Dear Colleagues,

As we approach the end of the calendar year, I am proud of our accomplishments in 2011.

First, we are on the verge of completing a major curriculum change: the new capstone course requirement. As you know, this was no small feat, requiring curriculum committees, faculty meetings, administrative hurdles, and countless hours to develop a course that we feel will be beneficial to both current and future students.

We also set an attendance record with this year's CFP Board Registered Program Conference, which showcased a variety of avenues for furthering student achievement in our classrooms and online learning platforms. We are still refining the Student-Centered Learning Outcomes Based upon CFP Board Principal Topics resource document introduced at the conference, gathering feedback from you all in an effort to develop a resource to improve student achievement.

We added some fantastic new education partners this year, engaging certificate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral programs in financial planning.

It has been an especially enjoyable collaboration for me this year, working with you all in achieving many of these shared goals. I am excited about what 2012 will bring, and I look forward to furthering our vital partnership.

Very Truly Yours,

Charles R. Chaffin, Ed.D.
CChaffin@cfpboard.org

CFP Board is pleased to welcome new programs registered during 2011 from the following institutions:

The deadline to submit a Financial Plan Development Course to CFP Board for registration was December 1, 2011. All programs must submit a course for registration regardless of whether or not the program has previously offered a capstone course. Criteria, resources, implementation strategies, the registration application, and recordings of three webinars about the capstone course requirement are available at www.CFP.net/registeredprograms.

Coming Soon – A Chance for Your Students to Tell Us What They Think

CFP Board's Marketing Department is developing a study designed to help us learn whether or not we're meeting people's expectations when it comes to the logistics of the CFP® Certification Examination. The study will help us address questions such as: Is the exam offered frequently enough? How important is it for exam-takers to get results quickly? Is the exam fee acceptable?

Input from your students will be critical in shaping our decisions moving forward. On December 5, we will send you an email with a link to the survey that we ask you to forward to your students who are enrolled in your programs or who have just graduated but not yet taken the CFP® Certification Examination.

Students who complete the short online survey will be entered in a raffle to win one of three iPads. Their input will be used to help us make improvements to the exam logistics.

So watch your inbox for an email from us on December 5, and please forward the survey information to your students.

CFP Board has been at work building a new online process for submission of student eligibility information for documenting completion of the education coursework requirement for CFP® certification, which we hope will streamline this process for you and your graduates. Dr. Chaffin will introduce the new process during a webinar on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). Register to attend.

At the 2011 CFP Board Registered Program Conference, we announced the availability of a new resource document: Student-Centered Learning Objectives based upon CFP Board Principal Topics. This document is the product of a collaborative effort by a working group of respected academics, intended to be a resource for all education stakeholders regarding student-centered learning outcomes relative to CFP Board principal topics.

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to provide a platform for sharing amongst program directors and faculty regarding achievement benchmarks for students enrolled in CFP Board-Registered Programs. This document is not a CFP Board requirement. Rather, it is a resource that registered programs are free to utilize in their classroom or learning platform if they so choose.

Use: This document can be an effective guide in the development of course learning objectives, learning experiences and program development. It is important to note that the number of learning objectives is expansive and not all must be addressed in a single program. Incorporation of many of these learning outcomes is dependent upon faculty teaching philosophies, program objectives, student learning profiles and time constraints.

Please also be cognizant that external factors, such as laws, regulations, and certification guidelines may change periodically, making the learning objectives time sensitive. Relevant material should be added and outdated material removed as appropriate.

Share: Program directors and faculty are encouraged to share this document with colleagues from both within and outside the division or department, as well as with advisory groups and outside program stakeholders as they see fit.

Contribute: This is a living document. Registered program directors and faculty are encouraged to provide comments and editorial remarks on any of the learning outcomes through the end of 2011.

• Email your comments to CFP Board at education@cfpboard.org.
• Join the LinkedIn subgroup for CFP Board Registered Programs (Directors and Faculty) to discuss and provide comments.

CFP Board is pleased to have again teamed up with the Financial Planning Association®, the Academy of Financial Services and Ameriprise to host the 2011 Financial Planning Challenge.

The Financial Planning Challenge is a competition created to support the next generation of financial planners by: engaging students and program directors in the financial planning community; raising awareness of career opportunities; and encouraging learning and networking in the financial planning profession. This year's Financial Planning Challenge illustrated potential avenues for satisfying the oral and written components of the CFP Board Financial Plan Development Course requirement to both students and faculty.

CFP Board congratulates the following teams, each of which included students and faculty from CFP Board-Registered Programs:

1st Place: Fort Hays State University

2nd Place (tie): Kansas State University and Virginia Commonwealth University

4th Place: William Paterson University

Sponsors:

CFP Board is very pleased to have engaged the Association for the Advancement of Colleges and Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Future Business Leaders of America Phi Beta Lambda. This engagement is designed to provide further advocacy for the benefits of financial planning education and the profession of financial planning.

The next CFP Board Registered Program Conference will be held August 9-10, 2012 in Washington, DC. A call for papers will be sent out in January.