The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The Certified Grants Management
Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Building the Grants Management
Body of Knowledge (GMBOK)
Torryn P. Brazell, CMP, ACA, CAE
Executive Director, Natl. Grants Management Association
December 3, 2007 – National Grants Partnership – Washington, DC
For more information: www.ngma.org
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
GENERAL
What is the CGMS® Credential and the Program Objectives?
What are the benefits of obtaining the CGMS® Credential?
GOVERNANCE
How will the CGMS® Program be administered?
What is the Natl. Grants Mgmt. Certification Council (NGMCC)?
KNOWLEDGE STANDARDS
What is the Grants Management Body of Knowledge (GMBOK)?
How is the GMBOK being developed?
TIMEFRAME / INVOLVEMENT
What is the CGMS® development timeline?
How you can be involved…
in GMBOK development and/or other CGMS® development tasks.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
A Non-Profit Professionals Organization Made Up of
1,000+ Grants Management Professionals
MISSION: To Enhance and Improve the Grants
Delivery Process Through Education, Training & Networking
Headquarters: Reston, Virginia
Established: 1991
Annual Conference: In Its 29th Year
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The CGMS® Program is … Participatory
The CGMS® Program is … Consultative
The CGMS® Program employs proven techniques
and best practices utilized by other rigorous and highlyregarded certification programs.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
To distinguish grants management as a profession.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
To identify professional standards used throughout
the grants management profession, including best
practice applications from Federal, state and local
governments; universities/academic institutions;
tribal entities & non-profit organizations.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
To recognize members of the grants management
profession who have demonstrated a specified
level of knowledge essential to the practice of
grants management from both a grantee and
grantor perspective.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The CGMS® Credential will be recognized.
Employers, peers, and others will recognize that
you have attained a specific knowledge-level
of the grants management life-cycle by having
passed a rigorous exam.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The CGMS® Credential will enhance individual
performance.
Achieving the CGMS® designation will advance your knowledge
and help you achieve higher levels of excellence in grants
management. Obtaining the credential is not simply a one-time
effort, but an ongoing commitment to professional growth.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The CGMS® Credential will be portable.
The CGMS® Credential is independent of the type of organization in
which you are currently working and/or may be working for in the
future.
The CGMS® Program will cover grants management tasks and
practices used by all organizational types, thus providing a broad
spectrum of knowledge-based professional standards employed by
the grants management industry as-a-whole.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Governance of the CGMS® program will be executed by the
National Grants Management Certification Council (NGMCC).
NGMCC’s MISSION
To independently guide and operate the CGMS® Certification Program.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
NGMCC COMPOSITION
The initial Council will be made up of subcommittees by function type (i.e.,
Exam, GMBOK, Courseware) and comprised of:
Industry leaders who have strong grants
management backgrounds
From different organizational types
From different geographical areas
* To continue Council work, members will be required
to earn the CGMS® Credential.
* Subsequent Council members will be individuals
who are already certified and who have strong
industry backgrounds.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
What are the Key Functions of the NGMCC?
Development & Maintenance of the Certification Exam
Exam to be based on the GMBOK
Exam designed by exam creation professionals (psychometricians*),
who will also direct the Council in determining the passing exam grade
based on analysis of exam answers.
Certifying Training Materials and Courseware
Encourage creation (or modification) of GMBOK courseware and
exam prep materials; officially certify the training materials and courseware
that meet stated criteria based on the current version of the GMBOK.
* Psychometrics: The branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests
for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and personality traits. Also called psychometry.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
What is a “Body of Knowledge”?
A term used to represent the sum total of all knowledge in an area of expertise,
most notably professional bodies.
Knowledge “exists” in two basic forms:
1. Explicit knowledge – easily codified and shared asynchronously
2.
Tacit knowledge – experiential, intuitive, and communicated most
effectively in face-to-face encounter.
“Knowledge in Organizations – Definition, Creation and Harvesting” – Harvard Graduate School of Education
Some knowledge believed to be tacit can be transformed
into explicit knowledge, producing a body of knowledge.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
BOKs are developed by professional organizations wanting to:
1) advance professional practice, 2) set standards, and 3) offer a “credential”
related to BOK mastery.
Project Management Institute (PMI)
PMBOK (project management)
Institute of Electronics Engineering (IEEE)
SWEBOK (software engineering)
Association for Investment Management and
Research (AIMR)
CFABOK (financial analysis)
International Council on System Engineering (INCOSE)
SEBOK (systems engineering)
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
The GMBOK will cover all relevant methods, information,
policies, regulations, and knowledge related to both
grantee and grantor tasks and activities administration.
It will cover best practices utilized in federal, state,
local, university and non-profit grant administration and
management.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Establish the NGMCC
 Interview & Evaluate Certification Firms
 Obtain proposals from Certification Firms for the development
of the GMBOK

 Choose Certification Firm for GMBOK Development
Hold Strategic Planning Discussions
1. Scope of Certification
2. Stakeholder Perspectives to be Represented in Job Analysis Task Force (JATF)
3. Guiding Development Document for the Job Analysis Task Force (JATF)
4. Identification of Available Literature Describing Work of Grants Managers
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Objectively determine actual skills, tasks and areas of
knowledge necessary to perform grants administration using
a “job analysis” process
Determine Competency Areas
Determine Practice Levels/Groups under each
Competency Area
This stage is the “core” of the GMBOK development.
It is time-consuming but critical and essential to the
success of the CGMS® credentialing program.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Finalize draft of actual skills, tasks and areas of
knowledge necessary to perform grants administration using
a “job analysis” process
Determine Competency Areas
Determine Practice Levels/Groups under each
Competency Area
This is the “core” of the GMBOK development.
It is time-consuming but critical and essential to the
success of the CGMS® credentialing program.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
“By its nature, tacit knowledge is difficult to convert into explicit knowledge. Through
conceptualization, elicitation, and ultimately articulation, typically in collaboration with
others, some proportion of a person's tacit knowledge may be captured in explicit form.
Typical activities in which tacit knowledge is captured as the first step towards the
conversion are in dialog among team members, in responding to interview questions
or through the elicitation of stories.”
…article on Knowledge in Organizations published
by the Harvard Graduate School of Education
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
PILOT TEST Web-based Validation Survey, disseminating URL link to key project
leadership for review/comment.
Feedback used to revise final survey in preparation for pilot testing of survey
instrument.
Request rating scales in connection with survey instrument:
COGNITIVE
1) I do not use the knowledge
2) I recognize/recall the knowledge
3) I apply/integrate the knowledge
FREQUENCY
1) Never
2) Annually / Semi-Annually / Quarterly
3) Monthly or Almost Monthly
4) Weekly or Almost Weekly
5) Daily or Almost Daily
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
STAGE I: Validate the Competency Areas and Practice Levels
Using Qualitative Validation Methods
STAGE II: Evaluate the GMBOK Through Public Comment Process
STAGE III: Release of the GMBOK in Publication Form
Anticipate frequent updating of GMBOK due to the ever-changing nature of
the grants management industry.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Disseminate FINAL Survey Link to 1,000+ grants management specialists
Survey data is analyzed to determine PERCENTAGE OF EXAMINATION
to cover each major topic area, plus Frequency of each specific
knowledge base that is used and the Cognitive Level at which they are
used.
** Survey ratings are also used to develop hypothetical test
specifications, consisting of percentage weights for each topic area.
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
April 23, 2008 – Credentialing Firm Presents GMBOK and Method
Development to NGMA Annual Training Conference Attendees
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
2008
• Body of Knowledge (GMBOK)
• Available courseware and training materials
• CGMS® “Application of Intent” Form
• Code of Conduct/Ethics Statement
• Develop Exam Registration, Administration,
& Renewal Processes
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
2008-2009
Write Exam Questions
BETA Test CGMS Exams
Hold First CGMS Exam April 2009
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The Certified Grants Management Specialist™ (CGMS®) Credential
Developed for Grants Managers by Grants Managers
__________________________________________________________________________
Please send your questions to cgms@ngma.org.
Torryn P. Brazell, ACA, CMP, CAE, Executive Director
National Grants Management Association, Virginia
info@ngma.org
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