Amendment_No._4.docx

Amendment No. 000004 Solicitation No. A15PS00426 Questions and Answers

1. Will the Government provide the contractor with a letter of introduction and authorization for access to all BIA and BIE leadership, which also directs them to support development of the Strategic Workforce Plan?

· Yes

2. On page C-6, the Government says the pricing information for Provide Professional Training (Option 1) will be requested in writing by the Government when appropriate; however, on Page L-8, paragraph 4(b) (Options), the solicitation states, “The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced.” Request the Government clarify whether the contractor is required to address it’s capability to perform this task and submit an pricing estimate for Option 1 at time of proposal submission.

· Amendment No. 000004 addresses question.

3. Paragraph 3.2 states that the Contract shall fully comply with the delivery schedule for each deliverable. As an example, the solicitation states that the Government expects Task 3a and 3b to be completed in six and nine months, respectively. Does the Government intend to develop a Deliverable Schedule, such as a Technical Exhibit, that outlines paragraph numbers, work requirements and due date/periodicity for all required government deliverables?

· No

4. It is usually the responsibility of the Contractor to provide a Quality Control Plan (QCP) with appropriate performance controls and metrics, and the responsibility of the Government to develop the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). Does the Government see these as one in the same document?

· Amendment No. 000004 addresses question.

5. Does BIA contracting office require a specific travel authorization request form and separate travel expense form that can be attached to this solicitation as Technical Exhibits?

· No specific travel request form will be required. Travel will be reimbursed in accordance to Federal Travel Regulations and documentation submitted by contractor shall clearly reflect pricing that adheres to the regulations.

6. Will the Government provide an estimate of the number of sites/locations they expect to be visited?

· Yes. The Government will select sites for visits that will be determined/named at a later date. Initial plans are for visiting approximately 15% to 20% of Education Line Offices listed on Page C-4, item 11, and 15% to 20% of BIE Schools listed on pages C-4 through C-6 under item 13. Also, some of the BIA regional offices shall be visited and will be determined/named at a later date. Finally, Washington, D.C. and Albuquerque, NM offices shall be visited.

The BIA will make determinations of locations for site visits. Awardee will be asked to submit proposal(s) and a modification(s) will result based on best value to the Government.

7. Will the Government establish a separate Travel CLIN?

8. Will the Government provide access to Government information systems and, if so, identify security access requirements and issue Common Access Cards for appropriate system access?

· No. At this time, it is not anticipated that this type of access is necessary.

9. Will the Government provide use of Government phone, teleconference and video teleconference (VTC) services, at Government expense, to communicate with BIA and BIE leadership at all locations?

· No.

10. Will the contractor need to maintain a Program Manager, Project Manager or Liaison Officer at a specific place of performance, such as at the BIA headquarters?

· No.

11. Under what circumstances will the Government authorize telecommunicating by contractor personnel under this contract?

· The Government is not providing office space; the contractor will be working from their own spaces so the topic of telework is not applicable.

12. Are Government security clearances required for the performance of any portion of this contract?

· No.

13. Will the government extend the submission deadline in order for sufficient time to process questions and answers?

· Submission deadline was extended to June 23, 2015.

14. Is there an existing “Strategic Workforce Plan” for IA inclusive of BIA and BIE needs and trajectory?

· No, there is not a current plan; the last plan has expired.

15. Within the development of a comprehensive plan for IA, what are the assumptions for deliverables for independent plans for BIA and BIE?

· Yes – independent plans for BIA and BIE are expected.

16. Do the “Education Line Officers” identified in number 11 in Task 3a the full universe of leadership or does this represent a sampling of a larger cohort?

· The listing of Education Line Officers is the full listing for this category of leadership.

17. Does the listing of locale of “school Administrators” presented in Task 3a, item number 13, represent a sampling of Administrators or the full universe?

· The listing of School Administrators is the full universe for this category.

18. Regarding Task 5 “BIE Advisory Council – does one already exist? Is it charted?

· No, one does not already exist.

19. This paragraph states “The Government, at a minimum, expects a payment schedule that is on a firm fixed price. Travel cost shall be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations.” Does the government expect the contractor to invoice monthly in twelve equal installments for the Firm Fixed Price and then add travel costs during the invoicing process? Or, does the government expect a separate invoice for travel?

· Contractor may bill the Government upon completion of Bid Schedule CLIN’s. Separate invoicing for travel is preferred.

20. The RFP does not define the criteria for page limits or font size restrictions. Can the government provide instructions for page limitations and font size preferences for a technical response?

· Font Style: Times New Roman

· Font Size: 12

· Page limitation for Technical Response: 30

21. Are there page limitations for the Past Performance section?

· Page limitation for Past Performance: 10 pages

22. Are there page limitations for the Knowledge and Experience resumes for key personnel?

· Page limitations for Key Personnel Resumes: 3 pages per resume

23. Would the government provide instructions regarding submission of a bid response? Will this be an electronic submission?

· Submission Requirements

· The proposal must contain a cover page with the following information:

· Company Name

· Contractor’s Address

· Company Tax ID Number

· Point of Contact Information

· Solicitation number to which this proposal applies

· The proposal must contain a table of contents

· The proposal must contain a cover page for each section and subsections. On this cover page, no contractor identifiable information shall be stated. The purpose of this cover page is to let the government know when a section starts. This cover page will not count towards the total page count for its respective section. The sections are subject to the following page limitation:

· Technical Capability: 30 pages

· Past Performance: 10 pages

· Key Personnel Resumes: 3 pages per resume

· Electronic Submission is the preferred method. Email offers to terri.cady@bia.gov

24. Will the questions to be asked for evaluation require OMB approval?

· No.

25. In this fixed price contract there will be a variety of instances where contractor travel will be needed such as to conduct meetings with leadership team, review of documents, conduct evaluation, interviews, and provide training and technical assistance. With the variable price of airfare, locations and frequency unclear with the leadership team, would it be considered to have the travel costs portion as time and materials?

26. Task 5 BIE Executive Advisory Council: will the contractor need to budget to attend and facilitate the first meeting of the council during the base year period of performance, and if so where would the meeting be located? Or will the contractor only be developing a plan to build a working Executive Advisory Council?

· The contractor will not be required to attend or facilitate any meetings.

· The contractor is only required to develop a plan to build a working Executive Advisory Council

27. Task 1 states “The Contractor shall conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the IA workforce on multiple personnel levels” – please clarify the number of employees in the workforce and how many are anticipated to be included in the evaluation and the specifics of each level (i.e., does this include and does attention need to be paid to political appointees).

· AS-IA: Workforce total 211; evaluation at the senior management level of approximately 8 to 10 Senior Executive Service (SES) or high General Schedule (GS) pay grades; Political Appointees not included).

· BIA: Workforce total 4181; evaluation at the senior management level of approximately 20 to 50 Senior Executive Service (SES) or high General Schedule (GS) pay grades; Political Appointees not included).

· BIE: Workforce total 3518; evaluation at the senior management level of approximately 30 to 50 Senior Executive Service (SES) or high General Schedule (GS) pay grades; Political Appointees not included).

28. Task 3a outlines 13 levels for interviews. Please clarify how many interviews per level and how many interviews per site are anticipated in the contract scope.

· Interviews per Level (all are approximations):

· 1: 100%

· 2: 100%

· 3: 100%

· 4: 100%

· 5: 100%

· 6: 100%

· 7: 100%

· 8: 100%

· 9: 100%

· 10: 100%

· 11: 50%

· 12: 50%

· 13: 33%

· Sites: Not all sites need to be personally visited; expect interviews to occur absence a site visit. Anticipated site visits: In addition to Washington, D.C. and Albuquerque, N.M., expect visits to approximately 15% to 20% of the Education Line Offices listed on page C-4, item 11, and to approximately 15% to 20% of the BIE Schools listed on Pages C-4 through C-6 under item 13. BIA has 12 regional offices, expect a visit to 2 to 3 of them.

29. Task 3c states “The Contractor shall provide professional training in accordance with the plan developed in Task 3b. The training program may be provided in whole or part, as authorized by IA.” – Please provide clarification on if pricing should be as whole or part per training).

· Proposal pricing not required with initial submission. On page C-6 Section Task 3c it states: “Proposal pricing will be requested in writing by the Contracting Officer when appropriate.”

30. The instructions to offerors states the offer must submit signed and dated offers to the office specified in the solicitation at or before the exact time specified in the solicitation. Please clarify the preferred method of submission: email, fax, or hardcopy.

· Preferred method of submission: Email terri.cady@bia.gov

31. Does the CO anticipate publishing any and all Q&A received related to this solicitation and if so when and where can that be accessed?

32. Would the government consider accepting a firm fixed price for a phase 1 or pre-project scope of work assessment and study prior to bidding the remainder of the work.

· No.

33. Would the government consider an extension to the due date based on the breadth of the scope.

· Submission deadline was extended to June 23, 2015.

34. Is there an anticipated budget set aside for this project and if so will the government share the maximum amount.

· No. The estimated range for this procurement is between $500,000 and $1,000,000.

35. Can we tie payments of the contract to milestones?

· Amendment No. 000004 addresses this question.

36. There is not a page count requirement (max pages) listed on the proposal.

· See responses to questions 20 and 23 above.

37. Travel is required but is not a reimbursable line. Is that correct?

· Amendment No. 000004 addresses this question.

38. Is there an incumbent contractor for this procurement and are they eligible to bid on this procurement? If yes, would you please identify the incumbent contractor(s)?

· There are no incumbent contractors.

39. What is the expected period of performance?

· 1 year.

40. What type of contract is this expected to be firm fixed, time and materials, or cost plus fixed fee?

· Majority of item Firm Fixed with Option and incidental items as time and materials.

41. Can the period of performance be extended to 18-24 months if needed? There is considerable planning and design that will be required. This will be important if the Contractor has to establish “where we are” (evaluability assessment) before determining “where we go” (finishing the evaluation design/instruments).

· No extensions.

42. Are there performance metrics available and established at the leadership, organizational, or systemic level? If so can these be shared? If not, what are acceptable performance metrics that they’d like to have influence the design? GPRA, NCLB, OMB, private industry standards, educational industry standards, etc.?

· No performance metrics available. The expectation is for the Contractor to recommend appropriate standards.

43. Has DOI previously developed instruments, strategic plans, or evaluations related to Strategic Workforce evaluation? If so can they share? This would be helpful to build upon past studies, if they were done. Or is it the expectation Contractor would have to build instruments, evaluation design, and/or strategic plans from scratch?

· There are no previously developed items. The expectation is for the Contractor to develop.

44. Does the inclusion of the Secretary’s Office and BIA (in addition to BIE) in this strategic workforce evaluation imply an analysis of these agencies only with regard to Indian education or generally including all services offered through the BIA?

· All services offered through BIA.

45. The expectation for a response rate of 95% is very optimistic, without some type of incentive for respondents. Are incentives allowed? Are all respondents federal employees? Is the expectation that these surveys will be completed in face-to-face or inline forms?

· No incentives allowed.

· All respondents are federal employees.

· Not face-to-face; on-line or other long distance delivery device (e.g., hard copy)

· The only expectation for response rate of 95% was for the optional training.

46. What is the required and/or expected for approval of our study PRIOR to collecting data? Will our work be subject to Tribal Consultation? OMB approval? Or Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals in advance of data collection?

· There are no external or higher level reviews or approvals required beyond the internal Indian Affairs administration of this contract.