Governance Certification Program (GCP)

In response to the requests of our members, the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries (CSCS) is considering offering a Governance Certification Program (GCP) designed to provide the core knowledge required by governance professionals (including corporate secretaries, general counsels, auditors, risk and compliance managers, senior and operating management, and new or aspiring directors of NFPs, Crowns and SMEs) in Canada to enable them to perform their roles effectively. The GCP would provide essential knowledge and skills for those in a governance role who are responsible for the accountability functions of an organization.

Our vision is to create a leading-edge, dynamic, interactive program that provides participants with the education and practice tools necessary to perform proficiently their roles and responsibilities as governance professionals, and, ultimately enhance best governance practices in Canada. 

The content would cover critical functional areas, including:
·         Fundamentals and roles and responsibilities of organizational governance and accountability;
·         Critical tasks from the board perspective, including risk, strategy, cyber security, environmental, and pay governance;
·         Board and Committee (Audit, Nominating and Governance, HR and Compensation, and other) roles and responsibilities;
·         Board and committee leadership;
·         Shareholder engagement and stakeholder responsibilities;
·         Director and executive succession planning;
·         Director orientation, education, training and development;
·         Board-Management relations and dynamics;
·         Annual shareholder meetings;
·         Subsidiary management and governance;
·         Emerging corporate governance developments;

The program would be designed for:
·         Corporate secretaries  and assistant corporate secretaries;
·         Other staff  in the corporate secretary’s office;
·         In-house legal or compliance professionals at public, private or Crown companies;
·         Risk officers and heads of internal audit;
·         Compensation consultants, recruitment firms, and HR managers;
·         Lawyers or legal counsel;
·         Regulators and elected or appointed members to boards;
·         Directors, officers and other senior or operating managers who require a broad understanding of their governance responsibilities and the skills required to fulfil them;
·         Diverse director candidates who wish to serve on boards; and
·         Other governance professionals.
 
In this survey, we will ask for your feedback about two program options: (i) a certificate program and (ii) a designation program. One of the programs would lead to a certificate of educational accomplishment and the other would lead to a professional designation.   This can be in a publicly traded company, private (for profit) company, a not-for-profit, government entity or another organization.

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* 1. Certificate Program

After completing the comprehensive educational program described above, you would earn a certificate to confirm mastery of the learning objectives.  This certificate would document your educational accomplishment but would not be a certification of professional competency (i.e., no designation or title would be earned).
 
For the following 2 questions, assume that CSCS would offer this educational certificate program at a price you believe to be appropriate.

How likely is it that you would pursue this certificate?




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* 2. For the following question, again assume that CSCS would offer this educational certificate program at a price you believe to be appropriate.

How likely is it that you would recommend this certificate program to your direct reports?

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* 3. At what price would you begin to think the certificate program is so inexpensive that you would question the quality and not consider it?

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* 4. 4. At what price would you begin to think the certificate program is too expensive to consider?

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* 5. 5. How likely is it that your organization would pay for the governance certificate?

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* 6. Professional Designation Program

After completing the comprehensive educational program, you would write an exam to confirm mastery of the learning objectives.  Passing this examination would then provide you with a professional designation in governance.

For the following two questions, assume that CSCS would offer this professional designation program at a price you believe to be appropriate.

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* 7. For the following question, again assume that CSCS would offer this professional designation program at a price you believe to be appropriate.

How likely is it that you would recommend this designation program to your direct reports?

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* 8. At what price would you begin to think the designation program is so inexpensive that you would question the quality and not consider it?

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* 9. At what price would you begin to think the designation program is too expensive to consider?

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* 10. How likely is it that your organization would pay for the designation program?

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* 11. Please rank the two potential programs for corporate secretaries in the order of your desire to pursue them.  Use the drop down menus to assign a "1" to the one you would most like to pursue.  Similarly, assign a "2" to your second choice.

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* 12. Would you be interested in participating in new credentialing programs for governance professionals offered by CSCS?

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* 13. What is your highest level of education?

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* 14. What other designation(s) do you currently hold (please specify)?

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* 15. How long have you been in your current position?

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* 16. Which of the following best describes your current position?

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* 17. Which of the following best describes your organization?

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* 18. What is your company’s approximate annual revenue?

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