GSA Pathway to Success certificate: how to get one

How to obtain a GSA Pathway to Success Certificate

by Dave Alexander, Lincoln Strategies, LLC


Is it mandatory to obtain a GSA Pathway to Success certificate in order to submit a proposal?
Yes.
Who should obtain the certificate?
An officer of the firm.
(For a few Schedules, GSA will accept a certificate from a non-officer. GSA does not accept certificates from consultants under any of its Schedules.)
How much does the certificate cost?
$0.
GSA does not levy any charge for the certificate.
How can a person obtain a GSA Pathway to Success certificate?
The officer has to “attend” a free, on-demand webinar, accessible via GSA’s website. Details on how to reach the website and how to register for the training are shown below, in the second half of this article.
The webinar consists of five modules, each of ends with a brief, multiple-choice quiz. After passing the mini-quiz for a module, the attendee is advanced to the next module.
There is also a “Final Quiz” (10 multiple-choice questions) at the end.
Each mini-quiz and the Final Quiz can be repeated as often as necessary to achieve a passing score.
What topics are covered?
The Pathway to Success webinar describes GSA Schedule contracts, and their advantages.  (It does not provide a balanced view of advantages and disadvantages.)   The webinar also provides a top-level view of the elements of a GSA proposal, and discusses post-award contract administration. The quality and timeliness of the information varies. While some of the webinar focuses on relatively obscure issues, overall the Pathway webinar is useful.
How long does it take to get a Pathway certificate?
Watching the webinar and taking the quizzes typically takes about two hours.
A person can perform this task in a series of sessions. For example, after attending module #1 and passing its mini-quiz, the attendee can log off. Later that day (or the next day, etc.), the person can log back on, and start the new session at the beginning of module #2.
When can a person obtain the certificate?
The Pathway to Success module is available on a 24/7/365 basis, except for occasional system downtime.
The Pathway certificate has to have been obtained no more than 12 months prior to the day that the GSA proposal is submitted.
What if GSA takes a long time to review our proposal? Will we need to obtain a new Pathway certificate?
No, as long as the certificate was no more than 12 months old on the day you submitted the proposal.
Is the Pathway to Success certificate related to an “ACES digital certificate?”
No.
To submit a proposal for a GSA proposal it is mandatory to obtain both certificates—but they are unrelated.
In many cases, it will make sense for a single officer of the firm to obtain both certificates. But one is not a prerequisite for the other, nor does it matter in what sequence they are obtained.
It is perfectly acceptable for one officer to obtain an ACES digital certificate and another officer to obtain a Pathway certificate.
Can a firm submit a GSA proposal and obtain the certificate later?
No.
All GSA proposals have to be submitted electronically, via GSA eOffer, an on-line system. When you submit a proposal via this system, it will automatically block the submission of the proposal if there is no Pathway certificate on file for the firm.
Why does GSA require the Pathway to Success certificate?
GSA stated purposes are to help ensure that managers of firms fully think through the issue of whether to pursue a contract, and to help managers develop high-quality, responsive proposals.
Action Plan
Have you decided to obtain a “Pathway to Success” certificate? Here’s how:

1. Register for the Pathway to Success webinar.

  • Go to https://vsc.gsa.gov/
  • Click on “Education” on the second horizontal menu bar. This will bring up the “Training” page.
  • About 10 training courses will be listed. Click on the course titled “Pathway to Success.”
  • You will be brought to the main “Pathway” starting page. Select “New User Registration.”
  • Register as a “Prospective Vendor.” After you click on “Go,” you will be brought to a one-page, on-line form.
  • Fill out the form.  Among other items, the form will ask you for your firm’s DUNS number. Be sure to use the correct DUNS number. If your firm has several, be absolutely sure that you are using the DUNS number that will be used for all other parts of the proposal. You will also be asked to indicate the firm’s size and whether it fits within any special categories (e.g., Veteran Owned Small Business).
  • After you have registered for the training, you can log in and begin the training right away, or you can come back later.

2. Start the webinar.

  • Go to https://vsc.gsa.gov/
  • Click on “Education” on the second horizontal menu bar.  This will bring up the “Training” page.
  • About 10 training courses will be listed.  Click on the course titled “Pathway to Success.”
  • You will be brought to the main “Pathway” landing page.  This time, select the option that allows you to log on to the “FAS Education Platform.”
  • After you enter your user name and password and hit the “Login” button, you will be brought to a page that will present you with two different training courses (labeled as “seminars”).  Pick the course titled “Pathway to Success.”

3. Watch training, take the quizzes.
The training is presented in five successive modules.  Each module has many different “modules,” which you need to watch one-by-one.  You can watch as many modules as you want to in any one sitting, and log out.  The next time you log in, the website will “remember” where you left off.
After watching a module, you need to take a mini-quiz for that module (a “Knowledge Check”).  You have to pass the “Knowledge Check” for the module before you can proceed to the next module.
And after you have completed all of the modules, you will need to take the “Final Quiz.”  It has 10 multiple-choice questions, of which you will need to answer at least 7 correctly.  Don’t worry about flubbing it; you can immediately re-take the test if necessary.
Watching the training modules and taking the quizzes will take about 90 minutes.

4. Print the certificate.
After you pass the “Final Quiz,” the website will generate a “Certificate of Completion,” as a PDF file.  You can save the certificate to your hard drive. You are not required to save the PDF, but it is a good idea to do so, for your own records.
The fact that you have obtained the GSA Pathway to Success certificate will be recorded in a (non-publicly accessible) GSA database.
When your firm submits its proposal, GSA eOffer will check the database.  GSA will refuse to accept the proposal unless the database indicates that a Pathway certificate has been obtained within the last 12 months.

Need advice? Let’s talk.

If you need help in deciding whether or how to obtain a GSA Schedule contract, give us a call to have a confidential conversation, at no charge. Let’s discuss your firm’s situation, and we can give you honest, objective advice.

www.LincolnStrategies.com

Telephone (978) 369-1140
FAX (978) 759-0059
E-mail info@LincolnStrategies.com