Arkansas Procurement Training and Certification Program
Procurement Training
The Department of Shared Administrative Services (SAS), through its Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its Office of State Procurement (OSP), provides the following learning resources for individuals seeking to learn more about Arkansas Procurement Law and procurement processes:
- Live procurement training courses for certification (register through MyARLearning).
- P-Card and printing training through MyARLearning.
- Supplemental procurement courses through MyARLearning.
- Procurement forums.
OPM’s full schedule of training courses can be found here.
Training Requirements
Last revised August 26, 2025
INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 19-61-304, SAS OSP is responsible for establishing a live, training and certification program to facilitate the training, continuing education, and certification of state agency procurement personnel.
To fulfill this requirement, OSP and OPM have developed the Arkansas Procurement Training and Certification Program with tiered learning tracks and coursework for procurement personnel based on their procurement functions.
Tier 1 Certification applies to state employees authorized to create purchase requisitions, conduct small procurements, conduct procurements for which the purchase price is up to $75,000 (competitive bids), or a combination of those functions.
Tier 2 Certification applies to state employees authorized to conduct procurements for which the purchase price is between $75,000 and two million dollars ($2,000,000).
Tier 3 Certification applies to state employees authorized to conduct procurements for which the purchase price is over two million dollars ($2,000,000).
State agency employees are not permitted to conduct procurements unless they are certified through the Arkansas Procurement Training and Certification Program.
Immediately upon hire, and prior to the state agency employee conducting a procurement, the employee must complete Tier 1 Certification Training requirements. Tier 2 and Tier 3 authorized state agency employees must complete their required training prior to conducting procurements beyond their certification tier.
Designated procurement officials (DPOs) and agency procurement officials (APOs) are responsible for ensuring employees within their respective departments and agencies comply with training requirements for their procurement function.
DEFINITIONS
- Certification period means the period of time for which procurement certification is valid, extending from July 1 through June 30 of each fiscal year.
- Initial certification period means the period of time for which the initial procurement certification is granted, extending from the effective date of the initial certification through June 30.
CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS – ONBOARDING
TIER 1 CERTIFICATION
A state employee authorized to create purchase requisitions, conduct small procurements, conduct procurements for which the purchase price is up to $75,000 (competitive bids), or a combination of those functions must complete the following to obtain Tier 1 Certification:
- Register for and attend the live Tier 1 Certification course, Procurement Fundamentals.
TIER 2 CERTIFICATION
A state employee authorized to conduct procurements for which the purchase price is between $75,000 and two million dollars ($2,000,000) must complete the following to obtain Tier 2 Certification:
- Obtain Tier 1 certification.
- Register for and attend the live Tier 2 Certification course, Sealed Bids and Introduction to Negotiations.
TIER 3 CERTIFICATION
A state employee authorized to conduct procurements for which the purchase price is at least two million dollars ($2,000,000) must complete the following to obtain Tier 3 Certification:
- Obtain Tier 2 certification.
- Register for and attend the live Tier 3 Certification course, Sealed Proposals and Advanced Negotiation Strategies.
TIER 2 OPTIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL LEARNING
NASPO’s ProcurementU:
- Introduction to Specification Development
- Introduction to Request for Proposals (RFP)
- Introduction to Service Contracts
TIER 3 OPTIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL LEARNING
NASPO’s ProcurementU:
- IT Procurement, Planning, Methods, and Early Decisions
- Introduction to Scopes of Work
- Introduction to Negotiations
- Negotiation Strategies
- The Power of Persuasion
- Managing Conflict
- Introduction to Contract Administration
MAINTAINING CERTIFICATION WITH CONTINUING EDUCATION
To maintain certification, the certified state employee must:
- Have obtained the certification requirements for the above tier-level required coursework within the past five (5) years; and
- Obtain the following minimum number of approved continuing education hours required for the state employee’s certification within the certification period:
- Tier 1: Live Annual Procurement Review (two (2) hours);
- Tier 2: Live Annual Procurement Review (two (2) hours) and two (2) hours of live training content sponsored by OSP, NASPO, NIGP, ARNIGP, or CAUCUS; and
- Tier 3: Live Annual Procurement Review (two (2) hours) and four (4) hours of live training content sponsored by OSP, NASPO, NIGP, ARNIGP, or CAUCUS.
- Complete the annual certification confirming compliance with the continuing education requirements for maintaining certification by June 30th of each fiscal year.
- Receive the state employee’s annual certification.
Newly certified state employees will be subject to the continuing education requirement during the certification period that follows their initial certification period.
Outside educational resources through NASPO, NIGP, ARNIGP or CAUCUS for continuing education courses count as credit toward maintaining certification only if the courses are approved in advance by the State Procurement Director and if evidence of completion is provided to the state employee by the issuing party.
- If the State Procurement Director or his or her designee requests evidence of course completion, the state employee must submit the evidence within the timeframes and in the manner specified by the requestor.
- The same continuing education course may not be taken more than once per renewal period for credit.
If a state employee allows his or her certification to expire, he or she may request an extension within thirty (30) calendar days after the date of expiration.
- If SAS OSP approves the extension, the certified state employee has sixty (60) calendar days from the date of extension approval to complete the requirements for renewal.
- If the certified state employee does not complete the requirements during the extension period, the initial certification requirements must be completed to receive a new certification.
GRANDFATHERED CERTIFICATIONS
While the SAS OSP encourages all state procurement professionals to complete coursework under the updated training and certification program to perform their procurement job functions, repeated coursework may be unnecessary due to a state employee’s existing procurement training certifications.
State employees who have not obtained certification by October 1, 2025, must become certified under the updated program.
State employees who have obtained certification under previous Arkansas training and certification program requirements within the past five (5) years and are current on continuing education requirements will be considered certified and will only be required to maintain certification under the new program.
Purchasing Card (P-Card) Classes
A state employee must attend a P-Card training class prior to being issued a P-Card or being authorized as the P-Card reviewer for their agency. Purchase Card and Travel Card training is available through the MyARLearning tile in ARCareers. For more information, visit the State Credit Cards webpage.
Printing Classes
A state employee must attend printing training prior to being issued a printing delegation order to make printing purchases on behalf of their agency. Printing training is available through the MyARLearning tile in ARCareers. For more information, see Printing Procurements on the Laws, Rules and Policies webpage.