and wastewater utilities, an education college and a tollway operator. Participants can track their progress through the course with their own personal score as they complete forum challenges, participate in live or recorded events, watch “how to” videos, submit two assignments, and answer multiple choice questions on the way through the course. Early feedback halfway through the course (at the time of writing this article) is mostly positive from participants with a range of backgrounds including professional engineers, maintenance and operations managers, community services, GIS technicians, asset coordinators/managers, public works directors/managers and finance managers. The program comprises eight modules delivered over 10 weeks with an additional four weeks at the end for participants to submit their draft asset management plan (one asset class) developed for their organizations—a great output for their employers while they earned their personal qualification. Many have already commented how they are learning about different methodologies being utilized internationally to develop and implement asset management. At the same time, they are getting an opportunity to connect and interact directly with the presenters and their peers internationally.
Allan Mapstone, one of the main presenters of the online program, has worked extensively in both Australia and Canada implementing improved asset management practices. Mapstone is a keen advocate of the professional certificate, which he says reinforces the importance of sound asset management planning and gives delegates access to the hands-on tools to get started. “Anyone involved with the provision of infrastructure, whether they be from a technical or non-technical background, really needs to be confident with the discussion and practice of asset management,” Mapstone said. “This course is a strong step towards that position. This qualification is an important step in the whole picture of managing assets on behalf of our communities. It’s a significant responsibility and whilst we find most organizations do a great job at delivering services there are challenges in how we ‘discuss’ the options with our communities. This greatly helps.” Mapstone has been impressed by the level of engagement of participants, particularly considering the online nature of the course. He admits that he was nervous about the online set-up initially, but has embraced the format which allows him (and students) to interact with each other in group discussions.
hesitant about this environment,” he said. “It’s so much better than I expected. The most frequent feedback is just how engaging and interactive the course is.” The online Professional Certificate course is well suited to international participants as it follows ISO 55001 standards and the asset management principles of the International Infrastructure Management Manual (IIMM) which are universal. The course provides participants with not only an understanding of asset management principles but also their hands-on application. It would be difficult to demonstrate this in the short duration of the course without everyone working on a common platform with access to tools and templates. IPWEA has therefore arranged trial access to IPWEA’s portal and its tools, templates and other resources to undertake and complete the Professional Certificate. Beyond the course, it is open for participants to use IPWEA’s or their own alternative resources to apply the principles of asset management learnt during the course. For more information and to register your interest in the next program commencing in August/ September 2017, visit www.ipwea. org/certificate, or e-mail chris. champion@ipwea.org.
“I have been involved with many face-to-face courses, so I was a bit www.apwa.net
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May 2017
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APWA Reporter
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