Immigration & Naturalization Service, Procurement Division, 425 I St., NW, Room 2208, Washington, DC 20536

99 -- ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS (TESTS) SOL COW-0-R-0022 DUE 030300 POC Mary Rouse 202/353-7621; Andrea Grimsley 202/514-3420; Kathy Kallinikos 202/514-0017 E-MAIL: click here to contact the contract specialist via, Mary.C.Rouse@usdoj.gov. Solicitation No. COW-0-R-0022 (Assessment Instruments -- Tests) is amended in response to submitted questions. This Amendment #02 does NOT extend the due date for receipt of proposals. In addition, no further amendments will be forthcoming due to question submittals. (1) Q: Does the INS, Procurement Division, plan to use COTS software provided by the selected vendor to administer, score, and report the assessment results or does INS plan to use its own scoring software or statistical package?. A: INS intends to score answer sheets at its own facility, using its own validation software or a reasonable alternative provided at no additional charge by an ultimately successful offeror. (2) Q: If vendor provides company proprietary, trade secret scoring keys and a complete description of the scoring keys and formulas or programs, how does INS plan to ensure that the proprietary, trade-secret information remains secure and does not fall into the public domain? A: All scoring keys for our tests are protected from disclosure under FOIA [5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(c)(2)] because they are part of an examination procedure. All our test material is kept in combination locked files in our locked test room when not in use or on a separate computer drive that resides on a dedicated server that is available only to authorized Research and Development Branch staff. Computer access to the file is password protected. The facility that processes our tests maintains similar procedures to ensure the security of test materials and their computer files. The Research and Development Branch and the facility that processes our tests have extensive experience in maintaining the security test material used in a series of ongoing testing programs for filling a variety of positions in the Federal Government. Posted 03/01/00 (W-SN429882). (0061)

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