Acquisition Tips & Tools #57: FAITAS Workaround

Issue Date: January 29, 2018

FAITAS Workaround screen shot

In this month’s Tips and Tools we are notifying our DOI customers that the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System (FAITAS) is unavailable to all civilian agency workforce members and there is no estimated date when access will return at this time.

This means that personnel cannot access FAITAS to:

- Update continuous learning points;

- Submit applications for maintaining certifications;

- Submit applications for new certifications; or

- Create or edit an existing profile (to include updating supervisor info.)  

However, there is a work-around for certification actions that absolutely must occur during the outage. This is only for certifications which expired towards the end of Dec 2017 or have a renewal date in Jan or Feb 2018 or if there is an urgent need for a new certification. 

The OS  Bureau Acquisition Career Coordinator (BACC), Dina Sison, has already contacted everyone with certifications expiring through February and provided them with instructions.  

The DOI Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) is aware of the issues, and a "grace period" will cover individuals who met the requirements but couldn't get their certifications solely because of the system outage.  No one will be revoked for timely completed maintenance. Individuals who failed to achieve the fulfillment requirements by their certification expiration date ARE NOT covered by the grace period. There is no extension to the 24 month maintenance cycle.

Please note that the supervisor signing Continuous Learning (CL) Points Request and Achievement (Renewal) Request should be the same supervisor in FAITAS. If the supervisor has changed and the information was not updated in the applicant’s FAITAS profile, the applicant should note the following on the CL Points/Achievement requests: "My supervisor has changed from ____________ to ____________. "  CL Points/Achievement requests should be submitted to the BACC/BPC for review/approval.

In the event that a timely maintained certification lapses despite the grace period extension and workaround, the BACC will assist in restoring their certification. The CO/COR will be able to continue to perform duties as long as the contract is documented with all pertinent information associated with the intent to renew the certification.

For those that need to obtain CLPs for maintenance while FAITAS is unavailable, there are many other avenues for completing CL hours besides taking classes though FAI.  The unavailability to request training through FAITAS does not alleviate individuals from completing the maintenance requirements within the 24 month cycle. For example, both DOI University and DOI Learn offer classes.  DOI Learn contains the Skillsoft classes which are free and on demand.  

Other items that may qualify for CLPs are specified on the FAI website and include:

  • Association Leadership Role
  • On-the-Job Experiential Learning 
  • Conference or Seminar Attendee 
  • Conference or Seminar Presenters 
  • Publication
  • Equivalency Exam 
  • Rotational or Developmental Assignment 
  • Higher Education Course
  • Training (Classroom or Online)
  • Mentoring 
  • Workshop Participation 

Please check FAI.gov for FAITAS updates.

Remember these Tips and Tools are for you.  If you have any questions about the acquisition process, please contact your Contracting Officer.  Have a topic you want covered in the future? We want to hear it! Submit an email to aqdawareness@ibc.doi.gov or call us at 703-964-8800. For more information on acquisition services go to www.doi.gov/ibc/.