APPA Professional Certification Program

Professional Development Committee Report- Credentialing

By: John P. Morris P.E., CEFP, APPA Fellow

7/20/2017

General Information:

Credentialing is in our 12th year since inception.

Current Board & Organization:

John P. Morris, Chair - Northern Arizona University

Tom Becker, Vice Chair - Philadelphia University

Dave Button, Secretary/Treasurer - University of Regina

Ted Weidner – Purdue University

Casey Martin – Jacobs@ Stanford University

Ruthann Manlet – VP Professional Development, University of Minnesota

E. Lander Medlin, APPA Executive Vice President

Christina Hills, APPA Director of Credentialing and Benchmarking

Kelly Ostergrant – APPA Credentialing Coordinator

Credentialing Board Mission and Vision:

Mission: The APPA Credentialing Program is dedicated to recognizing and validating through its professional certification the skills and knowledge required to exercise strong leadership in educational facilities.

Vision: The certificate and professional credential (EFP and CEFP) are valued by members and stakeholders as the industry standard for the educational facilities enterprise.

Key Principles: Value, Credible, Professional Choice, Industry Standard, Skills, Validity, Solvent, Integrated

Credentialing Board Strategic Plan:

Maintain Body of Knowledge (BoK) Alignment
Program Design will Support Local Delivery
Create and Deliver Quality Preparatory Programming
Create a Comprehensive Marketing and Communications Plan
Refine and Enhance Support Systems
Integrate Credentialing and APPA Programming
Establish and Maintain Program Integrity
Establish Benchmarks, Metrics, and Reporting Mechanisms to Guide Resource Management

The Credentialing Board feels accreditation is critical. After investigation and in alignment with other APPA standards we have designated our accreditation target to be ANSI accredited. ANSI follows ISO 17024 standards which are widely accepted internationally. Billie Zidek, APPA Standards and Codes Administrator, has indicated with some focued efforts we may be ready to apply for the ANSI accredidation during 2018.

Credentialing is an importantpart of the Professional Development Continuum and adds competency assurance.

Regional Support:

We have received incredibly strong commitments from the regions as certificates and credentialing become the normal expectations of our profession. The goal of both the APPA Board and the Credentialing Board is to give our membership every opportunity to attain these validations. The following tables summarize the regional commitments and the coupons used to date.

As a part of the regional commitments the APPA regions have also offered the following benefits to their members who seek certification and credentials:

ERAPPA - FREE

SRAPPA - Discounted Pricing

MAPPA - FREE

CAPPA - FREE

RMA - Discounted Pricing

PCAPPA - Discounted Pricing

Strategic Alliances:

The Credentialing Board also recognizes that the EFP and CEFP programs can benefit some of APPA’s strategic partners such as ACUHO-I, NACUBO, AIA, NSPE, SAME (Military Engineers), GSA and even the United Nations/International Schools. The Board is actively working with these organizations to have them accept the APPA credentials as a standard for their members or to be a part of their educational requirements. For example the Board was approved by the AIA to become a professional provider of course content for their members.

Customized Interactive Learning (CIL):

We have completed the revisions to the on-line training and preparatory program aka: customized interactive learning (CIL). This self-paced online course covers the fundamentals of the educational facilities profession, using state-of-the-art learning tools to help applicants master the full CEFP Credentialing Curriculum, which includes:

Distinct EFP and CEFP Study guides

All four core areas of the APPA Body of Knowledge

Flashcards

Practice exams

Practice quizzes

Sample Q&A Questions and Knowledge Checks

An active engagement via a Forum chat area

Live interactive webinars

The CIL platform is a live and private web event with peers and a qualified CEFP facilitator. Upon enrolling in the CEFP or EFP Curriculum, participants will be assigned to a CIL Group and facilitator, and registered for four separate live customized learning sessions held monthly over a period of 90 days. We have also started offering8 weeks courses; 2 week per chapter/domain and include 4 live webinars, all of the CIL learning tools and 30 days to test.

The following tables list our ongoing CIL groups with nearly 600 participants, upcoming CIL offerings, and our CIL facilitators. We canalways use more CIL facilitators if you know of any interested individuals.

Marketing:

As part of our marketing efforts we have completed the following activities:

Updated the website:
Developed a new brochure
Developed customized regional videos;
Magnet mail blasts; and
We are continuing our recognition programs:
Awards night recognition
Website recognition
Facilities Manager recognition

As part of the marketing program we need the regional members of the Professional Development Committee to be credentialing ambassadors to promote the credentialing program and the regional discounts.

Program Metrics:

We currently have issued 471 EFP certificates and 531 CEFP credentials for a total of 1,002 recipients.

It is evident from the graph above that we have had a turndown in the number of recipients in the past two years; however the Board anticipated some of this due to the new exam and the time it took to build the online course platform. The Board remains confident that numbers will continue to improve as participants become familiar with the new CIL on-line training and with the support of the regional commitments discussed earlier.

Finances:

The original APPA investment was $325k. We now owe $794k.

Investment in credentialing is a long term investment not a first quarter return. It was anticipated that over the first few years the Certification Board would have deficits and a negative net asset balance. Based on the Certification Board's business plan and continued support from APPA, the Certification Board expects to achieve profitability and repay APPA in full.

The Certification Board recognizes that it must increase revenue and control expenditures in order to continue its mission. The benefits of a successful Certification Program are extensive and worthy of continued investment. The Certification Board will continue to develop the program to achieve a positive bottom line.

Increasing the number of program participants with help from the regions and upcoming re-certifications will help turn the corner.

Recertification:

As of today, June 2017, we have had69 membersrecertify out of the 133 who should have recertified. That is a 51% rate of return. The board and the certification staff are ramping up efforts to improve this return rate, and to ensure we get notices out in the future. The new AMS will help with this effort.

Accolades:

I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the APPA staff, the Credentialing Board of Directors, the APPA SME’s, our CIL facilitators, and our consultants for their exceptional efforts to make this program a success.

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