Curriculum
The 10- to 11-month program is delivered over 5 modules, expanding out from an understanding of yourself through skills to lead public agencies in a political and societal system:
Leadership of any kind starts with a strong understanding of yourself and how you move through the world, so that is where the UWT PDC’s Certified Public Manager program beings. In this course, students will begin learning how their MBTI type, levels of emotional intelligence, and unique combination of identities impacts how they see the world and interact with others. They will explore some foundational theories in and approaches to leadership and management, identifying those they’d like to align with.
Additionally, students will build an understanding of what it means to have a growth mindset and how moving through the program as a cohort will benefit their experience. This will result in a Learning Plan and selection of a Peer Advisor for the rest of the program.
Topics include
- How personality, values, and identity can guide a leadership journey
- Growth mindset
- The role of the leader as it relates to motivation, group behavior, culture, decision-making, accountablity, change, and organization development
- Leadership theories, models, and their applications in different situations
- Developing emotional and cultural self-awareness through assessment and on-going feedback
In this transitional course, we begin to situate the personal leadership journey within a larger context: Washington State. Students will explore the history of the state, how that history impacts the structure of governmental bodies, and the role various communities have played in it. We then step back to a larger conversation about systems thinking – a concept that guides everything we do in the Certified Public Manager program – and introduce the idea of process improvement.
In this module, we expand the circle out from leading the self to leading others in a thoughtful way that is conscious of diversity, communication styles, team development best practices, and more. Students will continue developing their process improvement skills and choose a project for their Capstone.
Topics include:
- Effective feedback
- Coaching for performance
- Team development
- Leading diverse teams
- Effective facilitation
In this module, students will explore topics related to the larger functioning of public sector organizations: strategic planning, budgeting, leading change, organizational culture, and performance management.
We close out the CPM program by diving into the intricacies of how policy is made and evaluated, engaging with the media, and how we connect with our communities. Students will also present their Capstone projects, demonstrating how they've used Lean Six Sigma and increased mastery of the program competencies to make an impact in their organization.
Our program is a proud member of the National Certified Public Manager® Consortium, the body that establishes and preserves standards for the Certified Public Manager® (CPM) designation, a nationally-accredited, comprehensive management development program specifically designed to prepare managers for careers in federal, state, local government and in other organizations with a public purpose.
