Attachment_1-_Notices_and_Instructions.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Attachment 1 – Notices and Instructions

RFP – 19FS1A18R0002

Notices and Quotation Instructions

FAR 52.204-16 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE REPORTING (Jul 2016)

FAR 52.204-18 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE MAINTENANCE (Jul

2016)

FAR 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT. (APR 1984)

The government contemplates issuance of a single purchase order/contract resulting from this solicitation.

(End of provision)

FAR 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer shall make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

http://acquisition.gov http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vfdosara.htm

QUESTIONS REGARDING SOLICIATION

(a) Prospective offerors should submit any questions regarding this solicitation in writing to the Contracting

Officer via email at FSIProposalSubmission@state.gov. Questions should be received by April 25, 2018 no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to ensure a timely response. Questions received after that date shall not be answered prior to the date established for the receipt of quotations.

Each question should clearly specify the solicitation area to which it refers. Answers will be made available to the public as soon as practicable. The government will not identify prospective offerors submitting questions. Offerors must check the FedBizOpps periodically to ascertain the status of answers to questions as hard copies will not be distributed.

http://acquisition.gov/ http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vfdosara.htm mailto:simonem@state.gov

Additional Instructions

1. QUOTATION PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

(a) Offeror.

The term "offeror," as used in this section refers to the single entity submitting the quotation. The offeror may be a single corporation or a "contractor team arrangement" as defined in FAR 9.601, for example, a limited liability company, limited liability partnership, joint venture, or similar entity or arrangement. The offeror may be an existing or newly-formed business entity for the purposes of competing for any work resulting from this solicitation. If the offeror is a newly formed entity, it must be legally established on or before the date for submission of quotations.

(b) Submission of Electronic Quotations.

The term “quotation” is synonymous with “proposal” for the purpose of these instructions.

Receipt of electronic quotations shall only be accepted via Contracting Officer’s email address at:

FSIProposalSubmission@state.gov and must be received on May 04, 2018 by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Offerors must submit its quotation in accordance with the Quotation Preparation Instruction contained herein.

Files documents are to be submitted as Adobe PDF in response to the solicitation shall be identified as follows:

Files submitted in response to the solicitation shall be identified as follows:

Volume I – Offer, Certification and Other Documents

Volume II - Technical Proposal Volume III - Pricing

Quotations are to include the following information:

*Name of company.

*Company point of contact name, a telephone number and an email address.

*Dun and Bradstreet Number.

Quotations sent by U.S. Mail or any other means not listed above will not be accepted.

mailto:FSIProposalSubmission@state.gov

(c) Solicitation instructions and quotation information.

(1) Quotations are expected to conform to all solicitation requirements and the instructions contained in this section. The government will evaluate quotations on the basis of the information provided in the offer. The government will not assume that an offeror possesses any capability unless set forth in the quotation.

(2) These instructions are not evaluation factors. However, failure to provide the requested information may make an offeror ineligible for award or adversely affect the government's evaluation of an offeror's quotation. In addition, a proposal may be eliminated from further consideration before the initial rating if the quote is so grossly and obviously deficient as to be totally unacceptable on its face. For example, a proposal may be deemed unacceptable if it does not represent a reasonable initial effort to address the essential requirements of the solicitation, or if it clearly demonstrates that the offeror does not understand the requirements of the solicitation.

(a) Quotation volumes and page limitations.

The overall quotation shall consist of separate volumes, organized and individually entitled as stated below, with the following page limitations:

(i) Volume I, Offer, Certification and Other Documents - No page limit.

(ii) Volume II, Technical Proposal. Page limit: 15 pages excluding resume and letter of commitment.

(iii) Volume III Pricing - No page limit.

*Individual volume file size shall not exceed 5 MB.

(b) Quotation specifications.

(1) Table of contents. Each volume shall contain a table of contents and a glossary of abbreviations and acronyms. The table of contents in each volume shall identify the section, subsection, paragraph titles, and page numbers, as well as all spreadsheets, charts, tables, figures, diagrams, design drawings, and graphs.

(2) Page size. Page size shall be 8½ x 11 inches for text pages, excluding foldouts. Page size for foldouts shall not exceed 11 x 17 inches; foldouts may be used for large tables, charts, graphs, diagrams, design drawings, or other schematics.

(3) Print type. Text shall be 12 point or larger, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font type.

Headers and footers, spreadsheets, charts, tables, diagrams or design drawings, and graphs must be 10 point or larger using Times New Roman font type.

(4) Page margins. Page margins for text pages and foldouts shall be a minimum of one inch at the top, bottom, and each side. Each page shall, within the one inch top or bottom margins, set forth the solicitation number; and name of the offeror.

(5) Page numbering. All pages shall be sequentially numbered by volume.

(6) This solicitation is considered complete and adequately describes the government's requirements. If an offeror believes that there is an error in the solicitation, or an omission, the offeror shall submit a question to the Contracting Officer via email.

(c) False Statements. Proposals must set forth full, accurate, and complete information as required by this solicitation (including attachments). The penalty for making false statements is prescribed in 18

U.S.C. 1001.

(d) Examination of data. By submission of a quotation, the offeror grants to the Contracting Officer, or an authorized representative of the Contracting Officer, the right to examine, for purposes of verifying the data submitted, those books, records, documents, and other supporting data (regardless of form) which shall permit an adequate evaluation of the quotation. This right may be exercised in connection with any reviews deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer prior to award.

(e) This requirement will be conducted in accordance with FAR 12 and13 Procedures. As such, debriefing as described in FAR 15.506 is NOT applicable in this instance. Offerors are put on notice that only a brief explanation of the basis for the award decision shall be provided as prescribed by FAR 13.106-3(d), and only if requested in writing.

2. PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: VOLUME I—OFFER, CERTIFICATION AND OTHER

DOCUMENTS

I. General: Volume I, Offer, Certification and Other Documents consist of the actual offer to enter into a contract to perform the desired work.

II. Format and Content - Volume I, Offer and Other Documents includes the following information:

a. The proposal form

i. Use of the form. The Standard Form 1449 shall be fully executed by an authorized representative of the offeror. This form shall be used as the cover sheet of Volume I. Offerors shall complete the following blocks on the

SF1449: 12, 17 and 30.

ii. Acceptance Period

iii. The offeror must identify any exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions to the terms and conditions of the RFQ. The offeror is hereby advised that any exceptions, deviations or conditional assumptions may render the offeror’s quote ineligible for an award.

iv. Offeror shall provide a statement indicating whether or not it anticipates organizational or individual conflicts of interest in performance of the work.

3. PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: VOLUME II—TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Note: No pricing information should appear in this section. Instead all pricing data should only appear in Volume III.

Note: An offeror must not simply state that it is willing to perform the Statement of Work (SOW) requirements. Offerors must show they are capable of performing the work described in the SOW.

(a) General

I. Technical proposal shall consist of the approach and a discussion of the offeror’s depth and relevant experience in relation to the SOW. Volume II shall not exceed fifteen

(15) one-side pages excluding the resume(s) and letter(s) of commitment. The offeror shall propose based on the SOW (Attachment 2) and quotation criteria described below.

II. Technical proposal consists of the offeror’s Technical Approach; Key Personnel; Past

Performance; and Oral Presentation.

III. The government intends to evaluate quotations and award a purchase order/contract after utilizing a two-phased approach. Offeror’s proposals will be evaluated for acceptability according to the evaluation criteria under Criterion 1 through 3. The selected offerors will be afforded an opportunity to conduct oral presentations under Criterion 4.

IV. In order that your technical proposal may be evaluated strictly on the merit of the material submitted, no cost information is to be included in your technical proposal.

(b) Format and Content:

Volume II, Technical proposal, shall include the following components:

(1) Table of Contents. A suitable table of contents shall be provided for ready reference.

No materials shall be incorporated by reference which is not included in the technical proposal. Each proposal part should stand alone.

(2) Exceptions and Deviations. This component shall identify any exceptions or deviations taken, or conditional assumptions made, with respect to the technical requirements of the solicitation.

Any exceptions taken must contain sufficient justification to permit evaluation. All benefits to the government shall be explained for each exception taken. Such exceptions will not, of themselves, automatically cause a quotation to be termed unacceptable. However, a large number of exceptions or one or more significant exceptions not providing benefit to the government may result in rejection of the quotation(s) as unacceptable.

(c) Specific areas to be addressed:

Evaluation: Phase 1

CRITERION 1 – Technical Approach

CRITERION 2 – Key Personnel

CRITERION 3 – Past Performance

Evaluation: Phase 2

CRITERION 4 – Demonstration/Oral Presentation

(d) Specific areas to be addressed by offeror.

Criterion 1: Technical Approach

The offeror will demonstrate its ability to successfully perform work described in the SOW, specifically “Required Services”.

Criterion 2: Key Personnel (Resume)

The capabilities of the key personnel proposed by offerors must, at minimum, meet the qualifications identified in the SOW specifically “Specific Services”.

Resume must demonstrate the requisite educational background, work experience, and professional development to perform under the SOW.

Letter of Commitment: The offeror shall provide a signed Letter of Commitment in the format shown in Attachment 4 from each proposed key person. The Letter of Commitment must reflect the individual's unconditional agreement to accept the position for the duration of the contract.

Criterion 3: Past Performance

Offerors will substantiate recent past performance in performing the required work and demonstrate how its past performance validates acceptable performance and customer satisfaction.

Offerors will provide at least two (2) responses using the Past Performance Questionnaire

(Attachment 5) directly relating to the required effort and are of exact or similar scope (substantially similar services) and complexity. If applicable, a minimum of one (1) reference will be for services performed as a prime contractor. The offeror will only cite past performance occurred within the past

48 months. Questionnaires shall be submitted to FSIProposalSubmission@state.gov mailto:FSIProposalSubmission@state.gov

Criterion 4: Demonstration/Oral Presentation

The purpose of the oral presentation is to assess the offeror’s knowledge of and capability to perform the requirements of the SOW. The offeror will present their existing course with content which is exactly or similar to the SOW. Similar content is described as related to equal employment opportunity (EEO) or diversity awareness training.

(a) Instructions, Format and Content

(1) The offeror will demonstrate its ability to deliver course instruction:

Presentation of Instructional Approaches used to design, develop, pilot, implement, and evaluate UB eLearning for an adult, professional audience.

Presentation of educational technologies and continuous learning techniques in UB eLearning used to enhance the learner experience, maximize achievement of learning objectives, and facilitate the transfer of learning to the workplace or personal setting.

Demonstration of UB eLearning Content and Design Deliverables, including Course

General Outline, Course Content Outline, Course Content Narrative, Assessment Strategy and Items (review and exam questions) and Storyboards.

(2) Communication during the Demonstration/Oral Presentation.

The offeror will be allowed to complete the oral presentation without interruption by the government, provided the offeror stays within the specified time limit. After completion of the offeror's oral presentation, an adjournment shall be held to allow the government time to develop clarification questions regarding any points addressed which were unclear. After reconvening all the parties involved, the Contracting Officer will direct all clarification questions to the offeror's designated leader. The offeror's designated leader will then respond to the clarification question, or appoint another representative to respond.

Any interchange between the offeror and the government will be for clarification purposes only.

Neither the oral presentation nor the question/clarification session will constitute discussions, as defined in FAR Part 15, nor will they obligate the government to conduct discussions or entertain any revisions to the offer.

(3) Government Attendance.

The participants will include the technical evaluators, Contracting Officer and additional advisers as needed.

(4) Time Limit.

The oral presentation schedule is 40 minutes. The presentation will officially begin as determined by the Contracting Officer or Technical Evaluation Chair. The time limit for the question/clarification session is 20 minutes.

(5) Schedule of Presentations.

The order in which offerors will make presentations will be determined by the Contracting Officer after evaluation of proposals. The government will provide the offeror notification of the scheduled date of presentation at least 5 business days prior to presentation. Offerors shall complete its presentations on the scheduled date and time. The government reserves the right to reschedule presentations, if it is determined necessary to resolve unanticipated problems or delays encountered in the presentation process. The Government will not reimburse offerors for any costs associated with this effort.

(6) Offeror's Presentation Team.

The offeror shall provide the Contracting Officer with, at time of written proposal submission, a list identifying the presentation participants by name, title and firm represented. Offerors shall not exceed two (2) presenters and no more than two (2) non-presenting company officials may be present during the presentations. The offeror’s proposed key personnel shall conduct the Oral Presentation. The absence of key Personnel at the Oral Presentation disqualifies the offeror of award.

(7) Presentation Material.

The offeror must submit its oral presentation to the Contracting Officer via email one full day prior to the presentation. Offerors will make their oral presentations in person. Submission of videotapes, other forms of media containing the presentation or any other documents for evaluation is not authorized and will not be accepted. If the offeror wants to use audio/visual materials, they should contact the Contracting Officer at least 24 hours prior to the presentation so that technical requirements and security considerations are resolved prior to the presentation.

Thumbdrives/flashdrives are not permitted. A computer, projector, and sound will be available.

The Presenter may access the internet if necessary (Wi-Fi may be available), but any links should be sent prior to the presentation to ensure accessibility from a government computer.

(8) Recording the Presentation.

The government reserves the right to record the presentation and to choose the method of recording oral presentations (i.e., audio, visual, transcription or otherwise).

(9) Equipment.

The government will provide presentation equipment for use by offerors. Thumbdrives/flashdrives are not permitted.

(10) Facility.

Presentations will be conducted at the Foreign Service Institute located at Arlington, VA.

4. QUOTE PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: VOLUME III – PRICE QUOTE INSTRUCTIONS

Offerors will use the Standard Form 1449 to submit their proposal. A firm-fixed price shall be provided under Volume III.

Discounts. In an effort to receive the highest quality solution at the lowest possible price the government requests all available discounts on all services offered by the contractor for this requirement. The contractor is encouraged to offer discounts below contract rates. When offering discounts, quotes must clearly identify both the contract and the discount price for each discounted unit.

5. EVALUATION FACTORS

I. The Government will evaluate proposals utilizing the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable

(LPTA) approach. The Government will make that determination based on the following evaluation factors: Technical Approach; Key Personnel; Past Performance; Oral Presentations and Price.

II. Basis for Award (LPTA)

Offerors whose proposals are deemed acceptable after completion of phase one evaluations will be notified and scheduled to make an oral presentation. Evaluation factors except price and oral presentations are rated as acceptable or unacceptable.

Offerors who achieve a rating of “Acceptable” or higher based on their demonstration/oral presentation will be referred to the Contracting Officer for further consideration. The offeror with the lowest price will be selected for award by the Contracting Officer. In the event of two or more technically acceptable proposals quoting the same exact price, the offeror with the highest technical rating will be selected for award.

III. Criterion 1: Technical Approach Evaluation

The government shall evaluate the offeror’s technical approach to accomplishing the work described in the SOW, specifically “Required Services”. The government will evaluate the offeror’s understanding of the required support described in the SOW. Evaluation shall include how well the offeror demonstrates understanding of the depth and complexity of the work to be performed and the preparation involved for required work.

IV. Criterion 2: Key Personnel Evaluation

The capabilities of the key personnel proposed by the offeror shall be evaluated based on the extent to which they meet the qualifications identified in the SOW, specifically “Specific

Services” and to the extent to which the offeror demonstrates the ability to provide the work required in the SOW.

Offerors that do not provide a Letter of Commitment for proposed key personnel shall result in a rating of “unacceptable”.

V. Criterion 3: Past Performance Evaluation

The offeror’s past performance shall be evaluated based upon the degree of relevance to the SOW on the basis of project similarity in size, complexity, technical difficulty, contract type and period of performance. If the offeror or other performing entities do not have a record of relevant past performance or if information is not available, the offeror will be evaluated as neutral.

Note: The government may review past performance information beyond the information provided by the offeror.

VI. Technical Quotation \Criterion 4: Demonstration/Oral Presentation

The offeror’s oral presentation will be evaluated based on the offeror’s knowledge of and capability to perform the requirements of the SOW. The offeror will present their existing course with content which is exactly or similar to the SOW. Similar content is described as related to equal employment opportunity (EEO) or diversity awareness training.

VII. Price Quotation Evaluation

Total price will be evaluated to determine fair and reasonable proposed pricing. The offeror’s price will be evaluated separate from all non-price factors. A rating will not be assigned to the evaluation of price. The Government intends to award this requirement on a firm-fixed price basis.