Amendment 4_Request for Quote 140D0421Q0066_0004.pdf

Request for Quote 140D0421Q0066

Amendment 4

The purpose of Amendment 4 is to answer questions received through 3:00 PM ET March 1, 2021. In addition, the due date of the quote package has been extended.

Changes:

1. Extend the quote package timeframe from 3:00 PM ET March 5, 2021 to 3:00 PM ET March 10, 2021.

No Vendor Questions Government Response 1 Should we just provide a quote for the one base year or for the additional four optional years?

Please provide a quote for the base period (12 months), four optional periods (12 months each), and FAR 52.217-8 six months. The base year, four optional periods, and additional six months (FAR 52.217-8) will be used to determine the total contract value.

2 [Redacted] has not yet decided whether to apply or not this year.

The department would like to know, if they decide not to apply this year, will the opportunity to apply be available next year?

No, another opportunity will not be available next year. It is anticipated that any award(s) made resulting from this Request for Quote will provide the Peace Corps with recruitment services through July 31, 2026.

3 Under “52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items.

(Jun 2020); section 4. Formatting” it notes that the technical quotation should be “12 Times New Roman point font.” The template, however, is Calibri 12 point. Do you want us to use the template as is, or convert it to Times New Roman?

Please use 12-point Times New Roman font.

4 In the instructions (“B. Price Volume”) it refers to “Attachment 3 – Pricing Template” and then indicates the price quotation “shall be submitted in MS Word and Excel format for budget tables.”

- The number of the attachments do not align with the file that I downloaded, so I want to confirm that I am to use the Excel spreadsheet that is labeled “Attachment 4 – Price Proposal Template”

- It is unclear what MS Word document to use for the Price Volume, if necessary

Please use the MS Excel Spreadsheet “Attachment 4 – Price Proposal Template V2” as your primary means of conveying the price data.

However, the Government requests that you convert the two tabs within the document (Price & Budget Detail) into MS Word documents to accompany the overall price submission.

Please provide a quote for the base period (12 months), four optional periods (12 months each), and FAR 52.217-8 six months.

5 With the most recent contract, but with earlier ones, there has been a request to waive our university’s standard overhead (Redacted) for Federal contracts (set at [Redacted]% for Federal Public Service contracts). If this is to be the case for this contract, I need the waiver request in advance of submission, in writing, stating the cap and the rationale for it.

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

6 I wanted to confirm there are no limits on indirect costs and may use are negotiated applicable rates. I would also like to confirm

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The there is not a limit to the amount we may request as long as justified within the scope of work and needs.

Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

7 It appears that we’ll just need to populate and submit the Excel spreadsheet (attachment 4) and the Word doc (attachment 6), correct?

Correct, Attachments 4 “Price Proposal Template V2” and Attachment 6 will need to be submitted in addition to the overall quote.

8 How do we submit these and by when at latest? February 24th? You should submit all elements of your quote via email to Stephen Shaffer and Denise Carrio by March 3, 2021 at 3:00 PM ET. Please re-read all aspects of the Request for Quote to ensure you do not miss any deadlines or requirements.

Stephen_Shaffer@ibc.doi.gov Denise_Carrio@ibc.doi.gov

9 Presently our “strat” is only working during the academic year (9mos/year)—would it be possible to make this a 12-month contract so that [Redacted] can engage during the summer, both on and off campus? We think there would be immense value in this given the [Redacted], among other summer offerings on campus, as well as numerous off campus events (eg, farmers markets, fairs, etc.) where [Redacted] could engage with the community.

There could be, in limited circumstances, where a strat could perform recruitment activities outside of the academic year and include that data in their last deliverable of the academic year. However, the activities would need to be consistent with the deliverables and approved in advance by the Peace Corps.

10 Are there any other parameters or expectations that have significantly changed given the transfer of this from the agency to the DOI?

None. The Peace Corps will act in the role of Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center will act in the capacity of the contracting office (i.e. Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist).

11 I wanted to confirm there are no limits on indirect costs and may use are negotiated applicable rates.

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

12 I would also like to confirm there is not a limit to the amount we may request as long as justified within the scope of work and needs.

There is no limit to what you can request, and you should build any indirect cost rate(s) into your quote while taking into account customary salary rate of similarly situated student salaries.

The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies salary or indirect cost rates.

13 Could you please confirm that the Indirect Cost in the Price Volume should be 15%?

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s). The 15% rate was merely an illustrative example for the formula. To avoid confusion, this has been removed from the updated Attachment 4 – Pricing Template V2.

14 In the Solicitation Provisions document, under Section 4 (Formatting), it is stated that the technical quotation “must include a Table of Contents and tabs.” Is the tab requirement referring to those at the bottom of the Price Volume Excel spreadsheet, or the Technical Volume Word document? I’m a little puzzled about what is meant by tabs in a Word document (outside of indenting).

The technical aspect of the overall quotation should have a table of contents. The price quotation MS Excel spreadsheet should have labeled tabs.

Updated Answer Per Amendment 2:

Please disregard the request to include a Table of Contents. The Microsoft Word document was created without the proper formatting to allow an automatic Table of Contents table to be populated.

We have increased the page total page limit from 10 pages to 20 pages. Please keep the original questions/prompts in your responses to the various sections of Attachment 6.

15 In the Solicitation Provisions document, under Section 4 (Formatting), B. Price Volume, the guidelines state that Attachment 3 - Pricing Template should “be submitted in MS Word and Excel Format.” The provided Price Volume Template is in Excel format. Is there an additional Word document that we should also be providing?

Please convert the MS Excel pricing template to MS Word and provide both documents in the overall response to the Request for Quote.

16 In the Solicitation Provisions document, under Section 4 (Formatting), it is stated that the technical quotation should be no longer than 10 pages. Could you please confirm whether the 10-page maximum includes the table of contents, as well as all of Peace Corps’ provided prompts and detailed recruitment plan, which are built into the technical volume?

The 10-page limit to the technical aspect of the Request for Quote does not include the table of contents. The Peace Corps provided attachments (Attachment 3 and Attachment 5) are for reference purposes only.

Updated Answer Per Amendment 2:

Please disregard the request to include a Table of Contents. The Microsoft Word document was created without the proper formatting to allow an automatic Table of Contents table to be populated.

We have increased the page total page limit from 10 pages to 20 pages. Please keep the original questions/prompts in your responses to the various sections of Attachment 6.

17 There were two Solicitation Provisions documents included within provided RFQ documents. In one, the Contract Specialist’s name and email address is listed as Denise Lopez (denise_lopez@ibc.doi.gov). In the other, it is listed as Denise Carrio (denise_carrio@ibc.doi.gov). Could you please confirm which name and email address we should use for submission?

Please submit all elements of your quote to Stephen Shaffer and Denise Carrio.

Stephen_Shaffer@ibc.doi.gov Denise_Carrio@ibc.doi.gov

18 Are we allowed to build in increases to salary over the 5 year period? We hire the Recruiter as a Graduate Assistant – generally a Coverdell Fellow – the hosting department covers the tuition waiver and we pay the stipend. Our graduate students are unionized and as a result their hourly rate generally

The Government cannot provide recommendation as to how you should quote the price of these services. If you believe it is necessary to include an escalated rate in the option years in order to retain the necessary increases each year. Over the course of the last contract, we ran into an issue with salary as we had not built-in increases to hourly wage rates. We were able to cover the cost as we had “savings” in other spending categories.

skilled individual, then you may want to consider doing so.

19 As part of our last 5 year contract, we received specific permission to budget funds for food for student recruitment events – just want to make sure we can do this again.

No. Contract funds cannot be used to purchase food. The Peace Corps will provide food separately for student recruitment events if the Peace Corps feels it is necessary to provide food.

20 Can you confirm that we should submit the proposal to stephen_shaffer@ibc.doi.gov?

Please submit all elements of your quote to Stephen Shaffer and Denise Carrio.

Stephen_Shaffer@ibc.doi.gov Denise_Carrio@ibc.doi.gov

21 Does Peace Corps have an indirect cost requirement? Or is this requirement waived? If it is waived, please reply back with this information so we have it on record for our Office of Sponsored Projects.

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

22 Is it allowable to include half-time benefits that are typical for 20 hour position at 30.6% in the budget?

The Government cannot provide recommendation as to how your university applies benefits to its part-time employees.

23 Our budget shows the $20/hour pay plus a 30% fringe rate.

Would you recommend that we increase the pay for future option years? We are not fully sure if the university will approve future graduate student pay increases.

The Government cannot provide recommendation as to how you should quote the price of these services. If you believe it is necessary to include an escalated rate in the option years in order to retain the necessary skilled individual, then you may want to consider doing so.

24 Am I correct that there are only two required documents to submit? I'm currently filling out the price sheet (Attachment 4) and have completed the Technical Volume (Attachment 6).

Please submit a Technical and Price Quotation documents. The Attachment 4 “Price Proposal Template V2” should suffice for the price quotation portion. Submit the price quotation as both an MS Excel document and MS Word document. The Technical portion should use Attachment 6 as a guide.

25 We have traditionally contributed toward the salary of the Peace

Corps recruiter from our budget. We are unable to this year and for the next several years due to budget cuts. Is this something we can request coverage for in the contract proposal? It would be at least an additional 23k per year we would be asking for.

The Government cannot provide recommendation as to how you should quote the price of these services.

26 There are several templates and examples provided but it is not clear which sections are required for submission in order to apply for this opportunity. Can you please inform me of what are the required documents we need to submit in order to apply?

Technical Volume:

Attachment 6 – Technical Volume Template

Price Volume:

Attachment 4 – Pricing Template V2 in both Microsoft Excel and Word (convert Excel to Word file).

27 The new Price Proposal Template in the amendments for RFQ 140D0421Q0066 for Peace Corps Services only includes one line on the budget detail tab, for personnel wages.

1) May we add to the Budget Detail tab other costs on lower lines such as fringe, supplies /expenses, event registrations, and indirect costs etc. as in the past?

2) If yes to above, are we allowed to change the formula on the first tab (Price) to reflect the full costs for each year.

Right now it automatically pulls just the wages line.

The Government is looking for a fully burdened rate based on an hourly basis.

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable. It is the understanding of this Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist that previous Peace Corps contracts for these services did not include Other Direct Costs (ex. travel, materials, equipment, etc.).

28 Do you have a normative annual cost range for the contracts? I ask because all such proposals go through our [Redacted] office [(Redacted)]. As a general rule, if there is no posted indirect rate we use our NICRA rate. That would place the cost of the contract significantly higher than in previous years.

I understand this is a bid, not a grant budget with set indirect, but if you have a normative range I can try to adjust to make sure it is not out of line.

This is not a bid (FAR 14) nor a grant. This solicitation is being conducted via a Request for Quote (FAR 13) and could result in the award(s) of Federal contract(s). If you have a negotiated rate agreement from a Federal agency, then you should consider whether or not you are required to use those rates. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how much you should quote for these services or how you should/shouldn’t apply indirect cost rates.

29 I am writing in reference to the revised Attachment 4 that was posted today. Our Recruiter position is a Graduate Student who is paid an annual stipend, not an hourly wage.

This new template also seems to eliminate all costs except the personnel costs, including the indirect allowance of 15%.

This creates quite a large change in the budgeting process. Our budget has always included the stipend, fringe benefits, tuition and some operating costs to cover the expenses of registering to table at events.

Please advise promptly as the proposal is due in less than two weeks and we need time for internal review and approval before we can submit.

Perhaps you may consider whether it is possible to provide the Graduate Student’s annual stipend as a pro rata basis? The Government is looking for a fully burdened rate based on an hourly basis.

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable. It is the understanding of this Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist that previous Peace Corps contracts for these services did not include Other Direct Costs (ex. travel, materials, equipment, etc.). The previous template did not include an indirect allowance of 15%. The 15% rate was merely an illustrative example for the formula.

You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

29 If we did apply for the contract and couldn’t exercise it the first year, would we have the potential to exercise it in future years -

By evaluating the option years at time of award, and in accordance with FAR 52.217-8 and FAR 52.217-9, the Government will possess the i.e., if we can’t fill the position for a variety of reasons (institutional hiring freeze, etc.)?

authority to unilaterally exercise option periods.

The Government cannot envision a scenario in which it would be in the Government’s best interest to “skip” an option period. The Government encourages you to still submit a quote package even if there is uncertainty with future hiring freezes.

30 Does the position have to be filled with a student? Traditionally, we have filled the position with a graduate student employee (who receives benefits such as medical, dental, and tuition coverage). However, our Graduate School has frozen tuition funding for Institutional Priority Graduate positions, meaning we cannot fill with a graduate student. Instead, we would fill with a part-time classified position with benefits at a similar hourly rate to what we have paid graduate student employees in this position in the past.

The strat role does not need to be filled with a student. The strat position can be filled by any individual as long as the individual is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. See Section A.2.2 of the Performance Work Statement “Attachment 1”.

31 If we have had a Peace Corps recruiting contract in the past, can we use them as one of our three references?

You may use a past Peace Corps contract as a reference if it is relevant to the services outlined in this Request for Quote.

32 Do we keep the original prompts/instructions (along with our answers) in our submitted Technical Volume Template?

Please disregard the request to include a Table of Contents. The Microsoft Word document was created without the proper formatting to allow an automatic Table of Contents table to be populated.

We have increased the page total page limit from 10 pages to 20 pages. Please keep the original questions/prompts in your responses to the various sections of Attachment 6.

33 I am writing to you to inquire about contract opportunity ID140D0421Q0066. There are several templates and examples provided but it is not clear which sections are required for submission in order to apply for this opportunity. Can you please inform me of what are the required documents we need to submit in order to apply?

Technical Volume:

Attachment 6 – Technical Volume Template

Price Volume:

Attachment 4 – Pricing Template V2 in both Microsoft Excel and Word (convert Excel to Word file).

34 We are requesting an increase of [Redacted]% each year for salary “inflation.” Our goal is to hire a Coverdell Fellow as the STRAT and our graduate student assistants are unionized and their bargaining contract provides them with annual wage increases and mandates health coverage. The union is currently bargaining so we do not know what the future hourly rate will be – we are using the current rate of $[Redacted] per hour for 20 hours per week. In each year subsequent to the base year, we’ve added a [Redacted]% increase in anticipation. We are also required to include the cost of health care coverage.

The Government cannot provide recommendation as to how you should quote the price of these services. If you believe it is necessary to include an escalated rate in the option years in order to retain the necessary skilled individual, then you may want to consider doing so.

35 The 6-month FAR 52.217-8 clause. We used numbers that are 50% of Year 5 amounts --- a 6-month extension can be utilized

While the Government cannot tell you how to propose for this amount. Historically, most individuals propose 50% of the last year amount before all/any of the years have been exercised – yes – no? What should we be doing here?

for the FAR 52.217-8 clause. This creates a total contract value that, in theory, will never be exceeded. While rare, the FAR 52.217-8 clause may be used at any point throughout the performance of the contract. For example, at the end of Option 1 the clause could be utilized to extend the contract by up to six months if the Government did not want to exercise Option 2.

The amount of the extension would be 50% of the Option 1 amount. However, the use of FAR 52.217-8 is typically done after all Option periods have been exhausted (i.e. after Option Year 5).

36 In the past we have received permission to use funds under the marketing category for food at Peace Corps recruitment events – if we ever get back to campus – will we be able to do the same as in the past? We have never spent an excessive amount on food, but it’s been very helpful when we have been in person for Peace Corps week or at special events.

No. Contract funds cannot be used to purchase food. The Peace Corps will provide food separately for student recruitment events if the Peace Corps feels it is necessary to provide food.

37 Should I include fringe expense into the per hour total? You should build any applicable indirect cost rate(s) into your quote to the Government. The Government cannot provide you with advice as to how your university applies their indirect cost rate(s).

38 In the past we hired a PT Recruiting assistant at 6 hrs/wk to assist the lead Recruiter with event logistics. Can we still build that into the budget? Should it be included in the total hours or as a separate line item?

The Government does not envision a scenario in which there would be a benefit to having both a strat and a “strat assistant”. You should carefully consider whether or not having a “strat assistant” is needed. However, the Government cannot tell you how to quote these services. If you do quote these services to include a “strat assistant” then please create a separate line item in the budget.

39 We also used to ask the Recruiter to answer emails and do some smaller events in the summer. Once again, can we still include that?

There could be, in limited circumstances, where a strat could perform recruitment activities outside of the academic year and include that data in their last deliverable of the academic year. However, the activities would need to be consistent with the deliverables and approved in advance by the Peace Corps.

40 There are some smaller expenses and overhead. Are those no longer allowed to be part of the RFQ?

There shouldn’t be any “smaller expenses” as the purpose of the resulting contract(s) are for direct labor which include any applicable indirect cost rates.

41 Can you tell me who our new TPOC person is? It is the understanding of this Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist that the Peace Corps used the titles “Technical Point of Contact (TPOC)” and “Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)” interchangeably. For the purposes of the resultant contract award(s) we will use the term “COR” to refer to the representative of the program office (i.e. Peace Corps Office of Volunteer Recruitment & Selection). The Government reserves the right to also have an Alternate COR in any resultant contract award(s). The Government may unilaterally make COR and Alternate COR changes as it wishes. For the purposes of responding to this Request for Quote, the name(s) of the individual(s) for these position(s) is not necessary as an award(s) have not yet been made.

42 The new budget template is only asking for personnel information—and not marketing or campus recruitment office costs. Is that really correct?

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable. It is the understanding of this Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist that previous Peace Corps contracts for these services did not include Other Direct Costs (ex. travel, materials, equipment, etc.).

43 Are there any special considerations we should be aware of in completing the 6-month extension section?

Please provide a quote for the base period (12 months), four optional periods (12 months each), and FAR 52.217-8 six months. The base year, four optional periods, and additional six months (FAR 52.217-8) will be used to determine the total contract value.

While the Government cannot tell you how to propose for this amount. Historically, most individuals propose 50% of the last year amount for the FAR 52.217-8 clause. This creates a total contract value that, in theory, will never be exceeded. While rare, the FAR 52.217-8 clause may be used at any point throughout the performance of the contract. For example, at the end of Option 1 the clause could be utilized to extend the contract by up to six months if the Government did not want to exercise Option 2.

The amount of the extension would be 50% of the Option 1 amount. However, the use of FAR 52.217-8 is typically done after all Option periods have been exhausted (i.e. after Option Year 5).

44 Is there a limit on how much writing we can include in the narrative portion of the Price Proposal Template?

There is no limit to the amount of writing you can provide in the Price Proposal Template. The Price Proposal Template should not be used as an extension to elaborate on the response. Using the Price Proposal Template as an area to elaborate further on the Technical Volume because the page limit of the Technical Volume has been exceeded would be viewed as unsuitable. The Government is not alleging that is the reason for your question but wants to make it clear the rules for any additional writing in the Price Proposal Template.

45 Should we include the 6-month extension price in our total proposed price in the Executive Summary?

The FAR 52.217-8 “6-month extension” should be built into the total quoted amount (i.e. base period, 4 one-year options, and 6-month extension). See questions 1, 35, & 43.

46 If there are confidentiality concerns with sharing dollar values of prior contracts, can we omit that piece of the information from that particular reference?

The references and reference information (including dollar values) will only be shared with Peace Corps technical evaluators and Department of the Interior contracting officials.

There should be no hesitation with sharing this information. It will not be published in any sort of public venue.

47 In the Solicitation Provisions document, under Section 4 (Formatting), it is stated that the technical quotation should be no longer than 10 pages. Could you please confirm whether the 10 page maximum includes the following three things:

1. The technical volume cover page?

2. Peace Corps’ questions/prompts that are provided within the Technical Volume template. For example: “Will the Campus Recruiter receive free postage for communication with Peace Corps offices? (This does not include postage fees for mass mailings.)” - are we permitted to delete the prompt and include only the answer?

3. The detailed recruitment plan (which is also built into the technical volume) under Section V. Campus Recruitment Strategy Plan (B-F)?

The page count does not include the cover page.

Please disregard the request to include a Table of Contents. The Microsoft Word document was created without the proper formatting to allow an automatic Table of Contents table to be populated.

We have increased the page total page limit from 10 pages to 20 pages. Please keep the original questions/prompts in your responses to the various sections of Attachment 6. If the prompt is not applicable then simply state so.

48 The revised budget template only has one line for personnel costs, if we want to include other costs in the budget, are we permitted to tweak the template and add additional lines? (For example: adding a line for the indirect cost percentage.)

The Government is looking for a fully burdened rate based on an hourly basis.

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable. It is the understanding of this Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist that previous Peace Corps contracts for these services did not include Other Direct Costs (ex. travel, materials, equipment, etc.).

49 I am struggling getting the technical document to be no longer than 10 pages. I further more confused by the answer on question 16 on Amendment 1, which states:

The 10-page limit to the technical aspect of the Request for Quote does not include the table of contents. The Peace Corps provided attachments (Attachment 3 and Attachment 5) are for reference purposes only.

Is the table of contents the Executive Summary through the References (attachment 6)? So we have can 10 pages beyond the wording originally given to us on attachment 6?

Please disregard the request to include a Table of Contents. The Microsoft Word document was created without the proper formatting to allow an automatic Table of Contents table to be populated.

We have increased the page total page limit from 10 pages to 20 pages. Please keep the original questions/prompts in your responses to the various sections of Attachment 6.

50 Please confirm the due date is 03/03/2021 at 3 PM EST It is confirmed that, as of the posting of Amendment 2, the current deadline for a quote package is to be March 3, 2021 at 3:00 PM EST.

Determining whether or not a quote is late will be based on the date/time stamp on the email received by the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist. Please plan ahead as to avoid any internet outages, server errors, or server outages.

The Government is not responsible for any information technology delays.

51 What does the 52.217-8 additional six months refer to? The FAR 52.217-8 “6-month extension” should be built into the total quoted amount (i.e. base period, 4 one-year options, and 6-month extension). See questions 1, 35, & 43.

52 On attachment 6, title page, should it be submitted by authorized rep or PI

The quote package should be submitted by whomever your university allows to conduct negotiations and sign award(s) on behalf of the university with the United States Federal Government.

53 Is QASP document required at time of submission? If so, where should it be included?

No. The QASP will be incorporated into any contract award(s) as an attachment.

54 On behalf of [Redacted], we respectfully request a revision to the acquisition provisions set forth in the Peace Corps Professional Campus Recruitment Services RFQ #140D0421Q0066.

As a State-funded, nonprofit educational institution, [Redacted] currently performs under Peace Corps PO [Redacted] and provides professional campus recruitment services, as a public service for the local [Redacted] community and region.

[Redacted] believes and the Peace Corps Contracting Officer agreed, that the services [Redacted] provides under the current PO, is not considered an acquisition for commercial items as prescribed in FAR 12.301. In view of this, [Redacted] believes the FAR Clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions- Commercial Items (OCT 2018) would not be applicable for the new contract resulting from this RFQ should [Redacted] be awarded a new PO for these services.

Based on the above, we respectfully request that the Government consider revising the RFQ to include FAR 52.213- 4 Terms and Conditions-Simplified (Other Than Commercial Items (OCT 2020), as prescribed in FAR 13.302-5, terms which we believe are appropriate for public, nonprofit institutions of higher education.

The Government considers the services of recruitment to be a service offered to the general public under terms and conditions similar to those offered to the Federal Government.

Recruitment services are customarily used by the general public or by non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental.

At a minimum, resulting award(s) will contain FAR 52.212-4 and FAR 52.212-5.

55 Page 1 of the draft agreement references FAR 52.212-1, -3, -4, & -5 as being applicable to the solicitation. These FAR clauses contain multiple provisions, some of which may be a problem for the University to accept. However, in reading the underlying

The Government considers the services of recruitment to be a service offered to the general public under terms and conditions similar to those offered to the Federal Government.

FAR provision enabling these clauses, it appears they only apply to agreements whereby the federal government is acquiring commercial items through the contract. That does not appear to be the case here and we would like to ask Peace Corps to confirm why these provisions apply to the solicitation.

Recruitment services are customarily used by the general public or by non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental.

At a minimum, resulting award(s) will contain FAR 52.212-4 and FAR 52.212-5.

56 It appears that we are to remove the “Other Direct Cost” category. Are we able to include this category for these expenses?

The Government is looking for a fully burdened rate based on an hourly basis.

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable.

57 One of the questions indicated that only the Strat Recruiter should be listed on the budget. However, we have always had an undergraduate federal work study student worker who assists with data entry, putting posters up on campus and other similar activities. Can we still include this position in the budget?

The Government does not envision a scenario in which there would be a benefit to having both a strat and a “strat assistant”. You should carefully consider whether or not having a “strat assistant” is needed. However, the Government cannot tell you how to quote these services. If you do quote these services to include a “strat assistant” then please create a separate line item in the budget.

58 Should we combine the labor costs for our Peace Corps Recruiter and IDC costs into one line item on the budget? Or is it preferred by Peace Corps to add a line item to explicitly show what our university’s required IDC costs are?

One line with the direct labor and any applicable indirect cost rates built into that rate. The Government is looking for a fully burdened rate based on an hourly basis.

There should be no other costs except for labor and any applicable indirect cost rate(s) built into the labor rate; if applicable.

59 Will there be a process for requesting additional funding for career fair registration and food? For example, one of the stated objectives is to hold sendoff/welcome parties. This will be challenging if we do not have a budget for food purchases.

Contract funds cannot be used to purchase food.

The Peace Corps will provide food separately for student recruitment events if the Peace Corps feels it is necessary to provide food.

The Strategic Recruiter can coordinate payment for event registrations and food with the Peace Corps recruiter. Peace Corps will pay directly for food and event registrations.

60 In Section V. CAMPUS RECRUITMENT STRATEGY PLAN, the note states that the components and goals do not need to be amended or added to – please clarify for us if that means there is no need to include any explanations under sections C. or D. (i.e.

examples of planned work).

Correct, there is no need to include any explanation under section C. or D. However, we do require a summary of the ‘campus wide Recruitment Strategy Plan’ as noted in Attachment A of the solicitation.

61 I'm wondering if it might be possible to extend the proposal submission deadline.

Yes, the quote deadline will be extended for all parties from 3:00 PM EST March 5, 2021 to 3:00 PM EST March 10, 2021.