P01 - SOW_27ELD-LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT PLATFORM_FINAL.docx

1.0 TITLE OF PROJECT:

Vocational Assessments

2.0 BACKGROUND:

The VA Institute for Learning, Education and Development (ILEAD) provides educational services and instruments to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). One of the services ILEAD provides is talent management; the team that oversees this service has determined that access to a skills-based vocational assessment is needed to help identify, develop, and strategically manage employee and leadership talent within the VA; specifically, non-supervisory employees at all applicable grade/pay levels.

3.0 SCOPE:

Per the requirements in Section 5, the vendor shall:

1. Provide access to an administrator platform that enables self-managed code allocation, build and access of group and individual user reports, raw data extraction, and assignment of users to designated reporting groups.

2. Provide the option to purchase access to additional skills-based vocational assessment that will deliver self-development insight on key career strengths/talent attributes; specifically, problem-solving, continual learning, team-building, accountability, decisiveness, and integrity/honesty. No customization is required.

The assessment shall give users developmental feedback on their career strengths, so they can use that guidance to inform their career journeys – e.g., types of work or workplace environment/culture/team dynamics. To determine tool success, the vendor shall provide a raw data file so VHA can analyze organizational trends from the assessment results.

4.0 DOCUMENTS:

The following document(s) are required to perform:

· All materials used by the Government require 508-compliance, which would account for screen-reader capability.

5.0 REQUIREMENT/NEED(S):

5.1 Provide Vocational Assessment Data

ILEAD requires:

5.1.1 Administrator access to the assigned online account to oversee the allocation and organization of purchased assessment tool codes.

5.1.2 An electronic, individualized report for each user that includes assessment results and tailored feedback on actions for development. Report must be in an extractable data file that the user can maintain for their own record.

5.1.3 Administrators have the ability to extract raw data and user reports (individual and group), in Excel or .csv, against any collected user data.

5.1.4 If necessary, provide training to administrators on how to access/reset codes or extract participant reports/data.

Deliverable(s):

5.2 (OPTIONAL CONTRACT LINE ITEM) Provide Access to Skills-based Vocational Assessment(s)

The assessment must:

5.2.1 provide each individual online access to the self-assessment tool, whereby the participant can access the tool via any laptop or mobile device system and during unrestricted hours (e.g., 24-hour/7 days a week), as not all employees have access to a work-desktop and may be connecting through other electronic devices.

5.2.2 be delivered in a format that will maximize broad workforce participation (i.e., reading at a 10th grade or lower level), as VA has employees with a wide range of reading levels.

5.2.3 measure self-reported talent attributes in the work domain that inform strengths for maximizing one’s career success.

5.2.4 on average, take a participant 45-minutes or less to complete (battery of assessments) with ability to start and finish as needed.

5.2.5 be empirically validated to ensure it has been model-tested (factor analysis) against multi-sector U.S. employees (leaders and non-leaders) with results for construct validity, item reliability, and assessing sub-group differences (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity).

5.2.6 be theory-informed to ensure the assessment measures traits identified and supported in the career, vocational, or human resource assessment literature as elements predictive of employee career strengths.

Deliverable(s):

6.0 Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government Furnished Information (GFI):

<Identify any GFE and/or GFI, and any limitations that will be provided to the Contractor. For GFE, provide serial numbers and all Government identifying information, i.e., EE number from Equipment Inventory List (EIL). For GFI, list by document number, title, and date, etc. Also, include standards, specifications, and other reference material required to perform the contract. Include any facilities the Government may need to provide to the Contractor’s personnel for contract performance.>

7.0 Performance Details:

7.1 Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be for twelve (12) months with four additional 12-month optional periods.

7.2 Place of Performance: Work shall be performed at the Contractor’s site.

7.3 Observance of Government Holidays. There are 10 Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103). Under current definitions, four are set by date:

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday. The other six holidays are set by a day of the week and month:

7.4 Type of Contract: The Government anticipates award of a Firm Fixed-Price contract.

7.5 Travel: None

7.6 Contract Post-Award Meeting: The Contractor shall not commence performance on the tasks in this PWS until the CO has conducted a post-award meeting or has advised the Contractor that the post-award meeting has been waived.

7.7 Formal Acceptance or Rejection of Deliverables: The Government will review each deliverable within 15 business days and provide comments. The Contractor shall have five business days to incorporate the Government’s comments and make appropriate revisions.

7.8 Changes to the PWS: Any changes to this PWS shall be authorized and approved only through written correspondence from the CO. A copy of each change will be kept in a contract folder, along with all other products of the contract. Costs incurred by the Contractor through the actions of parties other than the CO shall be borne by the Contractor.

7.9 Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure: It is agreed that:

a. The preliminary and final deliverables, as well as all associated working papers and other material deemed relevant by VA that have been generated by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, are the exclusive property of the U.S. Government and shall be submitted upon request to the CO at the conclusion of the contract.

b. The CO will be the sole authorized official to release, verbally or in writing, any data, draft deliverables, final deliverables, or any other written or printed materials pertaining to this contract. No information shall be released by the Contractor. Any request for information relating to this contract presented to the Contractor shall be submitted to the CO for response.

c. Press releases, marketing material, or any other printed or electronic documentation related to this contract shall not be publicized without the written approval of the CO.

d. Non-Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: The Contractor and Contractor’s staff may have access to Government-sensitive information and shall be required to sign non-disclosure and conflict of interest statements.

8.0 GENERAL

8.1 SECURITY

8.1.1 GENERAL. This entire section applies to all acquisitions requiring any Information Security and Privacy language. Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors and subcontractor personnel will be subject to the same federal laws, regulations, standards, VA directives and handbooks, as VA personnel regarding information and information system security and privacy.

8.1.2 The following protections are required if access to the assessment tool requires entry of employee email addresses: The Contractor will not solicit or market any additional work services to VA employees outside of the continuing development curated readings/material, nor include VA employees on any current or future marketing lists.

8.1.3 Participants must be able to access the tool using a de-identified alpha or numeric code that is sent to the Government for dissemination. Only the Government will have the cross-walk of the end user and the code.

8.1.4 Vendor is not to use or disseminate any emails collected on the Government employee, nor contact the Government employee for future marketing purposes.

8.1.5 Tool will not need to be integrated with any VA systems or platforms. The tool should be accessible fully through the vendor site, requiring a unique participant login, and ability to extract (or receive via emailed file) the participant data/results.

8.1.6 The C&A requirements do not apply, and a Security Accreditation Package is not required.

8.1.7 VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE. This entire section applies to all acquisitions requiring any Information Security and Privacy language.

a. The Government shall receive unlimited rights to data/intellectual property first produced and delivered in the performance of this contract or order (hereinafter “contract”) unless expressly stated otherwise in this contract. This includes all rights to source code and all documentation created in support thereof. The primary clause used to define Government and Contractor data rights is FAR 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General. The primary clause used to define computer software license (not data/intellectual property first produced under this contractor or order) is FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software License.

b. Information made available to the contractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract will be used only for the purposes specified in the service agreement, SOW, PWS, PD, and/or contract. The contractor shall not use VA Information in any other manner without prior written approval from a VA Contracting Officer (CO). The primary clause used to define Government and Contractor data rights is FAR 52.227-14 Rights in Data – General.

c. VA information will not be co-mingled with any other data on the contractor’s information systems or media storage systems. The contractor shall ensure compliance with Federal and VA requirements related to data protection, data encryption, physical data segregation, logical data segregation, classification requirements and media sanitization.

d. VA reserves the right to conduct scheduled or unscheduled audits, assessments, or investigations of contractor Information Technology (IT) resources to ensure information security is compliant with Federal and VA requirements. The contractor shall provide all necessary access to records (including electronic and documentary materials related to the contracts and subcontracts) and support (including access to contractor and subcontractor staff associated with the contract) to VA, VA's Office Inspector General (OIG), and/or Government Accountability Office (GAO) staff during periodic control assessments, audits, or investigations.

e. The contractor may only use VA information within the terms of the contract and applicable Federal law, regulations, and VA policies. If new Federal information security laws, regulations or VA policies become applicable after execution of the contract, the parties agree to negotiate contract modification and adjustment necessary to implement the new laws, regulations, and/or policies.

f. The contractor shall not make copies of VA information except as specifically authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the contract. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies shall be destroyed in accordance with VA Directive 6500, VA Cybersecurity Program and VA Information Security Knowledge Service.

g. If a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) contract is terminated for default or cause with a business associate, the related local Business Associate Agreement (BAA) shall also be terminated and actions taken in accordance with VHA Directive 1605.05, Business Associate Agreements. If there is an executed national BAA associated with the contract, VA will determine what actions are appropriate and notify the contactor.

h. The contractor shall store and transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools which are, at a minimum, Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules (or its successor) validated and in conformance with VA Information Security Knowledge Service requirements. The contractor shall transmit VA sensitive information using VA approved Transport Layer Security (TLS) configured with FIPS based cipher suites in conformance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-52, Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations.

i. The contractor’s firewall and web services security controls, as applicable, shall meet or exceed VA’s minimum requirements.

j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor may use and disclose VA information only in two situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction after notification to VA CO (ii) with written approval from the VA CO. The contractor shall refer all requests for, demands for production of or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA CO for response.

k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. § 5705, Confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. § 7332, Confidentiality of certain medical records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse or infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). If the contractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the abovementioned information, the contractor shall immediately refer such court order or other requests to the VA CO for response.

l. Information made available to the contractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor in performance or administration of the contract will be protected and secured in accordance with VA Directive 6500 and Identity and Access Management (IAM) Security processes specified in the VA Information Security Knowledge Service.

m. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor shall be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management, VA Handbook 6300.1, Records Management Procedures, and applicable VA Records Control Schedules.

n. The contractor shall provide its plan for destruction of all VA data in its possession according to VA Directive 6500 and NIST 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization prior to termination or completion of this contract. If directed by the COR/CO, the contractor shall return all Federal Records to VA for disposition.

o. Any media, such as paper, magnetic tape, magnetic disks, solid state devices or optical discs that is used to store, process, or access VA information that cannot be destroyed shall be returned to VA.The contractor shall hold the appropriate material until otherwise directed by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or CO. Items shall be returned securely via VA-approved methods. VA sensitive information must be transmitted utilizing VA-approved encryption tools which are validated under FIPS 140-2 (or its successor) and NIST 800-52. If mailed, the contractor shall send via a trackable method (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.) and immediately provide the COR/CO with the tracking information. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met shall be sent to the COR/CO within 30 business days of termination of the contract.

p. All electronic storage media (hard drives, optical disks, CDs, back-up tapes, etc.) used to store, process or access VA information will not be returned to the contractor at the end of lease, loan, or trade-in. Exceptions toto this paragraph will only be granted with the written approval of the VA CO.

8.2 RECORDS MANAGEMENT OBLIGATIONS

A. Applicability This clause applies to all Contractors whose employees create, work with, or otherwise handle Federal records, as defined in Section B, regardless of the medium in which the record exists.

B. Definitions “Federal record” as defined in 44 U.S.C. § 3301, includes all recorded information, regardless of form or characteristics, made or received by a Federal agency under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved or appropriate for preservation by that agency or its legitimate successor as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the United States Government or because of the informational value of data in them.

The term Federal record:

C. Requirements

[Note: To the extent an agency requires contractors to complete records management training, the agency must provide the training to the contractor.]

D. Flowdown of requirements to subcontractors