AACPM Refines Unaffiliated Membership Criteria
By Stephen J. Mastro, CPM, Immediate Past President
smastro@csum.edu

At the winter board meeting in January 2010, the AACPM Board of Directors adopted SOP changes describing in detail the five membership categories outlined in Article 3.1 of the Academy bylaws. The board focused on specific criteria for the unaffiliated categories of Member-at-Large, Associate, and Consortium. These refinements allow the Academy to offer opportunities to CPMs, program students, public managers, and Consortium members whose states are not yet chartered into the Academy. We are supplying information to applicable CPM program managers for distribution to graduates and active students. By recruiting these unaffiliated members, we hope to increase AACPM membership as well as mentor regional leaders toward forming new societies. The Academy will refer individuals from regions with existing societies back to the current society officers for membership information. Some societies currently have member classifications and rates attractive to retirees and other professionals. We encourage all societies to consider similar mechanisms.

Individuals wishing to join AACPM directly must satisfy unaffiliated criteria as described below:

Member-at-Large
Graduate of a Certified Public Manager® program accredited by the National Certified Public Manager® Consortium. Resides in a geographical region that does not have an active CPM Society chartered by AACPM. Has all the rights and privileges of full membership but is not represented in the House of Delegates.

Associate Member
May be a CPM student or other public manager who is not a CPM. Either does not reside in a geographical location with an active CPM Society chartered by AACPM or there is no membership category for non-CPMs in the local society. Cannot hold elected office or be appointed to chair a committee but may serve on AACPM committees.

Consortium Member
Any member of the National Certified Public Manager® Consortium who is not currently a CPM. Resides in a geographical region that does not have an active Society chartered by AACPM or there is no membership category for non-CPMs in the local society. Cannot hold elected office or be appointed to chair a committee but may serve on AACPM committees.

The Academy currently has only a handful of unaffiliated members. Most of these are retirees or consortium members. This new campaign can potentially add scores of members and can enhance the Academy’s’ ability to readily identify CPMs interested in forming new societies.

© Copyright 2010, American Academy of Certified Public Managers®