ASTD Certification Institute Announces 2011 Board of Directors

The ASTD Certification Institute has announced its Board of Directors for 2011. The ASTD Certification Institute is an affiliate of the ASTD whose purpose is to set professional industry standards for the learning and development profession.

The 2011 Board of Directors' breadth of experience and expertise enhances the ASTD Certification Institute and demonstrates the Institute's commitment to providing world-class, professional certification programs to the workplace learning and development field. Board members include:

• Wayne Benz, Independent Consultant and former Director of International Business Development for the Examination Institute for Information Science (EXIN), brings more than 40 years of experience in the IT field in technical, managerial, and executive positions with both large and small international IT companies. Benz will serve as the 2011 Chair.

• Shannon Carter has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) since 1999. Under her leadership, CCI realized unprecedented growth in the development and implementation of industry-leading initiatives related to patient safety, competency assessment, and continuing competence. Carter will serve through 2013.

• Gary Fluitt, Senior Certification Program Manager at Oracle, is a 20-year veteran of the IT training industry. Fluitt oversees the development of professional certification products and is a founding member of the IT Certification Council. Fluitt will serve through 2011.

• Darin Hartley has 20 years of experience in the training industry. He is currently the Director of Client Development at Intrepid Learning Solutions and has written numerous articles and books about e-learning and social networking. Hartley will serve through 2012.

• Sharon Rice, with 20 years of association management experience, is the Executive Vice President of Professional Development and Industry Content for APICS - The Association for Operations Management. She is responsible for guiding staff and volunteer leadership teams supporting courseware and instructor development, certification, research, publications, and the marketing of APICS. Rice will serve through 2013.

ASTD formed the ASTD Certification Institute to support members' ongoing development in the field, and to take the lead in setting professional industry standards and to certify training and development professionals through credentialing. ASTD CI administers the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) certification program and has awarded the CPLP designation to learning and development professionals since 2006. ASTD CI recently awarded its 1000th CPLP credential.