President Appoints New Cost Accounting Standards Board Chair

The President has nominated Dr. Michael E. Wooten to become the Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP). As OFPP Administrator, Dr. Wooten will also serve as the Chair of the CAS Board (Cost Accounting Standards Board). Currently, those positions are filled by Lesley Field, the 'Acting' Administrator of OFPP. This appointment is subject to Senate approval.

The CAS Board met three times in 2018 and once so far in 2019. We're not sure what exactly was discussed or decided because no minutes have been published. However, based on the Board's published agendas, it seems that their current focus is on trying to conform CAS to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

Here is Dr. Wooten's biography as published on the Education Department's website where he is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges. The emphasis is ours to highlight his experience in Government contracting.

Dr. Michael Eric Wooten serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. He provides leadership, direction and management for over $2 billion dollars in initiatives supporting career and technical education, adult education, correctional and re-entry education, and community colleges. These initiatives collectively serve over 25 million students annually. Dr. Wooten leads the Divisions that administer the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the state formula and discretionary grant programs under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Dr. Wooten establishes national leadership activities to enhance the quality and rigor of educational programs, and he promotes the development of strategies that support student success. He brings more than one third of a century of government experience to the department.

Previously, Dr. Wooten served as the Deputy Chief Procurement Officer for the District of Columbia where he managed $5.2 Billion in annual contract spending through a workforce of 166 professionals. He also served as the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) for District of Columbia’s Office of Contracting and Procurement. As CLO, he designed and implemented a competency-based certification program for the District’s contract specialists. Additionally, Dr. Wooten served for seven years as a member of the Northern Virginia Community College Board; he was elected chairman of the board from 2014 through 2016. He was also selected to serve as an interim school board member for Prince William County Public Schools..

Prior to joining the District’s Office of Contracting and Procurement, Dr. Wooten served for ten years in various academic posts at Defense Acquisition University. Chief among these posts, he served as a professor of contract management, deputy department chair, and special assistant to the President of Defense Acquisition University. Mike Wooten is a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. His Marine Corps career culminated with service in Afghanistan followed by command of a unit of 1,200 Marines. He was retired at the rank of major.

Dr. Wooten first earned an associate’s degree from Georgia Perimeter College before earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Chapman University. He also holds master’s degrees from Norwich University (leadership and organizational management), the Naval Postgraduate School (acquisition and contract management), and the George Washington University (education and human development). He earned his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in higher education management.