Challenges and Rewards: Implementing the Certified Public Manager® (CPM) as a Fully-Online Program

By Sheila E. Murphy, Ph.D., Guest Consortium Author
Bob Ramsey Public Executive Program at Arizona State University

The Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program at Arizona State University launched the first “fully-online” series of courses for the Certified Public Manager® (CPM) program beginning in early 2008. By December 2008, a full class of participants from city, county, and university organizations had received the CPM designation as part of the regularly scheduled statewide graduation. Multiple classes are currently in process. Participation is made available to public sector staff seeking to complete the program within a concentrated timeframe, while taking advantage of an intensive learning format.

The pilot class of students was brought together for face-to-face meetings both prior to and at the conclusion of the fully-online program. During the initial meeting, students received orientation that included sharing expectations for program learning. In addition to end-of-course student surveys following each major cluster of modules, a complete debriefing with the students who completed the pilot program was conducted. All except one of the 15 enrollees completed the program requirements and were awarded CPM certification.

At present, the fully-online version of the CPM program is one of three offerings delivered through the Ramsey Public Executive Program. The classroom-based program, available since the inception of the Certified Public Manager® in Arizona, has graduated some 1,600 students. The CPM offering continues to attract individuals representing municipal, county, state, federal, and tribal supervisors and managers. The “hybrid” program employs a mixture of in-class and online course offerings. Students and faculty benefit from a combination of focused reading, interaction, and in-class activities, including a face-to-face simulation that serves as a capstone course and concludes the program.

The fully-online program provided program staff and faculty a unique opportunity to revisit the 24 modules and to enhance the curriculum. Each week-long module served as the equivalent of a full day of face-to-face classroom learning. The following were among the points of emphasis in customizing the curriculum for online delivery:

• Curricular Enhancement. Reading materials featured in-depth, contemporary articles; case studies; research; essays; and interviews dating no earlier than the year 2000. This represents an exhaustive review of a wide range of literature to support the learning objectives established for each module.

• Structuring Online-Appropriate Learning Activities. Rather than mimic the face-to-face program, the course designer sought to optimize the capabilities of the online environment. Working collaboratively with the University’s learning technology department, a long-time CPM faculty member customized the curriculum for online application.

• Designing Online Learning Tools. Tools were developed to enhance individual and group learning. Each tool represented a learning application in itself. Included were analysis protocols, grids, and focused analyses of students’ agencies and organizations.

• Linking Learning Modules. This component focused on building linkages among a range of public sector organizations. Students were encouraged to recognize points of commonality -  such as leadership, managing financial resources, and organizational development - between modules.

• Applying Knowledge Transfer. A structured approach engaged students in designing a specific learning application to enhance their current public sector workplace. Two components were end-of-module questions pertaining to learning gained and application planning, inclusive of ways to meet and overcome anticipated challenges within the workplace setting. In addition, students were assigned follow-up projects to ensure a highly methodical approach to integrating learning into experience.

Instructional roles for each professional on the team were designated using a parallel track with classroom program management and delivery. The instructor maintained responsibility for curricular components such as ensuring student learning, facilitating exercises, communicating a timetable for each week’s assignments, responding to individual student assignments, engaging in group discussion, and furnishing input on the work of fellow students. The program administrator was responsible for tracking participation, implementing and communicating schedule-related issues and requirements to students, establishing assignments for group works, and ensuring accurate application of tools provided to students.

Key lessons learned from participation in online program delivery were:

• Online CPM courses offer excellent learning for strong students seeking to gain in-depth perspective by reading extensive literature and performing intensive workplace application exercises. Students who have difficulty reading the assigned literature and quickly applying the material tend to have difficulty with the online program format. Students less inclined toward pursuing the online assignments will frequently express a preference for face-to-face learning.

• Online CPM courses offer students extensive dialogue regarding strategic initiatives, agency-specific program improvements, opportunities pursued and specific results, and opportunities for exploring benchmark process examples in diverse agencies providing a wide range of public services. Participants seeking in-depth, extended dialogue find a wealth of opportunity to confer with fellow students and faculty members representing their own sectors as well as a diverse range of additional areas. For example, students who have major roles in city government gain perspectives about county, state, and other levels of government organization.

• Online CPM courses necessitate student discipline and responsibility. The learning environment requires regular input from students and instructors alike. Given the highly structured time format for each module, participants must “weigh in” on perspectives offered by others, offering encouragement, providing critiques, and sharing personal professional situations that pertain to the topic at hand.

• As with traditional programs, the fully-online courses benefit organizations with a cadre of participating professionals. For instance, having a group of five or more professionals with responsible leadership positions in a given county organization offers the opportunity to make meaningful change within the organization.

The fully-online CPM program at the Bob Ramsey Executive Education Program at Arizona State University gives students the opportunity to engage with fellow public sector professionals committed to strengthening their awareness. Current efforts encompass full-scale documentation of student responses to learning, followed by the revision and adjustment of the structured curriculum. To date, highly practical student suggestions have been integrated into the curriculum. Learning about the program continues to be applied to the curriculum, making possible a continued format for practical learning.

© Copyright 2009, American Association of Certified Public Managers®