Development of a Professional Services Management Training Program

Abstract

The lack of training programs in systems that allow insufficient references in departments of transportation (DOTs) can create a procurement and administration process that is inefficient, inconsistent, and ineffective. Public agency activities related to contracts must be efficient, fair, and consistent to maintain compliance with state and federal policies. The South Carolina DOT identified a need to develop a comprehensive training program for professional service contract managers to support consistent and efficient execution of department contracts. The objectives of this study were to develop a training program for South Carolina DOT professional services contract managers and to evaluate the training program for statewide adoption. The study resulted in the development of a comprehensive training program to ensure that current and future South Carolina DOT contract managers across the department procure and administer professional services contracts with consistency and effectiveness. Lessons learned and issues identified during development of the training program by an external research team, with oversight by a South Carolina DOT steering committee, are discussed. The training was implemented with South Carolina DOT contract managers in a pilot training session that included contract managers and their supervisors. This paper's presentation of the training program's development process and unique experiences can be applied to other state DOTs to support the improvement of their procurement and administrative processes.