Journal Notes—December 2015

by Michael Hamline, Editor / Published December 2015

A mentor once told me, “The schooldays of a person are never over.” The context was that we are to be lifelong learners in all areas of our life, such as a husband, father, or employee. Well, I think it would be appropriate to say, “The schooldays of a community association manager are never over.” That is, for those CAMs who are dedicated to managing as a career, there is always more information to learn and understand that enables them to be more helpful resources to their boards of directors.

In a broad sense, CAM training can be divided into two categories: initial training needed for licensing and ongoing (CEU) training needed to maintain the license. One thing that virtually everyone in the industry agrees on is that the educational requirement to get a CAM license barely scratches the surface. In fact, that realization was the catalyst that led to the creation of FCAP. The 40-hour “Florida Advanced CAM Studies,” which was designed to fill in part of the deficit, was the first educational program that FCAP offered.

Now in an exciting second step, FCAP is offering its catalogue of 32 CEU courses online as a free benefit of FCAP membership. Starting this month, FCAP members can take the online CEU courses 24/7 from the comfort of their home or office. This offers FCAP members a convenient and cost-free way to satisfy the state’s requirement for CEUs. As 2016 progresses, new courses will be added monthly, an expected 18 during the year.

The course material is also available for non-FCAP members and board members to view and learn from, but only CAM members will be able to get CEU credit.

FCAP was created with one goal in mind: to raise the level of professionalism in the industry through education. 2016 will be a big year in the advancement of that goal.

And have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Editor