PRESOL | U | Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes Seminar

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF DECEMBER 25, 2002 FBO #0388
SOLICITATION NOTICE

U -- Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes Seminar

Notice Date: 12/23/2002
Notice Type: Solicitation Notice
Contracting Office: Office of Personnel Management, Office of Contracting and Administrative Services, Contracting Division, 1900 E Street, N.W., Room 1342, Washington, DC, 20415-7710
ZIP Code: 20415-7710
Solicitation Number: AN0300000014
Archive Date: 1/21/2003
Point of Contact: Jean Speed, Contracting Officer, Phone 303/671-1021, Fax 303/671-1018, - Jean Speed, Contracting Officer, Phone 303/671-1021, Fax 303/671-1018,
E-Mail Address: jcspeed@opm.gov, jcspeed@opm.gov
Small Business Set-Aside: Total Small Business
Description: Request for Quotations "Federal Budgetary Policy and Processes" Seminar The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is soliciting price quotations to perform the services described in this request for quotations (RFQ). This procurement is set aside for competition among small businesses only. The North America Industrial Classification Code (NAIC) is 611430 with a size threshold of 100 or fewer employees for determining if a company is considered small business for purposes of this acquisition. The work will consist of three segments - (1), assisting in the design and staffing of a week long seminar overview of the Federal budget process, (2), the creation of a four-day case simulation that models the federal budget process explained in the first week, and (3), the delivery of the simulation at the Western Management Development Center (WMDC) in Aurora, Colorado (a suburb of Denver). This work will support the delivery of the Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes seminar at the WMDC from April 21- May 2, 2003. The WMDC plans to conduct the seminar and simulation in 2004 and 2005 as well. We expect each seminar will be attended by up to 90 Federal managers from both domestic and Department of Defense (DOD) departments and agencies. Any proposal must cover all three programs. Partial proposals will not be accepted. After all proposals have been submitted, the responsible WMDC Associate Director and WMDC Contracting Officer will review the proposals and award a contract for the simulation based primarily on the WMDC's experience of running simulations in various policy seminars. This experience will be used to assess the ability of the simulation to meet the primary learning objective of teaching the implementation of budget policy and the role of the mid-level Federal manager in that process. The secondary, though important, basis of the award will be the price, though price is not the sole determinate. The dollar amount of this award will be less than $100,000. Your proposal must be received at the address listed below by close of business , 5:00 pm MST on January 6, 2003. Any proposals received after this time and date may be considered only if the Government determines it is in its best interest to do so. U.S. Office of Personnel Management Western Management Development Center ATTN: Ms. Jean Speed 3151 South Vaughn Way, Suite 300 Aurora, CO 80014 DESIGN AND STAFFING This part of the requirement will involve working closely with the WMDC Associate Director and Program Manager of the seminar to design and staff a one week overview of the Federal budget process which provides both an analysis of the political, macroeconomic and policy forces affecting the Federal budget and an in-depth explanation of how to successfully prepare and defend a budget submission. SIMULATION The primary learning objective of the simulation is to create an experiential exercise where the participants will learn and successfully practice the knowledge and skills they will need to produce a successful budget submission for their organization. In the past, successful simulations have taken the following approach: 1. Describe a simulated organization for which budgets (domestic agency and DOD) need to be prepared, and the scenario in which the domestic agency and DOD agency budgets are being formulated for the simulated organization. 2. Describe the players in the simulation and their roles in the budget process as they relate to the budgets to be simulated. These roles usually include: a. Budget Officers for the agency (or bureau, branch, unit - whatever level is appropriate for the budget to be simulated in both the domestic and DOD organizations). b. Program Officials for the agency (or bureau, etc.). c. Departmental Budget Director or Comptroller (for DOD agency). d. OMB policy analysts e. Constituency group leaders (if appropriate to the simulation). f. Congressional members/staff from the appropriate appropriations subcommittees. The relationship of these roles has been built into the simulation and described along with their relationships and interactions with other major players in the budget process, i.e., Department Secretaries, OMB Director, President, Speaker of the House, etc., who play a role in the simulation as described under "DELIVERY." 3. Engage in a step-by-step walk through of the budget process as it directly relates to the organization simulated to include, in chronological order of occurrence, the following stages of (1) the formulation of the President's budget including output and outcome measures required by the GPRA and (2) the congressional budget process. The usual stages are: a. OMB policy guidance including OMB circulars b. Agency internal budget process c. Agency and Departmental budget formulation d. Submission of budget to OMB e. OMB budget review f. OMB budget hearings with agency g. OMB passback h. Agency appeals i. OMB preparation of President's budget j. Submission of budget to Congress k. Appropriations subcommittee hearings l. Subcommittee markups m. Full committee hearings and/or n. Full floor debate of the bills The case materials normally include a schedule for the dates and times these steps will be played out during the course of the simulation. Obviously, any simulation cannot be fully realistic because of time and capacity constraints. For example, in reality small pieces of appropriations bills would not go to the floor of the House, but in the simulation they may for the sake of demonstrating the process. Other ways of approaching the simulation that will clearly achieve the main learning objective of the four-day experiential exercise are welcome and will be considered. A summary or outline of the simulation materials must be submitted for review to the WMDC no later than February 28, 2003, while all final case simulation documents and materials must be submitted to the WMDC no later then March 14, 2003. Historically, the case simulation materials (i.e., descriptions of the players, schedule of Executive and Congressional Branch actions, description of the case, Executive Branch simulated budget preparation instructions, and Congressional Branch simulation instructions) required about 60 pages of text. DELIVERY The proposal must also include preparation for and the actual delivery of the simulation on the dates specified. The preparation consists of timely submission, i.e., 3 weeks in advance of first day of seminar, of a camera ready copy of all documents and materials needed for the simulation and the identification of other experienced individuals who would be willing to help guide the seminar participants through the simulation. In this context, experience is defined as at least 3-5 years dealing with budget issues of the type faced by the role being portrayed/advised by the resource person. These individuals will play the roles of Departmental Secretaries, Director of OMB, President of the United States, Speaker of the House, and Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Staff Director of the Appropriations Subcommittee, and, if appropriate, the Chair of the constituency group. Because these resource persons are absolutely necessary to the simulation, submission of names of individuals who are available and willing to take part in the simulation is a vital component of the delivery of the FBPP seminar. Because clearances may be needed for some resource people, they should be identified as far ahead of the seminar dates as possible. In addition, resource people must be able to motivate and make substantive presentations to the seminar participants they are advising regarding the issues and perspectives needed by the staff persons the seminar participants are role playing. The WMDC Program Manager in charge of the FBPP seminar will approve/disapprove all potential resource person nominations based on the above criteria. The WMDC will prepare separate purchase orders to provide honoraria for the resource persons identified by the contractor, with the understanding that no honorarium may exceed $2,500, the WMDC's standard rate of compensation. The names of all resource persons and identification of those specific individuals who should receive an honoraria will be provided to the WMDC Program Manager at least 1 month in advance of the first day of the seminar. If government employees are identified, honoraria will not be paid. Travel, lodging, and meals will be provided by the WMDC for all resource personnel during the simulation. The WMDC will also provide (either in kind or at standard government rates) travel, lodging and meals for contractor personnel engaged in any on-site simulation activities during the course of the seminar. The contractor will also provide biographical statements for all speakers and resource persons participating in the FBPP 3 weeks in advance of the first day of the seminar. This information will be provided to participants in their seminar materials. The actual delivery of the simulation consists of briefing the participants on the particulars of the simulation, answering questions throughout the simulation, assisting the participants as their roles require, and coordinating the ongoing simulation with the resource faculty. All individuals conducting the simulation should be prepared to be fully involved in the simulation from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. during its presentation. The WMDC Program Manager in charge of the FBPP program will be the final authority for making decisions regarding any activities during the seminar or simulation. EVALUATION CRITERIA The following criteria will be used by the WMDC to review, evaluate, and select the subject contractor: Technical/Management Evaluation Criteria The successful bidder shall demonstrate their expertise in design and delivery of an intensive two week residential seminar that is focused on providing participants with a meaningful experience and simulation which transfers knowledge to participants about the entire Federal budget process and associated policies. The evaluation will be based on the ability of the bidder to sufficiently outline the entire participant learning experience so extent of knowledge transfer can be determined. The Kirkpatrick Four Level training evaluation model will be used as a reference for this evaluation. Evidence of specific experience in design and delivery of similar seminars to Federal government audiences must be provided. Materials such as participant evaluations, client evaluations or client referrals of these similar seminars shall be provided to demonstrate level of success. The successful bidder will be evaluated on their ability to meet or exceed customer requirements and obtain high ratings from seminar participants. The sample simulation materials will be evaluated for appropriateness and significance in transferring the knowledge to all participants. Again, the Kirkpatrick Four Level training evaluation model will be used as a reference for this evaluation. The simulation will also be evaluated for its relevance to current Federal government policies. Submission of Quotations Each company should submit a proposal that consists of two parts: a technical proposal and price quotation. The technical proposal should contain the following: 1) a proposed agenda for the seminar; 2) a list of proposed presenters and their respective topic(s) for the seminar; 3) a detailed description of the simulation and the process used to present it; 4) actual case materials to be used in the simulation; 5) materials demonstrating experience with similar seminars in the Federal government; 6) past seminar participant and/or client evaluations; 7) client contact information The price quotation should contain a breakdown of expenses associated with all required services, including, but not limited to: presenter and staff honoraria, seminar and simulation materials, and estimates of any other associated seminar costs. Evaluation of Quotations The WMDC will award a purchase order to the company that offers the best value to the Government considering primarily their technical excellence and, secondarily, their total proposed price for performing the services described in the RFQ. For this procurement, technical excellence is significantly more important than price to the Government in making its award decision. Technical Proposal Evaluation The following criteria will be used by the WMDC to review and evaluate technical proposals. They are listed in descending order of importance: Criteria 1) Demonstrated ability to design and deliver a successful 2 week seminar on Federal budget policies and processes, including securing the services of all presenters and support personnel. 2) Demonstrated ability to design and deliver a successful experiential simulation of the Federal budget process in the context of a Federal budget policies and processes seminar. 3) Cost 4) Thoroughness and overall appropriateness of all documents and related case materials for the Federal budget process simulation. 5) Experience performing the same or similar work for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Office of Executive and Management Development, other Federal agencies, or the private sector. Dr. Bruce Kirschner, Program Manager, 303-671-1037 Mr. Brent L. Green, Administrative Officer, 303-671-1010
Place of Performance: Address: US Office of Personnel Management, Western Management Development Center, 3151 South Vaughn Way, Suite 300, Aurora, CO; Zip Code: 80014; Country: USA
Record: SN00229477-W 20021225/021223213624 (fbodaily.com)
Source: FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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U -- Federal Budgetary Policies and Processes Seminar