Sources Sought_M00264-20-SSA-0202.docx

SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Marine Corps Installations National Capital Regional-Regional Contracting Office (MCINCR-RCO), Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA is seeking sources capable of providing Distance Education Support Services to the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academies at the Marine Corps University.

CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS:

MCINCR-RCO, 2010 Henderson Rd, Quantico, VA 22134

INTRODUCTION:

This sources sought is issued to conduct market research and determine the availability and technical capability of all sources to provide the required services.

This sources sought allows potential contractors to submit a non-binding statement of interest and documentation demonstrating their corporate capabilities and suggestions that will allow the Government to refine its potential course of action. The sources sought effort is intended to assess industry service capabilities and solicit feedback for acquisition planning purposes. The qualifying NAICS code suggested for the majority of this effort is 611710, “Educational Support Services”.

DISCLAIMER:

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS SOURCES SOUGHT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCE SOUGHT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.

BACKGROUND:

The mission of the College of Enlisted Military Education (the Enlisted College) is to provide a continuum of education to improve leadership, sharpen critical and creative thinking skills, and deepen Marines’ understanding of warfighting concepts in distributed and joint environments. The goal is to create ethical, professional leaders who make sound decisions in complex operational situations. Headquartered at Quantico, VA, the Enlisted College is responsible for the quality and integrity of each of the six Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academies (SNCOAs), curricula, effectiveness of assessments, and coordination of personnel selection and attendance at each SNCOA.

The Enlisted College relies on successful development and delivery of four newly designed courses to achieve its mission; leadership philosophy, warfighting philosophy, sustaining the transformation, and communication. The communications course is designed to prepare Marines for the application of concepts and techniques necessary to engage in personal and professional communications in all forms. Supporting this effort requires specialized instructional support services based on the vision and intent of the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC).

The Marine Operating Concept (MOC), Marine Corps Service Strategy (MCSS), CMC Guidance and other seminal concept documents consistently establish the demand signal to improve the content, process and style of enlisted education to more accurately reflect the evolution of enlisted responsibilities in the current and future operating environment. Accordingly, CMC tasked Marine Corps University (MCU) with providing first-class education for enlisted Marines that challenges the status quo and offers a pathway for pursuing higher education. Acquiring instructional support services for each SNCOA will equip the Enlisted College with experienced, credible professionals required to develop and deliver a comprehensive communications package.

CORE OBJECTIVES TO BE ACCOMPLISHED:

The Enlisted College has a requirement for technical and professional services support to execute education technology management services and the communications continuum from Sergeants to Advanced School. The scope of this effort entails technical, analytical, and programmatic support to implement and sustain mission capabilities through execution of critical requirements derived from a comprehensive communications program. This reinforces the vital importance that is placed on a Marine to learn to communicate effectively – the ability to read, understand, write, speak, sway, defend, and influence – as central pillars of enlisted education and an essential capability Marines will need to act on intent and empower their subordinates in the future operating environment.

The Contractor shall:

· Instruct communications curriculum maintenance and sustainment for six geographically dispersed SNCOAs;

· Delivery and assessment of communication lessons to students at each SNCOA;

· Faculty and staff development sessions specific to the communications continuum; and

· Educational Technology Management Services to maintain and oversee Deployable Virtual Training Environment (DVTE) suites and other technology-enabled training and education initiatives deployed in support of the Enlisted College and located at the six SNCOAs, the Senior EPME Course in Quantico, and at the Enlisted College Headquarters.

Applicable References. The Contractor shall use the below references as a guide to the extent necessary to accomplish the tasks. The most recent revision of the references shall be used unless otherwise specified. If during the execution of the contract the government uncovers the need for additional references or changes to cited references, the government will provide these to the contractor.

· MCO 1553.1B Marine Corps Training and Education System

· MCO 1553.2B Management of Marine Corps Formal Schools

· MCO 1553.4B Marine Corps Professional Military Education (PME)

· MCO 1553.6_ Development, Management, and Acquisition of Interactive Courseware (ICW) for Marine Corps Instruction

· NAVMC 1553.1 Systems Approach to Training (SAT) Users Guide

· MCO 1553.10, Marine Corps Training Information Management System (MCTIMS) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

· NAVMC 3500.56A (FINAL) Communications Training and Readiness (T&R) Manual

· Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508

The Contractor shall provide comprehensive capabilities to support mission accomplishment. Collectively, the Contractor shall provide support services across task areas identified below:

Curriculum Maintenance and Sustainment Services. The Contractor shall, in collaboration with Government curriculum developers, functional area team leads, academic officers and curriculum development officers, provide subject matter expertise for the maintenance and sustainment of communications curriculum in the Sergeant, Career, Advanced Schools, and Faculty Advisor’s Course , Curriculum shall be maintained or revised in accordance with MCO 1553.2,_ Management of Marine Corps Formal Schools and Training Detachments, employing the Systems Approach to Training (SAT) process contained in NAVMC 1553.1, Systems Approach to Training (SAT) Users Guide.

The Contractor shall conduct research and analysis of lesson material to ensure the curriculum leads students to the required learning outcomes. In support of this requirement, the Contractor shall:

· Review learning objectives for appropriateness to target training population (grade, billet, skill level);

· Conduct comprehensive program assessment reviews and life cycle maintenance for communications lessons incorporated into the Sergeants School, Career School, Advanced, School, and Faculty Advisors Course Programs of Instruction (POIs).

The Contractor shall provide support for research and development of professional military education programs and curricula to improve the quality of the Enlisted College’s communications continuum. The Contractor shall participate and provide input in the Enlisted College’s annual Curriculum Content Review Board (CCRB), held at Quantico, Virginia for the analysis of collected data in order to determine the relevance and effectiveness of curriculum content on student learning.

· Submit discrepancy correction requests, supported by research, through the academic officer to request changes to the POI, course materials, and any other instructional documents applicable to the communications continuum. The Contractor may not make any changes to the delivery and evaluation of any communications lessons unless approved by the Enlisted College.

Instructional Support Services. The Contractor shall provide instructional support services for the execution of the identified lessons within the communications continuum for the Enlisted College. This shall include direct support to students, faculty, and staff at designated SNCOAs in the process and assessment of effective written and oral communication.

· Apply the methodology and content of the approved lessons within the communications continuum;

· Facilitate large classroom informal lectures for 40 to 120 students and small classroom guided discussions for 12 to 20 students on all communications lessons;

· Participate in grade norming sessions with faculty and staff to review grading rubrics and expectations prior to delivery of oral presentations;

· Provide student grade reports for all communications lessons across Sergeant, Career, and Advanced Schools to the academic officer. Contractors will be responsible for grading analytical essays, oral presentation, and any other graded assignments that fall under the communications curriculum. 1 analytical essay and 1 oral presentation are anticipated per class cycle.

The Contractor shall deliver formal classroom instruction according to the communications continuum. All periods of instruction will be scheduled by the academics officers according to the approved POI. Anticipated classes, expected annual student throughput, and maximum number of students vary at each SNCOA.

The Contractor shall participate in student monitoring and evaluation. The Contractor shall monitor and evaluate student progress appropriate to each school’s communications learning outcome. The Contractor shall:

· Complete rubrics on student assignments associated with lessons in the communications continuum;

· Review student work products for accuracy and attainment of learning outcomes.

The Contractor shall maintain instructor and student materials including evaluations and evaluation criteria. These files shall be provided to the academic officer and retained as Government Furnished Materials (GFM) at each academy at the conclusion of each school cycle.

The Contractor shall provide Educational Technology Management Services located at Government-provided spaces at the Enlisted College at Quantico, VA to support three programs of instruction (Sergeants, Career, and Advanced Schools) taught at the designated SNCOAs. All Educational Technology Management Services will be performed at Quantico, VA.

The Contractor shall support the conduct of technical research to identify and recommend innovative virtual simulation techniques, technologies, and products that may be of use to the Enlisted College. The Contractor shall, per Government approval, conduct research and development of new features for Enlisted College systems as identified in table 5 below. Systems access, as required, will be provided by the Government after award.

The Contractor shall maintain three developed SharePoint sites (the Enlisted College SharePoint site, the Enlisted College portion of the MCU public website, and a PKI- restricted SharePoint site).

EXPERIENCE

The Contractor personnel must be familiar with the stated references and meet the following;

· Personnel must possess a working knowledge of applicable systems to include: Microsoft Office Suite.

· Instructional Support

· Master’s degree in communications or a related field, from an accredited college or university is required for contractor personnel performing as the project manager;

· Teaching background with proven documented experience in adult education at the undergraduate level, in seminar, lecture, and working-group format;

· Documented work experience using research sources such as the National Archives, online libraries, and other services in order to conduct research and to assist student research;

· Capability to work efficiently in a military staff environment that requires coordination both internally and externally with the academy and the Enlisted College. Contractor personnel must be familiar with and adhere to established command and staff procedures especially those involving staff coordination and chain of command

· Education Technology Management Services

· Possess a bachelor's degree from an accredited college in computer science, information

· technology or related discipline plus 3-5 years of experience in programming web-based, Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) 2004-conformant Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI); or 3 years of experience in programming web-based, SCORM 2004-conformant IMI with a related master's degree; or equivalent experience/combined education with 6 years of professional experience.

· Experience in United States Marine Corps (USMC) courseware development preferred.

· Knowledge and experience working with Adobe® Creative Cloud or equivalent Adobe® application suites.

· Experience with e-learning development standards, SCORM (including advanced sequencing and navigation) and Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508.

· Experience in programming eLearning content as responsive and/or adaptive in structure.

· Expertise with Microsoft® office automation tools to include Office®, Project® and Visio®.

PRINCIPAL GEOGRAPHICAL OPERATION SUPPORT AREAS

Principal support operations will occur at the following locations: Quantico VA, Camp Lejeune NC, Camp Pendleton CA, Twentynine Palms CA, Hawaii, and Okinawa Japan.

DESCRIPTION OF CAPABILITIES

The capability statement provided in response to this sources sought shall include the following criteria:

1. Educational support service capabilities that the responder currently possesses. Response should include the relevant information regarding specific skills, experience, technical certifications and clearances that responder possesses to fulfil core objectives;

2. Suggest labor mix to execute the scope and objectives

3. Identify the core objective(s) that responder cannot fulfil and provide an explanation about how to mitigate ;

4. Provide a recommendation for contract type for this acquisition (e.g. FFP, IDIQ with multiple task orders throughout the year), Contract is for 1 base year and 4 option years.

5. Notional schedule and type of plan for meeting the requirements

6. Extent to which the responder has the ability to meet the proposed acquisition (e.g. Prime or subcontractor);

7. Extent to which the responder is aware of any potential Organizational Conflict of Interest issues or a non-immitigable OCI related to current development work at USMC.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

Response to this source sought shall include the following information as a minimum:

1. The anticipated North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for this requirement is 611710, with the corresponding size standard of $16.5M. This Source Sought is requesting responses to the following criteria ONLY from all sources that can provide the required services under the NAICS Code. The Government accepts recommendations for alternative NAICS Codes. If recommendation is provided, please provide rationale for any NAICS Code applicable to the planned acquisition other than the NAICS code identified above.

2. Please provide a determination of intent to participate/solicit as a prime contractor or subcontractor.

3. Business Type: To assist MCINCR-RCO in making a determination regarding the level of participation by small business in any subsequent procurement that may result from this Source Sought, you are also encouraged to provide information regarding your plans to use joint venturing (JV) or partnering to meet each of the requirements areas contained herein. This includes responses from qualified and capable Small Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, Service Disabled-Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Women-owned Small Businesses, HUBZone Small Businesses, and 8(a) companies. You should provide information on how you would envision your company's areas of expertise and those of any proposed JV/partner would be combined to meet the specific requirements contained in this announcement.

1. For large businesses intending to respond as a prime, please provide a recommendation for a small business subcontracting plan percentage allocation.

2. For small businesses intending to respond as a prime, please provide a response that demonstrates the company’s ability to perform in accordance with the Limitations on subcontracting clause (FAR 52.219-14).

3. Recommend any Best in Class IDIQ contract suitable for procurement of this effort. Please provide the contract information with the capability package submission and an explanation as of why the contract is suitable to meet the objectives and capabilities listed in this sources sought announcement.

4. If your business holds an active General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) which can accommodate the scope of the entire requirements outlined above, please provide the GSA schedule number with the capability package submission.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:

Responses must contain UNCLASSIFIED information only and be marked “UNCLASSIFIED” at least on the first page of the response. No classified information may be included anywhere in the response. Responses must include:

1) Business name and address;

2) Name of company representative and their business title;

3) Type of Small Business;

4) Cage Code;

5) DUNS Number;

6) Responses shall be in Microsoft Word for Office or compatible format and shall not exceed 10 pages. A page is defined as each face of an 8½” x 11” sheet with information contained within a one inch margin on all sides. Font type shall be Times Roman 12 point;

7) Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Vendors who wish to respond to this Source Sought should send responses via email NLT 3PM Eastern Time 21 April 2020 to michael.bogatyr@usmc.mil. Interested vendors should submit a brief capabilities statement package (no more than ten (10) pages) demonstrating ability to perform the services listed in the Objectives section. Documentation should be in bullet format.

Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. All government and contractor personal reviewing Source Sought responses will have signed non-disclosure agreements and understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information as described 41 USC 423. The Government shall not be held liable for any damages incurred if proprietary information is not properly identified.