SLS Distance Learning Mentors 2012-2016

The Department of State Foreign Service Institute established this Master IDIQ on September 17, 2012, to provide offsite distance learning mentoring in foreign language instruction; ordering closed on September 16, 2017, and the vehicle is no longer active.

The vehicle is not a viable pursuit today. Ordering authority expired nearly nine years ago. All five task orders have been awarded to a single prime, Global Language Strategies LLC, which captured the entire $6.5 million potential value under the vehicle. Four of the five orders carried a woman-owned small business set-aside; one was unrestricted. The final task order was awarded on August 31, 2016, to Global Language Strategies with a ceiling of $2.656 million and ultimate completion on January 30, 2019.

All orders funded the Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies and supported distance learning language mentoring and instruction. Task orders were priced on a labor-hours basis, with individual order ceilings ranging from $213,275 (the January 2013 award) to $2.656 million (the August 2016 award). Obligated amounts tracked ceilings closely across all orders, indicating full utilization of awarded capacity.

The vehicle generated steady if modest ordering momentum through its five-year active period: two orders in 2013, then one per year through 2016. Because the vehicle is now closed to new task orders and all potential value has been obligated, it presents no current opportunity for new entrants or incumbent repositioning.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is part of the U.S. Department of State and provides language training and testing to employees of the Department of State and other government agencies in more than seventy foreign languages. FSI's School of Language Studies (SLS) is responsible for the diverse and complex mission of language training for employees of the State Department and other U.S. Government agencies. SLS is staffed by professionals in the field of foreign language teaching, culture, and applied linguistics. In addition to the full-time direct-hire staff, the School makes extensive use, through contract and other arrangements, of other professionals from outside the Foreign Service Institute. As such, the Foreign Service Institute has awarded a Master IDIQ to provide offsite distance learning mentoring.