Medical University Presidential Assessment

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) located on the Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSA Bethesda) - formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) - in Bethesda, Maryland, has a requirement for a comprehensive five-year assessment of the President of the University. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This request for quotes (RFQ) for commercial services is in accordance with FAR Part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures. It will be the responsibility of the offeror to check the website, http://www.fbo.gov, for the issuance of any amendments to the solicitation. This RFQ incorporates all provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 05-46. See attached provisions and clauses. The Government will award a single award, firm fixed price contract. To be eligible for contract award, an offeror must register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. For instructions on registering with CCR, please see CCR's website at https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/default.aspx. Requirement & Background: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) has a requirement for a comprehensive assessment of the performance of the President of the University over the past five years. This is a new requirement for the President that was established by the Board of Regents (BOR) in May of 2010. Comprehensive assessments have not been accomplished to date. Only annual self-assessments have been done by the President, for the Board, over the past four (4) years. This year marks the President's fifth year. The requirement calls for a qualified outside contractor to perform interviews and review the President's performance against the goals he established - which were subsequently approved by the BOR - and then provide the final assessment in written and presentation form to the BOR. University Information: Established by U.S. Congress in 1972, this federally funded university educates and trains uniformed healthcare practitioners for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the U.S. Public Health Service. The university's F. Edward H'bert School of Medicine (SOM), the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN) and the Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute are located on the campus of the Naval Support Activity Bethesda (formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland). The School of Medicine awards the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree to uniformed candidates and its graduate programs award master's and doctoral degrees to uniformed and civilian candidates. The Graduate School of Nursing, established in 1993, awards master's and doctoral degrees in nursing to uniformed and civilian candidates. Scope of Work: The assessment shall be based upon interviews with selected individuals and a review of the President's performance opposite his self-described goals that were approved by the BOR (to be provided only upon requests sent to contact@example.gov). Interviews may be conducted in person, via email, or by telephone. All interviews are to be conducted anonymously. The offeror shall use their past experience, their stated method, and the provided statistics (see below) to compile a list of interviewees. Internal individuals that should be interviewed will consist of university leaders - deans, vice presidents, senior vice presidents, and department chairs. External individuals may consist of the Uniformed Services Surgeons General (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Public Health Service), board members, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (ASD/HA), and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. For complete university statistics, please see the statistics section below. The assessment will include a comprehensive review of the President's past goals and accomplishments, and it should also include recommendations for future actions and priorities. The evaluation shall cover the following topics: leadership; research; teaching; professional development of the faculty and staff; and communication. The assessment shall also include a comprehensive account of the President's strengths and weaknesses, along with recommendations for improvement in all assessment categories, and an account of how the University has changed under his direction. The offeror must provide a written review and verbal presentation of the assessment in a closed session of the full Board of Regents on May 20, 2011. An electronic draft shall be sent to the BOR 30 days prior to the presentation date to ensure all aspects of the assessment have been addressed in full. The presentation will be conducted in the USUHS Board Room, D3001, at the University, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, Maryland. Upon completion, the offeror will prepare the final review in a written format of their choosing with the number of pages determined by the extent of their findings. Offeror will deliver five (5) hard copies and one (1) electronic copy prepared in Microsoft Word. Period of Performance: November 30, 2010 (anticipated award date) through May 20, 2011. Roles and Responsibilities of the President: The President of the University is appointed by the Secretary of Defense, and serves as the chief executive officer of the nation's only federal Medical School and Graduate School of Nursing. The President is responsible for the quality of the university's academic programs and extensive research programs, and provides oversight to the Deans and Program Directors to assure achievement of the university's mission. As the principal advocate for the university within both the federal government and academic communities, the President provides innovative leadership and guidance for obtaining extramural funding to advance the university's research programs. Additionally, the President shall have: a demonstrated track record of leadership and accomplishments; the background and experience to lead a complex health-sciences research university; a terminal degree similar to those awarded by the university and a record of academic achievement with credentials sufficient to be appointed as a senior faculty member in at least one of the two schools; experience with military healthcare; and the background, experience and character traits to credibly represent the university within the federal government and within academic communities. The position of the USUHS President is in the excepted service of the federal civil service and is subject to applicable U.S. government personnel regulations. University Statistics: - Number of current students: 1,037 (681 MD; 163 GSN; 158 Graduate Students; 35 post-grad dental) - Number of current chairs: 30 (SOM 20 and 3 Directors; GSN 2 and 5 Directors) - Number of current faculty: 329 (208 Civilian, 121 Military), plus 3,999 off-campus adjunct - Number of current staff: 617 (461 Civilian, 156 Military) - Number of current Regents on the Board: 15 (9 appointed, 6 ex. officio) - Number of current VPs: 2 Sr. VPs, 5 VPs, 1 Director of AFRRI, 1 Brigade Commander - Number of current Deans: Four - 1 SOM, 1 GSN, 2 Dental (1 Navy, 1 AF) - Number of current Assoc Deans: 8 SOM, 2 GSN, 1 Vice Dean Qualifications/Evaluation Factors: Award will be made on a best value determination considering the following evaluation factors: 1. Corporate Experience - Offerors are required to provide a narrative of their experience in performing past assessments of presidents of academic institutions that include a medical school. This should also include information regarding the offeror's experience performing their quoted method of assessment. Offerors are required to provide resumes of key personnel involved with the assessment. Quote must state which position and duties each individual is responsible for. Offerors must indicate whether resumes provided are current employees or possible future employees. Any offeror providing a resume of an individual for an identified key position, who will not be available during contract performance, must provide an alternative with comparable qualifications. 2. Technical Approach - Offeror's methodology for completing assessment. Offerors shall describe their method(s) of assessment. If citing named methodologies, please include a description of what it entails and how the plan will be implemented. This portion shall include a milestone chart depicting each step of the assessment (from award of contract to final completion of assessment), how long each portion will take, and who will be working on each portion. 3. Past Performance - The Government shall evaluate the offeror's present and past performance within the past three (3) years. Offerors must provide a minimum of three (3) customer references on contracts of similar complexity, scope, dollar amount, and type. The customer references must complete the attached past performance survey and email a copy to contact@example.gov by noon, 19 November 2010. It is the offeror's responsibility to ensure past performance surveys are received by the due date. Any survey included in the quote package, but not emailed to contact@example.gov will not be considered. Offerors may provide additional information to support past performance history, but not in lieu of the past performance surveys required. USUHS reserves the right to contact customer references for additional information. Offerors will have an opportunity to address any adverse past performance history. Offerors who do not have any past performance history will not be rated favorably or unfavorably, but will instead receive a "neutral/unknown" rating for past performance. A strong history of relevant past performance may be more advantageous to the Government than a less relevant record of favorable past performance. The Government reserves the right to use data provided by the offeror and data provided by alternate sources in conducting its assessment of past performance history. 4. Price - Offerors must provide a firm fixed price quote. For price analysis purposes only, offeror shall provide a detailed break-down of the hourly rates for each position, and the number of anticipated hours for each individual. This should match the number of hours outlined for each task in the milestone chart. All quotation packages shall be clearly marked with the quotation number, tax identification number (TIN), DUNS number, point of contact name, phone number, fax number and email address (if available). Funds Availability: FAR Part 52.232-18 - AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS (APR 1984) Funds are not presently available for this contract. The Government's obligation under this contract is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for contract purposes can be made. No legal liability on the part of the Government for any payment may arise until funds are made available to the Contracting Officer for this contract and until the Offeror receives notice of such availability, to be confirmed in writing by the Contracting Officer. (End of clause) Due Dates: Questions must be submitted via email to contact@example.gov by noon on November 10, 2010. Questions submitted after this date will not be answered. Questions will not be answered over the telephone, but will be answered in an amendment to the solicitation posted on or about November 12, 2010. It is the responsibility of the offeror to monitor FedBizOpps for any amendments to the solicitation. All quotes are due by noon EST on November 19, 2010. Quotes must be emailed to contact@example.gov. The Government reserves the right to award without discussion. USUHS is located on a secure installation and base access will not be provided nor will anyone be able to meet offerors at the gate to accept quotes.