Alabama CDI Institute Comes To JSU
The Alabama Community Development Institute (CDI) was approved by the Community Development Council (CDC) in February, 2007. The first Alabama CDI class will be held October 1-5, 2007, on the 11th floor of the Houston Cole Library from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. daily. Contact the Office of Continuing Education for additional information or to register: (256) 782-5918. You may also register online: www.jsu.edu/depart/conted/.

Currently, the CDC has approved Community Development Institutes in six regions of the nation. Those regions are Arkansas, Texas, West Virginia, Illinois, Idaho, and Alabama. The CDC is currently entertaining proposals from New England and the West Coast, which will complete the regions targeted by the CDC in terms of national coverage. Even though our program here is titled the Alabama CDI, our service area includes the states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama.

The CDI is committed to the non-exclusive training of individuals in the fields of community and economic development. The participants come from a wide range of occupations and interests, from elected officials to volunteers at non-profit organizations.

The institute training takes place one week per year for three years. At the end of the three-year training cycle, an individual may qualify to sit for the Professional Community and Economic Developer Certification exam.

Each year the participants who successfully complete the training will receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or they may apply their Institute training to a formal degree program that we hope to have running as part of the Master's in Public Administration (MPA) program within the next two years.

Those individuals who are interested in "fast-tracking" the completion of training can attend CDIs in the other states that offer the CDI experience.

For more information, view this year's Alabama CDI brochure.

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