How to Conduct a Certification Study Group

1. How to Conduct a Certification Study Group

2. Why have a Chapter Study Group? • Many members find group study more effective for them than individual study alone • Others find that the discipline of a commitment to a group reinforces their commitment to stick to their study plan and actually take the exams • Aid in Certification Preparation is one of the most frequently sought services from Chapters • The presence of a Chapter Study Group Program can attract new members to the Chapter or re-engage existing members who have not participated recently in Chapter events.

3. What type of person do I need to LEAD a Chapter Study Group? • The ideal Chapter Study Group Leader would possess the following traits: • Highly motivated to help others achieve their professional and personal goals • Highly effective in speaking to and teaching small groups • Subject Matter Expert in the Module(s) they are preparing the members to test (Federal, Commercial, General Business) • Certified under the new program that they are preparing their members for • Has the full support (financial and otherwise) of the Chapter Leaders

4. We can’t find anyone with ALL these traits. What do we do now? • Of the traits desired, these are the most important: • Highly motivated to help others achieve their professional and personal goals • Has the full support (financial and otherwise) of the Chapter Leaders • Even self-directed Study Groups consisting only of certification candidates have been successful in the past and can be successful in the future, when the two conditions above are met.

5. Should the duties of Chapter Study Group Leader be absorbed by the President or other Officer? • Generally, NO. • Effectively leading a Chapter Study Group is a major commitment of time and energy. • Unless the individual has extraordinary energy and time available, recommend that Study Group Leader be his/her only Chapter role until completed.

6. How large should the Study Group be? • Most effective size is 6 to 10 • Allows for active participation and sharing by all • Also allows the group to be effective if 1-2 members are absent from a given meeting • Larger groups may wish to divide into smaller sub-groups, each with their own assigned sub-leader • If this is done, periodic meeting of the overall group may be desirable

7. How far in advance should I plan for forming a Study Group? • As a Study Group will typically require individuals to commit to a 3-6 month process, plans to form a study group should generally be announced 3-6 months in advance • If you are planning to start a Chapter Study Group for the 2005/2006 Program Year – NOW is the time to publicize this intention and start getting organized!

8. What are some things we should do to promote our Study Program? • Notices in your Chapter newsletter and on your Chapter website • Notices, ads, or press releases in local papers • Direct mail flyers to members and companies/agencies in your area • Seek one-on-one meetings with local employers and ask for their support for candidates from their organization • Ask the National Staff or a CMCAB Member to speak about certification at a Chapter meeting

9. What materials do we need? • The following are highly recommended for each participant: • Federal Module • Guide to the CMBOK • Federal Knowledge Module Study Guide • CCH paperback version of the FAR

10. What materials do we need? continued • Commercial Module • Guide to the CMBOK • Commercial Knowledge Module: Preparatory Study Guide • Hard copy of the UCC

11. What materials do we need? continued • General Business Module • One reference set of the General Business Module Study Guides, Volumes I-V or • One reference set of the under-lying textbooks from which the GB Study Guides were developed AND - One copy of each Volume of the GB Study Guides or reference textbooks for each participant for each area that he/she believes they are weak in

12. What about on-line prep materials? • On-line certification prep courses for the GB Module and the Federal Module are available now thru NCMA • A Commercial on-line certification prep course is planned

13. What about on-line prep materials? continued • The on-line courses are NOT designed for group study, • but can be useful to augment group study or in lieu of group study • The on-line GB Prep Courses do NOT use the same textbook basis as the written GB Study Guides • But both the on-line courses and the written guides cover the GB CMBOK competencies • The Federal On-Line Prep Course does use the written Federal Study Guide as its foundation • It is undetermined what will be used as the basis for the Commercial On-Line Prep Course

14. How often should Study Group meetings be held? • To maintain continuity, meeting once a week is recommended • If the Group enjoys strong employer support and member commitment, twice weekly meetings can be considered

15. What time of day and for how long should the Group meet? • Evening meetings generally work best • Breakfast or mid-day meetings can be considered if the Group enjoys appropriate employer support • Weekend meetings can be considered, but require a higher level of candidate commitment • Meetings should generally be 2-3 hours in length, similar to a college class • Shorter meetings tend to not allow sufficient interaction between candidates and instructor • Longer meetings tend to exceed attention span and energy level of candidates and instructors

16. Where should the Group meet? • If readily accessible and consistently available, an employer’s classroom or conference room works well • If readily accessible and consistently available, a public meeting room such as a library or college conference room is also good • Restaurants or similar venues tend NOT to be good venues for this purpose • Convenience for candidates is an important consideration in selecting the location

17. Can a Chapter Study Group be held on-line? • Yes – if the candidates and instructor have the basic computer equipment necessary • Absent the supporting technology (which costs) and an instructor skilled in its use, simple asynchronous email based Study Groups are unlikely to be as effective as groups that meet physically • For Chapters with wide geographic dispersion, an asynchronous on-line Group may be better than nothing

18. How many sessions should be held? • 10-12 sessions of 2-3 hours duration over a 3-4 month period for EACH exam module is a good rule of thumb • Fewer sessions can be considered if they are of longer duration (for example, 4-hour Saturday study sessions) • Generally NOT a good idea to extend the period of study much beyond 4 months, as candidate retention of knowledge gained deteriorates

19. Can we have a consolidated Study Group to prepare concurrently for multiple exam modules? • This is NOT advisable • The GB, Federal, and Commercial BOK are each quite extensive – there is a LOT of ground covered in each exam • Sequential preparation and testing is strongly recommended • Those few capable of concurrent prep and testing are unlikely to need a Study Group any way!

20. How can I construct a Chapter Study Group schedule to meet all this?

21. Pro Forma Example of a Chapter Study Group Program Year

22. Is the sequence (GB, Fed, Comml) important? • It could be, depending on the interest and needs of candidates in your Chapter • The GB Module is common to both the CFCM and CCCM • The GB Module is also statistically (thus far) the most difficult to pass – hence one approach is to tackle the toughest challenge first • But starting the Program Year with the Federal or Commercial could better meet the needs of your Chapter and could lead to early success that will reinforce the program

23. Should we charge a fee to be in a Study Group? • Most do not … • … but people tend to value more that which they must pay for versus that which is free • A fee could be used to offset or partially offset the cost to the Chapter to acquire study materials, reproduce supplementary materials, or even to pay a modest honorarium to compensate a highly qualified instructor for the group

24. What are some Lessons Learned and Best Practices from other Chapter’s experience? • Allot sufficient time (# of meetings x meeting duration) to conduct the program. • Remember, there is a lot of material to cover! • Work with the resources you have. • Do not announce a year-long program covering all three modules if you only have an instructor commitment for 4 months • Be flexible • Plan ahead and have contingency plans for candidate and instructor absences

25. Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued • Get a commitment from instructor and candidates to pursue an entire Module’s prep up front – get it in writing • Provide a syllabus and program schedule in advance of starting the program • Establish clear lines of communication • Have a phone, email, and fax tree for the Group • Provide a ‘mock-exam’ environment at least once during each Module’s program

26. Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued • Train to Task • Exams are all multiple choice, so use multiple choice ‘mock’ quizzes and exams throughout the program • Study the tricks of the trade for mastering multiple choice examinations • Don’t waste time and effort on essay-type preparation • Involve the candidate • Assign outside reading • Assign candidates to prepare multiple choice questions • Hold candidates accountable for performing assignments • Require candidates to share their work

27. Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued • Recognize your candidates • Many Chapters reimburse the exam and/or prep material costs for successful candidates • If this is not feasible, seek employer commitments to reimburse successful candidates • Always publicize candidate success, even if no financial recognition is possible • Privately recognize the effort of those who are not successful the first time around and encourage them to try again. There are many examples of top-notch professionals who failed (some many times) before succeeding

28. Lessons Learned and Best Practices continued • Recognize your Instructor(s) • Publicly and with their employer • Determine if this experience has put them over the top for Fellow qualification (if they are not already a Fellow) and nominate him/her for the award

29. For more details, download the “Chapter Study Group Guide” www.ncmahq.org/certification/docs/ChptrStudyGroupGuide.pdf