Patent and Trademark Office, Office of Procurement, Box 6, Washington, DC 20231

U -- EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES SOL 52-PAPT-8-00027 DUE 070798 POC Naomi Sorrell, Contracting Officer, (703) 305-8563, E-MAIL: naomi.sorrell@uspto.gov, naomi.sorrell@uspto.gov. (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) This solicitation number 52-PAPT-8-00027 is issued as a request for proposal (RFP). (iii) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-04. (iv) This acquisition is unrestricted. The associated standard industrial code is 8299. (v) The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) anticipate entering into a five year (base year with four option years)firm-fixed-price/requirements contract for the provision of educational support services. The work under the contract will be performed in Government furnished facilities located in Crystal City, Arlington VA. The contract line item number, description and quantity are specified herein. The contractor shall provide a unit price and total price for contract line item for 0001 for the base year and the four option years. CONTRACT LINE ITEMS: CLIN 0001 EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES; DESCRIPTION -- Management, supervision and labor, to plan, schedule, coordinate and ensure effective performance of all PTO University services. The personnel shall provide full coverage for professional academic services. The coverage shall be provided Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. -- 9:00 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. -- 5:00 p.m., and Saturday 8:30 a.m. -- 1:00 p.m. The Contractor shall provide program planning, assessment, administration, and reporting. The Contractor shall schedule, coordinate, and serve as the educational partner liaison. In support of the program, the contractor will have close liaison with the PTO Human Resources staff and partnering schools to efficiently schedule all PTO-U classes needed each semester. The Contractor shall provide counseling and academic advising support. Other deliverables and delivery schedule are as follows: Program Status reports, monthly; Semester progress reports, mid-semester and end of semester; Program costs reports, monthly and quarterly; Registration, by semester (three (3) semesters per calendar year); Classroom coordination, daily, weekly, monthly; Books and materials ordering, each semester or as needed; Counseling support reports, monthly; Data entry and database maintenance, daily; Partnership Working Group meetings, monthly; Orientations, each semester, College Fairs, annual event coordination; Conference presentation, four (4) times per year; and Graduation recognition, annual event coordination. CLIN 002 OPTIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Optional requirements related to the performance of PTO-U such as the addition of future programs will be subject to negotiation and may be ordered on a requirements basis. (vi) DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE ACQUIRED: Background: In August, 1991, the Patent and Trademark Office founded a corporate university to educate PTO employees in technical, managerial, and leadership competencies. The purpose is to provide a knowledge base that will be needed as the PTO transitions from a traditional Federal agency to a performance-based, wholly owned Government corporation; and/or provide a knowledge base that will better prepare employees who separate from PTO federal service. The "PTO University" offers PTO employees, at PTO expense, a choice of nine, college-credit educational programs through an educational partnership role with Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), Marymount University, George Washington University (GWU), and Maxwell School of Advanced Public Administration. All programs are provided to PTO employees during non-duty (usually after-hours and weekends) hours. All programs are provided in PTO training facilities in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, using PTO furnished supplies and equipment. The nine academic programs range from undergraduate to graduate-level certificates and degrees specially selected to satisfy broad agency competencies that relate to academic disciplines. These three academic disciplines include Business, Intellectual Property Law, and Information Systems Technology. The proposed contract is in support of this overall academic Program. The time frame for the various duties under the contract will coincide with the academic calendar for the educational programs. General Requirements: The PTO, Office of Human Resources requires a Contractor to assume responsibility for the program management and academic services for the Patent and Trademark Office University. The Contractor shall: Apply past working experience within a corporate university context in order to manage and publicize programs. Provide proof of academic accreditation and institutional qualifications for these services, i.e., member of an academic accrediting association, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; and/or the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The PTO University educational partners; NVCC, Marymount University, GWU, and Maxwell are members of this consortium. This requirement is necessary to ensure standardized articulation, library and computer access, and transferability within currently approved state and institutional academic programs. Apply high ethical values to protect the confidentiality of student records and services. Identify organizational educational needs and assist in educational assessments to create new programs and expand current educational programs and curriculum. Through an educational partnership role with NVCC, Marymount, GWU, and Maxwell, daily manage all aspects of degree and college-credit certificate educational programs already provided by a variety of educational institutions. Provide academic advising to all PTO employees and PTO-U students and identify and provide appropriate academic support services as needed by the student population within an office context. Liaison with and orient faculty members of all partnering schools/universities teaching PTO-U classes in order to ensure consistency in PTO-U policy and practices. Manage classroom facilities and supporting educational equipment. Maintain automated academic record keeping (student enrollments and grades, etc.) and provide regular program status reports to the COTR. Specific Requirements: The following specific tasks will be required to provide educational support services to PTO University. (1) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT -- The Contractor shall provide all management, supervision and labor, and shall plan, schedule, coordinate and ensure effective performance of all services described herein. (a) Staffing. The effort may be staffed with part-time and full time employees. The personnel shall provide full coverage for professional academic services and shall bring experience and dedication to enhance the goals of the PTO University. The coverage shall be provided Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. -- 9:00 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. -- 5:00 p.m., and Saturday 8:30 a.m. -- 1:00 p.m. (b) Program planning, assessment, administration, and reporting. The contractor shall work closely with the COTR and other identified PTO personnel to plan new and continuing educational programs in alignment with the policy and goals of PTO-U. The contractor will collect and maintain data regularly, using a variety of automated tools. The data shall be on attendance and program participation, demographics, student academic progress, program changes, course schedules, program costs, and other related data and shall be used to report to the COTR on overall program and individual student status. Reports shall be submitted on a monthly, semester, and fiscal basis and upon request as needed. (c) Scheduling, coordinating, and educational partner liaison. In support of the program, the contractor will have close liaison with the PTO Human Resources staff and partnering schools to efficiently schedule all PTO-U classes needed each semester. The contractor will use the PTO facilities and equipment available to them for this purpose and order materials needed through PTO in support of PTO-U. The contractor will maintain an inventory of required equipment and materials and protect the property and facilities. The contractor staff must establish a good working relationship and liaison with instructors and other educational personnel from partnering schools to orient them to the goals, policies, and practices associated with PTO University. The contractor's on-site staff provides registration procedures, with all necessary forms and advising, for all PTO employees who wish to register for advertised classes. Registration is coordinated at least weekly during the registration period with the academic partners to ensure smooth registration and quality customer support. (2) -- EDUCATION ACCREDITATION SUPPORT (a) Counseling and academic advising support. The contractor will support the career and academic counseling services provided by each of the educational partners. This support includes scheduling appointments, use of counseling resource materials, coordinating with and assisting career and academic counselors in the use of automated tools, surveys and tests, and setting up workshops with the counselors in accordance with the requirements of the Program. The costs of assessments and placement testing are included in the tuition costs paid to each of the schools. In support of the Program, the contractor must be accredited by the Washington Consortium to ensure security and easy credit transfer, review and release of grades and confidential student records, and curriculum articulation among the educational institutions. On-line access to academic and counseling records is required, and the contractor must demonstrate a high degree of ethical values to protect the confidentiality of this information. ( b) Program evaluation and assessment The contractor must establish and maintain measurement criteria to assess the performance of PTO University in meeting the objectives and the larger goals of the PTO. This includes, but is not limited to collecting and reporting on student progress, bench marking against other corporate universities, comparison with other employee data, etc. OTHER DELIVERABLES/DELIVERY SCHEDULE: Unless otherwise specified, all reports and other deliverables shall be delivered to and/or coordinated with the COTR. The deliverables and delivery schedule are as follows: Program Status reports, monthly; Semester progress reports, mid-semester and end of semester; Program costs reports, monthly and quarterly; Registration, by semester (three (3) semesters per calendar year); Classroom coordination, daily, weekly, monthly; Books and materials ordering, each semester or as needed; Counseling support reports, monthly; Data entry and database maintenance, daily; Partnership Working Group meetings, monthly; Orientations, each semester, College Fairs, annual event coordination; Conference presentation, four (4) times per year; and Graduation recognition, annual event coordination. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND INFORMATION: PTO will provide necessary office space, meeting space, classrooms, equipment to include automation tools, phones, computers, and copiers, and materials necessary to support the Program. The clause at 52.228-5 Insurance -- Work on a Government Installation applies to this acquisition. PTO will provide the necessary documentation and background information and access to records as necessary to perform the tasks. This documentation may include, but is not limited to the PTO University Labor-Management Partnership Working Group Policy Matrix; access to the automation tools and databases, Registrar and PTONet; information directories; CFRs and federal training regulations. OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION OR SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: It is preferable that the educational support services provider have a strong presence within the Metropolitan DC area. Institutions with previous corporate university experience will be given special consideration. (vii) PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:The proposed effective date of the contract is July 21, 1998 through July 20, 1999. Clause 52.217-9 is applicable to this acquisition and is incorporated herein. 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of The Contract. (a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within the last 30 days of the effective period; provided, that the Government shall give the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 60 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension. (b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option provision. (c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed five years. (viii) EVALUATION FACTORS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS: The provisions at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items and 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options, applies to this acquisition. (ix) The provision at 52.212-2 Evaluation -- Commercial Items, is applicable to this acquisition. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (1) Technical capability and approach which includes but is not limited to academic accreditation and previous corporate university experience of proposed staff and the institution. Identify each key individual the Offeror plans to use in performing the contract work and describe the role each will play in the effort. Provide resumes describing the work experience, education and professional credentials of these individuals. The Offeror is required to demonstrate an understanding of the scope and complexity of the work by describing in sufficient detail the approach to each task. (2) Relevant past performance on similar projects will be evaluated for quality performance. Similar is defined as educational support services comparable in size and scope to the anticipated services indicated in this solicitation. Both independent data and data provided by offerors in their proposals may be used to evaluate past performance. The Offeror shall provide at least three references with the name and telephone number of contact person. (3) Offerors shall provide the price for the base year and each option year. The cost/price will be considered in terms of its impact upon recruiting and retention of staff, its realism, and its consistency with the technical proposal. Technical capability and approach and past performance when combined are significantly more important than price. (x) CONTRACT CLAUSES AND PROVISIONS: Offerors are advised to include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items, with its offer. (xi) The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items applies to this acquisition with the clause at 52.228-5 Insurance-Work on a Government Installation is added as an addendum to the clause. (xii) The clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Clauses in 52.212-5 that are applicable to this acquisition are those at (b) (1) through (4), (6) through (9) and (14) and (c) (1) through (5). (xiii) Offerors shall submit an original and two copies of its offer to the Patent and Trademark Office, Office of Procurement, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 810, Arlington, VA 22202. Attention: Naomi Sorrell. The offer due date and local time are July 7, 1998, at 3:00 p.m. BASIS FOR AWARD: Award will be made to the responsible offeror whose offer, conforming to the solicitation, will be most advantageous to the Government, technical factors and pricing considered. The point of contact for all information regarding this acquisition is Naomi Sorrell at (703) 305-8563, fax (703)305-8294 and via e-mail naomi.sorrell@uspto.gov. (0155)

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