My friend Ben Martin of the Passed the CAE Exam blog and I are having a really great conversation about the CAE and our divergent perspectives on the designation. Read it, including the original post from the View from a Corner Office blog that put this issue out there last fall. This conversation is not only worthy of your time, but important for our community. Let me just say a couple of things about it right now:
1. I believe very strongly that the association community needs a master of science in association leadership that is rigorous and interdisciplinary. I have audioblogged about this before on this blog and I'm bringing it up again as a result of my conversation with Ben. We DO NOT...repeat DO NOT...need an MBA; we need a degree the recognizes the uniqueness of what we do and integrates the various disciplines that contribute to our work into a theoretical base we can begin to apply in new and compelling ways.
2. The CAE exam certifies to a minimum standard of competence. That's fine. So let's be clear about that reality throughout the community and recognize that while certifiying to a minimum standard may be necessary and appropriate, it is clearly insufficient given the nature of the challenges our organizations face. The CAE is a voluntary designation, held by only a small percentage of ASAE members (perhaps 10%) and an even smaller percentage of the total association executive population across the country. Those who hold the designation arrive at taking the exam from many different fields and experiences and while the exam seeks to assess the knowledge they all hold in common around associations, what mechanisms do we have for better understanding the way each of them thinks about and applies that knowledge in their work?
3. Some may dismiss my critique of the CAE exam as irrelevant or even inappropriate because I don't hold the designation. I understand that point of view but I obviously don't agree with it. My interest is not in tearing down the designation, but in building it up. But we can't do that unless we're prepared to discuss its shortcomings honestly and openly and that conversation must include a wide variety of perspectives. I'm just one voice and look forward to hearing others. Please join in!
I thought differently until I read your comments, Jeff. I wish there were a masters degree program in association management - I would be the first to sign up. Why is there not an emphasis in universities for our discipline? It's a huge industry yet there is very little emphasis in our current education model. It's extremely unfortunate.
Posted by: Shasonta | March 17, 2005 at 12:10 PM