Amendment__1_-_EMDP2.docx

The purpose of amendment #1 is to answer questions received, update the statement of work and evaluation factors as necessary and to extend the due date for proposals.

The due date for proposals is extended to 1:00 PM eastern local time on Monday, April 28th. The remaining proposal submission instructions remain the same.

1. Primary Liaison: Can we provide two contacts for the primary liaison – one for contracting/budgeting (Contracting issues) and one for technical program management? Typically, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at our University deals with budgeting and contracting issues; and programmatic issues are managed by the principal investigator. (Statement of Work; page 2) Two contacts would be fine; however the submitted resume must clearly identify which position the individual currently holds. Please have offerors clarify that the principal investigator is the program manager (i.e. the academic liaison).

2. The guidance states that we must provide the resume of the institute representative who will act as the primary liaison for USU Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist and COR. This person is supposed to provide support for the technical and administrative requirements of the contract. However at our university there are two people that would provide support. The Principle Investigator would provide technical support. The Grant and Contract Manager would provide administrative support. At our university these are two distinctly different positions in different offices. Can there be two institutional representatives, one for administration and the other for technical?

Yes, there can be two institutional representatives. When submitting representative resumes, please indicate which position the person holds. Also, please see above re: principal investigator.

3. Last Admission Year: The RFP mentions the “entire duration of the contract (5 years: August 2014 – August 2019)” (Price; page 7). The pricing sample on page 8 notes that the “last cohort started in academic year 2019,” which would yield a total contract period of 7 years. For example, in a fixed price 5 year contract, the last cohort would be admitted in year 4 (Fall 2017). When will the last cohort be admitted (Fall 2017, Fall 2018, or Fall 2019) and please confirm the maximum length of the contract? (Price; page 7-8) The last cohort on this contract will be admitted Fall 2018. However the task order awarded for the Fall 2018 cohort will include an option (year 6) for the remaining year of the 2 year program. No new task orders (for Fall 2019 cohort) may be awarded against this IDIQ award.

5. Fixed Price: The RFP states this will be a Firm Fixed Price task order (page 1, next to last paragraph). However, on page 7 (Price section) it states, “The Government does not guarantee that the estimated number of students listed below, will be the actual number of students.” Is the fixed price based on the per student amount or fixed for the entire program (# of students estimated x price per student)? Please note, we will need to propose a fixed infrastructure cost regardless of the number of students in order to offer the program.

The proposed price is a per student fixed price, not a fixed price for the program per year.

6. The last paragraph on page 7 states that we must submit the completed spreadsheet with our proposed pricing as a part of our price proposal. Is the sample budget provided on page 8 the spreadsheet you are referring to? The last sentence of this paragraph refers to a pricing worksheet being attached. Again is this the sample on page 8 or is there an attachment that is not posted?

Offerors must submit the completed spreadsheet on page 8 with their price proposal AND include a price breakout of what is all included in the proposed cost.

7. Proposal Submission Instructions: Under proposal organization on page 9, should the document be single spaced or double spaced?

Single or double spaced is acceptable.

8. Do the upper division courses offered in the second year of the curriculum have to be offered in a traditional classroom setting or can they be offered online? What about the psychology or sociology course that must be available as an elective in the first year? Can this be offered online? (Section: Statement of Work, page 3 of 9)

Upper division science courses that have lab components must be offered in a traditional classroom setting. There is some flexibility in the delivery format of non-science courses. However, all first year core courses must be offered in a traditional classroom setting.

9. For core courses that require two parts (e.g., General Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Organic Chemistry), can they be offered separately and sequentially but in one semester, e.g., Organic Chemistry I in Summer I and Organic Chemistry II in Summer II of the same summer (2015)? (Section: Statement of Work, page 3 of 9)

This sequence is acceptable and expected.

10. For the technical proposal, do we need to submit full course descriptions or only the course names, credit hours and semester offered? (Section: Technical, page 5 of 9)

Course names, credit hours and semester offered are sufficient as long as course descriptions are available online or upon request.

11. Statement of Work Section, Page 3 - This page states that students are supposed to be calculus-ready. Our university will need them to take the math exam that determines what math class they are prepared for. If they do not place into calculus, they will need to take precalculus in the fall followed by calculus in the spring. This will only be true for some students. How do you propose we handle the costs associated with this issue?

Where necessary, students may be enrolled in Pre-calculus in the fall semester and Calculus in the Spring semester. The Calculus course would replace one of the upper division courses, so additional costs are not necessary.

12. Statement of Work Section, Page 3 - This section states that students must take classes as a cohort and that all the courses are taken together. However, there are certain circumstances where this may not be the case (please see questions below).

1. Does this include the sociology and psychology classes that they may choose to enroll in? Or may they take classes they are interested in with undergraduates?

Core courses must be taken as a cohort (or as a subset within a larger cohort). Non-science courses such as sociology and psychology do not need to be completed as a cohort.

2. What if they do need to take the calculus mentioned above?

Calculus prerequisites do not need to be completed as a cohort, unless there are multiple program participants completing the course. It is the desire of the program to group students into a cohort whenever feasible.

3. Similarly, there is a suite of classes that students can take during their second year, depending on their interest. Do all program students need to take the same classes, or can they take different electives based on their interest?

All program students will have a small selection of courses from which to choose and enrollment in these courses will be coordinated by EMDP2 Program administration. Students will not be permitted to enroll in random courses based on interest.

13. Page 1, paragraph 5.

a. The paragraph states that the year 1 cohort will not exceed more than 12 students. And each additional year it is expected to increase to 25 students from 2016 onward. The sample budget (on page 8) has 32 students in year 2 and 45 students in year 3. Does that mean that in Year 2, the maximum number of new students will be 20? Are the following numbers correct?

Year 1 (2014-2015) initial cohort - 12 new students, 0 continuing students (12 total) Year 2 (2015-2016) – 20 new students, 12 continuing students (32 total) Year 3 (2016-2017) – 25 new students, 20 continuing students (45 total) Year 4 (2017-2018) – 25 new students, 25 continuing students (50 total) Year 5 (2018-2019) – 25 new students, 25 continuing students (50 total) Year 6 (2019-2020) – 0 new students, 25 continuing students (25 total)

The following chart reflects updated enrollment (Fall 2014) and expected number for remaining years:

Year 1 (2014-2015) initial cohort - 5 new students, 0 continuing students (5 total) Year 2 (2015-2016) – 20 new students, 5 continuing students (25 total) Year 3 (2016-2017) – 25 new students, 20 continuing students (45 total) Year 4 (2017-2018) – 25 new students, 25 continuing students (50 total) Year 5 (2018-2019) – 25 new students, 25 continuing students (50 total) Year 6 (2019-2020) – 0 new students, 25 continuing students (25 total)

14. Additional Question not addressed in RFP

a. Will the program students apply to USUHS alone, or to other medical schools in addition to USUHS? Will this program have a linkage to USUHS?

Program students will be permitted to apply to other medical schools in addition to USUHS. Participants will not receive guaranteed admission to USUHS, but must compete for acceptance. However, students will receive mentoring and oversight from the USUHS community throughout the program.

Changes to Statement of Work (SOW) and Request for Proposals:

Page 2 -4 of original SOW is changed as follows (Change in Biochemistry, Core Sequence, Clarification on Calculus and when MCAT will may be taken):

The selected offeror will be required to provide the following:

· One academic year of pre-medical prerequisite courses. Courses must include General Biology with Lab Part I, General Biology with Lab Part II, General Chemistry with Lab Part I, General Chemistry with Lab Part II, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry with Lab Part I, Organic Chemistry with Lab Part II, Physics with Lab Part I, Physics with Lab Part II, and Calculus.

· One academic year of upper division (preferably graduate-level) science courses.

· On-site classroom based Medical College Admission Test preparation (either integrated into the curriculum or through an on-campus commercial provider).

· Structured pre-health advising as evidenced by a staff member or office dedicated to pre-health advising as a primary responsibility.

· Pre-medical letters of evaluation for program participants.

· Tutoring as needed at no additional cost to students or the Government

The 10 classes that comprise the core course sequence must be offered every academic year, not on a multi-year rotation. A new cohort of students will matriculate every fall and must be able to complete the entire core course sequence with adequate time to submit medical school applications during the application cycle that begins on June 1st the year following matriculation. They must be given the opportunity to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) after completing the first academic years’ worth of courses, although the test may be taken as late as January. At least 75% of the core courses must be offered during the traditional duty day (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.). All of the courses must be offered in a traditional classroom setting.

The MCAT may be taken as early as September.

The core course sequence covers the pre-medical prerequisites for application to the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine (and most U.S. medical schools) and consists of the following classes:

· General Biology with Lab, Part I

· General Biology with Lab, Part II

· General Chemistry with Lab, Part I

· General Chemistry with Lab, Part II

· Biochemistry

· Physics with Lab, Part I

· Physics with Lab, Part II

· Organic Chemistry with Lab, Part I

· Organic Chemistry with Lab, Part II

· Calculus (Students entering the program will have completed College Algebra and will be Calculus-ready. However, if the vendor requires the student to complete a placement exam and a student does not pass, a Calculus prerequisite course must be available so that the student may complete Calculus by the end of the first semester in the second year.)

The second year of the curriculum involves upper division, preferably graduate level, science courses. The vendor must offer a minimum of 24 semester hours of upper level science courses per academic year. The breadth of the vendor’s upper division science course selection will be a significant criterion in the proposal review process. Additionally, students must have the option of enrolling in psychology or sociology during the first year or first semester of the second year of the program. Modifications will be made on a case by case basis regarding students who have previously completed coursework from the core sequence.

Page 5-6 of original Technical evaluation factor is changed as follows (Change in Biochemistry):

I. Technical Offerors must submit the following with their technical proposal:

· Address of campus students will be expected to attend for courses (Must be within 50 miles of 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 – Distance will be confirmed in MapQuest)

· Documentation that shows offeror is:

· An accredited baccalaureate degree granting institution, accredited by the U. S. Department of Education and its affiliated bodies, such as the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

· Received a 3-Very Competitive rating or higher by Barron’s College Offerors must describe their technical approach to the following:

· One academic year of pre-medical prerequisite courses. Courses must include General Biology with Lab Part I, General Biology with Lab Part II, General Chemistry with Lab Part I, General Chemistry with Lab Part II, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry with Lab Part I, Organic Chemistry with Lab Part II, Physics with Lab Part I, Physics with Lab Part II, and Calculus.

· One academic year of upper division (preferably graduate-level) science courses. On-site classroom based Medical College Admission Test preparation (either integrated into the curriculum or through an on-campus commercial provider).

· Structured pre-health advising as evidenced by a staff member or office dedicated to pre-health advising as a primary responsibility.

· Pre-medical letters of evaluation for program participants.

Tutoring as needed at no additional cost to students or the Government Page 7-9 of original Price evaluation factor is changed as follows (Change in number of students):

IV. Price

Offerors responding to this requirement must submit a per student cost per academic year for the entire duration of the contract (5 years: August 2014 – August 2019). Offerors may propose one cost per student, which would be fixed for the duration of the contract or may propose up to five (5) different per student costs for each year of the IDIQ contract. The per student proposed costs of the selected offeror will be the fixed costs used for the duration of the contract to determine task order amount.

The number of students listed in the spreadsheet below is the expected number of students that will be selected for this program. The Government will evaluate price by the total cost calculated for the entire five year performance period based on the number of expected students. The Government does not guarantee that the estimated number of students listed below, will be the actual number of students.

In order to be considered for award, offerors must submit the completed spreadsheet with their proposed pricing as part of their price proposal, to include a price breakout of what is all included in the proposed cost. The purpose is to ensure that the proposed pricing includes all requirements outlined in the solicitation and that the offeror has a clear understanding of what will be required for performance. Offerors who fail to provide either the pricing worksheet attached to this solicitation or the price breakout, may be considered non-responsive.

Sample:

The price evaluated by the Government would be $2,590,000.00. The pricing proposed in the per student row would be the fixed pricing listed in the IDIQ contract award and would not be subject to adjustment.

Note: The 2019-2020 group of 25 is the cohort that started in Fall 2018.