You must qualify to be an Active MSBO Member. Qualification requires the individual being employed by a Michigan school, college or university, or state agency. You can also be a Contract Associate Member, individuals not directly employed by a school or district, but working in the capacity of an active member; listed with school district information.
Obtaining certification demonstrates a dedication to your profession and offers a base of useful information taught by seasoned practitioners. School districts are requiring certification before employment or within a year after employment because they believe certification matters.
If you have less than five years of school experience, complete the letter of commitment. If you have over five years of school experience, complete the grandparenting application to determine if you can be grandparented. All certification tracks have an opportunity to grandparent except the Chief Financial Officer track.
It depends on your current responsibilities and your long-term goal. If you have the prerequisites for a certification track, the recommendation would be to apply for that certification.
When you complete the letter of commitment or the grandparenting application, a confirmation letter is sent to you with a transcript to indicate the classes required to take to complete the certification program.
Yes. The certification is good for five years. Each certification track except Chief Financial Officer requires 90 hours of professional development to maintain the certification. The Chief Financial Officer certification track requires 150 hours. If you are in the renewal stages of more than one track, you need to maintain the full hour requirements in one track and 45 hours in the other. These must be separate hours for each track — an event counts only once for one track one time.
Classes vary in price. Please check event registration for offerings and price.
Each year MSBO provides a schedule for certification classes. Each class is offered at least once in a three-year period. Many classes are offered every year or every other year based on the need. The certification class index provides information on the classes required for each certification track and how often the classes are offered.
Check your certification status online. Login using your MSBO credentials. Click on the link Certification Transcript on the navigation bar at the top of the page to access your transcript.
Classes are offered through MSBO with online registration. In order to take advantage of member rates, you must be a member of MSBO.
You are a candidate for grandparenting if you have over five years of school experience and satisfy the prerequisites of the certification track you wish to be certified in. If you think you have experience or have taken classes that may be used toward a certification track, complete the grandpareting application and return it to MSBO. Determination is made on a case-by-case basis.
If you have completed all the class requirements, complete the final application and submit it with the necessary documents as outlined in the application.
Continuing education requirements for maintaining MSBO certification include job-related education. This consists of structured professional development with a lead presenter whose purpose for the training is teaching a new skill. These structured professional development programs must be approved for Continuing Education Units (CEU), State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs), College or University credit, or recognized for Continuing Professional Education (CPE). If the program does not meet these standards, prior approval will need to be obtained and will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Please send these requests to Debbie Kopkau at dkopkau@msbo.org to gain approval.
- CFO: 150 hours, 150 SCECHs or 6 semester hours from a college or university
- All other tracks: 90 hours, 90 SCECHs or 3 semester credit hours
- For holders of Chief Financial Officer and Business Office Manager Certificates you must attend one Group Solutions Seminar and one Financial Statement Preparation Workshop during your five-calendar-year renewal period. (The MSBO Leadership Institute and the Business Manager Academy can be used in place of the Group Solutions requirement.)
- Must maintain Active MSBO membership, as well as employment in a Michigan public school system.
- Chief Financial Officer: You must accrue 138 hours of professional development, 6 hours of one Group Solutions Seminar and the Financial Statement Preparation Workshop. The MSBO Leadership Institute and the Business Manager Academy can be used in place of the Group Solutions requirement.
- Business Office Manager: You must accrue 78 hours of professional development, 6 hours of one Group Solutions Seminar and the Financial Statement Preparation Workshop. The MSBO Leadership Institute and the Business Manager Academy can be used in place of the Group Solutions requirement.
- All other tracks: You must accrue 90 hours of professional development within 5 years after being awarded your certificate.
- All tracks: Once you have attended the required professional development and are within one month of your deadline, complete the renewal application and submit it to MSBO with the documents required on the front page of the application.
Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis. If you are not able to meet your deadline date, complete and return the request for extension.
Become A Member
Join more than 3,200 members employed in various areas of school business management who are interested in furthering their careers and improving their leadership and management skills.