Attachment 1 - MTEP PWS (1-24-2025).pdf

Solicitation H9821025RE002 Attachment 1 – Performance Work Statement

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Military Training Evaluation Program (MTEP)

Date: January 23, 2025

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DASD M&RA) implements policies and procedures for Career Investment Programs (CIP) that are critical for war-fighting readiness as well as to ensure that service members are prepared for transition to the civilian workforce following military service. As a CIP, Voluntary Education (VolEd) programs enable service member access to quality postsecondary educational opportunities, empower informed service member decision-making, shape meaningful personal and professional pathways, and drive military student success in higher education. On behalf of the DASD M&RA, the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES), a component of the Defense Service Support Center (DSSC) and Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), manages a portfolio of Defense VolEd programs that help service members achieve their personal and professional career goals.

The MTEP is a Defense education program that assesses and validates the learning gained from formal military training and occupational experiences. MTEP ensures this validated learning is translated into the learning currency of semester hour (SH) college credit recommendations that are documented to a service member’s official military transcript (OMT) and applied postsecondary degree requirements with accredited colleges and universities.

2.0 BACKGROUND

For seventy years, the MTEP, with the support of a higher education organization, has evaluated and maintained a repository of college credit recommendations gained by service members through military training courses and occupational experiences. The program operates in accordance with DoDD 1322.08E, the Department of Defense (DoD) VolEd Strategic Plan; and specifically, DoDI 1322.25 Encl. 3 para.6.c.(5)(d). Through the MTEP, knowledge gained through military experiences is assessed and translated into recommended postsecondary college credit in terms of semester-hours. These college credit recommendations are currently accepted at over 2,500 academic institutions, as a form of credit for prior learning (CPL). Institutional acceptance of these credits is at the discretion of individual colleges and universities and varies greatly based on institutional credit acceptance and award policies. Applying college credit recommendations reduces the number of classes a service member must complete to satisfy degree requirements, thus saving time to degree completion while avoiding Tuition Assistance costs for the DoD. As a result, this program provides fiscal accountability for taxpayer investments on Defense human capital by expanding the benefits of training and occupational experiences beyond warfighting to support educational attainment and transition into the civilian workforce. Credit recommendations are summarized and documented on the OMT, and additional information to substantiate each evaluated college credit recommendation is cataloged and archived in an online catalog. The current military transcript operation center releases more than 400,000 official transcripts to colleges and universities each year on behalf of service members and veterans able to exchange military experience into college credit.

From the inception of this effort, the Contractor has developed its industry standard process to validate learning for college credit equivalency. The process pairs a structured framework to review the content, scope, rigor, breadth, and depth of non-institutional learning, with the disciplinary expertise of college faculty from accredited institutions to evaluate and recommend college credit equivalents. The modernization of this rigorous validation process includes the review of formal military courses and the validation of learning on the job through occupational experiences.

3.0 SCOPE

The goal of this requirement is to improve the Defense Department’s capacity to evaluate, document, and communicate the college level learning gained by service members as a result of military training courses and on-the-job experiences in a credible manner accepted by a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., the military Services, academic institutions, etc.). More specifically, the requirements shall (1) cultivate competitiveness and success for service members both internally with their professional growth and externally in transition, (2) improve capacity to validate, document, and communicate the learning gained by service members, (3) leverage data to measure and double the outcomes impact by 2029, and (4) expand the data exchanges and documented transfer decisions by 20%. The Contractor shall provide an evaluation methodology, personnel, management, materials, information technology infrastructure, and equipment necessary to fulfill these requirements. The Contractor is a trusted authority in the CPL ecosystem and shall ensure the output of these evaluations (e.g., postsecondary-level academic learning expressed as college credit equivalents) align with postsecondary academic credit frameworks and are clearly translated into formats accepted by academic institutions. The evaluation formats shall display a seal that emphasizes the Contractor status as a leader in higher education and a trusted authority. The emphasis for this requirement is on increasing the Department’s capacity to conduct virtual reviews, support training initiatives, improve data interoperability and exchange capabilities and to improve academic credibility of curriculum, assessments, and feedback on occupational training evaluations.

4.0 REQUIREMENTS

The data services, products, and deliverables provided under this contract do not require the collection, use, storage, or transmission of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The Contractor further agrees not to request or collect PII from any government personnel or third parties in connection with performance of this contract unless explicitly authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer.

If any incidental PII is inadvertently received, the Contractor agrees to immediately notify the Contracting Officer and securely delete or return the PII without retaining copies. The Contractor shall ensure compliance with all applicable federal privacy laws and regulation in handling such information.

The Contractor shall leverage the multidisciplinary best and emerging practices from across postsecondary education and prior learning assessment to provide technical and management support in the following areas:

4.1 Business Systems and Reporting

4.1.1 Program and Project Management

4.1.2 Reporting Requirements

4.1.3 Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure

4.1.4 Data Repository

4.1.5 Data Transmittal for Military Credentials

4.1.6 Interoperability for Stakeholder Data Exchanges

4.1.7 Data Security

4.2 Review Readiness

4.2.1 Scheduling Support and Risk Mitigation

4.2.2 Review Readiness Courses

4.2.3 Review Readiness Occupations

4.2.4 Subject Matter Expert Reviewers

4.3 Review Execution and Outcomes

4.3.1 Course Reviews

4.3.2 Occupational Reviews

4.3.3 Evaluation Types and Number of Reviews

4.3.4 Evaluation Outputs

4.4 Advocacy

4.4.1 External Customer Support and Resource Services

4.4.2 Internal Stakeholder Support and Resource Services

4.4.3 Organizational Change Management and Performance Outcomes

4.5 Transition of Contract Services

4.5.1 Plan for Transition

4.5.1.1 Phase-In Plan

4.5.1.2 Transition In

4.5.1.3 Transition Out

4.5.2 Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M)

4.5.3 Monthly Summary Report

4.5.4 Weekly Meetings

The government has controlling rights in the military guide regarding both the data and data systems. As such, the evaluation outcomes produced and documented because of this contract are the property of the Government through DANTES as the managing authority and shall be provided to the Program Manager (PM) and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) via electronic means both upon request and at the end of the period covered by this contract.

The contractor shall:

4.1 Business Systems and Reporting

Provide program and project management support to plan and execute all work required under this PWS. All work conducted under this PWS shall be planned and executed in a manner that will achieve schedule and performance objectives. The COR is the Government’s primary point of contact.

4.1.1 Program and Project Management

Participate in a Post-Award Conference with key stakeholders identified by the Government within seven business days after contract award. The date, time, and location for the kick-off meeting shall be coordinated with the COR.

Contractor personnel shall discuss technical, management, and security issues during the Post-Award Conference.

The Contractor shall be prepared to discuss any items requiring clarification and gather information to support each deliverable and provide a Post-Award Conference Written Summary of the conference within five business days after the conference.

a) Within 14 calendar days of completion of the Post-Award Conference, develop a draft detailed Plan of

Actions and Milestones (POA&M) to project reasonable completion targets for each initial requirement that supports the approach and methodology proposed. The plan shall indicate the timeline for deliverables, dependencies and resources needed, roles and responsibilities, and status report meetings.

It shall address the major milestones and timing for delivering initial drafts, incorporating the COR’s comments, delivering revised copy/messaging, and delivering final products to the COR for approval. The COR will review the proposed project plan and return it to the Contractor within a reasonable period with comments and necessary adjustments.

b) Develop and maintain a Risk Management Plan to address risks, their potential impact to the program, and include strategies to reduce these risks. The plan shall focus attention on minimizing threats to the achievement of the program objectives. The plan shall describe how specific approaches will incorporate into program and project management plans to minimize or avoid identified risks; include proactive contingent risk response actions; and enable a means of rapidly implementing risk responses based on timely identification of risk occurrence. To provide visibility of risks and progress in mitigating them, the Risk Management Plan shall include a documented project Risk Watch List. The Risk Watch List shall be reviewed by the Contractor and Government team during routine meetings. The Risk Watch List shall function as the mechanism to track and report risks associated with the program. When necessary, risk occurrences shall be elevated to the COR and relevant Government stakeholders for their attention. The plan shall be delivered to the COR per the POA&M for review and approval.

c) Develop and adhere to an internal Quality Control Plan (QCP) to govern all aspects of program/project management, review preparation, the execution of reviews, the management of data, engagement with stakeholders, customer support to protect the integrity of the program and its associated outputs (e.g., college credit recommendations, stakeholder data exchanges, etc.). The Contractor shall include mechanisms to identify and self- assess critical processes under this effort. The plan shall describe measures, inspections, quality checks, monitoring of process parameters, etc. required to assure the evaluation process, the outputs it produces, and the resulting data repository conform to PWS requirements. The QCP should be updated periodically as the measurement methods and controls improve throughout the life cycle of the period of performance. Deliver the plan to the COR per the POA&M for review and approval.

d) Deliver In-Process Reviews (IPRs) at least annually, either virtually via teleconferencing or at a

Government facility or another government-designated site. The IPR shall focus on the status, progress, and any issues regarding the requirements. IPRs will occur no earlier than 45 days and no later than 90 days following receipt of the option year final quarterly report. The MTEP Program Manager (PM/COR) can adjust dates as needed to allow for unforeseen circumstances or scheduling conflicts. Five (5) business days prior to a scheduled IPR briefing, the Contractor shall provide the PM/COR any briefing slides planned for use to offer as read-ahead material for participants.

e) Provide the necessary personnel, resources, and infrastructure to manage, perform, and administer the contract. Accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing qualified personnel capable of meeting the requirements of the PWS.

f) Perform Records Management. Maintain records and documents used in the evaluation of military educational and occupational experiences including review readiness materials, courses, programs of instruction, evaluation outputs, rubrics, etc. The Contractor shall convert all such records that are hard-copy documents into electronic format. In addition to the records and documents submitted by the Military Services, the Contractor shall maintain the documents used in completing the tasks of this PWS.

A central part of the records maintenance by the Contractor shall be a registry of all credit recommendations made as a result of the evaluations.

g) The purpose of maintaining records is to provide data and information; to develop reports regarding the program; to provide backup information to explain and document evaluations and procedures; to provide long-range management continuity (Government or Contractor); and to provide data and information to prepare products required within this PWS. The documentation should be stored in a manner that is readily accessible to the Government for broader analysis across VolEd programs and systems with the goal of being able to document service member and program outcomes.

h) The Contractor’s team shall establish and coordinate a regularly scheduled conference call with DANTES PM/COR to discuss timely aspects of contract performance on a bi-weekly basis or as required.

4.1.2 Reporting Requirements

Deliver reports to include program activities, project schedule, issues, risk, planned value, etc.

a) Quarterly Reports

Provide a Quarterly Report based on the previous three months, to the PM/COR by 15 October, 15 January, 15 April, and 15 July, each year. The Contractor shall collaborate with the PM/COR to assure the report’s data representation is clear to the recipients so that they understand the details of work accomplished during the reporting period as well as important trends and issues. At a minimum, the Contractor shall assess and report the following:

Executive Summary Narrative overview of the program period of performance for the quarter that includes, but not limited to, data exchange milestones and accomplishments, trends from review readiness, programmatic recommendations, advocacy, and profiles of the contracted faculty subject matter experts (SME) institutional and accrediting authorities.

Quantitative Summary Reviews: Leverage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and PowerBI capabilities, the course and occupational outcomes data should include key metrics to report the numbers of courses, occupations and communities evaluated in comparison to the purchase order for the option year. In addition, data reporting should include the number of credit recommendations by level, amount of award by level, academic hours (for courses) throughput, and the academic disciplines. All digital formats should include capabilities to identify data by week, month, quarter, option year, fiscal year, and calendar year.

Outcomes: Military Guide reports are available in PowerBI but captured quarterly to document military transcript (MT) credit awards, proactive review equivalencies, equivalencies by service, user engagement, API data exchanges, TA cost avoidance and user engagement trends. All digital formats should include capabilities to identify data by week, month, quarter, option year, fiscal year, and calendar year.

b) Monthly Performance Reports (MPR) Leverage Power BI capabilities and summarize contract activities, cost data, progress on plans of actions, key milestones accomplished, challenges/risks regarding deliverables or project progression, and mitigation strategies. Benchmark the performance requirements summary. All digital formats should include capabilities to identify data by week, month, quarter, option year, fiscal year, and calendar year.

c) Ad Hoc Reports

Customize a quarterly digital report that supports PM/COR data parameters and reporting to Voluntary Education Enterprise Management Information System (VEMIS). Periodically, furnish performance data relative to the requirements of this contract to the PM/COR. Requests for such data shall not exceed four per quarter.

d) Annual Report

Leverage Power BI capabilities to create an annual Military Programs Data Report that consolidates annual totals derived from both the annual calendar year and the government’s fiscal year. At a minimum, the report should include specific data points included in the quantitative summary reporting for the previous January through December (annual) and October through September (fiscal year) period.

Additionally, the Annual Military Programs Data reports should contain necessary data to support both the DANTES annual report and Manager’s Voluntary Education Enterprise Management Information System (VEMIS), The report shall be delivered to the PM/COR NLT 15 days following both the fiscal year and annual year calendar periods.

4.1.3 Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure

The evaluation outcomes produced and documented because of this contract are the property of the Government through DANTES as the managing authority. Conclusions and recommendations obtained thereof are Covered Defense Information and is for official use only.

Contractor personnel assigned to this project shall sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement provided by the Government prior to obtaining access to sensitive information. This effort, and all materials provided to the Contractor by the Government and their results, conclusions, and recommendations obtained, are confidential and must be treated with care in accordance with applicable Government regulations and the terms and conditions of this contract. The information shall not be disclosed, copied, modified, used (except in completion of this project) or otherwise disseminated to any other person or entity at any time to include, but not limited to inclusion in any database external to the Government without the Government's express consent.

4.1.4 Data Repository

Maintain and update data systems to support the growth of the program and its outcomes. This includes the Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services, henceforth referred to as the Military Guide and the business systems such as the customer relationship management (CRM) henceforth referred to as the MTEP Review Portal.

a) The Military Guide shall serve the needs of a variety of stakeholders: the military Services, postsecondary community, employers/industry groups, and service members/veterans.

b) An online electronic format of the Military Guide is accessible to service members, veterans, academic institutions, and other stakeholders twenty-four hours a day, every day (except during reasonable downtime for system maintenance and refresh) from the Contractor’s website.

c) The Contractor shall continue to capture requests for system modifications and enhancements from the end users. Technical changes should be mapped as part of the data strategy and meet the financial expectations of the contract.

d) The Military Guide shall offer search and query capabilities with user interface/user experience features simple enough for inexperienced or infrequent users to navigate successfully.

e) The MTEP Portal shall function as an interactive, interoperable data repository to facilitate scheduling, review outcomes, review reports, academic taxonomy alignment, and other unpublished evaluation data such as throughput, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes, competency frameworks, and review readiness assessments.

f) The MTEP Portal should adhere to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards.

g) The Military Guide and MTEP Portal should maintain architecture and infrastructures to support business intelligence capability for reporting and modeling.

h) Provide robust search, query, storage, and interaction capabilities with user interface/user experience features to support training site readiness and review executions.

i) Provide service member functionality which allows for upload of an official military transcript to provide the end user interface and transactional platform capabilities to support the translation of and exchange of military learning achievements to academic equivalents to empower the individual Military Student, higher education, end user and other stakeholders.

j) Explore Artificial Intelligence functionality to include more impact measures to improve review priority capabilities for the Military Training Evaluation Working Group schedule preparation efforts.

4.1.5 Data Transmittal for Military Credentials

Provide the data necessary to post credit recommendations and descriptions to the official military transcript and/or other Government identified transcript/information systems used to produce credentials for military learning. The data being collected and transferred shall not include PII or other types of Controlled Unclassified Information. Further, the Contractor shall:

a) Provide quality assurance (QA) frameworks and audits to ensure the integrity, validity, reliability, and accuracy of the data elements and exchanges.

b) Conduct quality assurance and endorsement of the official military transcript or other Government system transcript output.

c) Report and track data errors, time to resolution, and types of errors documented from the QA process.

d) Contribute to discussions, data summits, and working groups focused on improving content, delivery, and clarity of digital credentials and official transcripts.

e) Grant permission to the applicable Defense organization to publish the Contractor endorsement of the military transcript. Provide written authorization for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force/Space Force and the Coast Guard to publish the Contractor imprimatur of the official military transcript.

f) Present issues and concerns quarterly to the MTEP Working Group for resolution, review and approval of standards for establishing an academic record, for transmission of the record, and security required for the record-producing system.

4.1.6 Interoperability for Stakeholder Data Exchanges

a) Provide evaluation output data to the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) on a quarterly basis for updating ACE related data maintained in the DMDC database.

b) Track and report updates about the institutions that have Military Guide accounts and are documented

DoD MOU schools.

c) Apply open-source frameworks and standards capable of making evaluation data and information more universally accessible. Exchange data with other DoD VolEd and Service-level VolEd systems using API or appropriate technology. This includes data provided to the Joint Services Transcript (JST) and/or other Government identified transcript/information systems. Data being collected and transferred shall not include PII or other types of Controlled Unclassified Information. This includes, but is not limited to, data necessary for the following purposes:

1. Operational Use: Ensuring seamless integration and functionality within the official military transcript systems.

2. Testing and Development: Supporting the testing and development of any new systems identified by the Government, including those intended for potential cutover and modernization.

3. Modernization Efforts: Facilitating the modernization of existing internal DANTES systems as directed by the Government. The Contractor shall ensure that all data provided is accurate, complete, and delivered in a timely manner to support the Governments operational, testing, and modernization needs.

Schema reference available in the Appendix.

d) Manage and maintain the required legal agreements to ensure data exchange and stewardship processes.

e) Outline, maintain and update data dictionaries and appropriate data exchange guidance resources.

f) Update with the quarterly reports the API exchange lessons learned, data architecture requirements and changes and other institutional organizational change management needs to inform scaling.

g) Incorporate credit by exam (CBE) and Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) National Guide data into the Military Guide. These data shall be included and available in the Military Guide NLT the end of the second period of performance.

h) Research and report on Contractor capability to incorporate other National Guide data into the Military Guide. Report shall include an assessment of the estimated value and benefits of incorporating this data.

i) Data produced by this contract are property of the U.S. Government. The data shall be used for purposes stated herein and are nontransferable to any other potential user without the Government’s written consent and not for commercial use.

4.1.7 Data Security

a) Adhere to all data security requirements identified by the Government, including the Security section of the PWS (8.0).

b) Establish levels and secure methods of access that align with the complexity of the evaluation process and stakeholder interactions with data for all types of reviews.

4.2 Review Readiness

The Contractor will expand transparency with the expectations of the review process leveraging rubrics and checklists. This helps with succession planning and knowledge transfer for course and occupation POCs. The Review Readiness process ensures compliance with the necessary requirements directly related to each review type (i.e.

courses, single occupations, community reviews).

4.2.1 Scheduling Support and Risk Mitigation

a) Support the MTEP Working Group (PWS 11.3) in the development of a quarterly, on-demand, scheduling process. Develop and implement a transition plan, starting with the base year as an annual review and phasing the process accordingly. Present updates with the scheduling plan by leveraging feedback from the Working Group and POCs.

b) Support the Working Group by providing an Annual Course Report to assist in identifying inventory of courses, occupations, and occupation communities for review. Provide an inventory report (dashboard or other CRM tool) to document courses and occupations with upcoming expiration dates within 2 years, 1 year and less than 1 year.

c) Facilitate the current annual scheduling process to a quarterly on-demand scheduling process to double the review outcomes and impact by the end of the contract period of performance.

d) Activate the MTEP Portal’s availability for point of contact (POC) submission of materials by type of review.

e) Facilitate orientation training for new POCs leveraging self-guided tools and resources.

f) Conduct weekly validation, QA / QC of materials for linkage to course records, LMS access, service-specific systems, etc.

g) Reviews will be scheduled as virtual unless coordinated and approved by the PM/COR.

h) The Working Group shall monitor their Service-specific cancellations to increase accountability and transparency to respective training command and policy stakeholders.

i) Conduct evaluations in the following order of priority:

First: Courses for enlisted personnel and enlisted occupations

Second: Courses for limited duty, NEC, and warrant officer personnel and limited duty, NEC, and warrant officer occupations

Third: Courses for officer personnel

4.2.2 Review Readiness - Courses

Establish, document, communicate, and execute a review readiness process to prepare for the review, evaluation, assessment, and award of college credit recommendations for military courses.

a) Courses evaluated must meet the following criteria and requirements:

• Contain at least 40 hours of engagement in academic activity.

• Not contain “proprietary” material or the intellectual property of a Non-Federal Entity for purposes of academic review.

• Not include accredited curriculum of a nationally or regionally accredited institution (e.g., Community College of the Air Force) as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

• Be developed and taught under the authority of a Military Service Training Command established to train military service personnel as established by appropriate authority of the applicable Military Department.

• Have undergone major changes in their curriculum, have not previously been evaluated, have moved to a new training location, or have reached their 5-year limit.

• The 5-year limit does not apply to courses in rapidly changing career fields such as highly technical and medical courses. The Working Group shall establish end-date policies by occupational fields and/or based upon the needs of the Services.

• Have an end-date-of-course and proctored assessment component if delivered by non-traditional instructional methodology (e.g., distance learning, CBT).

• Provide documented evidence of firm identification of the student and rigid control of test conditions.

• Combine all blended learning components when course content objectives break into smaller units of learning to contain at least 40 hours of instruction, whether covered in a single setting or completed over a specified period using web-based or distance-learning modules. This includes emerging military training initiatives that deploy phased, ready relevant, or other just-in-time types of learning.

• Be evaluated from Service-learning sites and military training centers geographically located within the continental United States for on-site (other than virtual) reviews.

b) Conduct a series of trainings and/or convene meetings with the course owners and review POCs (instructional designers, instructors, training facility / schoolhouse personnel) to discuss and identify the scope and intent of the review as well as compliance to the established criteria.

c) Design and implement a rubric to determine the scope of readiness based on alignment with the evaluation criteria, correlation and accuracy with the respective service-data system, hours of instruction, the number of disciplines/content areas, and the number of associated labs and /or practical exercises.

d) Document within the MTEP Portal the readiness to schedule (go / no-go) for each individual course submission. This must include contact details for the primary and secondary course POC.

e) The output of each evaluation shall align to evaluation rubrics and include college credit recommendations in measures of semester hour units that (a) clearly demonstrate quality, transparency, and portability with academic course equivalents.

4.2.3 Review Readiness - Occupations

Occupation reviews are classified into two categories. First, single occupations that are not grouped within a community. Second, community reviews that cluster individual occupations (on average, 15 occupations for community) that can be validated at scale. It is the intent of this contract to expand community reviews and reduce single occupation evaluations.

a) All occupations require the review of occupation standards, promotion and advancement materials, advancement examinations. The review of occupations is documented at each successive level.

b) All occupation reviews will be scheduled virtually with synchronous and asynchronous expectations. Any onsite travel must be approved by the PM/COR.

c) Establish, document, communicate, and execute a review readiness process to prepare for the review, evaluation, assessment, and award of college credit recommendations for single occupations and community reviews.

d) Single Occupation Reviews: The contractor will discuss the readiness criteria with the POC and determine a go/no-go for the single occupation. This will include how to identify service members to address performance expectations by pay grade or skill level, what technical training should be provided and how occupational manuals are constructed, audited, and revised. It’s expected the POC will prepare service members for a guided interview / discussion with the faculty SME. For warrant officer occupations, credit recommendations apply to the community, so adequate service member representation from community managers and junior and senior warrant officers is required.

e) Community Reviews: The readiness criteria include a common line and block pathway with similar occupational responsibilities. The contractor will discuss the process and determine a go / no-go for the community. These reviews are conducted over a two-week period and the accessibility of the training managers and designers must be coordinated. Review readiness documents include, but are not limited to, critical task lists, line and block charts, occupation descriptions, etc. The Contractor creates and provides a survey tool to the POC 90 days prior to a scheduled review. The survey tool is distributed to all occupation community members and the results assist the faculty SME in formulating questions for the training managers / task analysis.

f) The output of each evaluation shall align to evaluation rubrics and include college credit recommendations in measures of semester hour units that (a) clearly demonstrate quality, transparency, and portability with academic course equivalents.

4.2.4 Subject Matter Expert Reviewers

a) Secure the services of academic SMEs qualified to cover each academic discipline and occupational cluster to support the evaluation methodology and quality control process. Evaluators shall be highly qualified professional educators, having at least five years of postsecondary teaching and curriculum development experience specific to the content area of the training course and occupational learning outcomes they will review. Qualifying experience (at least five years) shall come from work at an accredited college or university. In addition, distance learning courses shall be evaluated by SMEs who also have a background in distance learning curriculum development and delivery. The Contractor shall review its personnel qualifications and ensure the proposed evaluators are qualified. The Government may request a copy of SME resumes at any time throughout performance to verify the qualifications.

b) For each academic discipline required for a review, teams of at least two to three SMEs in the field to be evaluated. For virtual reviews, the Contractor shall provide the COR with the names of evaluation team members ten business days before the review starts.

c) For on-site reviews, the Contractor shall provide the COR with the names of the evaluation team members fifteen business days before the review. This may require adjustments provided local or installation access rules. This timing is critical for the /PM/COR to furnish letters to identify official teams, manage security concerns, and facilitate installation access. The host Service’s designated Government official is also required to satisfy security protocols on all Contractor personnel who require military installation and training resource access in advance of scheduled reviews and readiness assistance visits.

d) Provide SME support during pre-evaluation planning, out-briefs within ten (10) days of the conclusion of reviews, curriculum summits, stakeholder engagement events, developing methodology transparency documentation, conducting virtual reviews, conducting on-site inspections, overseeing quality control with the evaluation process and its outputs, etc.

4.3 Review Execution and Outcomes

Provide strategic vision and document performance indicators to ensure psychometrically sound validation of learning.

4.3.1 Course Reviews

All course reviews, whether by means of virtual, onsite, or hybrid of both methodologies, shall:

a) Include an extensive audit of instructor materials, student materials and assessments.

b) Document the outcomes in terms of semester hour credit recommendations.

c) Include a preliminary output feedback (exit briefing) to the visited Learning Center/Site, training school, or training activity prior to concluding the review.

4.3.2 Occupational Reviews

All occupational reviews, whether virtual, onsite or hybrid of both methodologies shall:

a) Require the review of occupation standards, promotion and advancement requirements, and advancement examinations (service-specific).

b) Include the review of occupations at each successive level for enlisted personnel. At a minimum each Service shall have occupations that are reviewed at levels E-6 through E-9 for college credit and proficiency level award.

c) Include a preliminary output feedback (exit briefing) to the visited Learning Center/Site, training school, or training activity prior to concluding the review.

d) Single Occupation reviews require service member interviews and/or focus groups to validate occupational information at each successive level.

e) Community Reviews require the addition of representation and access to occupation field sponsors, task analysts or other authorities.

4.3.3 Evaluation Types and Number of Reviews

The government will create consistencies by purchasing reviews for each product type or unit. This includes courses, single occupations, and community reviews. The Contractor will establish a flat rate for each type of review. The Purchase Order process for reviews by type proactively pivots the scheduling process to on-demand and increases with each of the option years as efficiencies expand.

Review Type Base Year Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4

MTEP Courses 300 350 400 450 500

MTEP Occupations 8 7 6 5 4

MTEP Community Reviews 5 6 7 8 9

USCG Courses 20 25 30 40 45

USCG Occupations 5 5 5 5 5

USCG Community Reviews 1 1 1 1 1

Any onsite travel will be approved by the PM/COR in advance of scheduling a review. The cost of travel will be estimated at a per traveler flat rate and reimbursed in accordance with Section 6.0 Travel.

4.3.4 Evaluation Outputs

Courses and occupations reviewed under this contract shall be evaluated for credit recommendation primarily using a virtual methodology. Any on-site evaluations must be approved by the COR/PM.

a) Regardless of the review methodology, the output of each evaluation shall:

• Identify learning gained by service members because of military training courses applicable to postsecondary academic credit award (from vocational to graduate level college semester hour credits).

• Not compromise evaluation integrity nor diminish academic recommendation credibility.

• Include support by a secure virtual environment available for upload, transmission, and storage for course planning materials that is accessible to relevant Government, Contractor, and SME review personnel.

• Be based on a documented assessment process supported by psychometrically validated rubrics.

• Be ordered in advance by the Government and categorized according to the estimated level of support based on historical data.

• Research and document potential opportunities to include industry competencies aligned with the credit recommendation subject areas and learning outcomes.

b) No later than 30 business days of an evaluation completion, the Contractor shall post a final report on the review outcomes with a Credit Recommendation Report (CRR). The CRR details the Contractor determinations and provides official Military Guide information. The report shall include a list of all POIs/CPDs and Service occupations evaluated, composition of the evaluation team and the Post Evaluation Summary Report. The CRR will be provided to the PM/COR and as applicable:

Army—Army Credentialing and Continuing Education Services for Soldiers (ACCESS) Marine Corps—Training and Education Command (TECOM) Navy— Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), N521 Air Force/Space Force —HQAF, Voluntary Education Branch, AF/A1DLV Coast Guard—Education and Training Quota Management Command (ETQC)

c) The Post Evaluation Summary addresses qualitative and quantitative feedback from these key questions:

• What college level learning was gained from the course(s) and occupational reviews conducted that demonstrate and document academic learning objectives service members achieve because of these learning experiences?

• What are the college credit equivalents to the academic competencies gained from the course(s) and occupational reviews conducted?

• What is the rationale for the resulting credit award recommendations? What artifacts are available to support this rationale?

• What gaps, if any, exist in course planning documents, instructional support materials, or assessments of learning that impact credit recommendations/awards?

If found, what recommendations to Service training sites could increase the credit awards? This includes: the identification of gaps in content, criterion, construct validity and reliability of assessments, areas for academic bolstering in instruction materials, course curriculum, etc.

4.4 Advocacy

The focus is to elevate the use of military CPL and to showcase data outcomes and profiles to build trust and generate value connections. The Contractor will also activate feedback channels for process improvements form colleges and universities, military schoolhouses, and service members.

4.4.1 External Customer Support and Resource Services

a) Establish and maintain customer response capability to address and respond to customer inquiries within one business day. Track and report the number and types of inquiries and from which stakeholder group they originate. Anticipated stakeholder groups for customer inquiries include service members, veterans, registrars and advisors from academic institutions, military education counselors/advisors, Service-level training personnel, etc.

b) Screen requests for information and only answer requests pertaining to MTEP and other topics as required by this PWS. The contractor shall recommend courses of action related to evaluating and interpreting military educational experiences and refer inquires not related to military evaluations or tasks required by this PWS to DANTES for response or referral.

c) PWS task-related inquiries shall be addressed within two business days. Recommend courses of action for avoiding future issues. Refer inquiries unrelated to contract requirements to the COR/program manager or other appropriate POC (e.g., MT program manager, training center personnel).

d) Monitor Contractor personnel responses to customer inquiries to ensure acceptable customer service standards are met.

e) Resource service contact information shall be posted on a publicly facing website and on all program related promotional material.

f) Develop a digital post of monthly update outlining activities, interactions, inquiries, complaints, resolutions, etc. This report shall include recommendations for program, process, or information communication improvements to address trends. The report will be submitted/updated to the PM/COR no later than the 10th of each calendar month. Hard copy reports are acceptable during the base year period at which point contractor should phase into a digital process accordingly.

4.4.2 Internal Stakeholder Support and Resource Services

a) Create asynchronous training resources and tools to support the Working Group and schoolhouse / training center POCs.

b) Conduct virtual Curriculum Summits, on a bi-annual basis, or more often if requested or approved by the PM/COR, with military Service schools, instructional designers, and training commands to discuss trends and practices that have impacted course and occupational evaluation outputs (e.g., academic credit award, assessment of learning, etc.). Identify and discuss observed challenges and facilitate feedback to solicit improvements to the evaluation process. Provide a written summary of the key takeaways and opportunities to Government stakeholders within 14 days of the conclusion of the event.

4.4.3 Organizational Change Management and Performance Outcomes Provide transparency on the evaluation process, provide familiarity with evaluation outputs, and solicit stakeholder feedback on issues/needs/concerns regarding the evaluation process and its outputs.

a) Engage academic faculty and related experts through workshops, working groups, webinars, forums, symposia, etc. These engagements shall focus on facilitating acceptance of evaluation outputs and measuring their change and outcomes because of the event.

b) Leverage feedback received from stakeholders to support continuous improvements of the evaluation process and its outputs. This includes, but is not limited to, periodic surveys.

c) Provide an educational webinar once a quarter via the DANTES platform.

d) Submit content for the DANTES annual DIB by 1 January each calendar year.

e) Update system tools (i.e. PowerBI) to provide metrics and outcomes tracking from engagement events.

f) Submit semiannual content for the DANTES Information Bulletin by 1 April and 1 December of each calendar year. Content should be focused on education counselor support and military learner success.

g) Provide technical assistance for data exchange and use of tools.

4.5 Transition of Contract Services

The Contractor shall take all necessary transition actions to assume total responsibility for the entire DANTES Military Training Evaluation Program 120-days after the effective date of the contract. The Contractor shall coordinate with the existing support service provider to facilitate the turnover of system support at the conclusion of the transition period. The Government shall provide technical points of contact with the existing service providers. The Contractor will get all necessary information related to evaluation schedules and processes from the technical points of contact of the existing service providers since all evaluation requirements will be known. The Contractor will have this information to facilitate the migration during the 120-day transition period after contract award. Once the new vendor has control over the evaluation data, they are assuming the responsibility of the required maintenance and sustainment. The Government will not reimburse any costs associated with the transition that are not included as part of the proposed transition contract line item. The cost of doing business with the Government should be factored into the cost of the proposal. The Contractor shall not bill separately for any costs associated with transitioning.

4.5.1 The Contractor shall provide a plan for transition in and out services to ensure minimum disruption to vital Government business. This plan shall address how the Contractor will work with the incumbent and/or successor Contractor and Government personnel to ensure that there will be no service degradation during and after the transition in period.

4.5.1.1 The Contractor shall provide a comprehensive and detailed Transition Phase-In Plan, including a milestone chart that adequately addresses the necessary activities to ensure full operational capability at the conclusion of the 120-day transition/phase-in period.

4.5.1.2 Transition- In. The Contractor shall provide a weekly status briefing during the transition period on the Contractor’s efforts towards accomplishing their phase-in plan. The briefings shall address all areas of the plan and provide a status of each specified area, along with an updated milestone chart outlining efforts for meeting full operational capability by the end of the transition period. Additionally, the briefings shall identify any known problem areas and provide expected solutions to mitigate issues. The briefing can be written in an email in the Contractor’s format, while maintaining the flexibility to hold a virtual meeting with the Government should it be warranted. Significant issues may require additional progress reports, briefings, and meetings to ensure full operational capability by the end of the phase-in period. A Transition-In report shall be provided not later than 10 days after the start of the transition period.

4.5.1.3 Transition-Out. Provide an initial transition-out plan after the post award conference, but not later than 120 days prior to the end of the transition period. An updated final transition-out plan shall be provided upon notification of transition of services to a new service provider. The incumbent Contractor shall cooperate and develop to ensure there is no degradation of services and a smooth transition can be achieved with the new contractor. The incumbent is fully responsible for the continued operation of all areas of effort covered by this contract during the phase out period, unless released by the Contracting Officer for such purposes of an incremental transition. The incumbent shall provide sufficient experienced personnel during the phase-out period to ensure that the services called for by this contract are maintained at the required level of proficiency. During this period, the successor Contractor will be allowed full access to all required systems. Successor contract personnel will be permitted access to observe all staging and operational environments. The incumbent shall allow full and complete observation access to the extent that it does not impede on the incumbent’s proprietary processes and does not interfere with the continued operation and production efforts of the current contract personnel. The incumbent shall provide the following Transition-Out deliverables:

• Military Guide Digital catalogs (course and occupation data), course materials, recommended findings and information associated with analyzing and evaluating military course and occupations

• MTEP Portal repository data (pre-post…