DRAFT Web Data Collection PWS.docx

ATTACHMENT A

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

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PPI SUPPORT FOR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION DATA COLLECTION (WEB DATA COLLECTION)

I.INTRODUCTION

A. Purpose

The U.S. Department of Education’s (The Department) Office of Planning, Policy and Innovation (PPI) in the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) requires support and maintenance for postsecondary data collections, websites, and data analysis. The contractor shall support maintenance and updates for the following websites: The College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC) list, and the Net Price Calculator (NPS) Center and Information Center. The contractor shall support maintenance and updates for the following data collection and databases: the College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF), the Campus Safety and Security (CSS) Survey, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) Survey, the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), and the Accreditation e-Recognition database.

B. Background

PPI (https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-organization/functional-statements/ope/ope-functional-statements--policy-planning-and-innovation-epa?is responsible for developing postsecondary education policy and legislative proposals. PPI is also responsible for conducting several data collections, which are the focus of this PWS.

PPI draws data from surveys that are hosted on the Institute of Education Science’s (IES’s) servers. The Administrative Data Division of the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), which is in IES (http://nces.ed.gov/about), collects data for postsecondary education studies. The major collection of the Postsecondary Branch is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ ). IPEDS annually surveys all Title IV postsecondary institutions on a series of topics including enrollment, institutional characteristics, institutional finance, student financial aid, human resources, graduation rates, and degree completions. IPEDS data identified as consumer information pertinent to the college-decision process are disseminated through the website called College Navigator (https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/). Using College Navigator, students can search for information on postsecondary Title IV institutions.

College Navigator also presents information from OPE’s Campus Safety and Security Survey, EADA Survey, and the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. The Campus Safety and Security Survey is mandated by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Safety and Security Statistics Act, which requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses and provide this data to the Department. The Campus Safety and Security survey was authorized by Congress with the 1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to help potential college students and their parents research criminal offenses on college campuses. It was reauthorized by the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), Public Law 110-315.

The EADA Survey is mandated by Section 1092, Subchapter IV, Chapter 28 of Title 20 of the United States Code, which requires co-educational institutions of postsecondary education that participate in a Title IV, federal student financial assistance program, and have an intercollegiate athletic program, to annually report statistics to the Department of Education on athletic participation, staffing, and revenues and expenses, for men's and women's athletic teams. The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) Survey provides information which populates the section of College Navigator that reports on what NCAA athletic teams each campus has including the number of men and women participating on each team. The Campus Safety and Security Survey provides statistics on the number of arrests and criminal offenses that have taken place on campus and in on-campus residence halls.

The e-Recognition database (https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/) collects data from accreditation agencies, state agencies, foreign countries, and other parties. An accreditor seeking recognition must meet regulatory criteria (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-VI/part-602?toc=1) and have a link to a federal program (e.g., federal student aid). Only accreditors recognized by the Secretary can provide the gate-keeping function to allow institutions they accredit to participate in the federal student aid programs under the HEA. The recognition process involves reviews by the Department’s Accreditation Group staff, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), and the Senior Department Official designated by the Secretary who makes the decision regarding recognition. Each of these groups use the e-Recognition system to review the submitted information. This system also manages the entire recognition process, including the analyses and documentation prepared by the Department.

The Department’s e-Recognition system is also used by the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) to review the standards that foreign countries use to accredit their medical schools (authorized by Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. Link to the guidelines: https://sites.ed.gov/ncfmea/files/2024/06/NCFMEA-Guidelines-effective-July-1-2024.pdf. NCFMEA determines whether those standards are comparable to the standards used to accredit medical schools in the United States, which determines whether U.S. students attending foreign medical schools can receive loans under the Department’s federal student aid loan programs.

The Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP) collects information from recognized accrediting agencies about the postsecondary institutions and programs they accredit (https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home). DAPIP disseminates the official list of accredited institutions and programs for the purposes of determining eligibility for all federal programs, including grant and loan programs both at the Department of Education and other Federal agencies. This collection is required by 34 CFR Part 602.

OPE hosts consumer-information online to help students make informed college decisions on The College Affordability and Transparency Center (https://collegecost.ed.gov/#:~:text=College%20Affordability%20and%20Transparency%20Center.%20How). Four of the six online tools on the college cost website are part of this PWS. The tools are the College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC) lists (http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx), the Net Price Calculator Center (https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price), State Spending reports, (State Spending Charts (ed.gov)) and 90/10 lists (90/10 Information (ed.gov)). Mandated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the CATC lists are produced each year before the congressionally mandated date of July 1. The lists identify institutions with the highest and lowest tuition and fees as well as net price. The College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF) collects follow-up information from institutions that appear on the CATC lists.

The Net Price Calculator Center explains the concept of net price to students and provides a search tool for students to locate an institution’s net price calculator (NPC). The Net Price Calculator Template, also mandated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, requires all Title IV institutions to post on the institution’s website a net price calculator that uses institutional data to provide estimated net price information to students based on a student’s individual circumstances. Institutions are directed to the IPEDS Net Price Calculator Information Center (https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price) to obtain the annually updated template and user guides on how to use the Department’s template.

This contract will provide support for OPE’s data collections, which are used for the consumer-information tools.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

The work to be performed under this contract shall support PPI’s role in collecting and analyzing the data for the following collections: the Campus Safety and Security (CSS) Survey, the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) Survey, the Database of Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), the College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF), and the e-Recognition database. In addition to the collections, this contract will stipulate the work needed to maintain the online College Affordability and Transparency Center lists, Net Price Calculator Center, 90/10 list, and State Spending reports.

NOTE: All tasks/activities identified as “Optional” may be exercised at the Department’s discretion. Tasks/activities without the “Optional” identification are assumed to be required.

Task 1- Management

The contractor shall manage this contract in an efficient manner that fosters communications with staff, the COR, and potential users of the data.

· Post Award Kick-Off Meeting

Within seven calendar days after contract award, the contractor’s project director and other key project staff, as identified in the proposal, shall meet with the Contracting Officer (CO), the Contract Specialist (CS), the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), and other appropriate Department staff to review the overall contract tasks, to identify potential problems and possible solutions, and to discuss areas of concern related to the proposed project staffing plan and other management requirements. The primary purpose of this meeting is to refine the management, staffing, and scheduling plans. These refinements are not to alter the specifications of the contract, but to provide management information for use by both the contractor and the government in monitoring the work to be performed. This meeting is also to help the contractor to make use of the experience that Department staff has gained over the years.

· Monthly Reports

The contractor shall submit monthly reports on the progress made in accomplishing each of the project tasks, problems encountered and solutions to the problems, and plans for the next month. The monthly report shall be due on the 15th day of each month. The monthly report and supporting documentation shall cover the previous month’s activities, for both the contractor and subcontractor(s). The contractor shall submit the monthly report via the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP).

The invoice (submitted through IPP) and documentation of expenses shall be submitted simultaneously with the monthly report.

Task 1 quality assurance acceptable performance standards:

Task 2-Develop, update, maintain, and support IT systems

IT systems covered by this Task include the Campus Safety and Security (CSS) information collection and dissemination, the Equity in Athletics (EADA) information collection and dissemination, the College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF) information collection and dissemination, the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP) information collection and dissemination, the e-Recognition information collection and dissemination, the Net Price Calculator (NPC) information collection and template, the College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC) website, the College Affordability and Transparency List (CATL) information dissemination, the Net Price Calculator Center information dissemination, the State Spending Charts information dissemination, the 90/10 information dissemination. CATC also includes links to other IT systems, which currently include the College Scorecard, College Navigator, and the College Financing Plan (work on these three systems are not part of this PWS).

The CSS, EADA, CATEF/CATC, NPC, State spending charts, 90/10 information, DAPIP, and e-recognition systems:

Programming Languages:

C#, .NET web APIs, React, AngularJS, CSS3, Html5, and JavaScript

Databases:

Microsoft SQL server as the database. Content is programmed on the database using Stored procedures and functions.

Server location/hosting:

The systems are hosted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on AWS cloud.

All deliverables provided during performance, including the functions and data displayed on the mentioned sites, are acknowledged to be the property of the U.S. Department of Education. Vendors should submit a proposed schedule of deliverables with their technical proposal*.

*Note: The schedule for this task will be finalized at the post award kick-off meeting under Task 1.

Subtask 2.1: Systems Maintenance, Upgrading, Testing, and Documentation

The contractor shall:

· Maintain current systems (websites to be found under appropriate subtask tasks below). Maintenance includes, but may not be limited to, security upgrades, software upgrades, and resolving bugs.

· Develop, test, and document all functions including new programming and testing, such as screen entry, warnings, edit failure, file import, and data locking.

· Maintain, test, and document that the website applications are capable of handling 1000 simultaneous users during peak usage times.

· Document any system changes. Documentation shall include structure and content of all databases and program code completion with the calling relationship of code modules and function entry points. This documentation shall be delivered to the COR in an electronic format.

· Creation of, or updating of, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all systems.

· The SOPs will provide step-by-step instructions on how a certain task or procedure is done.

· The SOPs will contain Title page, Table of Contents, Purpose, Procedures, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, and References

· All software developed shall comply with the accessibility standards published by the U.S. Access Board pursuant to section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended by Congress in 1998. The Assistive Technology Team in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) will evaluate the system for compliance.

· Any item that is not in compliance with current 508 regulations will need to be remediated.

Subtask 2.1.a: Additional Systems Maintenance, Upgrading, Testing, and Documentation Updates (Optional)

If regulatory or statutory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the current systems, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.1. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.2: Modify Systems

As a result of changes to statute (the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (the HEOA), regulations, or OPE needs the contractor shall:

· Redesign or modify systems, websites, and content.

· Revise or develop new databases to support changes.

· Change databases to allow for hard and soft edits with combinatorics of multiple fields in the collection instrument.

Subtask 2.2a: Additional Modifications and Edits (Optional)

If regulatory or statutory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the current systems or development of new systems, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.2. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.3: Campus Safety and Security (CSS)

CSS is an annual survey. See http://surveys.ope.ed.gov/security (collection) and https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/#/ (dissemination).

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs.

· Ensure that the data archival procedure prevents data from being lost over multiple collection years.

· Make data available on the dissemination website in a machine-readable format.

· Update the user guides for the collection (see http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/campus.html) and dissemination websites. (https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/public/html/help/2018_CSS_Data_Analysis_Cutting_Tool_User_Guide.pdf)

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.3a: Additional CSS Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the Campus Safety and Security System, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.3. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 labor hours.

Subtask 2.4: Equity in Athletics (EADA)

EADA is an annual survey. See http://surveys.ope.ed.gov/athletics/ (collection) and https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/ (dissemination).

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs.

· Ensure that the data archival procedure prevents data from being lost over multiple collection years.

· Make data available on the dissemination website in a machine-readable format.

· Update the user guides for the collection https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/athletics2023/wwwroot/documents/2023_EADA_Users_Guide.pdf) and dissemination ( 2016 EADA Data Analysis Cutting Tool User Guide (ed.gov) https://ope.ed.gov/athletics) websites.

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.4a: Additional EADA Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the EADA system, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.4. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.5: Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP)

Accrediting agencies submit data to DAPIP about the institutions and programs they accredit, including accrediting decisions, accreditation actions, substantive changes, address changes, and name changes. This is a transactional database with automated, email alerts under certain conditions.

See DAPIP Collection (ed.gov) (collection) and DAPIP | Homepage (ed.gov) (dissemination).

The contractor shall:

Maintain and update existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs. These may include, but are not limited to:

· Allow an existing record to be merged with a new record.

· Add a report function on the admin side to see the date stamp for then the action was entered into DAPIP and the date of that action as reported by the agency.

· Allow bulk changes if an accreditor needs to add or update multiple institutions, campuses, or programs.

· For example: If the agency has multiple institutions that have recently been granted accreditation, then the agency could check off those institutions and apply the action to all of them.

· Create an excel form for bulk uploads that would allow an agency to fill in all schools/programs and all actions and dates for those schools, which could be processed en masse by the system to verify and update all entries in DAPIP.

· Maintain data available on the dissemination/public website in a machine-readable format.

· In addition to the data used for DAPIP database report, on an annual basis (due July 1st) the DAPIP team will create an annual report of institutions and programs for each accrediting agency as reported by the accrediting agencies. The reports will be provided to the Department so that accrediting agencies can verify the accuracy of these lists. The report will include all negative actions taken by agencies in the preceding year (probation or equivalent, monitoring, adverse actions, etc.).

· Add link to our website for “Institutional” and “Programmatic” list of agencies, instead of DAPIP “Information about the Accreditor” sheet.

· Enable search techniques, that are available to agencies, on the public site. For example, don’t require an exact match for search, but provide results that provide partial matches.

· Allow Department staff with admin access to review the date an agency has reported an action.

· Implement automatic popup notification to agencies to include required supporting documentation when selecting particular reporting actions. For example, prompting an agency to upload its decision letter when it reports an adverse action or probation or equivalent action.

· Provide any 602.27 notifications from agencies to DAPIP Records Manager email in addition to/separate from the daily log.

· Add “deferral” as an action option in the drop-down list, provide a definition, and restrict the reasons it can be selected.

· Automatic email notification to all accrediting agencies associated with the entity when one of those agencies awards a probation or equivalent action or an adverse action or any other negative action.

· Make available the three reporting functions that are available on the admin website available on the public site.

· Create or update user guides for the reporting functions.

· Review all current reporting options/functions and increase ease of use. For example, data provided is user friendly for the public.

· Create a search function for all institutions in a current status. For example, provide the ability to search all institutions accredited by an agency that are currently on probation or monitoring or currently accredited or pre accredited.

· Automatic popup notifications to the agency upon system login for statuses that need follow up (adverse action initiated, appeal, next review date exceeded, voluntary withdrawal received).

· If agency enters any action indicating a future loss of accreditation (i.e. voluntary withdrawal received), on the public site and in reports the system will change the "Next Review Date" to "Expected end of accreditation" and force the agency to enter a date for that occurrence.”

· System will email agency weekly with list of schools for which either “next review,” expected end of accreditation” date, or any other action end date has passed.

· Daily log sorted by agency name within the email and also include an excel spreadsheet attachment.

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.5a: Additional DAPIP Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the DAPIP system, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.5. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.6: E-Recognition This is a transactional system facilitates the management of key Accreditation Group operations.

See: https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/erecognition/#/

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs. These may include, but are not limited to:

· Hosting

· Functional enhancements

· Automation, analysis, and pre-population

· New or modified user roles with associated permissions

· Ensure that the data archival procedure prevents data from being lost over multiple collection years.

· Make data available on the dissemination website in a machine-readable format.

· Update the user guide for the websites.

· Save a copy of system generated emails to e-Folder.

· Display the compliance report due date set/display somewhere different from the meeting date.

· The system should remove sections in reports only when all narratives and responses are blank, not when the agency does not include a narrative in the draft or response.

· The downloaded exhibits from inside the report display should have identical titles as those downloaded from the download all exhibits location in the table of contents.

· The exhibit numbers display in the title of the downloaded exhibits from inside the report and in the table of contents section, instead the ID number.

· When a document is archived, have a note pop up that it was archived.

· Produce a petition report containing only what the analyst has written.

· Automate DAPIP to update the scope of recognition in e-Recognition so analysts don’t need to do it manually.

· Browse exhibits in the browser window, i.e. Click on an exhibit – it opens in a browser window (rather than downloading and opening in Adobe, Word, or EXCEL) – AND there are forward and backward buttons to take you to the next or previous exhibit attached to that question.

· The system should not allow a user to upload a file that has already been uploaded.

· Create additional module in e-recognition collection site for Department analysts to enter, store, track, and report complaints received by the public.

· For NCFMEA, change the wording of Meets and Does not Meet to comprehensive response provided, additional information requested, not reviewed (as is now), not necessary (as is now), and remove substantially compliant. This should also be removed in the staff reporting function.

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.6.b: Additional e-Recognition Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the e-Recognition system, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.6. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.7: College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF)

See: College Affordability and Transparency Center (ed.gov) or (https://collegecost.ed.gov/)

Institutions placed on the CATC highest increases in tuition or net price lists are required by the Higher Education Act of 1965 to explain why costs have gone up at their school and how the rising costs could be addressed. CATEF is annual survey that collects follow-up information from institutions on the CATC list.

See https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/catef/#/ (collection) and https://collegecost.ed.gov/affordability (dissemination).

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs.

· Conduct machine learning on existing data to categories currently free-text responses.

· Propose dropdowns based on research and machine learning.

· Revise collection system to collect structured data wherever feasible rather than free test.

· Ensure that the data archival procedure prevents data from being lost over multiple collection years.

· Make data available on the dissemination website in a machine-readable format.

· Develop or update the user guide for the collection. (https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/catef2k19/wwwroot/documents/2019_CATEF_Handbook.pdf)

· Submit the Summary Guide for the CATEF report and publish it on the CATEF website.

· The plan for the Summary Guide will include submission dates that allow about six weeks for COR review and revision of written materials. All official clearance processes must be incorporated into the plan.

· The vendor shall provide a draft version of this publication (which shall meet the Department's publishing guidelines) to the COR, and a final version that reflects comments and revisions from the COR. The COR will forward all comments from the Department, including the Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO) and the Office of the Secretary, to the contractor to prepare a final version. The final version of the publication shall be error free. The vendor shall furnish a camera-ready version, a PDF Web-ready version, and a Microsoft Word Web-ready version of the publication in compliance with Department requirements (See “Compliance with the Department IT Security Policy” section).

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.7a: Additional CATEF Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the CATEF system, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.7. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.8: Net Price Calculator (NPC)

See https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/netpricecalculator/#/ (collection) and https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price (dissemination).

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs.

· Update the NPC to switching EFC (Estimated Family Cost) to SAI (Student Aid Index)

· Maintain bulk data file upload option for the template.

· Update the Federal Student Aid data used by the system twice annually.

· Develop or update the user guide for the collection (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/netpricecalculator/wwwroot/documents/NetPriceCalculator_QuickStartGuide.pdf).

· Include data tags using common data standards, when available, in the output file to allow page to be open and searchable (e.g., by a bot or spider).

· Provide the programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.8a: Additional NPC Updates (Optional)

If regulatory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for the NPC, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.8. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.9: CATC website, including CATC lists, 90/10, and State Spending

See https://collegecost.ed.gov/, https://collegecost.ed.gov/affordability, https://collegecost.ed.gov/ninety-ten, and https://collegecost.ed.gov/spending.

The contractor shall:

· Maintain existing systems and develop new screen content and edits due to regulatory and statutory changes and based on Department and agency needs.

· Maintain and develop new screen content and edits, due to regulatory changes for the College Affordability and Transparency Center lists website (see College Affordability and Transparency Center (ed.gov)). This includes publishing the lists annually.

· Update the College Affordability and Transparency Lists, 90/10 information, and State Spending charts as new data become available.

· Provide all programming code and documentation to the COR.

Subtask 2.9a: Additional CATC Updates (Optional)

If regulatory or statutory changes or other mitigating factors result in the need for additional updates for CATC, the COR may request, and the Contracting Officer may approve additional labor hours providing the same scope of work under subtask 2.9. Additional labor hours may be exercised in increments of 100 total labor hours. Multiple increments of 100 labor hours may be exercised in a single modification, but the total number of additional labor hours for a single contract period may not exceed 500 additional labor hours.

Subtask 2.10: Data Quality Control, Conversion, and Migration

The contractor shall:

· Complete the data collection, processing, and quality control for all annual information collections (CSS, EADA, CATEF) during 2025-2030, then migrate the data to its dissemination website.

· Data shall migrate from collection to dissemination according to timelines set forth for each system (DAPIP Transactional data, E-Recognition).

· For all information collections, assess data for outliers, typos, or other types of data quality issues annually, and perform any required corrections or edits after consultation with the respondents and the Department.

· Deliver the data dictionary, complete SQL database for all collection and dissemination systems in csv or other machine-readable format, and SQL code used to extract the data from its database to the COR.

Task 2 quality assurance acceptable performance standards:

· Deliverable dates met.

· Data disseminated comply with the Department of Education’s Information Quality Guidelines- https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/infoqualguide.html?src=ft

· Data reviewed and approved by ED’s Dissemination Review Board prior to publication.

· Websites update correctly as per the schedule.

Task 3—Customer Support Services

This Task covers CSS, EADA, NPC, CATEF/CATC, DAPIP, e-Recognition.

Subtask 3.1: Technical Help Desk Support

The contractor shall:

· Maintain a trained help desk staff to provide telephone and electronic correspondence support year-round to institutions and agencies that require assistance in completing the information collections.

· Respond to questions within 24 hours.

· Maintain the help desk log for both technical and policy related questions directed to the Help Desk

· Load call sheets, edit them, and make the entire record available to the help desk staff and the COR in an electronic format.

· Help Desk staff must have knowledge of legislation, statutes, regulations, and published guidance of all systems/programs (CSS, EADA, NPC, CATEF/CATC, e-Recognition, DAPIP).

Help Desk average amounts of tickets:

· Monday -Friday 8am - 9pm, EST during the last two weeks of the Campus Safety and Security and EADA collection period.

8am- 12am (midnight), EST the last evening before both the Campus Safety and Security and EADA collection periods close.

Subtask 3.2: User Guidance Documents

The contractor shall:

· Update user guides for information collections.

· Update user guides for information dissemination sites.

· Expedite the revisions to be made to guidance, training, and materials that result from changes to the HEA or regulatory changes.

Subtask 3.3: Letters to Survey Respondents

· Produce the Campus Safety and Security and EADA Registration and Data Collection letters and obtain appropriate email addresses) using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) database to generate the institutional email addresses.

· Prepare and disseminate pre-collection “reminder” data collection memo emails for Campus Safety and Security, CATEF, and EADA as well as up to two other “reminder” emails tied to activities institutions should be doing in preparation for upcoming data collection. The pre-collection memo email shall contain key collection dates and reminders for preparing and assembling data required for submission in the collections.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE FOR CAMPUS SAFETY AND SECURITY, EADA, AND CATEF COLLECTIONS

Schedule for Campus Safety and Security

Schedule for Equity in Athletics Disclosure

Schedule for CATEF

Schedule for NPC

Schedule for State Spending

Schedule for 90/10

Subtask 3.4: OMB Information Collection Clearance

The contractor shall:

· Assist the Department with preparing the information collection packages for OMB submission.

· Create Data Quality Plans for the following collections: DAPIP, e-Recognition, CSS, and EADA. Please see attachment A for the Data Quality Plan Template Instructions.

· Help respond to any comments received from the Federal Register.

· Revise the information collection and associated system changes based on OMB or public comment.

· Track OMB clearance expiration to ensure clearances do not expire for systems covered by this contract.

· Ensure the OMB clearance number with its expiration date is posted on every collection website.

*Pending favorable reviews of full clearance in the earlier approval.

Task 3 quality assurance acceptable performance standards:

· All help desk requests (both phone and email) are answered within 24 business hours of receipt.

· User guides and documents are delivered on time, in the format requested, in an easily understood format. Minimal, if any errors.

· CSS and EADA letters mailed on time, as per schedule. No errors in letter.

· OMB documents submitted to COR, as requested, with minimal errors.

TASK 4—DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORTS

This Task covers CSS, EADA, CATEF, DAPIP, e-Recognition, NPC, CATC, State Spending, and 90/10.

Subtask 4.1: Data Analysis

The contractor shall:

· Analyze data using standard statistical and data science techniques.

· Analyses shall include data distribution, percentages, central tendency, measures of variance, etc.

· Analyses shall include charts and diagrams like scatterplots, box plots, maps, lines, bar graphs, distribution charts, etc.

· SQL and SAS code used to produce the statistics and graphics included in the analysis shall be delivered to the COR.

Subtask 4.2: Data Reports

· Develop data analysis reports.

· Some reports are mandated by statute or regulation, and reports must, at a minimum, cover the required content.

· If reports are overdue, and the first report produced should also include the historical reporting.

· Some reports may follow standard academic publication formats with sections named background, methods, results, and discussion.

· Other reports may be more readable and approachable to a non-technical audience.

· All reports produced must have data visualization and identify interesting or meaningful trends in the data.

· SQL and SAS code used to produce the statistics and graphics included in the reports shall be delivered to the COR.

Task 5 quality assurance acceptable performance standards:

· Methods chose shall employ techniques appropriate to the data being analyzed

· Reports shall comply with ED’s Information Quality Guidelines

· Report shall attempt to limit length and be visually appealing and interesting to targeted audience.

· Computer programs shall contain sufficient commenting that procedures can be followed by mid-level data scientist.

TASK 6 (Optional): Transition Out Plan - will be exercised no later than September 2029

The contractor shall:

· Provide a transition plan of maintenance and support activities, specifically including turnover activities at the end of the contract, or whichever option year is not exercised.

· Provide a long-term transition of web data collection maintenance and support activities. During the last three months of this task order, the contractor and web data collection team shall provide for a smooth transition to a successor contractor for long-term operations.

· Transition for the new web data collection contract will include a series of formal meetings with staff from PPI, the COR, the current contractor, and the new contractor. The contractor shall propose a list of anticipated meetings over a period of four weeks. The contractor shall provide an agenda for up to four transition meetings. The current contractor shall provide documentation of all system requirements and databases.

· The current contractor shall provide access to all database, web application, websites and computer codes.

Meeting Agendas

March 1, 2025 (or 3 months before end of contract)

A. Post Award Meeting Summary Notes

Within seven days of the post award meeting, submit summary notes from the post award meeting. The summary notes shall document all that was discussed during the meeting and include a schedule for the PPI data collection activities.

B. Management Monthly Reports & Invoices By the 15th of every month, submit an invoice and monthly report that summarizes the major activities performed on each task, a summary of problems encountered, any remaining issues that need to be addressed and activities planned for the next month, including work performed by small businesses. The report shall contain help desk logs for each system, if appropriate. The report and invoices shall be submitted through IPP.

C. System Design Documentation

For the EADA Data Collection, Campus Safety and Security Data Collection, CATEF Data Collection, CATC (includes 90/10 and State Spending), NPC Template, e-Recognition system and the Database of Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), provide to the COR, a report that documents design documentation to include structure and content of all databases and program code completion with the calling relationship of code modules, function entry points, design specifications, data dictionaries and SQL code for extracting data from relational databases.

D. Systems Architecture and Delivery Schedule

Develop a report that documents the systems architecture and delivery schedule for the EADA Data Collection, Campus Safety and Security Data Collection, CATEF Data Collection, CATC website, NPC Template, e-Recognition system, and the Database of Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP). Documentation shall include structure and content of all databases and program code completion with the calling relationship of code modules and function entry points. This documentation shall be delivered in an electronic format.

E. Data Files Delivery to the Department

Migrate the Campus Safety and Security, EADA data to the Department of Education websites http://ope.ed.gov/security and http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/. Publish machine readable datasets on the dissemination websites. Submit to the COR, any data collected, but not published, in an electronic format, such as CVS.

F. User Guides.

Provide user guides for all systems in word and PDF format. To be submitted to the COR.

Summary and Due Dates of Yearly Deliverables (except for Task 5)

Attachment A Data Quality Plan Template…