Draft_PWS_Offsite_Facilitator.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Offsite Teambuilding and Leadership Program Facilitator

The U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides training and professional development to civilian personnel of the DOS and the foreign affairs community. The School of Curriculum & Staff Development (CSD) Division of the School of Professional Studies (SPAS) at FSI language learning through staff development; program evaluation; and student, curriculum, and materials development. CSD also coordinates student orientations.

The Curriculum and Staff Development (CSD) Division of FSI’s School of Professional and Areas Studies (SPAS) has developed two teambuilding and leadership development programs to be delivered as part of new employee orientation for Foreign Service Officer Generalists (FSOs) and Foreign Service Specialists (FSS) (joint, held for 2 days off-site), and Limited Non-Career Appointment (LNA) officers (held at FSI for a half day). These programs, referred to as an “offsite,” are experiential learning-based, learning-activity driven, and designed to challenge participants to think about personal reactions to situations in a team environment and to observe others’ reactions in the same environment. Debrief conversations support learning objectives by utilizing the experiential learning model to analyze the activity and its relevance to real-world situations.

One purpose of the offsite is to get class members moving and provide an antidote to sitting in the classroom for weeks. Learning activities have an element of physical challenge, but solutions are not dependent on physical ability of team members. Learning activities are primarily cognitive in nature and will focus on themes such as leadership, teamwork, communication, competition versus collaboration, planning, problem-solving, and roles and responsibilities (on an individual and team level). Locations are chosen to provide both sufficient indoor and outdoor space for activities and debriefing discussions, and to accommodate for inclement weather.

Background The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides training and professional development to personnel of the Department of State and is the federal government’s primary training institution for Department personnel and other U.S. Government foreign affairs professionals. FSI’s mission is to develop the men and women needed to advance and defend U.S. interests. FSI offers more than 700 classroom courses, including some 70 foreign languages, about 270 custom-developed distance learning products, and about 2,700 commercial distance learning courses available via Internet. Annual enrollment exceeds 100,000 students.

Contract Task Class sizes will vary, but students will be divided into small work groups of 11-16 people. Each small group will work with one facilitator and move through the prescribed challenges designed to bring about discussion on the activity’s theme(s). The government seeks qualified facilitators to work with a small group, run each activity as outlined in plans provided, and facilitate the discussion and debrief following. To the extent that staffing allows, a Course Coordinator from the Orientation Division at FSI will observe the groups during activities and debrief discussions. The purpose of the Course Coordinator’s presence is to provide State Department and Foreign Service context. Coordinators may develop feedback for the facilitator. The specific duties of the facilitator are addressed below.

Half-Day Program Overview for LNA Class (exact times subject to change) Program structure subject to change; information will be provided in advance of the session

Two-Day* Program Overview for Joint FSO and FSS Classes (exact times subject to change) *For facilitators, this is a 2.5 day program Program structure subject to change; information will be provided in advance of the session

Day 0:

Day 1:

Facilitators will generally eat meals together and use the time to discuss program issues/concerns

Facilitators participate in activity break-down and site clean-up before dinner.

Day 2:

Facilitators participate in activity break-down and site clean-up before departing location.

Services under this contract may be performed partially at the government’s facility located at The George P. Shultz NFATC (FSI) at 4000 Arlington Boulevard in Arlington, VA. For the half-day program, the offsite location will be at FSI. The 2.5-day program offsite location is variable and can range from 1-2.5 hour drive from Arlington, VA. All locations are subject to change in the future.

Period of performance Period of performance of this contract shall be a base year on or about September 15, 2018 to September 14, 2019 plus 4 option years. The final number of training sessions will be determined by the number of classes held for each program per fiscal year. Contractors shall not be used for every class, but at times, class size and FSI staffing will require the use of one, or possibly more, contractors per offsite. Specific offsite dates will be finalized prior to the beginning of the fiscal year with the Offsite Coordinator. Expected dates for 2019 fiscal year are as follows for FSO and FSS classes:

Joint A-100 Foreign Service Specialist (two and a half day):

· September 24-26, 2018

· November 26-28, 2018

· January 28-30, 2019

· May 6-8, 2019

· July 15-17, 2019

· September 23-25, 2019

LNA Offsite (half day):

· March 7, 2019

· June 13, 2019

· August 8, 2019

There are approximately seven offsite courses (54 joint FSO and FSS classes and 3 LNA classes) held annually. Scheduling of offsites will be at the discretion of the program office. Additional sessions may be scheduled by the program office on an as-needed basis.

All dates are subject to change and additional sessions may be scheduled on an as-needed basis. All contractor costs will be covered after completion of the offsite.

For subsequent years, class dates will be announced prior to the beginning of the fiscal year.

3.1.2 Place of Performance

Services under this contract may be performed partially at the government’s facility located at The George P. Shultz NFATC (FSI) at 4000 Arlington Boulevard in Arlington, VA.

· For the half-day program, the offsite location will be at FSI.

· The 2.5-day program offsite location is variable and can range from 1-2.5 hour drive from Arlington, VA.

All locations are subject to change in the future.

Actual course dates will be verified by the COR.

Performance Metrics

All BPA Calls issued will be monitored by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and will be reported at the conclusion of each agreement year.

Listed below are the performance metrics by which the contractor will be evaluated in addition to the contractor’s adherence to SOW requirements.

The contractor must be considered successful in fulfilling the requirements in order to continue to be considered for future opportunities. To be considered successful the contractor shall score a minimum of four (4) in all categories listed below. The contractor will be evaluated using a scale (Poor 1- Superior 5).

5 - Superior:

Contractor routinely demonstrates outstanding understanding of SOW requirements for the awarded course segments and significantly exceeds performance standards. Contractor has exceptional strengths that significantly benefit the Government.

4 - Excellent:

Contractor demonstrates excellent understanding of SOW requirements for the awarded course segments and exceeds performance standards. Contractor has one or more strengths that significantly benefit the Government.

3 - Acceptable:

Contractor demonstrates acceptable understanding of SOW requirements for the awarded course segments and has an approach that meets performance standards. Contractor is an acceptable solution and has few or no strengths that provide significant or exceptional benefit to the Government.

2 - Fair:

Contractor routinely demonstrates shallow understanding of SOW requirements for the awarded course segments and approach.

1 - Poor:

Contractor routinely fails to demonstrate understanding of SOW requirements and approach.

Quality

The contractor must adhere to the requirements outlined in the SOW and facilitate a high-quality, coherent, appropriate adult educational program, specific to the course design the contractor is awarded to deliver. Multiple measurements will be used to formulate a rating between 1-5 including student feedback, student course evaluations, review of teaching materials and delivery by course chair(s), and observations by both the Economic Training Division leadership and the COR.

Timeliness of Performance

The contractor must adhere to the deadlines specified by the COR with regard to providing training materials, delivering training, and/or participating in debriefs with the course chair as outlined in the Task Order. The rating from 1 to 5 will be formulated by the COR based on his/her observation and input from the Economic Training Division leadership.

Business Relations/Customer Satisfaction

The contractor must provide effective customer service to the internal FSI clients of this BPA Setup – COR, and Economic Training Division staff and students – per contractor duties in the SOW. The COR will use individual expertise and general observance of interactions and customer service with FSI staff, and students. A rating from 1 to 5 will be tabulated for this evaluation based on student feedback, FSI staff feedback, and COR observations. The COR observations will include timeliness of responses to inquiries and requests within the scope of the contract and delivery of training.

Government Provided Property

· Classroom facilities at 4000 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia or other area sites to be specified;

· Audio-visual equipment available at FSI;

· All necessary course materials within the budget and funding availability.

The U.S. Government will not provide

· Sick or annual leave;

· Parking facilities – presenter has to pay parking fee;

· Secretarial support in the Transition Center suite;

· Cost reimbursable expenses beyond the direct labor cost of this purchase order;

· Retirement plan, health benefits, or life insurance benefits;

· Responsibility for the loss of any personal property belonging to the contractor which he/she may have brought to the work place.

This document is a draft PWS intended use as part of a Request for Information (RFI)/ Sources Sought(SS) notice. It has been developed by the Government for market research purposes only. Nothing in this document can be construed to bind the Government in any way. A formal solicitation for this requirement may/ may not follow.