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.

Process for Developing Asynchronous Online Training for Transportation Agency Professionals: Case Study

“…The ideal form of foundational content is an agency approval manual, directive, or other agency document that can be used as a base for developing training content. For this study, the legwork of identifying and synthesizing this information was completed in a previous research effort (2). In this previous study, the research team collected, correlated, and assessed current South Carolina DOT practices, policies, and procedures for the management of professional services contracts and developed a procedures manual for the agency.…”

“…The South Carolina DOT hires consultants to provide professional services in support of planning, design, and construction projects. In 2009 and 2010, the South Carolina DOT paid consultants more than $43 million for these services (2). The volume and value of work executed by consultants, and the absence of adequate internal training related to the management of these contracts at the time, led to a research effort to identify standardized procedures in the procurement and administration of the contracts for professional services consultants and to create a training program to disseminate this information to state DOT personnel (2,3).…”

Current Practice of Design and Delivery of Online Training for Transportation Professionals at Public Agencies

“…With inadequate resources, both state and local transportation agencies in the United States face constant pressure to maintain the minimum level of service and to make efficient and productive decisions. Tupper, Bausman, Chowdhury, and Bhavsar (2014) found that insufficient amount of training programs at state departments of transportation (DOTs) can lead to an ineffective and inefficient administration and procurement process. These state transportation authorities, however, must promptly address these challenges if they wish to maintain the sustainability of their local transportation systems, and to do that they need professionals with varied and dynamic skillsets.…”