After a long, hot summer here in DC, Autumn is finally here! With the launch of the new CDFM exams this month and some additional programming, the Fall has plenty of activity lined up for our ASMC members! As always, thanks for your continued ASMC membership and dedication to our great nation.

 

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL PROGRAM

Thanks to those of you who renewed your membership early or on-time in August! Congratulations to the following "RENEW" YEAR's Resolution program winners: Deanna Kilcollins of the Crown of Maine Chapter and Denita James of the Evergreen Chapter each won $50 gift cards, and the $150 gift card was awarded to Susan Miley, CDFM of the Fort Meade Chapter!

Each month, all on-time or early renewals for one or three years will be entered into a random drawing to award two $50 gift cards and one $150 gift card, respectively. In addition to contacting the members who win the drawings, we will announce the winners on our website and social media. To save ASMC administrative time and cost and for a chance to win the gift cards, renew your membership on time or early.

 

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT: Genia Ziparo, Greater Jacksonville Chapter

Can you briefly describe your career path? 

I majored in business/accounting in college. In 1981, I took a GS-3 Temp Clerk Typist position to get my foot in the door with the federal government. Six months later I was in a permanent position. In 1985, I was selected for my first Financial Technician position as a GS-5…finally, I was working with numbers!  Over the years I took every opportunity I could to advance in my career. Whether that meant in a training capacity, learning and understanding a process backward and forwards or volunteering to work on special projects, etc., I put myself out there so supervisors knew I had what it took to be the person they were looking for to fill a vacant position. Over the years I moved up to a GS-6 Accounting Tech; GS-7 Budget Assistant; GS-9 Budget Analyst; GS-11 Financial Management Analyst; GS-12 Supervisor Financial Management Analyst; and then a GS-13 as a Regional Accounting Officer and my last job as a Regional Program Support Branch Head. In 2016, I retired with 35 years of federal service and never once did I look back and say why didn’t I get that job? Every job I had, I took that experience and built upon it to be the best I could be within my field!

What are your future goals? 

Since my retirement in 2016, I have continued to be involved with our Greater Jax Chapter as President, and for the foreseeable future, I continue to be an active member. But my main enjoyment with retirement has been volunteering and spoiling grandkids rotten!

How has your involvement in ASMC helped to develop your career?      

Being a chapter officer was the best thing that happened to me because it gave me more self-confidence in front of large crowds. It also opened doors and job opportunities that might not have come my way.

Which ASMC programs/offerings have you found to be the most beneficial?

I always found the PDI’s to be a great training resource and networking opportunity.

 If you could pass along one piece of advice to ASMC Early Careerists, what would it be?  

Attend meetings, get involved with your local chapter and network…you want people to know who you are when your resume comes across their desk. Know your job and processes backward and forward. Be that one person that people know they can go to for help in getting the right answer or finding a way to solve a problem!

 

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHT: Charlestowne Chapter, by Virginia Pitts, Chapter President

What are your plans for the Chapter this year?

We just completed this year’s first event at the Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC). In addition to 25 children enjoying an amazing cookout, games, and movie we were pleased to present the Center with a $325.00 donation. Founded in 1790, CYDC is an important part of Charleston’s historic and cultural heritage, a direct descendant of the Charleston Orphan House, America’s first publicly-funded orphanage. Today, CYDC provides programs reaching over 1,200 children, youth and their families locally each year. The Charlestowne Chapter has been engaged with CYDC for over 20 years. Our professional development plans include collaborating with the local AGA organization as well as other South Carolina ASMC Chapters.

What event or program has had the best response from your Chapter?

Last year we were able to hold a PDS at the Naval Consolidated Brig Charleston. The mission of Naval Consolidated Brig Charleston is to ensure the security, good order, discipline and safety of adjudged and pretrial prisoners; to retrain and restore the maximum number of personnel to honorable service; to prepare prisoners for return to civilian life as productive citizens; and when directed by superior authority, detain enemy combatants in accordance with guidance from the President via the Secretary of Defense. Lunch was prepared at the Brig for all PDS attendees. The Brig Executive Officer and Technical Director provided an overview of Brig operations and challenges.  A tour followed and we were able to walk through the shops where prisoners work and develop skills in preparation for release.

How have you been able to engage and grow your membership?

Membership growth continues to be a challenge and a priority for the Charlestowne Chapter. Our goal this year is to increase membership by 10%. Like many smaller chapters, our challenge is to find speakers and programs on a monthly basis that will be relevant and of interest to a Joint Community (i.e. Navy, Air Force, Army Corps of Engineers). On the positive side, we have been very successful in engaging our membership in taking the EDFMT class and achieving CDFM status.

What is your favorite chapter memory?

As a way to honor the memory of Nancy Hood, former Chapter President, and the person who was vital to the reactivation of the Charlestowne Chapter two years ago (the Chapter had been dormant for several years), we were able to restart the Scholarship Program. In June, the Chapter awarded $1,000.00 to a deserving High School graduate seeking a college degree in a financial management discipline. The diversity of our membership, early careerists, interns, and students, as well as veteran and seasoned professionals, creates a great opportunity for many more memories as we move into the future.

 

ASMC AWARDS PROGRAM

The National ASMC Awards Program is off to a new Awards Year start and we want to have more nominations than ever, more excitement, and more participation in getting people nominated and providing an opportunity for recognition of excellence. Encourage managers to recognize outstanding employees, mention the National Awards Program at your meetings, let other managers know it exists, and look for individuals and teams worthy of nomination. Let others know that they can get funds to help pay for their continuing education classes or that they can win money for writing an essay on the recent topic posted by ASMC. Even you can recognize people you know have done an outstanding job. Go to asmconline.org for more awards information. All forms should be online by the end of October.

You can nominate your employee(s) or peer(s) for an award. They do not have to be a member of ASMC to be nominated for an Achievement (Individual or Team) Award. There is no cost to nominate and the winners receive free registration for the ASMC national PDI. With limited budgets and training opportunities, this is a good way to recognize deserving individuals and teams. All nominations must be submitted online. The Achievement Awards must be in by midnight on the 31st of January. If you have any questions email dcall.asmcawards@yahoo.com. Please make sure you provide an accurate email address and phone number of the person nominated.

 

REDUCTION IN ASMC THREE YEAR MEMBERSHIP DUES

We are happy to announce that the ASMC National Executive Committee, during its September meeting, approved a recommendation from the Executive Director to reduce ASMC’s three-year membership dues (for joins and renewals) from $114 down to $96 effective 1 October 2018. The $96 rate will provide a discount of 20% from the fee individuals would pay if they renew annually over a period of three years at $40 per year (total of $120) rather than taking advantage of a discounted three-year join or renewal.  The previous discount for three-year memberships was only 5%. 

 

CDFM EXAM UPDATE

ASMC is very happy to share that the new updated CDFM Module 1, 2, and 3 exams were launched on September 1, 2018, and are being offered concurrently with the “old” exams until December 31, 2018.  Some new features to candidates who take the new Module 1, 2, and 3 exams are:

  • PDF Acronym Guide—only acronyms actually used in the new exam forms
  • Ability to provide comments/feedback on specific items—a comments box can be opened for each item, allowing the candidate to type in feedback while taking the exam
  • Exam Score Report for failed exam attempts shows the percent correct for each competency area instead of only a pass/fail rating—we hope this will be more meaningful feedback

 

CDFM CANDIDATE HANDBOOK

We also revised the CDFM Candidate Handbook with the updated exam blueprints. Anyone interested in the CDFM Program can download a candidate handbook from www.asmconline.org to help them understand the following:

  • Requirements to earn certification
  • Certification process (including a flowchart!)
  • Preparation for the exam modules
  • Purchase of and scheduling exam modules
  • Current Certification Department policies and procedures
  • Requirements for maintaining certification
  • Plus much more!

Please let your colleagues know about this valuable resource!

 

ASMC NEEDS CDFM-A PILOT TESTERS

The work to finalize the comprehensive update of Module 4 – Acquisition Business Management examination continues. We need active CDFM-As to field test the pilot exams, so we can determine which questions to include on the updated exam! If you possess the CDFM-A specialty certification, please consider helping us.

 

ASMC MEMBER ENGAGE PLATFORM

Log in and check out our new membership communication and engagement platform that we appropriately named Engage! Engage, is an interactive service platform, which has been adapted for integration with your ASMC membership. Engage will allow our members to better network and collaborate with each other and the individual chapter communities will enhance communication among chapter officers and members, as well as chapter administration. Log into Engage at https://engage.asmconline.org/home, using the email address and password associated with your ASMC member account. 

 

RETIREE MEMBERSHIP

Anyone who fully retires (except for volunteer work) is eligible to remain as a free, non-dues paying member of ASMC. The only difference in membership benefits is that members in our Retiree Sector do not receive the hard copy edition of the Armed Forces Comptroller quarterly journal beyond the time that their normal membership paid thru date occurs. Instead, they receive access to our digital-only version. If you are approaching “full” retirement, please notify ASMC at membership@asmconline.org, so we can transfer you into our non-dues paying Retiree Sector, led by volunteer Jack Mutarelli.

 

CHECK YOUR ASMC MEMBERSHIP PROFILE

We ask that all members routinely check their membership profile information – including email and mailing addresses. Also, if you’re not using your personal email address, we suggest you change your work email address to your personal (Gmail, yahoo, AOL, etc.) address, so as to avoid any server firewall issues that might block delivery of email to your account.