The UPPCC has officially changed the name of the organization to the Universal Public Procurement Certification Council (UPPCC). Known as the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council since its founding in 1978, the members of the UPPCC Governing Board, UPPCC’s policy-making body, decided that a name change was in order for the organization during its 2010 strategic planning process which concluded in April.

Along with the name-change for the organization, the governing board also changed the name of its senior-level certification program to Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO). Previously, the certification carried the designation Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO). The Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) certification name remains unchanged.

The strategic planning process also brought to light the desire of the UPPCC to renew its commitment to elevating the importance of certification within the public procurement profession. To support the initiative, the UPPCC is introducing new certification eligibility and recertification requirements. The new requirements will become effective Jan. 1, 2014.

New Certification Eligibility Requirements

The new eligibility requirements will be based on minimum requirements that will apply to all applicants. The minimum requirements will replace the current eligibility schedules that are based on a sliding scale directly related to the applicants’ level of formal education.

Highlights of the new eligibility requirements include:

• A formal educational degree from an accredited college or university is required
• Accredited college/university level procurement coursework is required
• Only coursework and training completed and experience obtained within the previous 10 years of submitting an application for certification will be applicable toward meeting the minimum eligibility requirements.

The 10-year limitation does not apply to formal educational degrees earned by the applicant; formal educational degrees are applicable toward meeting the minimum requirements for certification regardless of the year in which they were earned.

New Recertification Requirements

The new recertification requirements will be based solely on participation in activities that contribute to a certificant’s continued professional development or to the field of public procurement in general.

Highlights of the new recertification requirements include:

• Membership category eliminated as a potential source for earning recertification credit
• Recertification Credit must be earned in a minimum of two out of three categories:
  • Continuing Education — Accredited
  • Continuing Education — Non-Accredited
  • Professional Contributions
• Current Lifetime Status replaced with a new Retired Status

Regarding the changes, the current chair of the UPPCC Governing Board, Norma J. Hall, commented: “If we want to elevate the value of certification and the profession we have to consider higher education as an integral part of our eligibility requirements and build a system of requiring continuous professional development of those that hold UPPCC certifications.”

For specific CPPO and CPPB requirements, visit UPPCC 2014 Certification Eligibility.

The UPPCC will be accepting applications for initial certification and recertification under the existing requirements until the new changes take effect in 2014. The next application submission deadline is Jan. 31, 2011, for the May 2-14, 2011, testing window. Go to the UPPCC Exam Schedule for additional deadlines and testing dates.

Certificates and lapel pins bearing the new organization and CPPO certification name(s) will be first issued to the October 2010 certification class, which will be announced in early December. Although new certificates will not be issued to previous certificants, they may be purchased individually for a small fee online at UPPCC Forms.

For more information on the new strategic plan, new name, and/or new certification requirements, send an e-mail to certification@uppcc.org.

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