Staff Training—NIAID, HSA, 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

Program officers and scientific review officers (SROs) must take NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) training for health scientist administrators (HSAs), also known as extramural scientist administrators (ESAs). See Program Officers or Other Extramural Staff for overviews and requirements.

Contracting officer's representatives (CORs) must take specialized training, as described in Contracting Officer's Representatives and below.

NIAID Extramural Staff Training

NIAID offers three types of Institute-specific training for program officers and CORs and encourages all interested extramural staff to participate.

• Core training—courses that program officers should complete during their first year at NIAID, offered as on-demand Web training or annual classroom sessions. See Program Officer Core Training.
• Web courses—self-paced training for program officers and CORs. Consult Web-Based Training. 
• Classroom training—several classes each month; most offer ESA credit or continuous learning points (CLPs), as described in class announcements.  
  • Watch your email for announcements from DEA's Scientific Research Development Team (SRDT), or check Classroom Training for announced classes and sessions under development.
  • Use the SRDT Registration System to sign up for training.
  • Find presentations and handouts from previous SRDT classes in the Classroom Training Materials Archive.

NIH Health Scientist Administrator (HSA) Training

NIH offers core and ongoing training for staff performing HSA responsibilities, including: doctoral-level staff in program and review, grants management and contracts staff at the GS-13 level and above, and management staff working closely with extramural programs. 

• Confirm your status and training requirements with your supervisor. Track your own ESA credits and report them on your annual performance report.
• If you’re a new HSA, take the following one-time mandatory training. You must pre-register in the LMS/HHS Learning Portal.

  • View the Fundamentals of NIH Extramural Activities (FEA): for the NIH Extramural Staff narrated PowerPoint presentation in your second week at NIH (approximately 4 hours).

  • Complete the NIH Core Curriculum in your second month of service; for details on taking this five-part series, consult  Suggested Training Timeline for New Health Scientist Administrators.

  • Use the LMS/HHS Learning Portal to register for FEA and core curriculum training.

• You must earn two ESA credits annually by participating in approved training such as Staff Training in Extramural Programs (STEP) forums or NIAID Program Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) Training.

Mandatory Training for Contracting Officer's Representatives

• Complete two types of training to acquire or maintain certification.
  • Initial. You need a combination of experience and training to qualify for a Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representatives (FAC-COR) at one of three levels. See FAC-COR Certification for requirements.
  • Refresher. Your FAC-COR certification level determines requirements for completing refresher training; as described in FAC-COR Recertification. Among other providers, NIAID offers classes that earn CLPs. Check Classroom Training on theNIAID Program Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative (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 courses or the NIAID Program Officer and Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) Training site 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

Staff Training

NIH Program Officials Training

NIH Scientific Review Officer Training

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) SOP

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