board leadership certification

Started by JimR24 • 17 replies • 365 views

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JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Hey everybody - i am proud to announce that i have completed the Board Leadership Certification offered by the Community Associations Institute. I would like to recommend it to any of you who are interested in an excellent course in an online homeowners association operation. CAI did an excellent job offering the course. It was presented well and all the subject matter were on target perfectly. Highly recommended if you have the time and interest.

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

WendyM5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1,522

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JimR24 on 12/26/2022 3:25 PM
Hey everybody - i am proud to announce that i have completed the Board Leadership Certification offered by the Community Associations Institute. I would like to recommend it to any of you who are interested in an excellent course in an online homeowners association operation. CAI did an excellent job offering the course. It was presented well and all the subject matter were on target perfectly. Highly recommended if you have the time and interest.

how much did it cost? how long?

vis ta vie

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Hi Wendy - i am a member of CAI and seems like i remember the course costing $99. The course is online and it took quite a few hours of reading, listening to presentations and such - and, some testing and video instruction. I have taken online courses before and this one surpassed my expectations. The course was very well done and the subjects were well chosen. I am guessing i probably spent 40-50 hrs on the course materials over a 3 week period of time. Thanks for asking!

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Congratulations, Jim. that's an excellent achievement and says, to me anyway, your service to your community will be excellent!

What size is your Board? Your HOA? Do you have a plan for one or more directors possibly resisting you passing on honest-to-gawd knowledge about TX HOAs to the Board?

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By KerryL1 on 12/26/2022 5:19 PM
Congratulations, Jim. that's an excellent achievement and says, to me anyway, your service to your community will be excellent!

What size is your Board? Your HOA? Do you have a plan for one or more directors possibly resisting you passing on honest-to-gawd knowledge about TX HOAs to the Board?

...lol...Kerry. We are a new HOA - having the control turned over from the developer to the homeowners on Dec 1st. Time will tell about the resistance. So far, things are going pretty good; however, you know the old saying - a new broom always sweeps clean...lol....

We are very small - we have only 19 garden homes and about 2 ac of common land attached to the home sites. Gated with a private road. Thanks for asking!

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JimR24 on 12/26/2022 5:25 PM

And...we have a board of five.

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

WendyM5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1,522

Posted:

I went to their website it's 5 hrs of online vidoes and 2 books worth about $30 plus one free book anyone can download.
$200 for non members. I've easily watched over 5 hrs of hoa training on youtube for free, not sure if it's any better or worse then what they offer. PersonallY i PREfer books.

Not sure if I want to join them as I am not sure what they exactly advocate for. Don't want my HOA money used to advocate for something I'm against.

vis ta vie

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By WendyM5 on 12/26/2022 5:48 PM
I went to their website it's 5 hrs of online vidoes and 2 books worth about $30 plus one free book anyone can download.
$200 for non members. I've easily watched over 5 hrs of hoa training on youtube for free, not sure if it's any better or worse then what they offer. PersonallY i PREfer books.

Not sure if I want to join them as I am not sure what they exactly advocate for. Don't want my HOA money used to advocate for something I'm against.

Sounds like that's a definite "NO WAY JOSE" from you Wendy...lol....

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I do not believe that CAI thinks as Wendy does. They support BOD's whereas Wendy want to remove power from BOD's.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 12/27/2022 9:17 AM
I do not believe that CAI thinks as Wendy does. They support BOD's whereas Wendy want to remove power from BOD's.

Yes i agree John. Lots of things to be considered here. The CAI group also supports Property Managers and their certification. Good observation.

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

WendyM5 (North Carolina)
Posts: 1,522

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 12/27/2022 9:17 AM
I do not believe that CAI thinks as Wendy does. They support BOD's whereas Wendy want to remove power from BOD's.

untrue. CAI recently supported MD law which allows for native plant flower gardens and did not support the HOA board which pissed $100K over one lawn on the issue.

Also Believe CAI supported many parts of the AZ and TX laws which reduced HOA board power.

On the other hand, they seem to be against bills that create state Ombudsman offices which regulate boards.

in short it's more complicated than you make it out to be.

vis ta vie

MaxB4
Posts: 3,513

Posted:

Based on first-hand experience, I know that CAI in general doesn't support regulating the HOA industry, specifically MCs and attorneys.

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

CAI Board Leader Certificate, Course Outline:

Module 1: Governing Documents and Roles & Responsibilities. To start you on the right path, Module 1 helps you understand the legal authority for your association. It also clarifies the duties and responsibilities of each board member and the professionals who are available to assist the board.

Module 2: Communications, Meetings and Volunteerism. Module 2 helps you learn how to maximize volunteer involvement in your community association by improving board communications, conducting effective meetings and building community spirit.

Module 3: Fundamentals of Financial Management. Module 3 introduces the fundamentals of association financial management, including guidelines for protecting your association’s assets, preparing a budget, planning for the future and collecting assessments.

Module 4: Professional Advisors and Service Providers. Because putting together the right team to support your association can be challenging, Module 4 provides practical tips on finding, evaluating and hiring qualified professional advisors and service providers.

Module 5: Association Rules and Conflict Resolution. Module 5 explores guidelines for making reasonable association rules, enforcing rules fairly and resolving conflict effectively.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ElleN on 12/27/2022 10:06 AM
CAI Board Leader Certificate, Course Outline:

Module 1: Governing Documents and Roles & Responsibilities. To start you on the right path, Module 1 helps you understand the legal authority for your association. It also clarifies the duties and responsibilities of each board member and the professionals who are available to assist the board.

Module 2: Communications, Meetings and Volunteerism. Module 2 helps you learn how to maximize volunteer involvement in your community association by improving board communications, conducting effective meetings and building community spirit.

Module 3: Fundamentals of Financial Management. Module 3 introduces the fundamentals of association financial management, including guidelines for protecting your association’s assets, preparing a budget, planning for the future and collecting assessments.

Module 4: Professional Advisors and Service Providers. Because putting together the right team to support your association can be challenging, Module 4 provides practical tips on finding, evaluating and hiring qualified professional advisors and service providers.

Module 5: Association Rules and Conflict Resolution. Module 5 explores guidelines for making reasonable association rules, enforcing rules fairly and resolving conflict effectively.

Thanks for posting up Ellen. The course was excellent. I used to teach for a living - am old and retired now...lol.... - and the presentation style and the subject matter surpassed anything i have ever seen developed by professional educators. Takes some time to complete everything - and it's better if you join CAI - but i feel we could do all better, more effective, jobs with hoa's if we could practice all of what was taught. I feel that the knowledge i gained will allow me to do a better job with my hoa - and i am guessing it will allow me to sleep better at night...lol...

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

Jim, I am not a big fan of CAI but as far as outlines go, the course outline looked solid enough to me. Though I wish they had used the word "reserves" at least once instead of calling it 'financial planning for the future'. The course itself did at least mention reserve studies and reserve planning, didn't it? I guess all together helping a newbie to get a handle on HOA structure so that they are at least minimally functional as a board member is asking a lot. The CAI probably figured it should dump only so much into the brains of the students for a first course.

JimR24 (Texas)
Posts: 399

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ElleN on 12/27/2022 11:06 AM
Jim, I am not a big fan of CAI but as far as outlines go, the course outline looked solid enough to me. Though I wish they had used the word "reserves" at least once instead of calling it 'financial planning for the future'. The course itself did at least mention reserve studies and reserve planning, didn't it? I guess all together helping a newbie to get a handle on HOA structure so that they are at least minimally functional as a board member is asking a lot. The CAI probably figured it should dump only so much into the brains of the students for a first course.

Hi Ellen - good question about the reserves issue...and yes, i thought they treated reserves pretty good. Not in as much detail as the two reserve studies i have experienced in previous hoa work - but a good summary so others could understand methodology and the impact of long-term planning. Excellent information and right on target for me!

Lovin' life with my honey!
and, President of HOA in Texas

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

I have lived in 6 HOA's (IL, MA, SC). In my first two, I had no idea how they operated. In my 3rd one I was asked to be on the ARC Committee thus began my education on how they operated. I was on the BOD of my last association of 700 private homes and loaded with amenities. I am on the BOD of my present HOA of 112 patio homes and no amenities. I learned the hard way but I learned.......LOL

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

The course outline looks good to me. As a wannabe board member many years ago, a fellow owner who owns & run a commercial campus management company, who is an architect, and who is a construction supervisor taught be a lot and introduced me to CAI. It's Toolkit for New Board Members (or similar title) was invaluable to me. Over the years, though never a member, I enrolled in about one seminar a year in my locale. The speakers were excellent and I learned a great deal, especially about CA HOA law.

And, sure, the "HOA industry" had its booths advertising various services. And CAI certainly does have reserve company members, who also speak at their seminars and advertise.

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