(a) The State Personnel Board and the State Merit System of Personnel Administration are authorized and directed to implement a sequential series of management development courses in a certification program of study, preparation, and examination in order to recognize professional and educational attainment in the field of public management in Georgia state government.

(b) The certified public manager program is implemented by the State Personnel Board and the State Merit System of Personnel Administration with the following objectives:

(1) To encourage the recognition of management in state government as a profession established upon an underlying body of knowledge and to delineate a course of study and preparation by which such knowledge can be acquired;

(2) To foster and maintain higher educational and ethical standards in the field and practice of public management;

(3) To assist agencies of state government by establishing a more objective measure of a manager's professional preparation and knowledge; and

(4) To provide appropriate professional recognition of management development attainment by managers in Georgia state government.