Kenneth K. Henning Award for Professional Excellence

By Edward R. Burt III, CPM
eburt@nc.rr.com

It is time to begin thinking and preparing for the 2007 Conference to be held in Madison, Wisconsin. This is especially true regarding nominations of worthy candidates for the coveted Henning Award for Professional Excellence.

At its annual Professional Development Conference, the American Academy of Certified Public Managers® (AACPM) recognizes one active Fellow whose contributions to public sector management, their CPM Society and the Academy at both the local and national level are judged most exemplary of the CPM image and philosophy. The individual is recognized and presented with the prestigious Henning Award at the Awards Ceremony held in conjunction with the Annual Conference.

The 18th presentation of the coveted Henning Award will take place at the AACPM Annual Conference in Madison, Wisconsin next September. The first Henning Award was presented to Nancy DeWitt of Louisiana. Since its inception, the Henning Award has been presented to recipients from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin.

The concept of a professional excellence award was first proposed by the Academy in the late 1980’s and was subsequently named in honor of Kenneth K. Henning, whose vision of a quality management development program tailored to the needs of state government resulted in the design and implementation of the Certified Public Manager® concept and the establishment of the Georgia Certified Public Manager® Program, the American Academy of Certified Public Manager® Program, and the movement of the Certified Public Manager® concept in many other locales. The vision and leadership displayed by Mr. Henning remain to this day embodied in both the American Academy and the Certified Public Manager® Programs in more than 25 state and local jurisdictions. His dedication and belief in improving and strengthening public service remains a legacy that the Academy is proud to honor annually with the presentation of the Henning Award.

Nomination Guidelines

• The Henning Award Committee administers the nomination and selection process. Official Nomination Forms will be provided to each society President by the Henning Award Committee Chair.
  
  
• Applicant must be an Academy Fellow
  
  
• Criteria for nomination
  
  
• CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS. List those activities that can be considered to be highlights of the nominee’s career. Do not include a job description or a listing of tasks. 50 points
• SOCIETY AND ACADEMY ACTIVITIES. List offices held, committee involvement, and other CPM-related activities at both the local and national level. 20 points
• INNOVATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO MANAGEMENT. List those accomplishments of the nominee that can be considered to be innovative and/or unique and how they contributed to the improvement of the nominee’s organization. 10 points
• LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES. List those activities or areas that highlight the nominee’s leadership qualities. 10 points
• COMMUNITY SERVICE. List those activities or areas that illustrate nominee’s commitment to community service. 10 points
  
  
• No previous Henning Award recipient will be eligible for nomination.

• Nominations must be made by the Board of Directors of a Society. Only one nomination will be accepted from each Society.

• The nomination form must be completed by the Society sponsoring the nomination and submitted to the committee chair by the date as determined by the committee. Nominations postmarked after this date will not be considered.

• The nomination form must be signed by at least two members of the nominating Society Board of Directors. Signature by all the Board of Directors is preferred.

• Neither the name of the nominee nor their Society/home state shall appear on the nomination form. They may only appear on the cover sheet containing the names of the nominators

• The nomination must be made using the nomination form provided or a reasonable facsimile. The nomination cannot exceed four (4) pages. The nomination may not be typed in less than a font size 11. Responses should cover the five areas used for award consideration.

• The nomination should be written clearly and concisely. Short "bullet" statements of accomplishments are preferred, supported by brief descriptive comments where necessary for clarification. There should be specific details to support the accomplishment. Long flowery descriptions should be avoided.

• All nominations must be postmarked by Friday, June 8, 2007.
  
  
• You can download an application at http://www.cpmacademy.org/2007HenningAwardNominationForm.pdf

© Copyright 2007, American Association of Certified Public Managers®