Notice of Intent to Sole Source: DANTES Online Academic Training Subscription

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

1. The Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA), on behalf of the Defense Activity Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES), intends to award a sole source, firm fixed price (FFP) order under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, to the vendor below:

Peterson's Nelnet, LLC
3 Columbia Circle, Suite 205
Albany, NY 12203-5158

2. The proposed North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this effort is 611691, All
Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (size standard $7.5 Million).

3. This requirement will provide a commercially available, web-based enterprise wide academic skills training solution. The online courseware requires 24/7 availability for all Service members regardless of geographical location throughout the world. The core functional requirements for the online academic skills program were established in coordination with the Department of Defense (DoD) Inter-Service Voluntary Education Board (IVEB) and the Chief of DoD Voluntary Education. The requirement has evolved into courseware for two separate academic skills areas - Basic Academic Skills training which focuses on improving math and English proficiency and a course focused on College Placement Skills improvement.

The following features are required for this effort:

- Online and offline access with future upload capability for active, reserve, and National Guard military personnel serving around the world.
- Group and individual learning environments supported.
- Academic skills training aligned to military standardized tests (i.e. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery).
- College placement training aligned to the most used college placement test (i.e. Accuplacer).
- Student diagnostic testing and pre-assessment to evaluate an individual's current math/reading/vocabulary and college-level arithmetic and English comprehension and a customized personalized learning path built for each user to address their strengths and weaknesses.
- Ability to adjust customized path of courses set from pre-assessment (adding or deleting courses in their customized path).
- Interactive lessons and flash cards built into the online system and practice questions to help assess the learner's progress.
- Post-assessment which measures performance at the end of the course and compares it directly with the pre-assessment.
- Unlimited users as well as unlimited access - no time factor to use and members can take courses over and over again (In other words no separate cost per course as a one-time usage).
- Start and stop options, student password reset, automated emails to student, and notifications on homepage.
- Administrative reporting available online for specific location administrators to pull reports directly - can also be used with facilitation of courses.
- Hardcopy and online marketing and promotional materials; vendor user training and webinars.
- Technical support via telephone or email and all required maintenance, sustainment, and hosting.

4. The services under this requirement are currently provided under the Library of Congress' Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) Blanket Ordering Agreement (BOA); BOA No. LC14C7108, Order No. N68322-17-F-5700.

5. This notice of intent to award a sole source order is not a request for competitive proposals. A solicitation for competitive quotes will not be available for this requirement. Phone calls will not be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed order upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

The point of contact for this action is James Canady III, Contract Specialist and can be reached at James.A.Canady22.civ@mail.mil.