Association Boards Improving Metrics

Answering the question “Which metrics are the right ones for my organization?” is imperative for association boards. Whitney Redding addresses this important issue in her recent article, “The Right Metrics for Association Boards,” in Associations Now. Metrics are essential to an organization’s overall performance and choosing the right statistics and indicators to track can be a difficult process, especially during tough financial times. Boards need to identify their priorities and effectively communicate them to staff and other key volunteer leaders

There are countless resources available for associations who want to improve their metrics and make the process easier and less expensive. Creating dashboards, web-based tracking mechanisms and balanced scoreboards are just a few of the products out there.

Ellen McSherry, associate executive director for the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants says in Redding’s article, “Membership engagement is the best association metric for gauging success in accomplishing a mission.”
Associations need to be innovative when it comes to metrics that inform executives of how well the group is doing in areas that are rather difficult to measure.

ANSI Launches Pilot Program to Accredit Certificate Programs

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has recently launched the new Accreditation Program for Certificate Programs (ANSI-CAP) to accredit organizations that issue education and training certificates. ANSI-CAP has been designed to provide evidence that a given certificate program will lead to more competent and knowledgeable workers, and will also provide quality benchmarks for future certificate programs.

Certificate programs will be evaluated for potential accreditation against the standard ASTM E2659-09, Standard Practice for Certificate Programs which is available for download in a PDF for $38.00 from ANSI. Personnel certificate programs who wish to apply for ANSI accreditation under ASTM E2659-09, can do so by clicking here and filling out the application form along with the $3,000.00 application fee.

ANSI is offering a Certificate Issuer’s Accreditation Workshop, which will be held over a two-day period in Washington, DC. The workshop is designed to introduce potential applicants to the ASTM E2659-09 Standard Practice for Certificate Programs as well as the ANSI certificate accreditation program. This workshop promises to provide participants with the ability to identify their strengths and gaps in meeting the specific requirements. The workshop will be held throughout 2010 and the cost is $795 for ANSI members and $895 for non-members. Interested parties can click here for class schedule and online registration.

New Report Shows Average Salaries of Careers with Most Openings

ACT recently released a report that details the fastest-growing jobs and the salaries and skill requirements that go along with them. The 8-page survey, titled “Occupational Opportunities” is based on ACT research as well as data extracted from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, along with data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are three charts in the report that characterize estimated annual openings, recommended skill levels, and average annual salaries associated with some of the country’s most frequent occupations. These occupation charts are divided into three sections titled “Now”, “Next” and “Later”. The Now section provides data for 45 careers frequently available to high school graduates. The Next section provides data for 55 careers requiring supplementary training usually acquired on the job .The Later section lists 50 careers requiring postsecondary educational credentials and possibly professional experience. A free copy of the report is available by clicking here.