Attachment 5 - Justification and Approval NCSES Experimental Bridge Panel Final.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

1. Agency, Contracting Activity and Document

The National Science Foundation, The National Center for Science and Engineering

Statistics (NCSES) and Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support (DACS) proposes a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition for an experimental Bridge Panel.

2. Action Being Approved

The action to be approved is the solicitation and award of a contract limited to

Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to design and conduct experimental data collection for the purpose of advancing developments of the National Training and

Education Workforce Survey (NTEWS).

3. Description of Services

The successful offeror will design, collect, and deliver experimental data, called a

Bridge Panel (BP), to inform future waves of the NTEWS and other NCSES data collections while providing pilot data for the research community. The offeror will prepare for the data collection by obtaining a sample frame with the characteristics necessary for stratification, conducting quality checks of the frame, and drawing a sample of 5000 households. The offeror will also refine, program, and test the web survey. The web-only data collection will include within household respondent selection and administration of incentives.

The field period of data collection will be 8-12 weeks and is expected to begin by

August 2022. The offeror will prepare survey and para- data files for both public and restricted use, with weights, as well as fully transparent methodology reports. The contract proposes one experiment however the offeror will conduct additional research analyses of their own design.

The estimated value of this acquisition is $1 million.

4. Statutory Authority

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

3304 (a)(3)(B), as implemented at FAR Part 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii) Industrial mobilization;

engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services.

This acquisition is to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center.

5. Purpose and Nature of the Acquisition

The purpose of this action is to maintain existing essential capabilities in the fields of methodological and statistical analyses. The NCSES has as its primary function the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on the science and engineering enterprise. This exploratory effort will seek to maintain capability for inquiry into the NTEWS through contracting for development of the Bridge Panel and research stemming from the experimental data. Maintaining these capabilities in

IHEs is essential to the continued realization of NCSES’s statutory goals.

The nature of this acquisition is such that IHEs are the only entities that will be considered as prime contractors to the solicitation. The purpose of this acquisition, to maintain existing research and development capabilities within educational institutions as delineated in FAR 6.302-3, cannot effectively be conducted by entities other than educational institutions. As such, it is necessary to limit competition to the specific field of IHEs in order to ensure that the intended maintenance of essential capabilities is achieved.

This requirement is for design, collection, and delivery of experimental data, and expects that offerors not only address a proposed experiment, but also devise and conduct their own research analyses. Conduct of this research and resulting efforts to further build out research capabilities are considered essential components of the requirement. These focal elements highlight the research and development skills the

NSF is seeking to maintain and are integral to the success of the overall goals of this requirement.

6. Efforts Made to Obtain Competition

The NSF intends to solicit offers from as many responsible IHEs as possible, chiefly through public posting of the solicitation through the government point of entry.

Additionally, NSF intends to directly contact potential offerors from among those

IHEs known to be responsible and capable offerors in order to drive further engagement.

These efforts to secure reasonable, responsible offers from IHEs are expected to provide sufficient competition to maximally comply with the requirements for competition even within the proposed restrictions. The nature of the acquisition, while restricting full and open competition, does not further preclude a competitive environment, and the NSF intends to fully comply with the requirements of FAR

6.301(d).

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Price

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable based upon anticipated adequate price competition among eligible offerors and comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid, per

FAR 15.404-1(b).

8. Market Survey

The NSF possesses extensive knowledge of potential offerors among IHEs, and expects that the resulting solicitation will garner substantial interest among eligible offerors. NCSES has broad historical data on survey activities as such actions directly pertain to the core mission of the Center. As a result, the NSF is relying upon a direct knowledge base to scope the requirement and gather market data.

Market research was conducted based upon preliminary requirement definitions and consists substantially of reviewing capable offerors already known to exist, requesting informal information on existing capabilities, and assessing historical data from NCSES activities related to surveys and data gathering.

9. Additional Information

The intent of this requirement is specifically to develop essential research capabilities.

The nature of the acquisition inhibits award to an entity other than an IHE, and as such the market for this acquisition is necessarily limited to those entities.

10. Other Sources Expressing an Interest

NSF has received informal expressions of interest from IHEs during market research activities. These expressions of interest and NSF knowledge of possible sources indicate a competitive field among potential offerors.

11. Removing Barriers to Competition

The limitations imposed by restricting the pool of offerors to only IHEs are offset as described in § 6. The potential pool of offerors even after limitations is understood to be sufficient to receive several competitive offers by responsible offerors. The NSF intends to solicit as many offers as possible from the expected pool of offerors through public posting and outreach. It is otherwise not possible to remove the primary barrier to full and open competition, as the central element of the requirement entails establishing and/or maintaining essential research capabilities in educational institutions.

12. Certifications/Coordination/Approval

REQUESTING OFFICE CERTIFICATION

Program Officer:

Jennifer Sinibaldi

I hereby certify that the facts presented in this Justification are current, complete, and accurate. This action falls within the statutory mission of NCSES and maintains an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational institution.

Name

Date

PROCURING OFFICE CERTIFICATION

Contracting Officer:

Jonathan Schmeelk

I assure that a detailed analysis will be performed on all proposed prices to assure that they are fair and reasonable. I also certify that this Justification is current, complete, and accurate.

Name

Date

PROCURING OFFICE APPROVAL

Head of the Contracting

Activity: Keith Boyea

I hereby approve this Justification.

Name

Date

02/23/2022

2/23/2022

02/23/2022