NAEP Pulse
 

Lifelong Learning Allows You to Invest In Your Career

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By Sarah Woods
Professional Development Associate at NAEP

A wise man once said, “an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”. Benjamin Franklin, like you, understood the value of lifelong learning. Based on the latest research from our Member Scan, 94% of respondents identified education and training as a key offering and one of the most important benefits of NAEP membership. Ongoing professional development and training is proven to have a significant impact on employee retention and engagement while increasing the skills and productivity within your Institution. Invest in your Institutions future by sending your higher ed Procurement team to the NAEP Academy and/or an NAEP Institute this summer!

The NAEP Procurement Academy, our premier training program, is an assessment-based certificate program mapped to NAEP’s Competency Model. Delivered in three tiers, it offers education to meet your needs and build skills, abilities and attitudes that lead to high performance throughout each stage of your career. Learners needs differ based on the level at which they are learning. The needs of leaders in an Institution are very different from the needs of an entry level professional. The Procurement Academy takes into account the competencies required to succeed now and introduces competencies predicted to become increasingly relevant in the future to give you a competitive advantage no matter where you are in your career.  

Last year, we sought to improve our educational programing by redesigning the Procurement Academy curriculum to be more hands on and interactive. You won’t find yourself sitting in rows or listening through a lecture during this training. Be prepared to work in small groups using real world examples and case studies to draw your own conclusions that you can then apply to your personal experience. Learn best practices, insider intelligence and the market knowledge needed to propel your career from industry experts through engaging discussion and project-based learning in a variety of media modes. This year, we have added an extra ½ day of learning to each tier giving you even more opportunities to learn and network with your peers.

Tier I of the Procurement Academy is for early career professionals or professionals new to higher ed procurement. Objectives of this course focus on fundamental administrative processes and systems. It aligns to three major competencies: Ethical Practice, Effective Performance and Communication. Tier II is for the mid-level career professional who manages a program and/or people within the procurement department. Some areas of focus are Communication, Strategic Agility and Relationship Building. The top tier of the Academy, Tier III focuses on Relationship Building, Strategic Agility, and Leadership. If you lead a team or direct a component of it this is the leadership training for you. Each Tier will also earn you 20.75 hours of continuing education.

This summer, we are also offering members two Institutes that take a deeper dive into a specific Procurement topic, Negotiations and the RFP Process. The Negotiations Institute is a dynamic, interactive workshop that will keep you engaged in the negotiations process using a framework that helps you define interests, set priorities, and develop mutually beneficial strategies for all parties. The RFP Process Institute provides you specific information on the entire RFP process from development through the close out of a project. You will walk away from this Institute with processes and resources that you can implement in your Institute right away! Each Institute will earn you 12.75 hours of continuing education.

I hope that you are able to join us for the Procurement Academy August 6th- 8th and/or for the Negotiation and RFP Process Institutes August 8th -9th in Hanover, MD this year. Here you will connect with your peers and develop competencies that will help increase your performance to drive real results and propel you to the next level of your career. Invest in your future with NAEP Academies and Institutes.