Course Overview:
This course will furnish engineers and project managers with the information they need to make sound contracting decisions. It will involve them in case studies and exercises wherein they will immediately apply the knowledge they have gained. Thus, the student will learn both from a competent and experienced instructor and by hands-on application. Adults learn best by getting involved, and we have designed the course to get the student involved.
The course begins with a discussion of the vision of the Federal Acquisition System and the membership of the Acquisition Team. This will include discussion of how the “customer first” orientation of the system can be tempered by the need to support public policy objectives. This is crucial to the understanding of the process by project managers and can greatly contribute to their ability to perform effectively within the rule and policy ladened process of government acquisition.
Other introductory content will include a comparison of private sector and federal government contracting laws and practices, the Federal Acquisition Regulation System
(including the FAR and the DFARS), and the unique position of the contracting officer. It will also include a discussion of the contracting officer representative (COR), a key player in contemporary federal contracting, who may well be from the project management office. Before discussing the various phases of the acquisition process, the course will also address ethics issues and the Procurement Integrity Act.
Armed with this basic knowledge, the student will be able to successfully navigate through the phases of the acquisition process. For this course we have divided those phases into Presolicitation Activities, Solicitation and Award of the Contract, and Contract Administration. As you will see from the course outline this addresses all areas with which you expressed interest and a great deal more.
Again the course will provide the engineer and project manager with the information they need to know to properly make contract related decisions and to effectively use and operate within the federal contracting structure. |
