contractor performance | The Contracting Education Academy

October 26, 2020 By cs

Learn how the government administers contracts during week of Dec. 7th

Before the year’s end, you have the opportunity to attend a virtual course at Georgia Tech that comprehensively covers the federal contract administration process.

The course — Contract Administration in the FAR (CON 090-4) — begins Monday, Dec. 7 and concludes Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. The course is being offered entirely on-line. Registration details are at: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-4-contract-administration-far.

**Students participate virtually in our complete, on-line version of CON 090-4, covering all aspects of Contract Administration.**

Who Should Attend

Government contracting officials will learn not only the rules but the best practices in contract administration. And, this course satisfies required FAC-C and DAWIA certification programs.
Business people, including those to aspire to become federal contractors, will learn how to use the power of being an incumbent to win future contracts as well as how to protect contractual interests.

How You Will Benefit

You will learn:

The fundamental concepts of government contract administration.
The rights of the parties when contract performance is not timely.
Both the government’s and the contractor’s rights when contract performance comes into question.
The policies and procedures for preparing and processing contract modifications.
How to apply the requirements of applicable contract clauses in various contracting scenarios.
The applicable payment clauses and invoicing procedures.
The policies and procedures for filing and processing contract disputes and appeals.
The policies and procedures pertaining to the complete or partial termination of contracts for the convenience of the government or for default.
All pertinent parts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Course Content

Contract administration basics
Contract modifications
Administration of selected terms and conditions
Delays
Quality assurance
Payment and cost allowability
Disputes and appeals
Terminations
Closeout

Materials

Each student works with a Student Guide, exercises, updated supplemental information, and exclusive access to web-based student resources.

Additional Information

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech (The Academy) is an approved equivalency training provider to the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI). Our courses satisfy both the FAC-C and the DAWIA certification programs. The coursework also provides students the opportunity to earn continuing education unit credits (CEUs) for acquisition and government contracting professionals as well as business professionals working for the government or pursuing opportunities in the federal contracting arena.

CON 090-4 is the fourth of four modules in the CON 090 course series entitled Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Fundamentals. The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech offers the entire CON 090 series in four, one-week classes. Each module stands on its own, allowing students multiple opportunities throughout the year to complete the entire CON 090 course. . Because of Georgia Tech’s unique instructional approach, the four modules can be taken in any order.

More Information and To Register

For more information on this course, please visit: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-090-4-contract-administration-far

October 15, 2020 By cs

Call to change how agencies rate contractor performance rises to new level

Let’s start out with this basic truism: No one likes the current approach to rating contractor performance.

Neither the agency contracting officers nor program managers, and not the vendors who sometimes wait three to six months after the contract is complete to get a mostly meaningless “satisfactory” rating.

The data itself lacks value and transparency.

And, to be honest, it seems to have become another checklist activity for many agencies.

A new survey by GovConRx and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy shows, once again, just how little value there is in the current approach to contractor performance assessment ratings (CPARs).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/10/call-to-change-how-agencies-rate-contractor-performance-rises-to-new-level/

June 19, 2020 By cs

Feds spend billions on COVID-19 contracts, often without fully competitive bidding

When nurses and doctors across the country were struggling to treat coronavirus patients without enough protective gear, and the federal government was scrambling to find those supplies, Quedon Baul saw an opportunity.

His three-person company in McKinney, Texas, distributes medical supplies but didn’t have much experience with face shields. Still, he landed two government contracts worth up to $20 million to deliver the personal protective equipment. He couldn’t meet the first deadline, so he found subcontractors to do the job.

“You get an opportunity, you take it,” Baul says. “It wasn’t my first rodeo, but it’s certainly my first big rodeo.”

The U.S. government has granted contracts worth as much as $25 billion as it races to address the COVID-19 public health crisis. NPR reviewed a database of thousands of contracting actions and found more than 250 companies that got contracts worth more than $1 million without going through a fully competitive bidding process.

Some of the companies, such as Baul’s, had little or no experience with personal protective equipment. Others had never worked in the medical field at all. Contractors also included a company that imported vodka and a school security consultant.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/09/869052415/feds-spend-billions-on-covid-19-contracts-often-without-fully-competitive-biddin

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

April 7, 2020 By cs

How will COVID-19 impact long term trends in contracting?

COVID-19 presents unique and enduring challenges to business operations and mission fulfillment.

While many “lessons learned” regarding best practices to confront natural disasters can be gleaned from such situations as Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, the unprecedented scope and impact of this pandemic raise troubling issues for legacy business models. In terms of “big A” acquisition policy, we believe that the current crisis will fundamentally alter existing programmatic assumptions. Identifying these trends is an important beginning in terms of what lies ahead.

Reading these “tea leaves” allow us to make impacts of recent events upon the broader framework of government IT acquisition. What can we foresee and predict?

From a macro perspective, we believe that the current unprecedented situation has the potential to fundamentally re-align the basic consensus regarding the much-touted benefits of globalization. In terms of government contractors, and IT specifically, we have been discussing the following trends and consequences.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/04/how-will-covid-19-impact-long-term-trends-in-contracting/

April 1, 2020 By cs

Academy launches webpage containing Coronavirus information for contracting officers and contractors

The Contracting Education Academy, a Georgia Tech unit dedicated to supporting the professional education needs of the government’s contracting workforce, has launched a special webpage devoted to providing information and guidance dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on federal contracts.

**Click on image above to visit the webpage.**

The webpage, located here, presents helpful information to both contracting officials and contractors who are navigating the current contracting environment.

Numerous topics are addressed on the webpage. For Contracting Officers and other members of the federal acquisition workforce, topics include:

Teleworking by contractor employees
Quarantine restrictions and excusable delays
Equitable adjustments
Extending performance periods
Contract modifications
Maintaining a contractor state of readiness
Application of the Stafford Act
Communication and transparency in contract administration
DoD emergency acquisition and preparedness
Tracking COVID-19 contract spending
The Defense Production Act
The Defense Priorities and Allocations System
GSA Schedule purchasing
Fraud and price gouging

For the contractor community, the following topics are addressed on the webpage:

Preventing workplace exposure and risks
Identifying critical infrastructure industries
The System for Award Management (SAM)
Excusable delay contract provisions
Changes clauses
Obligation to perform
The Defense Priorities and Allocations System
DoD progress payments
Sales through GSA Schedules
Advice for small businesses
Economic disaster loans
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Additional information and updates will be added as often as daily to the site. We suggest you bookmark the site now and check back frequently for the latest news involving the impact of coronavirus on federal contracts.