Two South Mississippi State Hospital staff members recently completed the Mississippi State Personnel Board’s Certified Supervisory Management Program. Andy Tucker, SMSH Fiscal Services Director, and Arif Kamal, SMSH Active Treatment Technician Supervisor, both of Hattiesburg, completed the first half of the State Personnel Board’s Certified Public Manager Program. Completion of the first half of the program earns participants a CSM designation. They are now eligible to apply for second level -- the CPM Program, from which Tucker says he plans to graduate in June 2012.
Candidates for the Mississippi CPM Program must be employed by or with a Mississippi governmental organization and should be in a supervisory or managerial position. The CPM Program is built on the philosophy that the study of management can impact certain skills, attitudes and behaviors that characterize successful management. The program combines state-of-the-art theory with practical training. The designation as a “Certified Public Manager” is viewed as a professional credential involving study, practice, application and testing. The CPM Program requires completion of six levels of one-week courses, two outside readings, professional development electives, selected required electives, three job-related projects, examinations on core courses and an executive seminar.
Tucker holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Mississippi State University. He has completed the Mississippi Department of Mental Health’s Basic Supervisory Course and FOCUS Program. Both the CSM/CPM program and FOCUS are advanced DMH management training initiatives. Tucker served as Purchasing Director at the hospital from January 2000, prior to the facility’s opening in May of that year, until he was promoted to his current position as Fiscal Services Director in September 2010.
“I have enjoyed meeting people from other agencies and learning more about how state government works,” said Tucker. “Some of the classes are really interesting.”
Kamal is a native of Bangladesh in southeast Asia. He came to the University of Southern Mississippi in Fall 1997 and received a Master of Public Health degree in Fall 1999. He has been employed by SMSH since May 2000, prior to the hospital receiving its first patient. Kamal also graduated from the John C. Stennis State Executive Development Institute of Government in May 2008.
“Working together as a team, using a decision-making model and open communication were the most valued and applicable skills I learned during CPM Levels I-III,” said Kamal.
The CPM Program has received favorable attention nationwide as a training system that measures, as well as develops, professional competency in the field of public management. By increasing the productivity, effectiveness and efficiency of state employees, CPM helps enhance the overall quality and image of state government operations. The Mississippi CPM Program is a member of the National CPM Consortium and is administered under the authority of the Mississippi State Personnel Board.
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