12f_Evaluation Criteria for Academic Dean Search 4.30.2026.docx

Instructions to Quoters

Submission Instructions

All questions regarding this RFQ are due no later than 12:00 (12:00 PM) EST, on 08 June 2026. All questions or requests for clarifications shall be submitted directly to contracting officer katherine.m.discenza@uscg.mil & Afred.Chaney@uscg.mil. Please note this RFQ shall not be considered direction to proceed with the subject effort, nor a promise of future direction to proceed. Quoter is solely responsible for quote costs.

A cover sheet (not to exceed one (1) page) shall be included for all submissions. The cover letter shall be included on Volume I and include the quoter’s name and address; U.S. Coast Guard solicitation number; Unique Entity Identifier (UEI); CAGE number; quoter’s point of contact including their phone number and e-mail address, and the date the quoter’s submission expires. Minimum acceptable font size is no smaller than eleven (11) point and no smaller than ten (10) point for tables, charts, or graphs. Page size shall be letter size (8.5” x 11”); tables, charts, or graphs may be legal size, 8.5” x 14”.

It is the quoter’s responsibility to ensure sufficient time is provided for electronic submissions to be processed through the Government’s electronic point-of-entry. The quoter shall acknowledge the solicitation and all amendments thereto.

The quoter shall submit two (2) volumes.

Volume I shall contain the quoter’s response to Factor 1, Search Approach and Factor 2, Prior Experience. Page limits will be strictly adhered to. Any pages beyond the limit of the entire volume, will not be evaluated. For example, if the page limit to Factor 1 and Factor 2 combined are five (5) pages, and your volume I contains eight (8) pages, the last three (3) pages of Volume I will be removed and will not be evaluated.

Volume II shall contain the quoter’s response to Factor 3, Price.

Volume I – Search Approach and Prior Experience

Factor 1 – Search Approach (Five (5) Page Limit)

Quoters shall demonstrate in their quote the following:

· Approach to your search process from initiation to candidate placement for academic deans. Provide your tools and/or platforms, processes for personalized candidate sourcing and vetting of those candidates, and timelines from initiation to candidate placement.

· Approach to building a robust candidate pool while ensuring qualified, talented, and proven academic dean(s) are identified.

· Approach to building academic dean candidate relationships and facilitating candidate engagement.

· Approach to assessing cultural compatibility between academic dean candidates and a university or college.

· Approach to engagement with an institution’s leaders and search committee.

Factor 2 – Prior Experience (Five (5) Page Limit).

Quoters shall demonstrate in their quote the following for the firm and the personnel who will be assigned to the engagement:

· Access to a national network of higher education academic leaders.

· Proven record of academic dean and senior leader recruitment for accredited four-year higher education institutions.

· Successful placement of academic deans and senior leaders within accredited four-year higher education institutions over the last 5 years.

· Provide quantity of successful academic dean searches, successful academic dean placements and at which accredited four-year universities/colleges.

Volume II – Price

Factor 3 Price

Quoters shall complete Attachment A (Price Input). Failing to follow instructions may have an impact on the Total Evaluated Price. The quoter shall provide their total quoted price for each period of performance (e.g., base and options).

Cells have not been locked and some cells contain formulas. Only cells in gray may be filled in by the quoter.

The quoter shall populate their firm’s name and their price per year (Cells: C4 & C5). The number of searches per year shall not be adjusted.

It is imperative that the contractor’s quoted price accurately reflect the price of the Base Period and the Option Period. The total evaluated price will be the Base Period plus the Option Period One.

Evaluation Criteria

Basis of Award

The Government intends to award one order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) to the Government utilizing a trade-off evaluation process among price and non-price factors. Best value trade-off will be based on the following evaluation factors: Factor 1, Search Approach, Factor 2, Prior Experience, and Factor 3, Price.

Prior experience is more important than Search Approach, and when combined are significantly more important than Price.

Factor 1 Search Approach

The Government will assess its level of confidence for each quoter based on their approach to:

· Search process from initiation to candidate placement.

· Personalization of the communication used for candidate sourcing and vetting.

· Ensuring qualified, talented, and proven academy leaders are identified.

· Assessing the cultural compatibility between candidates and a university or college.

· Engagement with an institution’s leaders and search committee.

Factor 2 Prior Experience

The Government will assess its level of confidence of the Offeror’s prior experience through:

• Demonstrated national presence in higher education academic leadership recruiting and placement.

· Demonstrated expertise in higher education and the role, function, and capabilities required of academic leaders.

· Proven track record of executive recruitment for accredited four-year higher education institutions.

· Their successful placement of Dean or higher executive level personnel within accredited four-year higher education institutions within the last 5 years.

Factor 3 Price

The Government will evaluate quotes to verify the accuracy of the quoter’s Total Evaluated Price (TEP) provided in Attachment A and will determine whether their proposed TEP is fair and reasonable. The TEP will be calculated by adding together the proposed total prices of the base period and all option periods. Adequate price competition is anticipated to support a determination of a fair and reasonable price.

*All pricing shall be clearly spelt out and broken down within the quote provided.

Rating Scheme

The Government will assess its level of confidence for the non-price evaluation Factor 1, Search Approach using the following ratings.

The Government will assess its level of confidence for non-price evaluation Factor 2, Prior Experience using the following ratings: