Accredited Manager Program

How many hours of courses are required to complete the program?

40 hours are required for the AMP designation, 25 Core hours and 15 elective hours. Six core courses are mandatory to complete the program. They are listed as “required courses.”

What is the cost of the program?

Starting with the 2020/2021 membership renewal year, the fee structure for the program will be $50 annually, payable with the annual CMAO dues.  This fee would cover all class credits, whether through the CMAO summer and winter conferences, pre-approved OML classes, or individually approved classes from other conferences or training sessions during the annual membership period. 

The fee covers the costs associated with the program such as fees for speakers, as well as the plaque that is awarded upon completion of the program. The course fees are non-refundable. The fee is for all of the courses presented at each conference or meeting – it is not a per course hour fee.

Is the program available for non-members of CMAO?

CMAO’s AMP program is only available to CMAO members who are members in good standing. The CMAO Board makes the decision who is accepted into the program.

Does a participant have to be an assistant city manager or city manager to receive the AMP designation? 

A person who is pursuing a career in city management can participate in the program but will not receive the full AMP designation until they have two years of experience as an assistant city manager or city manager. Until then the accreditation will be pending.

Once the AMP designation is achieved, how many course hours will be required each year to maintain the designation?

To maintain the AMP designation, an assistant city manager or city manager must complete 10 hours of approved courses every two years. As the program develops, the CMAO Board will designate courses from other organizations that will be accepted for credit, such as the Clerks/Treasurers Association, SGR Courses or ICMA seminars/workshops.

What is the deadline for the Course Assessment forms to be completed and turned into the CMAO Executive Director? 

The AMP Course Assessment is required to be completed in full and turned in during the conference at which the courses are presented. The assessment form is evidence of completion of the program so credit is not given for the course unless the fully completed assessment form is received. Assessments subject to review by the Task Force and/or the Board and may not be accepted if the assessment is not properly completed.

Will AMP sessions be videoed for participants who miss the course?

The Task Force that established the program felt that an important aspect of the courses is the questions and discussion during the presentation. The interaction among the members is very important to the program. Therefore, we won’t provide videos of the courses for online credit. Credit must be obtained by attending a course and completing the course assessment. 

What other changes have been made to the AMP Program?

Beginning January 2017, some of the Core Courses will become “Required” courses and each must be taken to fulfill the AMP designation requirement.  

This requirement will be waived for those already enrolled in the program with at least 20 AMP credit hours as of December 2016.  The “Required” courses will be mandatory for those currently with fewer than 20 total credit hours.

Recent updates by the Task Force have allowed credit hours to be acquired utilizing the following criteria:

  • “Required” core credit can be obtained outside of CMAO conferences if pre-approved by the AMP Committee. 

  • One-half of the elective courses for accreditation can be fulfilled with annual pre-approved outside sources from the AMP Task Force.

  • One-half of the elective courses for maintenance can be fulfilled with annual pre-approved outside sources from the AMP Task Force.

  • It is up to the person taking the outside course to ensure that it has been pre-approved by the AMP Task Force and to hand in the necessary documentation for tracking purposes. 

  • Beginning in 2019, the AMP committee will review the OML sessions prior to the OML conference and determine pre-approval before the conference starts.  We would focus primarily on the required core AMP classes for this pre-approval. An email will go out stating which classes will be recognized for AMP credit. It is up to the participant to be sure the necessary documentation is sent in to the CMAO Executive Director immediately following the conference to receive credit.

  • As of July 2019 credit will be given as follows:  Any CMAO session lasting less than 1.5 hours will be given one credit. Any session of 1.5 hour – 2 hours will be given two credits.   

If you have more than 25 core credits, and not enough elective credits to be considered for credentialing, you may use up to two core credits in total to fulfil your elective requirement. You will need to send your request to the Executive Director who will send it on to the AMP Task Force for approval.

After approved credentialing, you may use the designation of CMAO-CM. 

Core Courses

Finance

  • Municipal Budgeting Act (Required)

  • Purchase Order Act (Required)

  • Accrual Accounting versus Cash Finance

Ethics

  • ICMA Code of Ethics (Required)

  • Case Studies and discussion of examples of actual ethic dilemma 

Personnel

  • Labor Relations (including court rulings)

    • Police and Fire Arbitration Act

  • HR Basics (FLSA,FMLA, EEOC)

General Government

  • Basics of Council Manager Form of Government

  • Open Meetings (Required)

  • Open Records (Required)

  • Tort Claims/Liability Under OK Governmental Tort Claims Act (Required)

  • Public Trusts

Leadership

  • Leading Culture Change

  • Leading Organizational Change

Elective Courses

  • Code Enforcement/Building Inspection

  • DEQ/How to address a consent order?

  • Planning/Zoning/Land Use

  • Running an Efficient City Council Meeting

  • Capital Project Management

  • Customer Service

  • The Role of OML and COGS

  • Conflict Resolution

  • Media/Public Relations/Crisis Communications/Social Media/Branding/Marketing your city and services

  • Generational Issues in the Workplace

  • Innovations in Local Government (case studies, examples)

  • Municipal Insurance/Health Insurance

  • Economic Development

  • How to handle a deposition – What to Expect

  • Workers Comp in Oklahoma