CON 090 | The Contracting Education Academy

March 29, 2013 By AMK

Contracting Academy completes four-week course for Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans

On March 29, 2013, the Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech wrapped up a highly successful four-week course for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, La.

Entitled “FAR Fundamentals,” the course covers all 53 chapters and 2,000 pages of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The FAR is the federal government’s contracting rule book.

The Corps of Engineers contracted with the Academy to train 12 of its project and office engineers who are in charge of managing construction contractors in the New Orleans district. The engineers engaged the Academy because they want to become more adept at correctly interpreting and applying federal contracting rules.

“Construction engineers play an important role by interfacing with both the contracting office and individual contractors,” explained Donna Bertrand, the Academy’s program manager. “In addition to making sure that the work is being performed correctly, they act as the contracting office’s eyes and ears in the field.” Bertrand managed the course implementation during the entire four weeks, including the administration of 12 quizzes and four exams.

The Academy, an official equivalency training provider for the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), adapted the FAR Fundamentals course to the Corps’ needs by developing training exercises and materials around real-life scenarios.

“The FAR is an extremely detailed and complicated subject matter,” said Chuck Schadl, group manager for government contracting services. “In presenting this course, we used every creative approach we could think of to hold the students’ interest and enable learning.”

Some of the teaching techniques utilized included:

Creation of a deck of 53 playing cards, corresponding with each of the FAR’s 53 chapters, enabling students to use them as flash cards to learn the FAR’s structure and parts.
Using games – adapted from the board game “Scattergories” and the TV show “Jeopardy”— to stimulate student participation in the classroom, encourage competition, and help students prepare for testing.
Introduction of special web page of contracting resources – consisting of templates, case studies, and other electronic tools – created exclusively for the Corps’ students.
Providing small prizes –Georgia Tech memorabilia — to reward student accomplishments at key points in the course.
Daily review of contracting news items to illustrate the importance of the acquisition profession and why it’s necessary to stay current.

The Academy’s lead instructor for this course was Clarence Roberts, a retired DAU professor and former federal contracting officer. Clarence’s instructional style is lively and engaging, and students frequently stated their appreciation for his willingness to listen to different approaches to contracting. “We try to instill in students the fact that, while the FAR may have a rule for everything, there frequently is more than one correct way to handle contracting situations,” Roberts pointed out.

Students of the FAR Fundamentals course earn 13.3 Continuing Education Units, or 133 Continuous Learning Points, that can be used to satisfy federal training requirements.

“We hope that this will be only the first of many more on-site engagements where we bring the Academy’s coursework to government agencies,” Bertrand concluded. “In this time of budget austerity, agencies are looking for ways to trim travel budgets, especially.”

For more details on the Academy, including the courses and services offered, please see www.ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu.

Shown below: The Academy’s instructors and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ officials celebrate completion of the four-week FAR Fundamentals class.

March 28, 2013 By AMK

Contract planning is Academy’s next course in July

Ever wondered how the Government plans its acquisition of products and services?

As a contractor, wouldn’t you like to gain insights into the process?
As a member of the acquisition team, don’t you need to learn how to conduct acquisition planning properly?

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech will address these questions, and much more, in a five-day class, “Contract Planning in the FAR” (CON090-2) to be presented July 8 – 12, 2013.

This in-depth course covers all aspects of acquisition planning, including how to conduct market research, how to describe buying needs, and the preference for the acquisition of commercial and non-developmental items.

This course is the second module in a series of four educational modules that examine the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Government’s “procurement bible.”

For government contracting officers, this course is required to maintain a contracting warrant. A warrant is a written document providing a contracting officer with the limits of his or her authority. Per FAR 1.601-2, Contracting Officers have the authority to “enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings” to the extent of the authority delegated to them by their warrant. Georgia Tech’s Contracting Education Academy offers a set of courses — each equivalent to Defense Acquisition University course standards — that help contractng officials maintain their warrants and enhance professional development.
For businesspeople who compete for and fulfill government contracts, Academy classes are equally pertinent. Contractor personnel who attend Academy courses gain real-world knowledge about how government officials are trained to formulate and administer contracts. Insights in these areas provide invaluable guidance pertinent to reaching greater success in competing for, winning, and fulfilling government contract work.

Georgia Tech offers the entire CON 090 course series in world-class facilities on its campus in midtown Atlanta. For groups of 10 or more, Georgia Tech also brings any of its government contracting courses to the workplace.

For details on all classes, including the FAR Fundamentals course, please visit http://www.pe.gatech.edu/Subjects/Acquisition-Government-Contracting. To make arrangements for any of the courses to be taught at your place of work, email us at: info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu or give us a call at 404-894-6109.

December 19, 2012 By AMK

Academy offers contract administration course Jan. 14-18

A new Georgia Tech course being taught in January is beneficial to both contracting officials seeking to hone their skills and contractors looking for insights into the government contracting process.

The course — CON 090-4, Contract Administration in the Federal Acquisition Regulation — covers every aspect of post-award activity. This includes monitoring of contract performance, quality assurance, contract modifications, enforcement of terms and conditions, processing payments, handling disputes and appeals, terminations, and the contract close-out procedure.

For government contracting officers, this course represents the fourth module of coursework required to maintain a contracting warrant. A warrant is a written document providing a contracting officer with the limits of his or her authority. Per FAR 1.601-2, Contracting Officers have the authority to “enter into, administer, or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings” to the extent of the authority delegated to them by their warrant. Georgia Tech’s Contracting Education Academy offers a set of courses — each equivalent to Defense Acquisition University course standards — that help contractng officials maintain their warrants and enhance professional development.
For businesspeople who compete for and fulfill government contracts, Academy classes are equally pertinent. Contractor personnel who attend Academy courses gain real-world knowledge about how government officials are trained to formulate and administer contracts. Insights in these areas provide invaluable guidance pertinent to reaching greater success in competing for, winning, and fulfilling government contract work.

CON 090-4 is a five-day course being offered during the week of Jan. 14, 2013 on Georgia Tech’s midtown Atlanta campus. CON 090-4 is part of an overall four-week course that deals with every aspect of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the set of rules which govern the government’s “acquisition process” — that is, the process through which the government purchases (or “acquires”) goods and services.

For more information on CON 090-4, including cost and registration, please visit http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-4-contract-administration-far.

For information about the entire CON 090 course series and other courses offered by The Academy, please visit http://www.pe.gatech.edu/Subjects/Acquisition-Government-Contracting.

October 22, 2012 By AMK

2013 government contracting course calendar announced

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech will be conducting seven different government acquisition courses in 2013.

Courses now open for enrollment include:

CON 090-1: Contracting Overview of the FAR (EASC 0901P)— This is the first of four modules from CON 090 – Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals and is a limited lecture, exercised-based curriculum that takes a look at the Federal acquisition environment from a macro-level.

CON 090-2: Contract Planning in the FAR (EASC 0902P)— This is the second of four modules from CON 090 – Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals and is a limited lecture, exercised-based curriculum that covers acquisition plans, market research, describing agency needs, and the preference for the acquisition of commercial and nondevelopmental items.

CON 090-3: Contract Formation in the FAR (EASC 0903P)— This is the third of four modules from CON 090 – Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals and is a limited lecture, exercised-based curriculum that applies the relevant rules of FAR Part 13 and DFARS Part 213 to make an appropriate contracting decision.

CON 090-4: Contract Administration in the FAR (EASC 0904P)— This is the fourth and final module from CON 090 – Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals and is a limited lecture, exercised-based curriculum that covers the various aspects of contract management to include contract modifications and contract closeout.

CON 090: Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals (EASC 0121P)—FAR Fundamentals is a four week, resident, foundational course that provides a total immersion into the Federal Acquisition Regulation (Parts 1-53) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

CON 120: Mission Focused Contracting (EASC 0120P)— Learn the entire acquisition process, from meeting with the customer to completing the contract closeout process, applying leadership, problem-solving, and negotiation skills.

CON 170: Fundamentals of Cost and Price Analysis (EASC 0123P)— Learn to accomplish Cost-Volume-Profit analysis, calculate contribution margin estimates, and develop cost estimating relationships in order to accomplish an effective price analysis pursuant to FAR Subpart 15.4.

CON 260B: The Small Business Programs (EASC 0122P)—Learn the intricacies of the associated programs and initiatives that support the SBP and the DoD’s efforts to improve small business participation in prime contracting and subcontracting.

Complete details on each course’s schedule, registration, and cost can be seen by clicking on the course titles listed above or by visiting http://www.pe.gatech.edu/Subjects/Acquisition-Government-Contracting.

September 24, 2012 By AMK

Overview of the FAR starts Oct. 2nd

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech kicks-off the first week of intensive training on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012.

The instruction covers:

identification of the basic principles of federal government contracting,
access to online resources (FAR, DFARS, and DFARS PGI), and
the location, citation, and interpretation of information in the FAR and DFARS.

This course is the first in a series of four, one-week courses on the FAR. Together, all four weeks of instruction are known as CON 090 – Fundamentals of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The course employs limited lecture, research-intensive, exercised-based curriculum. Students will analyze contracting business scenarios developed through research of the FAR and its supplements. Given various contracting scenarios, students will locate, interpret, and apply the acquisition regulations applicable to federal agencies. Students will become familiar with the entire FAR, parts 1 through 53.

To see more details on this course and to register, please visit: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-1-contracting-overview-far. To see the entire four-week curriculum, please visit: http://www.pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-federal-acquisition-regulation-far-fundamentals.

Detailed learning objective details may be obtained by clicking on the following link: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CON-090-TERMINAL-LEARNING-OBJECTIVES-FAR-FUNDAMENTALS.pdf

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