmacademy.org.