Questions and Answers HU000124R0007 P00001.pdf

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Virtual Bookstore Services

RFP HU000124R0007 P00001

9 Aug 2024

1. How do students currently acquire needed course materials (hard copy textbooks, ebooks, medical journals and subscriptions, etc.) for each of the associated colleges?

All required course materials are typically issued to students by the University during new student orientations in May and August. Session specific materials are provided to students at the beginning of a specific laboratory session, as needed. These purchases are not centralized. In addition to resources provided by each school, students may request materials through the Learning Resource Center (library). The Learning Resource Center will, depending on cost and available funding, obtain resources available for print purchase or as a site license with IP Authentication.

2. Are books included in tuition or a separate billed fee?

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) is a Federal agency under DOD and does not charge its students for tuition, textbooks and associated materials, or fees. Books are purchased by the University using Federal appropriations.

3. In an Equitable Access Model, the vendor charges a standard per student/per text cost. The institution can then consider adding (or not) additional revenue to the vendor price and consider this auxiliary revenue. Is this model suitable for consideration?

No. USUHS does not have authority to collect or accrue “auxiliary revenue”.

4. What is the enrollment growth rate projection for the next 5 years?

The enrollment growth rate over the next five years is minimal, and is driven by the needs and funding of DoD.

5. Will course materials adoption collection be handled exclusively through the office of procurement (singular point of contact) or will there be multiple contacts with each school?

USU anticipates there will be multiple points of contact in the schools for establishing requirements under this vehicle, although there will be centralized ordering and funding through authorized procurement officials. Depending on the dollar value of the order, orders may be placed using the Government Purchase Card or a Contracting Officer may issue a Task Order if the order is over $250,000. There will be a single Contracting Officer Representative (COR) appointed to the IDIQ contract to serve as a liaison between the Contractor, the Contracting Officer (CO) and the requirements generators to ensure that contract requirements are being met. See Section V.(f) of Attachment 1- SOO for more information.

6. Will you provide the most recent Text Adoptions booklist and list of subscription services - preferably in Google Sheet or Excel format?

The most recent lists of books and subscriptions are provided as appendices 1, 2 and 3 to the RFP. All solicitation materials are posted to SAM.GOV. The resultant awardee may receive, upon request, an Excel or Google Sheet listing.

7. What percentage of courses have content?

All courses have academic content, but not all of the content and/or coursework is 100% reliant on content derived from issued textbooks.

8. What percentage use courseware materials, i.e. content with codes (i.e., My Pearson Lab, Cengage Now, Wiley Plus, McGraw Hill Connect, etc)?

Content with codes utilization varies from year-to-year based on content availability and what faculty from each school consider appropriate for use.

9. What percentage of courses with materials use OER (open educational resources)?

Although this may vary by course and/or activity, it is estimated that faculty utilize OER materials for about 5% of the lectures that are delivered to students in the preclinical period. That said, OER utilization increases in the clinical years, when students (and faculty) often utilize medical specialty-specific clinical materials and references that are available in the public domain.

10. What additional challenges with your existing course material operations would you like to see addressed not mentioned in this RFP?

The SOO in the RFP lists the challenges that the University would like to see addressed in the offeror's proposed PWS. Offerors are encouraged to suggest contract types and/or ordering mechanisms & procedures that are compatible with the objectives listed herein.

11. Please provide the last three years’ worth of sales data including category breakdowns. (new books, used books, digital, rental,.)

USU does not have this data. Generally, USU only procures new textbooks and digital resources. Every year, USU spends approximately $3 - $5 Million annually on new textbooks and digital resources.

12. Are course related supplies covered within the scope of the services provided or is the contract strictly limited to course materials?

Course related supplies are not part of this requirement. The contract is limited to hard copy textbooks, ebooks, medical journals and subscriptions, etc.

13. Is there any other provider of campus store services or merchandise sales that the school works with?

No.

14. What is your SIS (Student Information System-i.e. Ellucian, Jenzabar, etc) on campus?

The existing SIS is Empower.

15. What is your LMS (Learning Management System-i.e. Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, etc) on campus?

The LMS is Canvas.

16. Are there specific data security requirements that will need to be considered if creating an interface with campus systems? (If so, please share)

There are no specific data security requirements as there are no interfaces with USU campus systems contemplated. The USU Chief of Information Office would need to review and approve any proposed interface that connects to the USU network prior to implementation. Any system used to support Virtual Bookstore Services should be independent of USU interfaces or connectivity to USU systems.

17. Is there an interest in beginning of term temporary pop-up operations for distribution or is the scope entirely virtual?

Yes, USU is interested in a proposed approach for on-campus distribution for distributing larger orders on-site at the Bethesda campus. USU is looking for an offeror who can comprehensively streamline and expedite this process. See Q&A 20.

18. What is the target start date for operations under the new contract?

Estimated target start date is early Dec 2024.

19. After contract award, how often will the performance elements in the QASP be evaluated?

Offerors should anticipate that performance will be monitored continually against the QASP, reported at least quarterly in the Surveillance and Performance Monitoring (SPM) module of the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE), and annually in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS).

20. For the SOM texts listed in the Sample Task Order, the Delivery Method instructs offerors to “price for (a) Ship to USU, and (b) in-person distribution to students….” Is the University asking ONLY for the price for each of these two delivery methods, or also for a description of how these two methods would be accomplished?

Offerors should include in their response to the Sample Task Order BOTH the price for shipping texts to USU and for distributing larger orders on-site, AND describe how each of these delivery methods would be accomplished.

The prices must be included in Volume III (Pricing) of your proposal, and the description of the delivery methods must be included in Volume I (Technical).

21. Please confirm whether USUHS is a federal agency or a for-profit university?

USUHS is a federal agency that is part of the Department of Defense (DoD). It was founded in 1972 by an act of Congress. It is DoD’s medical school and operates on Federal appropriations passed by Congress.

22. Who is on the RFP Committee and what are their roles at the institution?

Members of the source selection team are federal employees of the University who are stakeholders in this requirement. Their names are not releasable to the public.