The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) has invited Donna Bertrand, program manager for The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech, to become an inaugural member of the Association’s Academic Advisory Council, spearheaded by NCMA’s Professional Education Committee.
NCMA is the world’s leading professional resource for those in the field of contract management. The organization, which has over 20,000 members, is dedicated to the professional growth and educational advancement of procurement and acquisition personnel worldwide. NCMA serves and informs the acquisition profession and offers opportunities for the open exchange of ideas in neutral forums. NCMA provides a robust certification program and sponsors training through two major conferences each year. NCMA’s next educational event is its annual World Congress, to be held in July of this year, which is expected to bring together over 1,800 contract management professionals for three days of education and networking, including keynote speakers who are government and industry leaders in contracting and acquisition, over 100 customized training sessions, and various networking opportunities.
Contract management professionals are well-paid and highly educated, earning an average salary of $103,600 with 46 percent possessing a master’s degree (Source: 2015 NCMA Annual Salary Survey). Typical entry-level personnel have a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 24 hours of business credit. The almost 40,000 government personnel alone who occupy the contract specialist position are required to achieve and maintain three levels of certification throughout their career and oftentimes satisfy the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-mandated requirement to earn 80 continuous learning points every two years through higher education. Industry employees seek certification through NCMA as well.
In accepting NCMA’s nomination to join NCMA’s newly formed Academic Advisory Council (AAC), Bertrand will join other representatives from academia interested in the professional growth and education of the contracting community. The AAC will interact with and advise NCMA’s Professional Education Committee as it supports programs and initiatives aimed at the contract management workforce.
AAC’s first meeting is scheduled for July 25, 2016 at NCMA’s World Congress event in Orlando, Florida.
