The Ontario Municipal Management Institute
Introduction
In May 1988, Private Member’ s Bill( PR27) accorded legal status and recognition to the Certified Municipal Manager designation awarded by the Institute. This bill changed the name of the organization and the designation at the same time. The Ontario Municipal Management Development Board( OMMDB) became the Ontario Municipal Management Institute( OMMI) and the Professional Municipal Manager( PMM) became the Certified Municipal Manager( CMM). The name change did not affect any program objectives.
The principal goals of the OMMDB( now OMMI) as stated in its charter were;“… to establish and operate an Academy for Local Government Management, to recognize achievement and offer credentials in local government.”
Local Government Managers had been suggesting for some time that a management oriented career development system should be created. The Board’ s Professional Standards Committee organized, in 1980, a Municipal Management Skills Analysis Session in which the skill and knowledge areas necessary to a municipal management core curriculum were identified.
To help determine what programs and courses in the educational institutions were being utilized by municipal officials, and to identify key gaps in the existing curriculum, a series or meeting called“ Educational Needs and Opportunities for Municipal Officials” was organized across the province. The eight meetings brought together one hundred and sixty-ne municipal officials and eighty academics to discuss existing programs and municipal needs. At these meetings, held from October 1980 to May 1981, many elected and appointed officials expressed their support for the Board’ s initiation of a management development program. During the summer of 1981, the Board circulated a questionnaire to municipal officials to find out more about their employment and educational backgrounds, and to test the suitability of a first draft of the program which had been developed by the Professional Standards Committee. The results of the questionnaire indicated that municipal administrators were a highly diverse group in terms of age, educational background, and management experience.
The Policy & Accreditation Committee is OMMI’ s certifying body for the accreditation composed of volunteers drawn from our member local government, professional associations, academic Institutions and members of the CMM Accreditation Program. Every effort is made to ensure the committee is balanced and represents the interest of our members. The committee adopted, at the April 8, 1988 meeting, the following revised terms of reference:
� Represent and promote the interest of the Institute and its membership � Promote the growth and development of the Institute and its programs � Set policies with respect to the provision of services to members and the accreditation process of the CMM program � Evaluate member applications and award the appropriate level of CMM � Precedent management courses and / or seminars for application
The CMM Accreditation is highly flexible in nature, servicing local government administrators’ needs for accreditation and career development.
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