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By Priscilla Harris on Thursday, March 30, 2000 - 11:50 am: Pursuant to Title 48 C.F.R.52.236-25, Requirements for Registration of Designers, There is no federal licensing. Does this registration mean the design professional can be registered in any state or U.S. jurisdiction or must that design professional be registered in the state or territory that the federal project is located in? By John Ford on Thursday, March 2, 2000 - 01:42 pm: Laurel, a clarification, paying for the exam might be a problem. However, any preparatory courses could be paid for as training. I know this is done by some DoD components. You would be responsible for paying any exam fees. By John Ford on Wednesday, March 1, 2000 - 03:20 pm: Laurel, I don't know if you work for DoD or not, but if you do, there may be a way for DoD to do this. Section 925 of the FY2000 DoD Appropriation Act amended the law to require SecDef to provide tuition reimbursement and training for DoD acquistion personnel. This can include paying for a degree. Depending on how DoD wants to intepret this provision, getting a certification may be permissible. I agree with Carol, but mention this provision. By Susan McCullough on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 04:58 pm: The cost of such certifications and licenses are considered a personal expense to the employee and are not chargeable to appropriated funds. GAO has ruled numerous times to this effect, mostly involving licenses needed to qualify an employee to do his/her job (drivers license, medical license, bar membership, pesticide applicators). I doubt they would be any more generous in case of certificates which aren't actually required in order to conduct the government's business. This subject is discussed in Volume I of GAO's Principles of Federal Appropriation Law, pages 4-210 - 4-211. This volume is contained in a GIANT pdf file at: http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/vol1.pdf By Carol Elliott on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 04:55 pm: Check with your training office or legal since there are some variations between agencies, but my experience is that it's not allowed. I've worked for DOD and DOE and in both agencies I've been told that they can pay for job or mission related training, but not certifications or degrees. Sorry I don't have a specific cite on this. By Laurel Carelli on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 09:29 am: Does anybody out there know if there is a prohibition on an agency paying for employees to obtain professional certifications? Specifically,I am talking about the CACM certification examination for NCMA. Thanks

Professional Certifications

By Priscilla Harris on Thursday, March 30, 2000 - 11:50 am:

Pursuant to Title 48 C.F.R.52.236-25, Requirements for Registration of Designers, There is no federal licensing. Does this registration mean the design professional can be registered in any state or U.S. jurisdiction or must that design professional be registered in the state or territory that the federal project is located in?

By John Ford on Thursday, March 2, 2000 - 01:42 pm:

Laurel, a clarification, paying for the exam might be a problem. However, any preparatory courses could be paid for as training. I know this is done by some DoD components. You would be responsible for paying any exam fees.

By John Ford on Wednesday, March 1, 2000 - 03:20 pm:

Laurel, I don't know if you work for DoD or not, but if you do, there may be a way for DoD to do this. Section 925 of the FY2000 DoD Appropriation Act amended the law to require SecDef to provide tuition reimbursement and training for DoD acquistion personnel. This can include paying for a degree. Depending on how DoD wants to intepret this provision, getting a certification may be permissible. I agree with Carol, but mention this provision.

By Susan McCullough on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 04:58 pm:

The cost of such certifications and licenses are considered a personal expense to the employee and are not chargeable to appropriated funds. GAO has ruled numerous times to this effect, mostly involving licenses needed to qualify an employee to do his/her job (drivers license, medical license, bar membership, pesticide applicators). I doubt they would be any more generous in case of certificates which aren't actually required in order to conduct the government's business.

This subject is discussed in Volume I of GAO's Principles of Federal Appropriation Law, pages 4-210 - 4-211. This volume is contained in a GIANT pdf file at:
http://www.gao.gov/special.pubs/vol1.pdf

By Carol Elliott on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 04:55 pm:

Check with your training office or legal since there are some variations between agencies, but my experience is that it's not allowed. I've worked for DOD and DOE and in both agencies I've been told that they can pay for job or mission related training, but not certifications or degrees. Sorry I don't have a specific cite on this.

By Laurel Carelli on Monday, February 28, 2000 - 09:29 am:

Does anybody out there know if there is a prohibition on an agency paying for employees to obtain professional certifications? Specifically,I am talking about the CACM certification examination for NCMA.

Thanks