Applicant Tracking System - NextGen OSCAR

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (hereinafter known as either the AOUSC, AO or Government), Human Resources Office, Policy and Strategic Initiative Division (HRO-PSID) manages human resource initiatives on behalf of the federal judiciary, including web-based recruitment systems for law clerks and staff attorneys and related initiatives.

The current Online System for Clerkship Application and Review (OSCAR) is a web-based information and application system for law clerk and staff attorney recruitment. OSCAR supports a user community of approximately 50,000 both in the judiciary and the public. Judges and appellate staff attorney offices maintain hiring profiles, post positions, accept electronic applications, and manage their applications. Applicants research position postings, review hiring profiles, upload application documents, identify their recommenders, and submit applications. Recommenders upload recommendation letters on behalf of the applicant. Law schools manage their applicants and faculty recommenders who use OSCAR, and court human resources staff assists their judges in the clerkship hiring process.

With the OSCAR system being over 10 years old, the AO is soliciting proposals from vendors to implement the next generation of OSCAR (NextGen OSCAR).  This Request for Proposal (RFP) solicits vendor solutions for software, hosting, and professional services to support this effort.  The AO seeks a feature rich, highly configurable applicant tracking solution available via a Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model.  The AO will not consider solutions that require custom coding or require on-premise hosting.   

The NextGen OSCAR system will provide all the core functionality and associated data that is available in the current system, as well as additional capabilities available with today's applicant tracking systems (ATS).  This document identifies core mandatory requirements and optional features.  The AO recognizes that the selection of a vendor's solution will impact design decisions and that more detailed specifications will be required post award.  Prototype deployments will be used to gather stakeholder input that will guide requirements for a full production release.