Contracting Conversations

In this episode of Contracting Conversations we speak with Amy Timmermann, DAU's Learning Asset Manager for CON 3900V and 3910, the CON Certification Exam Prep Courses. She talks about the changes to occur, starting 1 Oct 2023, to include the new length of CON 3900, and the new pre-requisite - if you are planning on taking CON 3990V, the CON Certification Exam, this is a must video/podcast to...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott talk with Judy Whalen, DAU's developer for CCON 003 - the Proposal Analysis Credential.  You will learn the purpose of the credential, how it is structured, the target audience, and when it would need to be renewed. Contracting officers are required to purchase supplies and services from responsible sources at fai...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, it's our last segment, part 4, of our series on Personal Services, Jim and Scott continue the conversation with Dr. Steve Fasko, a Personal Services expert (PHD Dissertation was focused on Personal Services Contracting - see links to his articles below) with DAU.  In Part 1, Dr. Fasko provided an overview of Personal Services, in Part 2,...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott have a conversation with Dr. Steve Fasko, a Personal Services expert (PHD Dissertation was focused on Personal Services Contracting - see links to his articles below) with DAU.  In Part 1, Dr. Fasko provided an overview of Personal Services, in Part 2, he discussed the Thirteenth Amendment and how it relates to Personal Services Cont...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott have a conversation with Dr. Steve Fasko, a Personal Services expert (PHD Dissertation was focused on Personal Services Contracting - see links to his articles below) with DAU.  In Part 1, Dr. Fasko provided an overview of Personal Services, in Part 2, he discusses the Thirteenth Amendment and how it relates to Personal Services Cont...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott have a conversation with Dr. Steve Fasko, a Personal Services expert (PHD Dissertation was focused on Personal Services Contracting - see links to his articles below) with DAU.  In Part 1 of this series, Dr. Fasko provides an overview of the topic to prepare us for the series on this highly mismanaged area. If you would like to...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott have a conversation with Cindy Baker, who is the Learning Asset Manager for CON 2310, the Operational Contracting Course at DAU. They discuss the origins of the course, the definition of operational contracting, the course content, the number of volunteers who participated in the pilot, and provide details about an upcoming virtual or in-...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott talk with Kurt Chelf, DAU's Learning Asset Manager for CON 7500 - the Contract Financing Course.  You will learn what the course is all about, what is covered, how you are assessed, and who will get the most out of it.   This course is a great course for those who have completed their Contracting Certificatio...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Dr. Gigi McRae, Learning Asset Manager, for SBP 2010, Intermediate Small Business Programs, Part A, Course.  This course is a new course, replacing SBP 201.  If you had a chance to listen to the Small Business Credential, CSBP 001 podcast, you learned about how SBP 2010 fits in the Small Business Professional...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Kristine Kassekert, Learning Director for Other Transaction (OT), and THE DAU expert on OTs/OTAs at DAU.  If you need help with an OT challenge, please get with Ms. Kassekert.  Kristine describes what CON 2990V - OTA (Other Transaction Authority) Simulation covers, who are good candidates for the course, bringing an OT...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Kristine Kassekert, Learning Director for Other Transaction (OT), and THE DAU expert on OTs/OTAs at DAU.  If you need help with an OT challenge, please get with Ms. Kassekert.  Kristine describes what CON 2880V - Neg-OTA-tion 101 covers, if there is any pre-work, and how students are assessed.  Be sure to listen t...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Kristine Kassekert, Learning Director for Other Transaction (OT), and THE DAU expert on OTs/OTAs at DAU.  If you need help with an OT challenge, please get with Ms. Kassekert.  Kristine describes what the OTA Credential is all about, what the course sequence is under the Credential, the assessment, target audience, and...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk Kurt Chelf and Judy Whalen, DAU's Learning Asset Managers for the courses under CCON 010, Special Topics in Contract Pricing Credential.  They will talk about how the credential is structed, what courses are included (CON 7020, Overhead Should Cost Review; CON 7040, Cost Accounting Standards, Part 1; CON 7050, Cost Accounting St...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Ken Carkhuff, Learning Director at DAU, for Small Business Programs, on CON 0090, Strategies for Contracting for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Ken gets excited about all things Small Business, and this is no exception - he talks about what the course is intending to address, the structure, who the ta...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Rodger Pearson, DAU's lead for the assets under CCON 007, Defective Pricing Credential.  Rodger talks about why the credential was developed, how it is structured, and who is the target audience. I-Catalog for more info and to sign up:    CCON 007:  https://icatalog.dau.edu/onlinecatalog/CredentialC...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Ken Carkhuff, Learning Director at DAU, for SBP 1010 (replacing SBP 101), Introduction to Small Business Programs, Part A, Course.  If you had a chance to listen to the Small Business Credential, CSBP 001 podcast, you know Ken loves anything small business and the Small Business Professional community.   Ken...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Fred Schlich, DAU's lead for the assets under CCON 002, Business Foundations Credential.  Fred talks about why the credential was developed, who is the target audience, what the two live courses are all about, which include CON 7200V, Better Business Deals (how do publicly traded companies operate and what motivates them) a...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Dr. Renee Butler, DAU's Learning Director for pricing, cost, and finance for the overall Cost and Pricing Credentials.  She will talk about how many credentials overall that are planned by the end of FY23, what has changed, and why you might find it beneficial to register for one or more of the credentials.   Defi...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Jim and Scott meet with Mark Jenkins (on camera!!), the Learning Asset Manager for DAU's Provision and Clause Matrix.  This matrix is highly popular amongst all the tools DAU offers (see link below) and has been used over 17,500 times.  If your position requires you to determine what provision and clauses are needed to flow down to subcontrac...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Kevin White, a long provider of Contracting Officer Representative (COR) Training, comes on the show to discuss his experience with training CORs, and what is available to future and present CORs in the way of training from DAU.  Kevin's training has made a big difference in COR performance throughout the world, including war zones, &nbs...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Amber Pecoraro comes on the show to discuss "The Contracting Experience" podcast - Amber works for the Air Force Materiel Command's Contracting Directorate and will discuss what the show is about and how it would benefit all Contracting Professionals to listen in - give the show a try - over 2200 current subscribers and 84,000 downloads during its 4-ye...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, DAU's Center Director for Contracting, Kevin Linden, comes back to the channel to talk about what has occurred since Back to Basics was implemented in February of 2022.  He will talk about how many have gone through the certification courses, answer questions about the prep courses and passage rates for the certification exam, how it is deter...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, welcome to Scott and Jim's First Year Anniversary podcast!  Yes, they are showing video on this session, as there are no guests, and no real script to follow (as you will be able to tell - haha).  They talk about how the first year went, what they have achieved so far, and the way forward.  A special thanks goes out to Berni Crumb, their...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Dr. Renee Butler, Learning Director and Learning Asset Manager at DAU for CCON 018, the Excel Skills for Business Credential - classes in Coursera!  Dr. Butler discusses what is included in this all-on-line credential, the structure, and the target audience.  I-Catalog for more info and to sign up:  &nbs...

In this episode of Contracting Conversations, Scott and Jim talk with Dr. Renee Butler, Learning Director and Learning Asset Manager at DAU for CCON 017, the Pricing Tools and Techniques Credential.  Dr. Butler discusses what is included in this all-on-line credential (courses in Coursera!), the structure, and the target audience.  I-Catalog for more info and to sign up:  ...