October 2011 Administrative Report: UPPCC Releases Key Performance Data

January 13, 2012 -The Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) are globally recognized credentials offered exclusively by the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC). The certification programs systematically raise the level of professionalism within the public procurement profession by offering recognition to those individuals who meet an established standard of competency for public procurement demonstrated through a rigorous application process and superior examination performance.

Earlier this month , the UPPCC announced that 196 individuals successfully completed the October 2011 certification exams, including 137 who earned the CPPB certification and 59 who earned the CPPO. To date, 8,769 CPPB and 2,068 CPPO certifications have been awarded by the UPPCC.

Obtaining either UPPCC certification requires the candidate to demonstrate, through an application process, that they meet specific requisites, which includes education, procurement related coursework/training and public purchasing employment experience. A comprehensive written examination (specific to each certification) is required to confirm the candidate's mastery of a variety of public procurement concepts found in the UPPCC Body of Knowledge.

The UPPCC recently released key performance data from the October 2011 examinations:

Overall Scoring/Passing Rates
The UPPCC reports that 71% of the 83 total candidates who tested for the CPPO passed while 58% of the 235 candidates who tested for the CPPB passed. Mean passing scores for CPPB candidates were 4 points higher than for CPPO.

Testing Time
The total testing time permitted for both examinations is 3.5 hours. This equates to a total of 210 minutes for 175 questions or on average 1 minute and 23 seconds for each test question.

The UPPCC reported that for CPPO, the average completion time was 2.62 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.22 hours minimum. For the CPPB, the average completion time was 2.65 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.23 hours minimum.

Exam Content & Candidate Preparation 
Content for both the CPPO and CPPB examinations are dictated by the 2008 UPPCC Body of Knowledge (BOK). A total of 10 domain areas comprise the BOK and are as follows:

1. Administration Aspects of Purchasing

2. Procurement Requests

3. Solicitation and Evaluation of Bids/Proposals

4. Supplier Analysis

5. Negotiation Process

6. Contract Award and Administration

7. External/Internal Relationships

8. Materiels Management

9. Human Resources/Personnel

10. Forecasting and Strategies

The UPPCC reports that for the CPPO, candidates performed the best in Domain 1: Administration Aspects of Purchasing and performed the poorest in Domain 8: Materiels Management.  Conversely for CPPB candidates, the strongest performance area was Domain 6: Contract Award and Administration while performing the poorest in Domain 5: Negotiation Process (see Table 1).

UPPCC reports that a high percentage of candidates indicated, via a post examination survey, spending between three and six months preparing for their respective examinations (see Table 2).

The organization also reports that in reviewing candidates as a whole, candidates who indicated spending between one and three months preparing experienced the highest rates of passing compared to other timeframes of preparation; however, in evaluating CPPO candidate performance, preparation times of six months or more, as indicated by high passing rates, appeared to be the optimal timeframe (see Graph 1).

Passing Rates and Public Entity Types
UPPCC reports that when comparing passing rates for both examinations with various entity types; those candidates employed by transportation agencies experienced the highest rates of passing at 74% followed by Cities at 62% (see Graph 2).

Testing for both credentials is offered via a network of nearly 400 professional testing centers twice annually in May and October. The UPPCC will continue to accept applications for the May 7-19, 2012 testing window through February 6 and the late deadline of February 20, 2012 with a $50 late fee.

The Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC) is an independent entity formed to govern and administer the Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) certification programs. The CPPO and CPPB programs are highly regarded and respected among procurement professionals and employers involved in the public sector. To date, the UPPCC has certified well over 10,000 professionals primarily within the US and Canada as well as in other nations around the globe.