September 15, 2021

Continuous Learning (CL) in FY22

When COVID first impacted our work arrangements, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) instituted an administrative pause to the CL requirements for federal acquisition certifications. We are taking advantage of this pause and the transition to FAI Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) to improve the CL management process. In FY22, OFPP will release guidance on when and how to resume the CL requirement. This guidance will inform a new CL function in FAI CSOD, which we anticipate launching in spring 2022.

If you held an active certification on February 1, 2020, your certification is still active and will remain active until further OFPP guidance. The FAI CSOD CL feature is not currently available, so please do not submit CL-related questions or issues to the CSOD Help Desk. Continue to monitor your email, FAI.gov, Acquisition Today, and communications from your ACMs for CL-related updates.

FAI’s FY22 Training is Here!

FAI training is back and bigger than ever with even more FAC-C, FAC-COR, and FAC-P/PM sessions for FY22. Visit FAI’s website to view training sessions for the Federal acquisition workforce. Don’t wait to sign up; seats go fast! Training provided by FAI is free of charge to students and their agencies.

Preventing Duplicate Help Desk Submissions As you are aware, the FAI CSOD Help Desk is experiencing a huge number of inquiries. To assist them in addressing your inquiry as soon as possible, please do not submit multiple tickets for the same request. Duplicate submissions create unnecessary delays in responding to requests. If you need help with FAI CSOD, please submit a ticket through the public portal.

Small Business Benefits Highlighted on the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations

Acquisition professionals can visit the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations to find best practices that reduce the administrative burden of small businesses or increase their participation within government procurement. Use the filter function to identify the innovative practices with small business benefits. Is the site missing a practice? Submit your idea to increase access to the small business supplier base!

Learn How Alliant 2 Can Benefit Your Agency

Join GSA for a complimentary webinar on Wednesday, September 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET and learn how the Alliant 2 Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) can support your agency’s IT project initiatives. Warranted COs must complete this training before requesting a Delegation of Procurement Authority (DPA), which authorizes them to issue orders against Alliant 2. This webinar is open to all federal users, but not contractors. Sign up today! If you have questions about this webinar, please contact alliant2@gsa.gov.

New Online Course Coming Soon: Introduction to Supply Chain Risk Management

FAI is pleased to announce a new online training course that will launch on October 1, 2021! FAC-093 Introduction to Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM), is a one hour, web-based training worth 1 CLP. This course will introduce the multi-disciplinary acquisition team to supply chain risks, principles of SCRM, and resources for complying with federal regulations. Keep an eye out for more updates!

Free Webinar Today: Sustainable U.S. Government Procurement

Join the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) today from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET for a free webinar on Sustainable U.S. Government Procurement. Learn about existing sustainability practices in government procurement, the state of private sector efforts, cost challenges, and more. Register today and earn 1 CLP for attending!

Learn How Open Opportunities Can Help Your Organization

Have you heard about Open Opportunities, but aren’t sure what it is or how it can help? Open Opportunities is a marketplace providing hands-on experiential learning by sharing skills and collaborating on projects across the federal government (including acquisition-related ones). Watch this 2-minute video explaining how the platform can benefit your team or organization. If you have questions about leveraging the platform for the acquisition community, please contact OOCommunityManager@gsa.gov.

Acquisition Today is published the first and third Wednesday of each month. If you have information that you would like to share with the federal acquisition workforce community via Acquisition Today, you may submit your article for consideration by completing this form. If you have feedback that you would like to share with FAI, please email us at contact@fai.gov.

Any reference to, or information discussing, a specific commercial training organization, or its products, processes, or services within this Acquisition Today newsletter does not constitute or imply an endorsement by FAI, GSA, or the United States Government of the commercial training organization, or its products, processes, services, producers, or providers. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced document, website, linked information, or any other information, contained in the newsletter regarding a commercial training organization do not necessarily state or reflect those of FAI, GSA, or the United States Government. All references to commercial training organizations are for information purposes only. Neither the FAI, GSA, or the United States Government, nor any of their employees, assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information from a commercial training organization's referenced information, linked information, services, products, producers, or providers.