Professional Development Committee

2007 - 2008 Goals and Objectives

1. Assist the ASFPM Board of Directors, CBOR and the ASFPM Executive Office in developing and maintaining the ASFPM CFM Program.

2. Assist ASFPM State and Regional Chapters with the development and maintenance of State Chapter CFM Programs and spate specific exams.

3. Finalize PDC activities for 2006-2007 during the 2007 ASFPM Annual Conference including the 2007 (annual) review of the CFM Exam and updating the CFM Exam Pool and CFM Exam Preparation Guide.

4. Complete the annual update of the CFM Exam Pool and incorporate new questions submitted by State Chapters, the ASFPM Membership and members of the CFM Exam Review Committee.

5. Maintain the CFM Exam Pool and verify cross-references to FEMA 480, “Floodplain Management Requirements, A Study Guide and Desk Reference for Local Officials”.

6. Assist the ASFPM Training Committee, the ASFPM Executive Office, EMI and others in developing educational and training opportunities for Floodplain Managers and support Red Vector on line FPM training courses.

7. Identify advance FPM training topics, identify experts for each advance topic and support EMI’s efforts to create advanced training opportunities for the FPM community.

8. Provide input to the CBOR Strategic Plan including long range plans to promote professionalism for CFM’s and the FPM community.

9. Evaluate and find common ground to promote continuing education opportunities for parallel certification programs such as floodplain managers, engineers, surveyors, planners, emergency managers, architects, landscape architects, hydrologists, wetland and storm water professionals and others.

10. Identify training opportunities to suggest to State Chapters, such as Disaster Response and Recovery, Reasonably Safe from Flooding, Elevation Certificates, NAI, MOM, Section 404 Wetland Permits, Endangered Species Act (ESA), Substantial Damage, LOMC, HMGP, FMA, and ICC.

11. Create leadership roles within the PDC.

12. Provide technical assistance to ASFPM and State Chapters related to CFM Programs.

13. Document the history of the CFM Program.

14. Perform assignments from CBOR and the ASFPM Executive Office.

2006 - 2007 Status Report

The number one task for the Professional Development Committee (PDC) since the 1999 ASFPM Conference in Portland, Oregon has been support for the Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) Program. The PDC, assisted by the CFM Exam Review Committee, has the ongoing assignment to maintain the CFM Exam Pool and report directly to the ASFPM Certified Board of Regents (CBOR) and coordinate with the ASFPM Executive Office. The CFM Exam Pool was created and maintained by the PDC to support the CFM Exam administrated by ASFPM, and to assist State Chapters that have established and maintain CFM Programs. The overall success of the nation-wide CFM program can be attributed to the efforts of the Certified Board of Regents (CBOR), guidance provided by the ASFPM Executive Office, and the dedicated ASFPM and State Chapter Membership that has contributed countless hours to the CFM Program. The PDC is proud to be a part of the CFM Program and to assist in the advancement of floodplain management.

Annually, volunteers from the PDC join State NFIP Coordinators and representatives from State Chapters to form the CFM Exam Review Committee. A CFM Exam review and update is conducted annually and finalized after each ASFPM annual conference utilizing a summary of statistical information on CFM Exam scores and exam comments from persons that have taken the exam. This valuable information is compiled by the ASFPM Executive Office. Historical CFM Exam data has been developed from exam offerings since the initial CFM Exam was offered at the June 1999 ASFPM Conference. The ASFPM Executive Office maintains the confidentially of CFM Exam takers, tabulates a listing of the most missed exam questions, and summarizes any written comments from persons that had taken the CFM Exam during the previous 12 month exam period. The 2005-2006 annual CFM exam review was completed and an updated CFM Exam delivered to the ASFPM Executive Office on June 6, 2006. On June 12, 2006, during the annual ASFPM Albuquerque Conference, the PDC met to discuss and report on progress of the 2005-2006 Goals, plan activities for 2006-2007, and to select the 2006-2007 CFM Exam Review Committee to conduct the next annual CFM Exam evaluation.. The proposed 2006-2007 exam review will include a review of the most missed exam questions with a goal to update the 120 question CFM Exam in late 2007. While the annual exam evaluation effort is very time consuming, the PDC recommends that the evaluation continue as an annual event.

To coordinate PDC activities, John Ivey, PDC Co-Chair, attended the ASFPM Committee Retreat October 27-29, 2006 in Newport, Rhode Island and the CBOR Board Meetings held in Madison, Wisconsin on September 14-15, 2006 and Fort Worth, Texas on March 28-30, 2007.

Major PDC accomplishments during 2006-2007:

(1) PDC Annual Committee meeting June 12, 2005 during the ASFPM 2006 Albuquerque Conference.
(2) PDC Exam Review Committee revised the CFM Exam and delivered an updated exam to the ASFPM Executive Office on June 6, 2006.
(3) PDC prepared the “2007 CFM Exam Status Report” for submittal to CBOR in May 2007, documenting and analyzing CFM Exam scores from 1999 to 2006. This has become an annual PDC Report to CBOR.
(4) The PDC participated in the Texas Floodplain Management Association 2007 Freeboard Survey distributed to the TFMA membership in May 2007.
(5) PDC provided assistance to the New Mexico Floodplain Managers Association (NMFPA) to update the NMFMA CFM Exam.