Training Waivers?

[civ_1102]

I have been tentatively offered an 1102 position with a civilian agency at the GS-13 level. I am a prior federal employee, who completed CON 202, CON 204, CON 210, and CON 353 (the Level II courses were taken 2006-2007, CON 353 was taken in 2008). I earned my DAWIA Level II in contracting before I left my previous government position. As a result of the re-numbering of the CON courses, the HR office at the agency is swearing up and down that I need a training waiver to determine that my prior CON courses are equivalent to the new ones.

Has anyone had any similar problems? I honestly can't imagine why I would need a training waiver...any comments/thoughts?

[Don Mansfield]

I'm not sure what they're asking for, but the DAU catalog contains the following:

http://icatalog.dau.mil/onlinecatalog/AllPredecessor.aspx

Note that there is no predecessor course for CON 218.

[mjthomas]

civ-1102,

Congrats on your job and welcome back to the federal system. Unfortunately, you will have to play the game with them. I have been with five different civilian agencies (Department of the Air Force, Department of Interior, Department of the Army, GSA, and now the VA), and they are all the same. I was DAWIA Level III at the time I entered federal service in 2001 after 22 years in the USAF. The Department of Interior and the Department of the Army took everthing I had (certificates) and rolled with it. The DOI gave me their equivalent to the DAWIA. However, when I got to GSA, this was a whole different ball game. I had to take the courses over so I could get my Level III FAC-C certification. Also, since I have been around for a while (30 years), I had some old courses, but they would not count them. However, they did take the correspondence courses I took in 1984 (Defense Small Purchase and Management of Defense Acquisition Contracts). The VA converted everything I had and issued me their FAC-C Level III before I arrived at the job.

Acquisition waivers are done by a lot of the federal services. I don't know which department you are with, but as I stated, it depends. Therefore, have a good time going to school. Looks like you got a lot of classes to take or should I say re-take!!!

[Guest carl r culham]

civ1102 - Suggest you consult the OFPP memorandum on FAC-C as it may provide you with some ammo to have further discussion with the HR folks. http://www.fai.gov/pdfs/fac_contracting_program.pdf

Of note from the memo -

DAWIA Certification ? A valid, current DAWIA certification in contracting is equivalent to a FAC-C at the same certification level [provided the education criteria for the FAC-C are satisfied]. The employee is responsible for providing the necessary documentation of the DAWIA certification and the appropriate continuous learning history to ensure validity and currency of the DAWIA certification.

To me this means the past is the past as long as you have DAWIA Level II and can substaniate CLP history. Remember CLP requirements do not have to be all in classroom.

Further thought is that I am surprised the counsel on FAC-C is coming from HR as in most agencies FAC-C and the requirements is handled by procurement.

Bottom line is I would pursue further before giving in as mj suggests.

[civ_1102]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I am definitely looking forward to my return to federal employment (I am currently a personal services/staff augmentation contractor employee performing closely-related-to-inherently-governmental functions...).

After I made the post, HR told the selecting official that if I just provide copies of my DAWIA and training certificates, that everything should be under control (why I was not told that weeks ago, who knows...but the lack of good customer support from federal HR offices is another topic I suppose). Those, along with my 24 semester hours in business, are currently under review.