Q_A_-_RFP__CV24-106.pdf

1. As stated in the RFP, there is currently a vendor working on this effort. Please provide the name of the vendor as well as the associated contract term (start/end date), and dollar amount.

West Ed was awarded the College Corps evaluation contract for 2022-2024, with their contract ending December 31, 2024. The contract award was $500,000.

2. In Section F. Evaluation for Award, immediately following 2. Phase 2 v. Table 5: Minimum Qualifications, and just above 3. Phase 3: Technical Evaluation, the second to the last sentence in the paragraph states “References must be clients for whom the Proposer has performed relevant work of similar size and scope within the last three (5) years.” Please confirm if it is within the last three (3) years or the last five (5) years.

It is within the last three(3) years. This error will be corrected.

3. In Section F. Evaluation for Award, 3. Phase 3: Technical Evaluation, vii. Table 7: Technical Scoring Rubric, Sections 2. Approach to Work and Section 4 Proposer and Team Knowledge and Experience are blacked out. Please confirm that these sections are evaluated elsewhere.

In both of these sections, the scoring rubric for the section is captured in the sub sections listed below the the blacked out area.

For section 2, evaluation is based on subsections sections 2.1 and 2.2.

For section 4, evaluation is based on subsections 4.3 and 4.7.

4. In Exhibit A – Scope of Work, Section D. Location of Services, it states “…The Contractor may be required to perform some of the services, under this Agreement, onsite at GO-SERVE office located at 1400 Tenth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.” Please advise on the number of times the Contractor may need to travel to Sacramento over the contract term.

Contractor should expect an onsite visit to the GO-SERVE office OR to a College Corps campus a maximum of 3 times over the course of the contract.

The contractor may be required to travel to the Sacramento office 1-3 times per contract year.

5. In Exhibit A – Scope of Work, Section D. Location of Services, it states “…Services will be performed primarily virtually with the possibility of limited travel to participating College Corps campuses.” Please advise on the number of campuses and the number of times the Contractor may need to travel to each campus over the contract term.

Contractor should expect an onsite visit to the stated offices OR to a College Corps campus a maximum of 3 times over the course of the contract.

Contractor may travel to 3-4 different campuses each contract year as agreed upon between Contractor scope of work and deliverables and Go-Serve.

6. Can the current proposal deadline be moved from December 13th at 5pm to December 20th at 5pm?

An addendum has been made to have the proposal deadline changed to December 20, 2024 at 5pm Pacific.

7. Please confirm the specific software and/or databases that the Contractor is required to use for this contract?

America Learns is the only required data system. America Learns reports are downloaded as CVS/Excel files.

8. Will the Contractor be given access to the California Volunteers data system (America Learns)?

Yes Contractor will be given access to the America Learns platform at a level that is sufficient to perform required work.

9. Is it acceptable to modify the Contractor Cost Sheet / Cost by Task to include additional tasks and or subtasks?

Yes it is acceptable to modify the Contractor Cost Sheet / Cost by Task to include additional tasks and or subtasks.

10. Is it acceptable to modify the General Cost Proposal Worksheet to include different or additional job title/classifications?

Yes

11. How were previous surveys / external evaluations delivered?

Previous surveys were delivered via the America Learns Platform.

Focus groups were delivered via Zoom.

12. Please provide the previous survey / external evaluation questions and any available responses

Survey Instruments and external evaluation questions being used for the 22-24 contract are still in use and under the terms of the existing contract and cannot be shared at this time. Once 24-26 contract is awarded and contracted, all instruments and evaluation questions will be shared with the awardee.

13. How many respondents participated from Cohorts 1 and 2?

The number of respondents varied depending on the instrument (e.g. pre vs post survey instrument) and method being used (survey vs focus groups). The number of participants in the College Corps program over cohorts 1 and 2 is 7,500.

14. Is there an expected response rate or can the contractor recommend response rate(s)?

California Volunteers would like to see a response rates comparable to previous years or higher, depending on the survey instrument and evaluation method being used.

California Volunteers is open to recommendations from the contractor regarding response rates.

15. Can other research instruments be used?

For consistency with previous data, existing research instruments should be used; any changes to existing research instruments, or additional/other instruments should be agreed upon between contractor and California Volunteers before deployed.

16. If interviews or focus groups are used, will they have to be in person or virtual?

Focus groups and interviews can be virtual.

17. Does the contractor work directly with the Fellows or directly with the College Corp campuses

The contractor works directly with a subset of Fellows, Campuses, and with California Volunteers staff.

18. The terms data reports and analysis reports are used in the RFP. Is the requirement tabulations based on the research objectives or computations and analysis to interpret data?

Tabulation, computation, and analysis may all be used when reporting results to California Volunteers, depending on the contractor’s approach to the California Volunteers logic model (see addendum). California Volunteers requests data analysis involve interpreting results to translate into actionable recommendations for program practitioners.

19. Will the analysis require comparison between cohorts as part of the longitudinal study or will the longitudinal study be done at the individual cohort?

Longitudinal study will involve comparison between cohorts over time.

20. Will travel be required for any part of this contract?

Contractor should expect an onsite visit to the stated offices OR to a College Corps campus as stated above.

21. How many letters of commitment were submitted?

Seven letters were submitted so far.

22. What are the existing program evaluation methods?

Existing program evaluation methods include:

Surveys

Focus groups

Analysis on data collected from Campuses and Fellows

23. What are the current evaluation instruments?

Current evaluation instruments are entrance and exit surveys, early exit surveys, pulse checks, campus surveys, Focus group procedures.

24. Under H. Scope of Work, 1. Tasks, College Corps Fellows (Cohorts 3 &4: August 2024 – June 2026, the third bullet point appears to be incomplete. Please provide the question in its entirety

The full question is:

How do students who identify that they have to work a second job fairing towards completing 450 hours?

25. Why is the incumbent not completing the contract that was previously awarded?

If referring to RFP Solicitation CV21-118 and the awarded contract, this contract expires on December 31, 2024. RFP CV24-106 is a solicitation for a new contract beginning in 2025, and thus open to a competitive bidding process.

26. The solicitation reads "The Contractor may be required to perform some of the services, under this Agreement, onsite at LCI office located at 1400 Tenth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814." We are located in San Diego County and have planned for semi-annual visits to LCI or another location in California. Is that sufficient or would a larger travel budget be required?

Budgeting for semi annual visits within the state of California is sufficient.