Staff Training—NIAID, ESA, and COR

This SOP has internal roles only.

Purpose

To familiarize NIAID extramural professional staff with their roles and responsibilities, NIAID, NIH, the federal government, and various aspects of their jobs.

Procedure

Many extramural professional NIAID staff must take the NIAID extramural staff training and NIH extramural scientist administrator (ESA) training. See Extramural Staff Training Overview for more information.

Contracting officer's representatives (CORs) must also take mandatory acquisitions training. See below for details.

Extramural Staff Training

NIAID offers three types of Institute-specific training for program officers, and contracting officer's representatives. All extramural staff are welcome to participate.

• Core training—Web modules that program officers must complete during their first year at NIAID. Core training is also available for all staff and offered as an annual classroom session. See Core Training Modules.
• Specialized training—classes and Specialized Training Modules on job-specific topics such as NIAID's select agent policy, writing statements of work, and peer review processes.
• Classroom training—several classes each month in the Rockledge area.
  • Watch your email for class announcements or check Training Schedules for announced classes and sessions under development.
  • Use the Scientific Resource Development Team Registration System to sign up for training.
  • Presentations and handouts for all classes are indexed in the Training Resource Archive.

Most training earns ESA credit or continuous learning points (CLP). For more information, go to Program Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) Training.

NIH Extramural Scientist Administrator Training

NIH's ESA training program provides core and ongoing information for staff performing ESA responsibilities.

• You must earn credits annually in NIH's ESA training program if you qualify as an ESA: Ph.D.-level staff in program and review, grants and contracts staff at the GS-13 level and above, and management staff working closely with extramural programs. Lower-graded employees who perform these duties may participate.
• Confirm your status and training requirements with your supervisor; branch chiefs designate ESAs for their branches.
• Track your own ESA credits using the honor system.
• If you’re an NIH ESA with less than two years of service, you must do the following:
  • View the "Orientation to NIH Extramural Programs" course at Fundamentals of NIH Extramural Activities: for the NIH Extramural Staff or complete NIAID's Staff Training Session I by attending the classroom session or reading the module online.
  • Complete five core curriculum courses by doing either of the following:
    
    • Watch a videocast. Go to Core Training - Historical Archive of Videocast and Agendas.
    • Attend a live course. NIH offers these courses each winter. Go to theESA Training page and check the schedule under Core Curriculum.
      • Use the LMS/HHS Learning Portal to register for core curriculum training:
        • Log on to the LMS/HHS Learning Portal.
        • Select Learning from the top menu bar.
        • Choose Browse by Category in the “Catalog Search” section.
        • Under “NIH Courses,” select Extramural Training to display “Fundamentals of Extramural Activities (FEA)” and Core sessions 1-5.
        • Click Register on the far right of each course listing.
• ESAs with two or more years of experience must earn two ESA credits annually. Earn credits by participating in approved training such as Staff Training in Extramural Programs (STEP) forums, NIAID Program and Project Officer-COR Training, or other complementary training.

Mandatory Training for Contracting Officer's Representatives

• Complete two types of training to acquire or maintain certification.
  • Initial. You must take 40 hours of initial training in COR Competencies to qualify for a Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR). See Basic COR Training on the NIH Acquisition Career Program page.
  • Refresher. To maintain certification, you must earn 40 CLPs every two years. OAMP's Training for COR Re-Certification lists training providers. In addition, NIAID offers courses that earn CLPs towards the refresher training requirement. Check Training Schedules on theNIAID Program and Project Officer-COR Training site for upcoming sessions.
• Use the Federal Acquisition Institute Training Application System (FAITAS) to track your training.

Contacts

Staff Only Contact

Send questions or comments on Web-based modules or the SRDT training intranet to Staff Only Contact.

Class registration questions, Staff Only Contact

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

Description of ESA Training Program

NIH and OER Extramural Training

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) SOP

Research and Training Opportunities at NIH

Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer’s Representatives (FAC-COR) Handbook