Essentials of Community Association Management, the popular and highly regarded M-100 course offered by Community Associations Institute (CAI), is now available online—giving professional managers and association volunteers a convenient way to obtain essential knowledge on the diverse and ever-changing nature of community association management.

Part of CAI's Professional Management Development Program (PMDP), the online M-100 replaces the CD-ROM version.

Also available as a 2 1/2-day seminar and as a manual-based, home-study course, the M-100 is an indispensable overview for new community managers, a practical refresher for veterans and an invaluable learning experience for community association board members.

"The M-100 is professional, practical and relevant education for anyone involved in community association management and governance," says Michele M. Jerome, CAI's vice president of education. "This is the information you need, whether to enhance your career in community management or to better serve your own community."

Made possible by a grant from CAI's President's Club, the M-100 covers:

• Legal documents and statutes that enable a community to operate.
• Roles and responsibilities of managers, owners, committees and the board.
• Management ethics for professional community association managers.
• Developing and enforcing community association rules.
• The manager's role in board meetings, budget preparation and funding reserves.
• Assessment collection policies and procedures (including delinquencies).
• Financial statements, reporting methods and operations.
• Risk management and insurance.
• Implementing and evaluating a maintenance program.
• Criteria for deciding whether to use association staff or contractors.
• Recruiting, screening, selecting and managing personnel.
• Federal, state and local employment law.

Completion of the M-100 is required to earn the following designations:

• Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA), administered by the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM).
• Association Management Specialist (AMS), administered by CAI.
• Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM), administered by CAI.

The online M-100 is $295 for CAI members and $345 for nonmembers. The seminar is $375 for members and $475 for nonmembers, while the home-study course is $250 for members and $300 for nonmembers.

Once registered for the online M-100, a student has 90 days to finish the course and take the 90-minute, 100-question, multiple-choice exam.

To register for the online version, visit www.caielearning.org. For additional information on the M-100 or other PMDP courses, go to www.caionline.org/events/managers/pmdp/.

CAI is a national organization of 16,000-plus members dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive, competent community associations. Its mission is to help community associations promote harmony, a sense of community, responsible citizenship and effective leadership. More than 50 million Americans live in an estimated 260,000 condominium and homeowner associations, cooperatives and other association-governed communities.

More than 1.25 million homeowners serve on community association boards. Their communities are served by tens of thousands of professional community managers and supported by professionals in the fields of accounting, banking, communications, engineering, finance, law, maintenance, security and technology.