Although professional certification is not a mandatory qualification factor for CO appointment, appointment authorities should consider it when determining whether an individual should be appointed and to which level he or she should be appointed. The professional certifications offered by the Institute for Supply Management and the National Contract Management Association are the only certifications which appointment authorities should consider when making this determination. Information on these certifications is available at www.ism.ws/certification andwww.ncmahq.org/certification.
