Meet Pete Van Dyke, Certification Program Manager

elcome to the CAS Staff Spotlight, a column featuring members of the CAS staff. For this spotlight, we are proud to introduce you to Pete Van Dyke.

• What do you do at the CAS? How does your role support the Strategic Plan?
  I’m one of the two certification program managers on the Admissions team. I work with our exam team volunteers to develop our exam items and ensure that our exams are fair, valid, and legally defensible. This collaboration enhances the candidate experience and provides accurate measurement of candidate experience, education, and expertise.
• What inspires you in your job? What do you most love about your job?
  The generosity of our volunteers who donate their time and expertise to make our certification program world-class is a constant inspiration. Most of all, I love working with my CAS teammates, who bring professionalism, innovation, and fun to the job.
• Describe your educational and professional background. What do you bring to the organization?
  My career began in law enforcement, transitioned to education and training of police officers, and eventually to certification and assessment. I like to think that I bring a unique customer service perspective to the organization while never forgetting to ask how decisions will affect our candidates.
• What is your favorite hobby outside of work?
  Spending time with our two dogs who couldn’t be more different (one is an insecure, 90-pound German Shepherd, and the other a hyper-protective, 11-pound Havanese). I previously volunteered as half of a therapy dog team and hope to resume that work in the near future.
• If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go and why?
  I’d love to visit Japan. I spent 25 years training and teaching Japanese and Okinawan martial arts and would love to learn more about the people and places responsible for the things that had such an influence on me. Oh, and the food!
• What would your colleagues find surprising about you?
  I really enjoy cooking and learning to make new dishes…but I am terrible at it!
• How would your friends and family describe you?
  A happy introvert who knows a little bit about a lot of things, and a lot about a little.