Project GO_LTC Questions_FAQ.pdf

H9821023R0007

PROJECT GLOBAL OFFICER-LANGUAGE TRAINING CENTER PROGRAM

Defense Language and National Security Education Office

Submitted Solicitation Question(s) from a due date of 30 November 2022

1. Under RFP Section 4.1.2, pg 13: Will the government provide the merit-review panel members or will the contractor need to recruit panel members? Are merit-review panel members government only?

1a. In consultation with DLNSEO, the contractor will recruit and convene the merit-review panel members which may include outside evaluators from academia, the private or federal sectors, or other individuals knowledgeable in the field.

2. Under RFP Section 4.2.3, 4.2.4, pg 14: What is the approval process for Outreach materials? Are there any approvals required external to DLNSEO?

2a. Outreach materials will require DLNSEO approval prior to printing and dissemination. There are no approvals required external to DLNSEO.

3. Under RFP (i) Volume 1: BUSINESS AND PRICE (FACTOR 3), pg. 29: Will the government provide plug numbers to all offerors to use for items such as travel and other direct costs (ODCs)?

3a. The historical T&M numbers for the grants are included in the PWS paragraph 3.2 an 3.3.

The contractor is expected to propose the amounts needed to meet all other requirements described in the PWS.

4. Under RFP 6.1 “contractor shall report ALL contractor labor hours (including subcontractor labor hours)”, Pg. 18; Will the government please confirm that this reporting does not include the hours incurred by a sub award recipient university in the execution of the sub award grant?

4a. The contractor shall report ALL contractor labor hours (including subcontractor labor hours) required for performance of services provided under this contract. However, the labor hours will not include hours incurred by a sub award grant recipient.

5. Under RFP 4.3.7, Pg. 16; Will the government please confirm that pass-through funding is the same as the sub award funds?

5a. Yes, pass-through funding is the same as the subaward funds for this requirement.

6. The RFP reads:

i. How it will administer Reserve Officers

ii. Training Corps (ROTC) Project Global Officer (GO) and Language Training Center (LTC) programs, including developing and updating plans to award institutional grants as subawards to selected institutions of higher education that oversee the development and implementation of the ROTC Project GO and LTC programs.

Will the government confirm that these are supposed to be combined into a single bullet?

6a. Page 30 Subfactor 3 should read:

i. How it will administer Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Project Global Officer (GO) and

Language Training Center (LTC) programs, including developing and updating plans to award institutional grants as subawards to selected institutions of higher education that oversee the development and implementation of the ROTC Project GO and LTC programs.

7. Section 4.0, Pg 16: Approximately how many students have participated in the program annually?

7a. Please refer to https://dlnseo.org/Publications which provides annual data on the two grant programs.

8. Pg 13. Approximately how many applicants for new grant awards can be expected per calendar year?

8a. The grant programs are competed every three years, however, special competitions are held for special projects under each grant program pending availability of funds. There are currently

27 Project GO institutional grantees and 10 LTC grantees in CY 22.

9. Do universities offer academic year and summer Project GO activities?

9a. Yes, universities offer maintenance and sustainment activities during the academic year and

Project GO programs (domestic and study abroad) are offered in the summer.

10. What percentage of Project GO students participate in study abroad programs compared to domestic on-campus programs?

10a. Approximately 60% of students participate in study abroad and 40% in domestic programs.

11. Are study-abroad programs limited to summer sessions or can they be an academic year program?

11a. Study abroad programs are currently offered in the summer only.

12. It appears that CLINs X002 and X003 should be cost reimbursable not T&M. Would the government consider updating the RFP?

12a. No, these CLINs will remain T&M.

https://dlnseo.org/Publications

13. Can the government please confirm that the Offeror should only be providing a price for CLIN

X001 and that CLINs X002, X003, and X004 will be determined based on the grants issued and funded?

13a. Please refer to the PWS scope paragraph for the historical T&M amounts that are anticipated for the Grant program. This information shall guide the contractors in the volume of grants that are anticipated under CLINs X002 and X003. The Travel CLIN (X004) not to exceed amount will be included at contract award, and is to be proposed by the offeror based on PWS

7.1.

14. According to the RFP total page count for Volume 2 is 45 pages inclusive of table of contents, appendices, and attachments. Will the government exclude the cover page from page count?

14a. Yes the cover page can be excluded from the 45 page count.

15. RFQ Reference: 2.1: The purpose of the technical factor is to assess the offeror’s proposed approach, as detailed in its proposal, to satisfy the Government’s requirements. There are many aspects which may affect an offeror’s ability to meet the solicitation requirements to include technical approach, risk, management approach, personnel qualifications, facilities, small business subcontracting and others. The evaluation of risk is related to the technical assessment.

Clarification: There is reference regarding “risk” and “facilities” in the evaluation criteria, however it is not clear where this is to be addressed in Volume 2: Technical. Will the government please advise if there is a requirement to provide a risk/mitigation strategy and a facilities section in Subfactor 1: Technical Approach and Methodology and what the requirements are for facilities?

15a. The cited section in question 15 is located on p. 71 or 80, within section 2.0 TECHNICAL

EVALUTION (FACTOR 1). As stated within paragraph 2.2 of this section, it is the government’s responsibility to review the submitted proposals and assess risk. It is the contractor’s responsiblityto provide a technical proposal that addresses all the requirements. The government will evaluate each proposal and determine if there is any additional risk that may lead to disruptions of schedule, increased costs, degradation of performance, that would increase the likelihood of unsuccessful contract performance. Also note that the contractor will be working in their own office facilities, which are highly recommended to include large conference rooms for meetings with grantees.

16. Section 3.4 lists a series of actions where the governments intends on providing substantial government oversight of the programs. Can the government please confirm that all of the points in 3.4 should also be included in section 14.0 Performance Requirements Summaries?

16a. Please refer to 4.0 for requirements that needs to be performed under this contract.

17. Will the government provide the historical level of effort for the labor portion of this contract?

17a. No, it is the responsibility of the interested vendor to propose an adequate labor mix to support the requirements listed in the solicitation.

18. Subfactor 3 Grant Administration (i) How it will administer Reserve Officers. Can the Government please clarify this statement? What does "administration" mean in this case?

We think maybe this is misworded or is a typo? Did you mean to write Reserve Officers or ROTC cadets/midshipmen? We understand that the latter would all fall under the "administration" of the sponsoring university institution. So we are just hoping to get clarity on this statement so that we can ensure we are responding accurately to the requirement.

18a. Please refer to 6a for response.

19. Item 4.1.3: What is the contractor’s role in the application process in terms of selections and forwarding of applications to partner universities? Do university and student grantees need access to the platform as well.

19a. As 4.1.3 states in the PWS, the contractor will “host, maintain and upgrade an online student application system for ROTC Project GO”. The contractor will be responsible for conducting a quality control on the applications ensuring all submitted applications are complete before forwarding the applications to the Project GO institutions.

20. Item 4.1.5. Who creates the security briefing that the contractor is meant to review - the Contractor or the universities? Who has responsibility for delivering the briefing to the students – the Contractor or the partner university?

20a. The contractor will develop the security briefing in coordination with DLNSEO. Once the security briefing is approved by DLNSEO, the contractor will disseminate the security briefing to the universities. The university partner will be responsible for delivering the briefing to the students.

21. Item 4.1.5. What are post program resources? Links to language sites for sustainment?

21a. Examples of post program resources are language sustainment/maintenance support for students such as tutoring, language partners or web-based sustainment course to name a few.

Currently, there is no Project GO language site for sustainment, however, institutional partners are responsible for providing language/sustainment support to students.

22. Item 4.1.7. All ROTC Units should be able to administer DLPT, so does this mean following up with parent ROTC to ensure testing periodicity?

22a. No

23. Item 4.2.3. Would the Contractor need to create a new website? Or maintain the existing one?

Does the incumbent or DLNSEO own the URL and content copyright and will it transfer with the contract?

23a. The Contractor will need to create and maintain websites for the Project GO and LTC programs with the functionality required. The sites in their current state are available at https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/ and https://www.dodltc.org/. DLNSEO will consult on the URLs and content after the contract is issued.

24. Item 4.3.3. How does SCS interface with DMDC’s DLPT where all the scores and results are hosted?

24a. These are two separate systems that do not interface with each other.

25. Item 4.3.6. Can you please clarify that crisis intervention protocols - where does the funding come from? Are they covered under TRICARE? If so, they have access to int SOS.

25a. All students receiving an overseas or domestic scholarship from a Project GO institution receive full funding to include insurance that covers health, accident, repatriation, medical and non-medical evacuation insurance (including for reasons of war, civil unrest, and natural disasters) that covers the entirety of the Project GO student’s overseas program, including institution breaks.

26. Item 4.3.6. Can you please clarify the requirement to respond to a global health emergency.

Respond how? Does the university need to have repatriation plans?

26a. See response in 25a.

27. Item 4.8.1: Are the program officers mentioned considered key personnel? If so, how many program officers are KP and what is the required qualification and intended role for each?

27a. Yes, program officers are also key personnel. It will be up to the contractor to identify the number of program officers needed to support this requirement.

Volume 1: Business and Price Proposal Questions

28. Item 7: Can offerors submit a PDF of their completed reps and certs from their SAM.gov profiles to satisfy this proposal requirement?

28a. Yes

29. Item 10: The relationship between the guidance provided in item 10 and the SF1449 price sheet is not clear. Can the Government please provide further guidance on how they wish prices to be constructed and presented?

29a. The CLIN structure in the 1449 shall be inclusive of the monthly break out of costs for all Firm Fixed Price CLINs X001, the T&M CLINs for the LTC Grant X002 and Project GO X003 should https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/ https://www.dodltc.org/ be total estimated amount of grant funding per year. The pricing sheet that is described under item 10 provides more detail into the monthly costs that are included in the CLINs to include labor categories, hours, and rates associated for performance of this requirement.

30. SF 1449 - Item No 0001 – Project GO/LTC/IT Admin Support as FFP – does the Government intend that all administrative and management costs to run both programs be included in this CLIN pricing?

30a. Yes.

31. SF 1449 - Item No 0002 – Project LTC Grant T&M – Does the Government intend that the plug number indicated in Section 3.0 Scope, part 3.3 of $20,000,000 be the sole number included in this CLIN? Is any Labor or ODC cost required in this CLIN? And if so, what type/purpose? Can grants funds be marked up with SMH costs?

31a. It is anticipated that the T&M CLINs for the grant programs will fund all of the grant programs which is why the Government has included the anticipated grant amounts that have been historically been approved by Congress. All of the costs associated with administering and running the Grant programs should be proposed as FFP under CLIN x0001.

32. SF 1449 - Item No 0003 – Project GO Grant T&M - Does the Government intend that the plug number indicated in Section 3.0 Scope, part 3.2 of $15,000,000 be the sole number included in this CLIN? Is any Labor or ODC cost required in this CLIN? And if so, what type/purpose? Can grants funds be marked up with SMH costs?

32a. See the response to question 31a.

33. SF 1449 - Item No 0004 – Travel – T&M – Does the Government intend that ALL anticipated programmatic travel be calculated and presented under CLIN 004? Is any labor or ODC costs required in this CLIN?

33a. Yes, all programmatic travel will be presented under CLIN 004. There are no labor or ODC cost required in this CLIN.

34. Can the government please share historical information regarding the numbers and values of sub award grants provided to universities awarded each cycle, number of student intake/participation volumes at LTCs, number of students funded for Project GO, and other key user volume metrics that would affect staff planning and cost proposal development in order to receive accurate technical and cost proposals?

34a. Please refer to https://dlnseo.org/Publications which provides annual data on the two grant programs. Project GO grants generally range from $300,000 to $600,000, and LTC grants generally range from $350,000 to $2,500,000 with some exceptions. The total historical amounts of grant funding per year is listed in PWS paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3. The most recent

Project GO grant request for proposals is available at https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/request-proposals. The most recent LTC grant request for proposal is available at https://www.dodltc.org/2019-language-training-center-request-proposal.

https://dlnseo.org/Publications https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/request-proposals https://www.rotcprojectgo.org/request-proposals https://www.dodltc.org/2019-language-training-center-request-proposal

Volume 2: Technical Factor

35. Will the Government please provide a two-week extension to the proposal due date to allow offerors to review and incorporate answers to questions into their proposal packages?

35a. Yes, the proposal due date has been extended to January 6, 2023.

36. Does the 45-page limit include the Cover Page and Cover Letter?

36a. Please see response to question 14.

37. What are the formatting requirements for the technical proposal, such as font, font size, margins, font and text size for graphics, etc?

37a. Proposal Page Size and Format: The font shall be Times New Roman and no less than 12 point in size. Use a 1 inch margin all the way around. Pages shall be numbered sequentially by volume. When text is included within displays, it may be no smaller than 8 point, but must be clearly legible without magnification, as determined solely by the Contracting Officer

(CO). The size of the displays shall not exceed the page size as defined above.

38. Subfactor 3 Grant Administration (i) How it will administer Reserve Officers. Can the Government please clarify this statement? What does "administration" mean in this case?

38a. please refer to 6a for response.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-2 Questions – Evaluation Criteria

39. Will all technical subfactors be weighted evenly in evaluation of proposals, or will certain subfactors be weighted or scored more heavily than others?

39a. The technical subfactors will all be weighted evenly.

40. Item 2.4.4 Subfactor 4: Are small business prime offerors required to submit a subcontracting plan? Or does this only apply to large prime offerors?

40a. No, only large prime contractors are required to submit a subcontracting plan.

41. Item 3.3 Past Performance Relevancy Ratings: Will the Government consider removing the grant portfolio dollar values from the rating system? Inclusion of these figures as rating criteria is unusual and severely limits competition.

41a. No, the Government will not be removing these figures from consideration in evaluating the magnitude of the past performance reference.

42. Item 3.3 Past Performance Relevancy Ratings: How will proposed subcontractor past performance be weighted/considered in evaluation of relevancy? Will subcontractor past performance be rated at the same weight as prime contractor past performance?

42a. As stated in the solicitation we will consider past performance performed as a prime, as a subcontractor, or as a prime under a cooperative agreement. The Government will be rating all past performance references equally against the requirements established in the solicitation.

43. PWS 4.2: Is there a “Paid marketing” budget to place advertising in third party media?

43a. This should be included in the administrative fee (CLIN 001).

44. What services in PWS Sections 4 and 5 are aligned with the FFP CLIN? What services in PWS Sections 4 and 5 are aligned with the T&M CLINs? Where should the grant funding be included and what grant funding total amount per year should be included? This information is necessary so that offerors are allocating their pricing the same within the CLIN structure so that DoD can conduct an apples-to-apples price analysis.

44a. Please see the response to question 13.

45. Pg. 13, Sec. 4.1.2: The opening sentence indicates “…Contractor shall publish institutional solicitations to grants.gov after DLNSEO review…” Do access permissions exist on grants.gov that would allow a Contractor to comply with this directive?

45a. This section should read “…Contractor shall publish institutional solicitations after DLNSEO review.” The Contractor shall be responsible for publication and dissemination of grant opportunities to Institutions of Higher Education as suggested in 34a.

46. On page 19, Section 6.3 of the Performance Work Statement indicates that “The goal for small business contracting at DHRA is 30% of total contract value.” On page 20, Subfactor 4, and on page 72, Evaluation Factor 2.4.4, identifies a DoD small business subcontracting goal of 32.2% (emphasis added).

Please confirm whether these percentage goals do or do not apply to grants to HEIs.

Given that a significant component of the total contract value will be comprised of grants to educational institutions, not for available subcontract opportunities, which goal applies to the contractor’s small business plan in response to this RFP?

46a. The contract value goals for small business apply to the FFP CLINS. The contract value for small business does not apply to the subaward grants for Institutions of Higher Education.

47. There is an ambiguity within the solicitation. On page 19, Section 6.3 of the Performance Work Statement states that the Contractor shall submit a copy of its plan to meet the subcontracting goals for this contract within 30 days after award. However, on page 30, Subfactor 4 provides that the Small Business Subcontracting plan is a factor for consideration as part of the proposal review process and this is addressed again as an evaluation factor in 2.4.4. Given the nature of this opportunity, the small business plan will be driven by the final award configuration. Is it correct that the Contractor must submit their Small Business Plan to satisfy the required component of the proposal submission or is this due 30 days after award as indicated in Section 6.3?

47a. Please see the revised language in the PWS. The Government is requesting an initial subcontracting plan with proposal submission and a final subcontracting plan 30 days after contract award.

48. This requires the contractor to "also support additional domestic program site visits…." Since this follows paragraph 4.3.2, it implies that the "additional" visits are added to the 10 site visits described in 4.3.2. There is also language that states the contractor will support "visits to each overseas site at least twice during the grant cycle." The paragraph concludes by summarizing the requirement as 10 domestic and two OCONUS trips per year. Is this summary correct for all of paragraphs 4.3.2 and 4.3.2.1? Or are there more than 10 domestic trips required per year?

48a. We expect to have 10 domestic site visits and 2 overseas visits per year. See PWS section 7.1.

49. PWS 4.3.2.1This states, "The Contractor shall cover travel expenses for its staff and consultants."

Paragraph 7.2 states, "Contractor costs for Government authorized travel are included in this contract." Does the Government consider Contractor travel costs supporting the Annual Meeting to be funded under the Travel CLIN? This would allow for adjustments based on specific plans for the meeting each year.

49a. Yes.

50. PWS 4.3.4 This states, "The program manager will be supported by program officers…." Does the Government require a specific number and type of "program officers?" If so, what are their job titles and what are their responsibilities?

50a. Please see response on 27a.

51. PWS 4.8.1 This states, "The program manager will be supported by program officers…." Does the Government require a specific number and type of "program officers?" If so, what are their job titles and what are their responsibilities?

51a. Please see response on 27a.

52. The PPRQ and PPQ forms are both given in PDF format. Would the Government allow for offerors to re-create these forms in Microsoft Word format for easier document manipulation?

52a. Yes, these forms can be exported to word so that they can be completed by the contractor.

53. PWS 4.1.8: LTC participants' information to include language proficiency scores will be tracked and recorded separately." Does this mean the Contractor is NOT required to track LTC participants' info/scores?

53a. Contractor will be required to track LTC participants’ info/scores.

54. What services in PWS Sections 4 and 5 are aligned with the FFP CLIN? Are the T&M CLINs only specific to the funding to be awarded on the sub-awards or what requirements in PWS Sections 4 and 5 should also be included in the T&M CLINs?

54a. As stated in previous question 13 the T&M clins for the Grant programs are intended to make subawards as identified in the PWS. The FFP CLIN should contain all of the requirements established in the PWS that are required to administer the grant programs and support all of the other specifications identified in the Government’s requirement.

55. The Travel CLINs are listed as "T&M." Typically, contractors perform travel on a cost-reimbursable basis. Using this approach, the contractor submits travel plans to the COR for approval and performs authorized travel using Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) guidelines. The instructions for Contractor Travel in PWS 7.0 describe a cost reimbursable approach. Should the Travel CLINs be listed as "Cost" or Cost reimbursable" instead of T&M?

55a. We have been instructed to make all Travel CLINs T&M. All travel must be coordinated and approved through the COR to receive payment.

56. The instructions require "a completed Schedule that includes a Unit Price and Total Amount for each CLIN (except for all NTE Travel CLINs)." The CLINs associated with the Project LTC Grant and Project GO Grant are both listed as "Unitless." Does this mean the Offeror only needs to provide a Total Amount for these two CLINs?

56a. That is correct the total amount should be included under these CLINs.

57. Volume I price proposal states: The guidance states, "A breakdown of Other Direct Costs (ODCs) shall also be provided." Will an itemized listing of ODCs aligned with each CLIN be sufficient?

57a. Yes.

PROJECT GLOBAL OFFICER-LANGUAGE TRAINING CENTER PROGRAM

Defense Language and National Security Education Office

Submitted Solicitation Question(s) from a due date of 30 November 2022

58. Within Section 4.1.7, it mentions developing and implementing assessments. Will DLNSEO provide the content, or is the contractor expected to create it? To what extent would the contractor be altering the content, if at all?

58a. The Vendor is responsible for fulfilling the requirement described in 4.1.7. DLNSEO sets the policy on which assessments to use and Project GO will continue to use the OPI and the Flagship

Reading and Listening tests for speaking, listening and reading. The contractor will not be responsible for test development for the OPI or Flagship Reading and Listening Tests

59. Within Section 4.2., it is unclear on whether the contractor will have to create the content for the brochures as well as printing and distributing them. Can you clarify this for us?

59a. The Vendor is responsible for creating the content for the brochures in consultation and approval of DLNSEO prior to printing and distribution. Copies from previous years can be shared to the contractor when an award is made.

60. Who will the project manager be for this specific PWS? Is a COR already designated?

60a. DLNSEO has a program manager for this requirement who also will be the COR.

61. Does the incumbent (institute of international education) intend to rebid and if so, is this going to be openly competed?

61a. This solicitation is competed as full-and-open.

62. How much has been federally allocated (via appropriations or Agency justification) for Project

GO?

62a. The amount of funding that Congress allocates to Project GO varies from year to year.

Section 3.2 of the PWS states that the Vendor will be expected to manage 35 Project GO grants per year at an expected value not to exceed $15M.

63. Will the Government/DLNSEO determine the amount of funds that should be used in a GUC pool under the resulting award and will that amount be included/defined in the solicitation (i.e. as a reimbursable CLIN)? Or will offerors be responsible for presenting in their proposals the amount of funds that should be in the GUC pool that would eventually be sub-awarded to universities for their programs in order to effectively achieve program objectives?

63a. The annual amounts for sub-awards are listed in sections 3.2 and 3.3 of the PWS. Also see answer from question 62.

64. Within Volume 1, Price Proposal, p. 29 The guidance states, "A breakdown of Other Direct Costs

(ODCs) shall also be provided." The requirement for ODCs includes office supplies, marketing materials, software application subscriptions, reproduction costs, and other expenses that can depend on existing Government provided resources and on-hand supplies. Only the incumbent has the current knowledge to produce an accurate ODC list. To increase the accuracy of each

Offeror's estimate, please provide a list of Government provided resources and existing materials on hand and those that have historically been supplied by the contractor.

64a. All government provided products for this requirement are listed in section 8.9 of the PWS.

All other products required to execute this contract are to be provided by the Vendor.

65. Within 4.2.5, requires Contractors to conduct quarterly webinars for grantees on technical assistance topics. Is the Contractor required to develop the webinar content? Or is the contractor only responsible to deliver government provided webinar content?

65a. The Vendor is responsible for creating and delivering the content for the webinars in consultation and coordination with DLNSEO.

66. 4.3.1 Annual Meetings This paragraph refers to "Project GO and LTC annual meetings…." Is there one meeting for each program or is this a single combined annual meeting?

66a. The requirement for the annual meetings is listed in section 4.3.4 of the PWS. The Vendor is responsible to manage and execute an annual meeting for Project GO and a separate annual meeting for the LTC program.

67. Within section M, Past Performance Relevancy Definitions, the definitions are focused on the total value of grants managed. These definitions do not value an Offeror's demonstrated expertise in foreign language education, which is central to the mission of Project GO and LTC programs. Project GO and LTCs are not meeting mission if the grants managed do not improve language and LREC proficiency in the training audience. Will the Government add a magnitude factor that rewards an Offeror who has delivered effective language training/assessment to military personnel? Under this approach, the most relevant performance will include grants management AND expertise in foreign language training.

67a. Thank you submitting your question, the Government is going to keep Past Performance as-is.

68. Within 4.1.6 Overseas Travel, 4.1.6 states "The Contractor shall coordinate with all overseas program providers." Who are the overseas program providers? Are they university staff?

68a. The prime points of contact overseas are the grant program directors and coordinators of the institutions of higher education who report through the Vendor to DLNSEO regarding safety and security concerns.

69. In 4.1.6 Overseas Travel, The Contractor must "monitor all ROTC Project GO students while they are overseas…." How many students travel overseas as part of Project GO each year?

69a. The number of Project GO students who go abroad varies each year. Approximately 60% of students participate in study abroad and 40% in domestic programs. Historical data is available in the NSEP Annual Reports to Congress: https://dlnseo.org/Publications.

70. Within 2.3 & 4.1.1, since it is assumed that multi-year grants (e.g., 3 years per Section 2. 3) will be awarded with incremental funding each year, how many grants are estimated to be awarded each year for each program? For renewals referenced in Section 4.1.1., would a competitive solicitation/application process be required or would renewals be awarded on a non-competitive basis?

70a. The Project GO and LTC grants are separately re-competed every three years. The number of grants are listed in sections 3.3 and 3.4 of the PWS. Grants are renewed non-competitively at the start of year 2 and year 3 based on the availability of funds and program performance.

71. Within 3.2 & 3.3, this section states that it "is anticipated that Project GO will issue 35 grants per year with an estimated value not to exceed $15 million per contract year. Is this $15 million/grant or a total of $15 million for all grants? Similar for the LTC grants, is this $20 million/grant or a total of $20 million for all 15 grants?

71a. The amount in section 3.2 ($15M) reflects the anticipated maximum amount for all Project

GO grants per year. The amount in section 3.3 ($20M) reflects the anticipated maximum amount for all LTC grants per year.

72. 3.2, 3.3 & 4.1.2, Section 4.1.2 states that the open competitions for the ROTC Project GO and

LTC Program are for multi-year grant periods up to 3 years but Sections 3.2 and 3.3 state that 35 grants and 20 grants will be awarded annually for Project Go and the LTC program respectively.

Does this mean that there could be up to 105 Project Go and 45 LTC grants (3 x 35 & 3 x 15) that would need to be concurrently administered?

72a. The total number of Project GO or LTC grants are not to exceed the numbers listed in sections 3.2 and 3.3. The total number of grants for both programs will not exceed 50 (35

Project GO and 15 LTC).

https://dlnseo.org/Publications

73. 4.1.1 This section says "to award institutional grants as subawards to selected institutions of higher education...". Then mentions "finalize subawards", but then "grants are officially awarded within 60 days.....of the approval for the grant." Please clarify the difference in use here of subawards and grants. Should the two instances quoted here of "grants" actually be

"subawards"?

73a. The Vendor is to issue grants as subawards of the contract. Please note that grants are required to follow 2 CFR 200.

74. Within section 4.1.2, "The contractor shall publish institutional grant solicitations to grants.gov...". Again, are these grant solicitations or subaward solicitations?

74a. These are grant solicitations. This should read “…Contractor shall publish institutional solicitations after DLNSEO review.” Contractor is responsible for publication and dissemination of grant opportunities to Institutions of Higher Education. Also, see 45a.

75. 4.1.2 Regarding grants.gov, will we require a .mil address to post the solicitations to grants.gov?

75a. The Vendor will not need a “.mil” email addresses to fulfill any requirement within this contract. This should read “…Contractor shall publish institutional solicitations after DLNSEO review.” Contractor is responsible for publication and dissemination of grant opportunities to

Institutions of Higher Education. See 74a.

76. Within section 4.1.2, the first sentence mentions "institutional grant awards". Again, are these the subawards referenced in 4.1.1?

76a. Within this PWS, “grants” are subawards to institutions of higher education. Please see response 73a.

77. Within section 4.1.2, "After the DLNSEO's Director approves subawards..." Are these subawards different than the institutional grants or the same thing? If they are different, please clarify the difference.

77a. They are the same.

78. 4.1.2 "The Contractor shall also support the process renewal documents for ongoing multi-year grant awards approved under the prior cooperative agreement...". This is the first instance of a cooperative agreement. Is this referring to the current award with the Institute of International

Education?

78a. Yes. The list of these grants is listed as GFI in section 8.9 of the PWS.

79. 4.1.2 This section states that the Contractor shall facilitate the binding agreement with the confines of 2 CFR 20.216 which refers to a prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment. Did the Government intend to refer to this specific section or more broadly to 2 CFR 200?

79a. This reference to 2 CFR 200.216 is intentional.

80. 4.2.3 Are the websites listed in this bullet paid for by DLNSEO and thus able to be transitioned to the new contract or will the new contractor have to obtain new domains?

80a. See response 23a.

81. 4.3.2 What are the contractor's responsibilities related to identifying and engaging with independent peer reviewers?

81a. The Vendor is responsible for identifying and covering travel expenses for independent reviewers.

82. 4.3.2 Are peer reviewers travel and travel costs the responsibility of this contractor?

82a. Yes.

83. 4.3.2 Does coordinating only mean that the contractor provides logistical support or does the contractor provide monitoring and evaluation expertise as part of the site visits?

83a. Both.

84. 4.3.4 Where are these annual meetings typically held?

84a. The Project GO annual meetings are hosted by one of the grantees. The LTC annual meeting is usually hosted by the Vendor or by a grantee and will be determined based on availability and DLNSEO’s discretion.

85. 4.3.4 - Is the contractor responsible for all aspects of the costs, such as venue and catering? If yes, are those reimbursable under the travel CLIN?

85a. Most of the costs for the Project GO annual meeting are covered through a grant to the host higher educational institution. Note that travel CLINs can only be used for direct travel costs defined within the Joint Travel Regulation.

86. 4.3.5 Are orientation seminars conducted virtually or in-person? If the latter, how many people are allowed to attend and where are such seminars held?

86a. Orientation seminars are conducted virtually or in-person in consultation with DLNSEO.

Orientation sessions are for new grantees and these sessions are attended at a minimum by the program director/principal investigator and coordinator.

87. 4.4.1 Will the quarterly meetings be with the contractor and DLNSEO?

87a. Yes.

88. ii. Volume 2: Technical - Is the cover page (different than a cover letter required in the Business and Price volume) excluded from the page count.

88a. See previous written answer

89. ii Volume 2: Technical Subfactor 3 / Please confirm that the location if the "ii" bullet between

"Officers" and "Training" is in error.

89a. See response 6a.

90. ii Volume 2: Technical Subfactor 4 / If the offeror is a small business, please confirm that it does not need to include a small business subcontracting plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 (a), which states: "This clause does not apply to small business concerns." If confirmed, shall small business offerors include a statement in this section that they certify as a small business per this NAICS code in SAM.gov?

90a. A small business does not have to submit a subcontracting plan.

91. Volume 3: Past Performance - Please confirm that Offerors can include a cover page for the volume that is not part of the page count.

91a. See previous written answers

92. Enclosure 2&3 PPQs - If a CPARS report has been completed on a project, can a CPARS report be provided in lieu of a PPQ? Under this approach, we would provide the CPARS as part of the past performance volume, not included in the page count.

92a. The Government prefers a completed PPQ for uniformity.

93. Past Performance Evaluation Factor Relevancy Ratings Table / Is the $20 million per year the total value of a single grant that would be part of the past performance or a collection of the total value of all grants awarded under the past performance on an annual basis?

93a. The rating relates to $20M per year for all grants within a single past performance reference.

94. 3.2 Given the 2005 ROTC Project GO goal "to award three year grants at 50 select ROTC schools" and issue 35 grants per year, what would be considered successful annual marketing KPIs? # of schools reached, # of schools applied, # of ROTC applicants and enrollees?

94a.There is no Project GO marketing goals listed within this requirement. Also, because available funding changes from year to year, the number of scholarship recipients also varies.

95. 3.3 Given the LTC goal of issuing 15 LTC grants per year, what would be considered successful annual marketing KPIs? # of schools/institutions reached? # of applicants and enrollees?

95a. There is no LTC marketing goals listed within this requirement. Also, because available funding changes from year to year, so can the number of grantees and individuals trained.

96. 4.2.4 To gauge cost, how many print brochures were printed annually in years past and how many were mailed for both ROTC Project GO and LTC?

96a. For Project GO, plan to print approximately 3000 brochures and about 1000 for LTC.

97. 4.2.4 To gauge cost, how many alumni videos were created annually in years past for ROTC

Project GO and LTC? What is the source of the footage used to create these videos? Contractor?

Government? Grant awardee? If multiple sources, about what percentage came from the

Contractor?

97a. There are currently half a dozen alumni videos available for national outreach. However, institutional grantees also create videos which can be shared across all programs.

98. 4.2.4 To gauge cost, what type of annual multimedia materials for promotional outreach and recruitment were created in years past for ROTC Project GO and LTC?

98a. See response 97a.

99. 4.2.3 To gauge cost, what type of annual maintenance has been performed in years past on the

ROTC Project GO and LTC websites?

99a. The Project GO and LTC websites will need to be updated up to three times per year each.

Updates may include information about the Project GO courses offered and student application information, and as needed to revise the Language Training Center course listings.