AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Administration and Management Questions and Answers

Question 1

A planning director is tasked with developing the department's annual budget. The municipality is facing tight fiscal constraints and the city manager has requested that all departments justify every expense, starting from scratch, rather than simply adjusting the previous year's budget. Which budgeting method does this process describe?

Accepted Answer

Zero-Based Budgeting

Answer

Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) is a method that requires all expenses to be justified for each new period. Unlike traditional incremental budgeting, which uses the previous period's budget as a baseline, ZBB starts from a 'zero base,' forcing a comprehensive review of all programs and expenditures to determine their value and necessity.

Question 2

A planning manager is overseeing a complex project to update the city's zoning ordinance. The project involves numerous sequential tasks with clear dependencies. To effectively schedule the project, identify the longest sequence of dependent tasks, and determine the minimum time to completion, which project management tool would be most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

PERT Chart

Answer

A PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) chart is a project management tool used to schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. It is particularly useful for identifying task dependencies and determining the project's critical path—the longest sequence of tasks that determines the minimum project duration. While a Gantt chart also shows a project schedule, a PERT chart is specifically designed to analyze task dependencies and find the critical path in complex projects.

Question 3

A senior planner for a public agency is offered a weekend contract to provide consulting services to a private developer who has an active application with the agency. According to the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, what must the planner do before accepting this assignment?

Accepted Answer

Make full written disclosure to their public employer and receive written permission to proceed.

Answer

According to the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, Rule of Conduct #4 states that a salaried employee shall not undertake other employment in planning without having made full written disclosure to their employer and receiving subsequent written permission to undertake the additional employment. This rule is designed to prevent conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, between a planner's public duties and private financial interests.

Question 4

Which of the following is a key component of a planning agency's internal organizational management?

Accepted Answer

Developing a professional development and training program for staff.

Answer

Internal organizational management focuses on the internal operations and well-being of the agency. Developing a professional development and training program for staff is a core internal management function aimed at improving staff skills, morale, and overall agency competence. The other options are examples of external relationship management (media, commissions) or project management (RFP).

Question 5

A planning department wants to track its effectiveness in processing development applications. The director decides to measure the average application review time and the percentage of applications processed within a statutory deadline. These types of metrics are best described as:

Accepted Answer

Process-Oriented Performance Metrics

Answer

Process-oriented metrics focus on the efficiency and outputs of an agency's internal procedures, such as the time it takes to process permits or the volume of applications handled. These metrics help an organization track its operational performance and identify bottlenecks. They contrast with results-oriented metrics, which measure the broader outcomes and impacts of planning work on the community.

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Administration and Management Questions and Answers