FAC-COR Re-Certification

FAC-COR Re-Certification

Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer’s Representatives (FAC-COR) Re-Certification is required every two years. Starting May 1, 2022, all FAC re-certifications across the entire Federal government will be standardized to a common Continuous Learning (CL) period which will be from May 1, 2022 through April 30, 2024. These common CL periods will continue every two years with the same expiration date moving forward.

On May 1, 2022, FAI launched the Continuous Learning Individual Progress (CLIP) Dashboard that provides the new re-certification period and tracks all continuous learning completions. The CLIP Dashboard also provides the documentation for re-certification that will be used to verify meeting the re-certification standards going forward.

Training activities for re-certification earn Continuous Learning Points (CLPs). More information on what training activities are eligible for CLPs, the thresholds for the various training activities, and resources to find training activities can be found on the FAI Continuous Learning Website FAI Continuous Learning website. Below are two ways to earn CLPs:

Internal Training for CLP credit: All trainings completed internally within CSOD through DAU or FAI offerings, both online and instructor-led, will automatically apply the CLPs earned from those courses to the CLIP Dashboard. It is highly recommended that courses be completed this way to streamline the process of earning CLPs.

External Training for CLP credit: All training activities eligible for CLPs completed outside of CSOD, can be added to CSOD through an External Continuous Learning Activity Request External Continuous Learning Activity Request. These requests are submitted and reviewed by bureau/agency reviewers before being added to your CLIP Dashboard.  NOTE: External reviews for all of NIH certified employees are now routed to the ACP office for review and determinations. The expected volume may result in these reviews taking several weeks to complete. 

Employees that are currently certified can only re-certify at their current level. You cannot re-certify to a higher level. To get certified at a higher level, you must comply with the initial certification requirements for the higher level.

FAC-COR initial certification website

 

Level I

Entry Level/Apprentice

Level I re-certification mandatory requirements are as follows and must meet the 8 CLPs minimum re-certification requirement every two years.

Step 2

Add CLPs to the CSOD CLIP Dashboard:

All CLPs completed internally in CSOD will be automatically added to your CLIP Dashboard.  External CLPs must be requested by submitting an External Continuous Learning Activity Request for each individual activity completed.

Step 3

Completing the re-certification:

Once the requisite number of CLPs have been met in the CSOD CLIP Dashboard, the dashboard will indicate 100% completed and can then be used to verify re-certification through the next re-certification expiration date (two years from current expiration date shown on the CLIP Dashboard).

Level II

Mid-level/Journeyman

Level II re-certification mandatory requirements are as follows and must meet the 40 CLPs minimum re-certification requirement every two years.

Step 2

Add CLPs to the CSOD CLIP Dashboard:

All CLPs completed internally in CSOD will be automatically added to your CLIP Dashboard.  External CLPs must be requested by submitting an External Continuous Learning Activity Request for each individual activity completed.

Step 3

Completing the re-certification:

Once the requisite number of CLPs have been met in the CSOD CLIP Dashboard, the dashboard will indicate 100% completed and can then be used to verify re-certification through the next re-certification expiration date (two years from current expiration date shown on the CLIP Dashboard).

Level III

Senior/Expert

Level III re-certification mandatory requirements are as follows and must meet the 40 CLPs minimum re-certification requirement every two years.

Step 2

Add CLPs to the CSOD CLIP Dashboard:

All CLPs completed internally in CSOD will be automatically added to your CLIP Dashboard.  External CLPs must be requested by submitting an External Continuous Learning Activity Request for each individual activity completed.

Step 3

Completing the re-certification:

Once the requisite number of CLPs have been met in the CSOD CLIP Dashboard, the dashboard will indicate 100% completed and can then be used to verify re-certification through the next re-certification expiration date (two years from current expiration date shown on the CLIP Dashboard).

Recommend Trainings

*COR Refresher Training Options:

  1. FAI CSOD Online COR Refresher Training courses, FAC 057 (2 CLPs) or FCR 110 (8 CLPs)
  2. Classroom 8 hour COR Refresher Training with NIH Training Center (8 CLPs)
  3. Equivalent to COR Refresher: FAI CSOD (Examples: FCR 102, FCR 403, FCR 404) or DAU (Example: CLC106)

**Appropriations Law Refresher

  1. FAI CSOD Virtual Appropriations Law Refresher course FFM 410.
  2. Retake the 16 hour Appropriations Law course in the HHS LMS (PIV card access required). This offering is also free to HHS employees. Search course number “00206612” in the LMS.
  3. NIH Training Center course #: NIHTC5524 is an equivalent offering and usually planned to be held at least once a month. The course registration is handled through the HHS LMS. This course has a cost associated with registration/enrollment.

***Ethics & Fraud Awareness

  1. The Annual NIH Ethics training (1 CLP)
  2. FAI CSOD Online: Ethics & Procurement Integrity for the AWF FAC 043 (1 CLP)
  3. DAU CSOD Online: Overview of Acquisition Ethics ACQ 0030 (1 CLP) or Ethics Training ACQ 0040 (1 CLP)

What Happens Next

Once the requisite CLPs have been completed, logged, approved, and the CLIP Dashboard indicates 100% for all of the certifications, you will be re-certified for the next two years from the date of the current expiration.  You will not be able to start earning CLPs for your next re-certification until May 1st of the new period (Example May 1st, 2024).  Regardless of CLPs earned, required trainings and hard to find courses should not be delayed because they may be outside the certification period if you have already completed the CLP re-certification requirement. Acquisition training can always enhance your knowledge for a field that continuously changes.

Free Online Training Options

There are currently two free online vendors that provide numerous training options to complete the certification and re-certification requirements.

FAI

The Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) offers free online and classroom/virtual training offerings. These can be found and registered for through the FAI CSOD System.

arrow Register

DAU

The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) offers several online courses related to acquisition, management, budget, etc. These courses can be registered for through DAU at http://www.dau.edu

arrow Register

Instructions and Resources

FAI CSOD

The links below provides the FAI CSOD User Guides for both Employee and Supervisor actions in FAI CSOD. These are step-by-step instructions to all the actions employees or supervisors will do in the FAI CSOD System.

arrowFAI CSOD Employee User Guide

arrowFAI CSOD Supervisor User Guide

Director of OALM: Diane J. Frasier

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