Some Great News to Share:

Our Academic Initiative, ably led by your Board member, Manola Robison, is now official.  Georgia State University's (GSU) J. Mack Robinson College of Business is offering adult students, through their Executive Education program, the Nation's first, Certificate of Management Consulting.  (see the link at: http://robinson.gsu.edu/execed/programs/management-consulting.html).  As important is the fact that they have already established a Student Chapter IMC on campus, which is aligned with the Georgia Chapter.

Here are some of the their words: "The Certificate Program in Management Consulting covers the best-in-class theories and practices for professionals who want to prepare themselves for a career as an internal or external management consultant. The program content is benchmarked against the Institute of Management Consultants USA’s Consulting Competency Framework. IMC USA is the certification body and professional association for management consultants in the USA and a member of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI)."  GSU's brochure can be found at: http://robinson.gsu.edu/resources2/files/execed/management-consulting.pdf)

So what does this mean for you, our members?

1.  The material for this effort (the Certificate of Management Consulting) has been developed by primarily by Don Scellato and Manola Robison and is licensed by IMC to the Schools and Colleges of Business.  Our work is now recognized by academia and forms the coursework, exposing early stage consultants to IMC's competencies, ethics and professionalism.  The five-day course itself is taught by a combination of professors and CMCs.

2.  The adult students/executives going through the five-day course will, of course, have the certificate and will be publicizing it with employers, friends and family.

3.  The Student Chapters will bring vitality and energy to the Chapters (along with increased membership) and increase the connectedness within your community of like-minded professionals.  And, as a member of IMC, they subscribe to our Code of Ethics, as all of our members do.

4.  The brand awareness of both IMC USA and the CMC will be enhanced, and potentially building a new pipeline into our certification process.

And, it is, after all, about branding!

So, what can you do?

Embrace this initiative.  Then go to your local School or College of Business or even your own school elsewhere in the U.S.  They, too, may be interested [Note: at the time of this blog, we have some 12 other schools in some form of conversation with us, much of this already driven by members.].

We have supporting material available for your use -- Program Overview, Sample Letter of Intent, Code of Ethics, and our Competency Framework.

Thanks

Thanks to many for bringing this Academic Initiative to fruition in about a year, but mostly thanks goes to Manola Robison, for her dogged determination and persistence, and to Don Scellato, the master of the curriculum and his untiring efforts in rewriting our Essentials course.

Stay tuned,

My best,

David