October 2008 Administration Report : UPPCC Releases Key Performance Data

January 27, 2009 -The Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) are globally recognized credentials offered exclusively by the Universal Public Purchasing 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.

The October 2008 examinations were a culmination of various enhancements that the organization publicly announced in July 2007 that it would be making to its certification programs as it strives to become accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Since July 2007, the organization has made great strides in accomplishing its goal; transitioning its paper-based and oral examinations to computer-based assessments, updating the examination content via a new Job Analysis study and implementing various quality assurance techniques throughout the testing and scoring process.

Today, the UPPCC released key performance data from the October 2008 examinations:

Overall Scoring/Passing Rates
The UPPCC reports that 79% of the 90 total candidates who tested for the CPPO passed while 60% of the 182 candidates who tested for the CPPB passed. Although demonstrating a significantly higher rate of passing, CPPO candidates mean passing scores were 22 points lower than for CPPB.

Testing Time
The total testing time permitted for both examinations is 3.5 hours. This includes time for candidates to comment on individual test questions. 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 2.69 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.17 hours minimum. For the CPPB, the average completion time was 2.59 hours with a range from 3.5 hours maximum to 1.01 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 most strongly in Domain 8: Materiels Management and performed the poorest in Domain 9: Human Resources/Personnel. Conversely for CPPB candidates, the strongest performance area was Domain 9: Human Resources/Personnel while performing the poorest in Domain 8: Materiels Management. Table 1 data provides a complete breakout of candidate performance by exam vs. the largest represented public entity types.

The UPPCC reports that the majority of candidates indicated, via a survey immediately following the exam, spending between 1 and 3 months preparing for their respective examinations (see Table 2).

The organization further reports that candidate groups who indicated spending between 1 and 6 months preparing experienced the highest rates of passing compared to other timeframes of preparation or no preparation at all. Preparing between 3 and 6 months appeared to be the optimal timeframe for CPPO candidates when compared to passing rates while preparing between 1 and 3 months appeared optimal for CPPB (see Graph 1).

Passing Rates and Public Entity Types
UPPCC reports that when comparing passing rates for both examinations with the various types of public entities, public utilities and transportation entities experiencing the highest rates at 100% while special authorities experienced the lowest rates at 62%.

Testing for both credentials is now offered via a network of nearly 400 professional testing centers twice annually in May and October. The UPPCC is currently accepting applications for the May 4-9, 2009 testing window through February 2 (through February 16th with late fee).

The Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council (UPPCC) is an independent entity formed to govern and administer the Certified Public Purchasing 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.