62 Cotract Maagemet December 2012
DOD Procuremet Goes Back to Basics: FAR Fudametals CON 090 CON090 is the foudatio of DOD procuremet ad cotract maagemet traiig. By Marcia Richard Cotract Maagemet December 2012 63
DOD Procuremet goes Back to Basics: FAR Fudametals CON 090 Across the U.S. federal sector, acquisitio ad procuremet has historically bee cosidered a fast-paced ad ofte volatile busiess eviromet. However, may, if ot most procuremet officials will agree that i today s eviromet, may factors (e.g., multiple cotigecy operatios, budget reductios, updated techology, agig workforce, etc.) have made today s cotractig commuity amog the most rapidly evolvig eviromets over the past several decades. Esurig that ew cotractig officers ad other procuremet officials are properly traied ad prepared for future developmets, chagig requiremets, ad uaticipated challeges has become the top priority for the seior acquisitio ad procuremet leadership i the Departmet of Defese (DOD). I September 1992, I was hired as a professor of cotract maagemet by the Naval Ceter for Acquisitio Traiig, the U.S. Navy s acquisitio schoolhouse that evetually merged ito the Defese Acquisitio Uiversity (DAU) after the departmet s acquisitio leadership made a strategic determiatio that for purposes of stadardizatio (i.e., makig acquisitio traiig purple ), smart ecoomics, ad reductio/elimiatio of duplicatio of efforts by the services, it was better to have a DOD overarchig acquisitio traiig istitutio. The decisio to merge with DAU did ot elimiate the eed for service-specific traiig, however, ad each of the services ad may of the defese agecies still provide service/agecy-specific traiig e.g., the Defese Cotract Maagemet Agecy s ewly lauched DAU College of Cotract Maagemet specializig i postaward ad other cotract maagemet specific traiig. DAU is the primary provider of the cogressioally madated Defese Acquisitio Workforce Improvemet Act (DAWIA) certificatio traiig (ad may other olie ad i-residet courses) for each of the acquisitio, techology, ad logistics career fields withi DOD. umber of cotractig officers required to adequately support DOD ad esure that the warfighter receives what he or she eeds whe he or she eeds it. Over the past two decades, the DOD acquisitio workforce has bee reduced sigificatly ad cotractig has bee drastically affected. A uiteded cosequece of the reductio was that may of the most seior procuremet officials exited the departmet, ad, although may ew, bright, youg, eergetic iters ad others were hired i a progressive attempt to grow the acquisitio ad procuremet workforce back to its effective size, the competecy gap that was created still remais a challege today. Based o survey data ad much deliberatio, it was determied that the established cotractig curriculum should be expaded to provide ew etrats with comprehesive traiig i the fudametals of cotractig to assist them i learig basic competecies. Movig forward, after a couple years of teachig cotractig, I was selected ito the Defese Leadership ad Maagemet Program a six-year seior executive developmet program. I also had the opportuity to do several other assigmets throughout the acquisitio, techology, ad logistics commuities. Much debate has traspired over the years i a attempt to determie the appropriate 64 Cotract Maagemet December 2012
DOD Procuremet goes Back to Basics: FAR Fudametals CON 090 Spearheaded by Shay Assad, the director of Defese Procuremet ad Acquisitio Policy, who also served as the cotractig fuctioal leader at that time, the developmet of a ew basic cotractig course became the joit effort of the Cotractig Fuctioal Itegrated Process Team, the DAU Curriculum Developmet Team, ad several cotractig subject matter experts throughout the commuity. Based o a sese of urgecy, a aggressive schedule was developed ad i the fall of 2009, the FAR Fudametals (CON090) course piloted. Coferece Caledar While takig this course, each studet is provided a laptop to perform research ad to assist with the various idividual ad team exercises assiged for each of the topics covered durig the fourweek course duratio. Oe of the corerstoes of the course is for studets to uderstad the fudametals of the Federal Acquisitio Regulatio (FAR), esurig that studets lear the proper titles ad correspodig parts of the FAR. By desig, the course is ot a cakewalk ad dedicated DAU istructors ofte stay after class to assist studets who have additioal questios or who may be experiecig difficulties graspig a particular topic or cocept. Some studets form study groups to help each other lear the cotet ad to share differet research techiques. Jauary 18 19, 2013 Plaet Hollywood Resort & Casio Las Vegas, Nevada I April 2012, I retured to DAU after a oe-year detail assigmet i the Uder Secretary of Defese (Acquisitio, Techology, ad Logistics) Office of Small Busiess Programs, ad I was assiged to teach CON090. After beig out of the classroom almost two decades, I was required to become certified to teach the course, which cosisted of attedig the course as a studet, thoroughly reviewig the curriculum, ad workig closely with seasoed istructors i preparatio to teach the course. It was durig this iitial four-week period, takig the class, that I persoally leared about the course ad the value it brigs to the cotractig career field. Needless to say, thigs have chaged dramatically sice I was last i a cotractig class, but CON090 itroduces, ad i some cases reitroduces, studets to the FAR, the Defese FAR Supplemet (DFARS), ad the DFARS Policy, Guidace, ad Istructios to iclude how to research i.e., drillig dow to locate specific iformatio applicable to various DOD procuremet scearios ad possibilities, leadig to a itroductio of aalysis. I July 2012, I taught my first CON090 class i Aberdee Provig Groud, Marylad. It was a iterestig ad elighteig experiece. I felt as though I was actually participatig i successio plaig for the cotractig workforce. The 29 studets arrived with great aticipatio ad a lot of eergy. It was apparet to me from day oe that they wated to do well, but had a lot of aticipatio about the course as a result of all the buzz they heard prior to their arrival. The average level of experiece was less tha oe year. Havig spet time with the studets collectively ad idividually, I developed a level of cofidece that the departmet was headig i the right directio ad hirig capable ad ethusiastic ew etrats ito the workforce. It was also evidet that fudametal traiig (CON090) coupled with progressively acquired experiece, as well as March 14 15, 2013 Westi Sa Diego Sa Diego, Califoria July 21 24, 2013 Gaylord Oprylad Hotel & Covetio Ceter Nashville, Teessee Coferece Beefits Stay i touch with cotemporary issues, Gai exposure to best practice models, Network with others i the idustry, Participate i career growth programs, ad Ear poits toward certificatio. For iformatio, please cotact our Meetigs Departmet at 800-344-8096 x1108, e-mail meetigs@cmahq.org, or visit us olie at www.cmahq.org. Cotract Maagemet December 2012 65
DOD Procuremet goes Back to Basics: FAR Fudametals CON 090 seior level support ad metorig, will provide the foudatio for the future DOD procuremet workforce. Oe oly has to tur o the TV or read ay ews media to quickly be remided of the curret ecoomic coditios we face i our coutry ad abroad, which oly magifies our eed to sped our shrikig dollars as efficietly ad effectively as possible, as outlied i the DOD Better Buyig Power iitiatives. Seior acquisitio executives across the departmet recogize the eed for a retur to basics, to esure that the departmet is providig the appropriate baselie traiig to its acquisitio workforce to prepare them to become smart, savvy, ad well-equipped busiess leaders of the future. I Jue 2012, Deputy Assistat Secretary of the Navy (Acquisitio ad Procuremet) Elliott B. Brach, who was also the ewly elected presidet of NCMA, was the guest speaker i a CON090 offerig at the Fort Belvoir campus. Brach was extremely well received by faculty ad studets, which was reflected through DAU s Metrics that Matter (MTM) automated survey/critique assessmet tool provided by DAU to each studet at the completio of a DAWIA course. As the theme of his presetatio, Brach used the aalogy of musical scales to emphasize the importace of thoroughly learig fudametals before attemptig to master ay subject, icludig cotractig. I additio, he stressed to the class the level of resposibility they have as cotract specialists, ad the importace of what they had bee hired to do esurig that warfighters have what they eed whe they eed it ad to be trustworthy ad loyal stewards of the taxpayers dollars; A admittedly tough job. Brach also told the studets that I still love this stuff ad, regardless of what they ultimately decide to do, to make sure they do it with pride ad passio. Durig a Q&A with Brach, oe studet shared that she has bee a cotract specialist for four years, startig her cotractig career prior to the iclusio of CON090 ito the DAWIA Level I requiremets, but that she was very happy to be i the class ad recommeded it for all ew ad seasoed cotract specialists. She cocluded by statig that she leared a great deal i CON090, icludig very helpful olie research techiques ad the why to may of the actios she had previously processed based primarily o prior examples ad trial ad error. CON090 has evolved sice it piloted i the fall of 2009, ad i fiscal year 2011, the America Coucil o Educatio recommeded CON090 receive three graduate-level credit hours i cotract maagemet. Also, i March 2012, DAU ad NCMA siged a memoradum of uderstadig that formalized a certificatio partership. This agreemet made CON090 graduates eligible to sit for the Certified Federal Cotracts Maager (CFCM) exam. However, the oeyear experiece requiremet for CFCM certificatio still exists. Oce the applicat completes the experiece requiremet ad passes the CFCM exam, he or she will be awarded CFCM certificatio. 66 Cotract Maagemet December 2012
DOD Procuremet goes Back to Basics: FAR Fudametals CON 090 Based o my persoal observatios withi DOD, ad havig worked with other federal departmets ad agecies, the eed to reistitutioalize cotractig fudametals seems to be evidet ad the geeral cosesus across the federal-wide commuity. I am ow able to share my first-had experiece as a observer, studet, ad istructor that CON090 is excellet ad, like all traiig courses, will have to be updated ad revised, as required to maitai currecy. However, today CON090 provides a excellet itroductory traiig segue for etry level DOD cotractig professioals. I additio, eligibility to ear three graduate-level semester hour credits ad/or eligibility to sit for the NCMA CFCM exam turs out to be a added plus. CM NCMA Corporate Sposors ehace their idustry image as premier busiesses i the cotract maagemet commuity. Lear how your compay ca take advatage of our growig resources by becomig a corporate sposor. Cotact: CHRIS MARTIN 410-584-1967 cmarti@etworkmediaparters.com KEITH PRICE 410-584-1981 kprice@etworkmediaparters.com Appia www.appia.com About the Author MARCIA RICHARD is a professor of cotract maagemet at the Defese Acquisitio Uiversity where she teaches cotractig ad provides missio assistace to the acquisitio, techology, ad logistics commuity, as well as other commuities i the areas of procuremet ad cotract maagemet, small busiess, huma capital iitiatives, ad acquisitio traiig. Sed commets about this article to cm@cmahq.org. The Boeig Compay www.boeig.com Departmet of Veteras Affairs Ceter for Acquisitio Iovatio www.va.gov FedBid www.fedbid.com Fluor Corporatio www.fluor.com Itegrity Maagemet Cosultig www.itegritymc.com NASA SEWP www.sewp.asa.gov NITAAC itaac.ih.gov ProPricer www.propricer.com Techical ad Project Egieerig (TAPE) LLC www.tape-llc.com Revitas www.revitasic.com Wolters Kluwer Law & Busiess www.wolterskluwer.com XL www.xla.com Cotract Maagemet December 2012 67