 South Carolina Society of Certified Public Managers®
By Sam Jones, CPM
jones@io.sc.gov
The South Carolina Society of Certified Public Managers® (Society) has been fortunate since its formation in 1997 to have a committed and visionary Board of Directors (Board) and for this year there has been no exception.
We began our operating year, which runs parallel to the State’s fiscal year, in July and already have a list of accomplishments. These are a few of the highlights:
- Reviewed and Revised the Strategic Plan. Last year, under the leadership of Wanda Dixon, the Board adopted its second strategic plan that outlined the goals of the Society and listed strategies to accomplish them. This year, the Board reviewed the goals and strategies to determine if we should continue to pursue the goals and to decide if the strategies needed to be revised.
- Adopted the Annual Budget for the Society. Robbie Boland, appointed as the Budget Committee Chair, performed a comparison of the prior year’s revenues and expenses and developed a projected budget for the 2005 – 2006 membership year.
- Held a Summer Education Event. The Events Committee coordinated a workshop on “Conflict Resolutions” that was presented by Charles C. Weathers, Sr., founder of Weathers Group. There were 78 participants in attendance, with 35 different governmental agencies represented. The presentation included topics on how to:
- Gain an Understanding of When Conflict is Destructive and Constructive
- Be Taught Communication and Negotiation Techniques to Resolve Conflict
- Learn How to Identify the 12 Pre-conflict Indicators
- Be Taught the 15 Most Common Sources of Conflict
- Be Taught the Eight Steps to Problem Solving
- Identify Personal Conflict Management Styles
- Held a Fall Education Event. A presentation on “Updating the Behavior Engineering Model” was presented by Nathan Strong, Program Manager, SC Budget and Control Board, Office of Human Resources. Thirty eight participants were in attendance.
- Collected Food and Money for the Harvest Hope Food Bank. The Board decided to use each Education Event as an opportunity to collect food and money for this worthwhile charity. (The Harvest Hope Food Bank delivers containers for the collections and picks up the containers at the end of the Events.)
- Midlands Crop Walk against Hunger. Including family members and Representative Ballentine, we had 14 people walking under the Society banner, and we had 15 members contributing three hundred and forty dollars. This CPM community event helped people suffering from hunger and poverty locally and globally, and it also assisted the needs of hurricane and earthquake victims.
- Membership. Our members have to renew their membership at the beginning of each fiscal year. The Membership Committee is using different strategies such as surveys and networking opportunities to maintain and add new members.
- Sponsored a Golf Tournament. As part of our networking strategy, the Society sponsored its second golf tournament. The 60 golfers who participated overwhelmingly expressed that the event was a great success and that they were looking forward to the next tournament. This event not only provided a wonderful day of golfing fun, but also an array of fantastic prizes, gifts and trophies donated from over 20 businesses and vendors.
- A scholarship fund was established with the proceeds from the tournament. Also, we had a tremendous amount of good food.
- A $100 donation from the golf proceeds was made to the Hurricane Relief Fund
- The Networking Committee organized a Christmas luncheon where the 25 CPM members who attended had the opportunity to fellowship, enjoy fine dining, and exchange gifts.
- Held a Winter Education Event. Nine members of the General Assembly fielded questions from CPM members and guests at a Legislative Forum. The moderator for this event was Blease Graham, a Political Science Professor at the University of South Carolina. 92 participants attended.
- The Spring Event was held in collaboration with the South Carolina Certified Public Managers® Program with 95 participants. The theme for this event was “Preparing for the Future.” Workshop topics included—
- Trends Impacting SC State Government by Ed Thomas, University of South Carolina
- State Budget by Mike Shealy, Senate Finance Committee Budget Director
SCEIS by Jim Sexton, Program Manager, SCEIS, SC Budget and Control Board, Chief Information Office
- Succession Planning and Retention by Jimmy Duncan, SCANA
- Leadership and Diversity by Jesse Washington, Commissioner, SC State Human Affairs Commission, and Take This Job and Love It by Dr. Iwana Guess Ridgill.
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