Extra Credit™ Press Release

July 20, 2008, Colorado Springs, Colorado USA. President Lew Ireland today announced the details of the organization's new Extra Credit™ extension to the asapm Certified Project Practitioner (aCPP) program. The Extra Credit™ program will allow eligible individuals to obtain aCPP Level D certification without the time and expense involved in sitting for the exam. aCPP.D™ is the USA’s version of the International Project Management Association's IPMA-D® and is recognized throughout the world by IPMA's more than 40 Member Associations.

Ireland identified three target audiences for the program: individuals who have received a Masters degree in project management, individuals who have satisfactorily completed a project management certificate program of at least 120 contact hours, and individuals who have obtained a project management knowledge-based credential from another organization. Ireland went on to comment "we recognize the tremendous effort that so many practitioners put into obtaining academic certificates and other credentials. We wanted to do something for them."

Gary Klein, asapm's Director of Education and a professor in the business school at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, commented that he was "surprised no one else had thought of this before." He went on to add, "It's a great opportunity for our students. They have the knowledge and talent to pass the Level D exam, but they seldom have the time or funds to do so." According to Klein, there are more than 20 universities in the USA granting Masters degrees, and perhaps a hundred or more with certificate programs.

The Extra Credit offer will be available starting September 1, 2008. The program will terminate at the end of 2008, or after 2,008 of the estimated 100,000 eligible candidates have received Extra Credit for their efforts. Applicants must live or work in the USA, and their degrees or other credentials must be verifiable through a public database. Candidates must also write a short critique of one competence element of the USA National Competency Baseline that will be judged by asapm's assessors. Complete eligibility requirements for Extra Credit are available in the certifications section of asapm's PMCert website.

The cost of the Extra Credit program is $60 for asapm members and $250 for non-members. The fee is non-refundable.

In addition to the knowledge-based Level D certification, asapm also offers performance-based competency assessments for both Project Managers and Senior Project Managers with a Program Manager assessment due in mid-2009.

About asapm
The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm) is a non-profit organization, staffed with volunteers who are dedicated to improving the practice of Project Management. asapm is a registered trademark, and PMCert is a service mark of the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management.