NIH Acquisition Career Program Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (Refresh)

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NIH Acquisition Career ProgramFederal
Acquisition Certification in Contracting (Refresh)

• Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management

• Aaron Weimer
• Acting Acquisition Career Manager

• 8/20/14

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Agenda

• Brief History of the FAC-C Program
• Unchanged FAC-C Requirements
• FAC-C Refresher
• FAITAS
• TIPS
• Links
• Questions

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Brief History

• OFPP Policy Letter 05-01 est. the FAC programs. A
  joint effort of FAI and the CAO Council crafted
  the original FAC-C Program in December 2005
• The FAC-C Program, as it is currently today,
  dates back to December 2008. This mandated the
  implementation of the current curriculum by
  FY2010 to bring inline with DAWIA requirements
• 10/1/2011 DAWIA overhauled their certification
  program and FAI did not.
• May 7, 2014 OMB Memo established the FAC-C
  Refresh for all executive agencies to be
  implemented by 10/1/14 or sooner depending on
  agency guidance. (HHS is using the 10/1/14 date
  for implementation)
• From 5/7/14 to 10/1/15 there will be two FAC-C
  program running concurrently FAC-C (Legacy)
  FAC-C (Refresh)

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5/7/14 OMB Memo

• The revised FAC-C Program is effective 10/1/2014
• Previous curriculum will be accepted until
  10/1/15
• Aligns FAC-C levels with the current DAWIA levels
• FAC-C Legacy holders will automatically be
  grandfathered into the FAC-C Refresh program as
  long as their CLP requirements are met and
  maintained.
• AWF holding a CO warrant as of the effective date
  of this certification program, regardless of GS
  series, and other contracting professionals in
  the 1102 job series MUST be certified at an
  appropriate level pursuant to agency policy.
• Those COs not required to be certified under the
  previous policy shall be given a period of two
  years to complete their certification
  requirements.

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FAI

• The FAI Board of Directors provides general
  oversight and administration of the FAC-C
  program.
• The Board also ensures that the program meets the
  needs of the civilian agency AWF.
• While HHS follows FAIs FAC-C requirements
  policies and curriculum, they have supplemented
  these with additional training requirements such
  as the HHS Appropriations Law training.

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Requirements Unchanged

• The educational and experience requirements for
  the 3 FAC-C levels have remained unchanged with
  this refresh.
• FAC-C Level I Requires 1 year experience and 24
  business credits or a college degree in any field
• FAC-C Level II Requires 2 years experience and 24
  business credits or a college degree in any field
• FAC-C Level III Requires 4 years experience and
  24 business credits and a college degree in any
  field
• Educational waivers will still not be issued by
  the SPE

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FAC-C Level I (Refresh)

• CON100 Shaping Smart Business Arrangements
  Online 16 hours
• CON121 Contract Planning Online 10 hours
• CON124 Contract Execution Online 13 hours
• CON127 Contract Management Online 10 hours
• CLC058 Intro to Contract Pricing Online 2 hours
• CLC057 Performance-Based Payments Online 2
  hours
• CON170 Fundamentals of Cost/Price Analysis
  Classroom 80 hours
• FAC031 Small Business Module Online 2 hours
• FAC023 Basic Contracting for GSA Schedules
  Online 4 hours
• FCN190 FAR Fundamentals Classroom Approx. 80
  hours
• Total 219 hours (43 additional hours than
  Legacy)

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FAC-C Level II (Refresh)

• CON200 Business Decisions for Contracting
  Online 25 hours
• CON216 Legal Considerations in Contracting
  Online 23 hours
• CLC056 Analyzing Contract Costs Online 17 hours
• CON270 Intermediate Cost/Price Analysis
  Classroom 80 hours
• CLC051 Industrial Property Online 2 hours
• HBS428 Harvard Business Modules Negotiating
  Online 2 hours
• CON280 Source Selection and Administration of
  Service Contracts Classroom 80 hours
• CON290 Contract Administration and Negotiation
  Techniques in a Supply Environment Classroom 80
  hours
• Total 309 hours (45 additional hours than
  Legacy)

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FAC-C Level III (Refresh)

• CON360 Contracting for Decision Makers
  Classroom 76 hours
• One HBS Module (except HBS428) Online 2 hours
• Two 16 hour Elective Trainings Online/Classroom
  32 hours
• Total 110 hours (2 additional hours than
  Legacy)
• Cannot be a conference, symposium, or like
• Ideally the 16 hours should not be broken down
  into anything smaller than 4 hour trainings
  courses.
• There are excellent training courses that are
  less than 4 hours so the determination of what
  counts is at the ACMs discretion

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HHS Appropriations Law

• All 1102s and those warranted in the delegated
  community had to take this course in 2011 as
  mandated by former Sec. Sebelius.
• All new employees with the same criteria as above
  must complete this training before being
  certified or warranted.
• Every single FAC certification (FAC-C, FAC-COR
  FAC-P/PM) request in FAITAS must have a copy of
  the HHS Appropriations Law completion certificate
  attached.
• If the training was taken within the last two
  year, it can be used as one of the 16 hours
  electives (Level III)

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FAITAS

• Register for your CON, CLC, FAC, and HBS courses
  using FAITAS as a free source of training (not
  the only source for CON courses)
• While FAITAS was supposed to be for free
  training, few agencies have been able to setup
  trainings for a cost (TAI) but there will be
  warnings that will not let you register without
  knowing it is a fee for training course
• No Shows will be denied enrollment in any
  training in FAITAS for 6 months. (while the
  training is free to you, government funds were
  spent to procure your seat)

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FAITAS Continued

• All applications must be submitted through
  FAITAS.
• Supervisor First reviewer
• Bureau Certification Manager (BCM) Second
  Reviewer
• Agency Certification Manager (ACM) Final
  Reviewer
• BCM NIH Acquisition Career Manager (ACM)
• ACM DHHS Certification Manager
• Do NOT confuse the two ACM acronyms
• Application and re-certification statuses can
  always be tracked in FAITAS

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Tips

• Please do not attach PII to your applications or
  CL Requests.
• CON090 is a DOD only course and all executive
  agencies are exempt from this month long FAR
  immersion course. FCN 190 is an approx. 80 hour
  substitute. (still awaiting FAIs release of this
  course scheduled for late Fall 2014)
• For workforce members signing up for CON 121, the
  CON 090 prerequisite has been waived for the
  non-DOD workforce. Those workforce members should
  follow the directions below when registering for
  CON 121
• CON 090 will still appear as a requirement during
  the CON 121 enrollment process.  The registration
  process can be completed despite the
  warning/reminder message.   This can be done by
  clicking the link titled Continue with
  Application, at the bottom of the prerequisite
  warning page.
• Enter the following remarks in the text box at
  the bottom of the last registration page. CON
  090 has been waived for the non-DOD workforce.

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Tips

• Prerequisites will not be waived by FAITAS for
  any courses. If you apply for a course that
  requires the completion of a capstone course from
  the previous certification, Ill have to send you
  an invite to qualify for fulfillment/equivalency
  in FAITAS.
• Ex You are FAC-C Level I and you want to apply
  to CON200. The prerequisite for CON200 is CON170
  but you took CON120 under the legacy program. In
  order to register, you will have to request an
  invite from our office to show equivalency using
  your FAC-C certificate to show youve met the
  requirements.

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Important Links

• OALMs ACP Website http//oalm.od.nih.gov/about-a
  cp
• FAITAS https//www.atrrs.army.mil/faitas/External
  /Login/?ReturnUrl2ffaitas2f
• FAI.GOV http//www.fai.gov/drupal/certification/c
  ontracting-fac-c

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Questions POC

• Aaron Weimer, Acting ACM
• 301-496-7110
• weimeraj_at_mail.nih.gov
• FAC-C_at_mail.nih.gov