Instructions to Offerors.docx

July 27, 2010

Subject: Request for Quotation (RFP) – Spanish Translation Support Services

Dear Potential Offeror:

1. Purpose

The U.S. Department of Education has a need to acquire the commercial translation, quality control and proofreading services of written, electronic, and multimedia materials. These services have successfully been delivered under an existing contract expiring on September 30, 2010 by an incumbent provider that has since become a large business. Federal Student Aid (FSA) shall use the structured process described below, in paragraph 2.b to evaluate proposals and determine which vendors offers FSA the ‘best value’. Unsuccessful offerors will be notified of this determination and, if requested, provided a debriefing. Thereafter, FSA intends to award multiple Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts, to the successful offerors, to issue orders to acquire the Attachment A services.

2. Instructions to Offerors

a. Submit, via e-mail, a proposal prepared in accordance with the guidance contained in the instructions contained within this section.

b. Proposals are due Tuesday August 10, 2010, 10:00 AM EST and shall include the following parts or( factors):

(1) Credentials – Photocopies of certification or degree demonstrating one of the following requirements: (a) Accreditation from the American Translation Association; (b) a Master of Arts degree in Spanish or English with 3 or more years of Spanish translation experience; (c) a Bachelors Degree in Spanish or English with 5 or more years of Spanish translation experience or (d) 7 years of translation experience.

(2) Past Performance – Using Attachment B, Client Reference Form, provide up to 3 references to demonstrate experience delivering the requirements described in the statement of work to include scope, size, and complexity.

(3) Technical Proposal – Management approach and quality control. Using a narrative summary each offeror shall discuss the following:

· Describe the management approach it will use, including project management processes, management of multiple simultaneous projects and staffing plan to deliver the Attachment A services.

· Describe the quality assurance standards and processes it will use to deliver the Attachment A services.

· Assessment All Offerors who responded by the cutoff time and date will be required to (1) translate a 250 word document from English to Spanish and (2) provide quality control on a translated document. All offerors shall be allowed 2 hours to complete each assessment. The assessment shall be emailed to the Key Personnel(s) indentified by the offeror as part of their technical proposal. The Government anticipates the assessment will be held on or about August 11, 2010.

Exclusive of the credential and any resumes, the technical documentation shall be limited to 10 pages. Each named resource resume can be up to 2 pages in length.

(4) Pricing information – Each offeror shall complete section B.3 of the solicitation, pricing table, which shall be performed at the contractors’ facility. The Government has provided the anticipated quantities it expects to order within each CLIN. NOTE: The CLINS are equivalent to years of performance. For example, CLIN 1 is the first year of performance. If the offeror anticipates incurring travel costs in the performing these services, provide an estimate of these costs and rational. Local travel costs are not reimbursable.

c. By the date and time shown in paragraph b, each competitor shall submit via email, to Jonathan.Santangelo@ed.gov with a cc to Victor.Cairo@ed.gov the four mandatory sections of their proposal. Each submission shall be prepared using Microsoft Office Professional suite software applications and font 12 point (tables and graphic can have 10 point font).

d. All questions about this RFQ shall be submitted, via email, prior to 10:00am EST on July 30, 2010. The assigned Contracting Officer is Victor.Cairo@ed.gov , at 202-377-3814. The assigned Contract Specialist is Jonathan.Santangelo@ed.gov, at 202-377-3698.

3. Evaluation Process

Proposals will be evaluated using a structured approach wherein Factor 1 is more important than Factors 2, 3 or 4 and Factors 2 and 3 when combined are equal to Factor 4 in terms of importance. However, as Factors 2 and 3 differences decrease, Factor 4 shall become more important. Factor 4 shall be assessed for realism and reasonableness.

Sincerely, Victor Cairo Contracting Officer