Institute of International Education (IIE) 809 United Nations Plaza New York, NY Request for Proposal

Transcription

1 Institute of International Education (IIE) 809 United Nations Plaza New York, NY Request for Proposal Interactive Online Prevention of Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Training Issue Date: October 2, 2015 Closing Date: October 19, 2015

2 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND A. Background: Institute of International Education The Institute of International Education ( IIE ) is a New York not-for-profit corporation that is among the world s largest and most experienced international education and training organizations. Founded in 1919, IIE promotes educational exchange around the world through a wealth of programs and services including Fellowship and Scholarship Management, Higher Education Institutional Development, Emergency Student and Scholar Assistance, and Leadership Development. For more than 90 years, IIE has promoted educational exchange around the world. The Institute currently implements more than 250 programs benefiting 25,000 men and women from 175 nations. Foremost among these programs is the world-renowned Fulbright Program, which IIE has had the honor to administer on behalf of the U.S. Department of State since the program s inception in In addition to the U.S. Department of State, program sponsors include: the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); major philanthropic foundations; private and public corporations; foreign governments; and individuals. With IIE s global headquarters in New York City, IIE has offices around the world, including offices in the United States (Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco) and in other countries (China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam). B. PURPOSE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The purpose of this Request for Proposal ( RFP ) is to invite qualified organizations to submit a proposal for Interactive Online Prevention of Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Training, outlined more fully in Section 6, Scope of Work. Contingent upon successful performance and at IIE s sole discretion, IIE may renew the selection(s) without recompetition for up to five years in total. Offerors are requested to submit proposals for the initial year with the understanding that work will be similar in subsequent years. IIE may ask successful offerors to submit updated proposals annually as part of the renewal process. The remainder of this RFP provides additional information that will allow an offeror to understand the scope of the effort and develop a proposal in the format desired by IIE. The information presented in this RFP is furnished solely for the purpose of assisting the offeror in making its own evaluation of the Scope of Work and does not purport to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information you may require. This RFP is not an offer by IIE to contract, but rather an attempt to establish a common framework for IIE to evaluate potential suppliers. The offeror should make its own investigations, projections and conclusions to verify independently the information contained in this RFP, and to obtain any additional information that it may require, prior to submitting a proposal. 2 Contact Information A. Offeror s Inquiries. Any questions regarding the terms or specifications of this RFP or the conditions or proposed format of responses should be directed to: Tia Wiggins, Senior HR Partner Institute of International Education 1400 K St. NW, 7 th floor Page 2 of 6

3 Washington, DC IIE will endeavor to respond to offeror inquiries or requests for clarification by the date indicated below. No oral answers will be provided. Answers to all questions will be posted publicly on IIE s website. B. Proposal Submission. Proposals, including any attachments (limited to 6MB), should be sent electronically to: twiggins@iie.org. Be sure to include in the subject line: RFP Submittal: Online Prevention of Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Training. IIE will not accept proposals received by fax. Institute of International Education 1400 K St. NW, 7 th floor Washington, DC Attention: Tia Wiggins 3 Schedule and Due Dates Proposals: All proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. EST, October 19, IIE reserves the right to deem any proposal received after this deadline as non-responsive and exclude it from consideration. Proposals must be in either MS Word. Attachments can include MS Excel formats. Once received, you will be notified of receipt. Event Date RFP distribution to offerors October 2, 2015 Offerors questions due 5:00 p.m., eastern time zone, October 5, 2015 Responses to offeror s questions posted On or about October 8, 2015 Proposal due date 5:00 p.m., eastern time zone, October 19, 2015 Anticipated decision and selection of offeror(s) October 26, 2015 Anticipated commencement date of work November 16, 2015 IIE will consider submitted proposals as your best response and valid for 120 days. 4 RFP Conditions Under no circumstances will IIE be responsible for your costs and expenses in connection with this RFP including reviewing this RFP and/or submitting a Proposal. IIE reserves the right to: Reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any offeror. Accept other than the lowest price offered. Select an offeror on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions or requests for best and final offers. Select more than one offeror. Nothing in this RFP is, or should be relied on by the offeror as, a promise or representation by IIE. Neither does IIE make any representation or warranty as to the completeness of this RFP nor have any liability for any representations (express or implied) contained in, or omissions from, this RFP. Page 3 of 6

4 This RFP and any replies to any written notifications are transmitted to the offeror solely for the purposes of the vendor preparing and submitting a Proposal. Each offeror shall keep the RFP and its contents confidential and shall return the RFP (without keeping copies) to IIE if the offeror elects not to submit a proposal, or upon being requested to do so by IIE. Any information or materials submitted as a response to this RFP and/or as a proposal (whether successful or unsuccessful) shall become the property of IIE and will not be returned. 5 Selection Criteria and Proposal Instructions IIE will select the offeror whose proposal represents the best overall value to IIE in terms of the selection criteria specified below. Offerors who do not follow the instructions in this RFP may be disqualified from consideration. Minimum Eligibility Criteria In order to be selected, an offeror must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements: Experience: A minimum of two years of relevant experience developing and delivering interactive online training content, tools, and resources Past Performance: satisfactory past performance based on the below Criteria 2. Must not be suspended or debarred by the U.S. government Selection Criteria Proposals must address each selection criteria as outlined below. The selection criteria other than cost / price, when combined, are of approximately equal importance to cost / price. Section I: Technical Proposal A. Criteria 1 Experience and qualifications: The offeror must submit a narrative description of its relevant experience. This narrative cannot exceed two pages and must address the following: a. How robust, complete, and relevant is the content? b. How practical and usable is the content for participants once they complete the on line training? c. Can content be customized to be relevant to IIE? d. What types of activities are included in the content? e. Can a sample of content be provided? f. A brief description of training content g. A description of resources (personnel) currently available in-house to provide the required services h. A description of any plans to outsource/subcontract the services i. A description of what experience does the organization have in this topic?, including CVs for key individuals, where applicable. CVs are not included in the 2-page length limit. j. What types of clients has the organization worked with in the past? k. How successful has the organization been in working with past clients? l. Can references be provided? m. What kind of technical support will be provided? Does the offeror provide 24/7 support? B. Criteria 2 Past Performance: a) Submit three client references including the following information: -Client Name -Job/Project Name(s) -Contact Person Name -Contact Person phone number and address b) IIE reserves the right to also obtain and consider other past performance information from contacts outside and within IIE. Page 4 of 6

5 C. Criteria 3 - Quality Control Plan: submit a single narrative for this factor, regardless of the number of services offered. This narrative cannot exceed two pages and must address the following: a) A description of internal review procedures that facilitate high-quality standards b) Identification of individuals responsible for ensuring quality control c) Whether or not outsourcing/subcontractors are used and, if so, the quality control measures used to ensure acceptable subcontractor performance d) How potential problem areas and solutions are handled e) The procedures for ensuring quality performance when meeting urgent requirements f) How quality control will be managed when completing multiple projects for multiple clients Section II: Cost/Price Proposal A. Criteria 4 Cost-Effectiveness (i) Complete the RFP Response Sheet (ii) Please outline any discounts that you will provide to IIE in consideration of the work and in consideration of IIE s capacity as a non-profit (501(c)(3)) promoting international education worldwide (iii) IIE is exempt from sales tax in some jurisdictions in which it has offices, including in New York and Washington, D.C. IIE is also exempt from sales and use tax in certain other states within the U.S. 6 Scope of Work The offeror must be a reputable firm, who, by education, training, & experience, and profession, is competent and qualified to provide interactive online training services focused on the Prevention of Workplace Harassment and Discrimination on behalf of IIE. The interactive online training must be in compliance with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") regulations specifically (29 C.F.R. Part 1608), Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) (29 U.S.C. 793) and its implementing regulations (41 C.F.R. Part 60741) training services on behalf of the IIE. The offeror must provide cost competitive, interactive online training courses and resources for a US-based international non-profit with 750+ leaders, managers, and non- supervisory employees. The interactive online training that the offeror develops for IIE must provide information and guidance on how to prevent employment/workplace discrimination (inclusive of protected classes as defined by the State and Federal law), prevent hostile work environments, mitigate other forms of harassment and retaliation, as well as provide instruction on how to report any alleged violation of state and federal laws, county, and/or city policies in regards to employment discrimination and harassment. The offeror s interactive online training is expected to effectively educate IIE s workforce and improve employee behavior. The emphasis of the online training must be customizable, practical, reinforce federal and state regulations (specifically the states listed above where IIE has offices), IIE s EEO specific policies and hypothetical, yet realistic scenarios. Offeror must ensure that the training remains compliant and will be modified to accommodate changes in federal, state and local laws. The interactive online training courses must be easily accessible, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design compliant, compatible with modern technology including various web browsers/ modern information technology tools such as Apple/Android, etc. Page 5 of 6

6 The offeror is responsible for ensuring the training content is legally defensible, compliant with all above listed regulations. The offeror must have an easy and accessible online portal to allow IIE to obtain ad hoc reports for monitoring and evaluations. The offeror is responsible for notifying IIE of any necessary changes to the courses or other matters of significant or urgent nature. 7 Annual Renewal As noted above, selection(s) may be renewed annually, at IIE s sole discretion, for up to five years before re-competition. The following shall be submitted by selected offerors on an annual basis: (1) Provide IIE with any updated budget/prices and / or proposal, plus backup for any cost changes IIE reserves the right to exercise one of the following options: (1) Accept the updated proposal if changes are reasonable and within the scope of the original selection. (2) Negotiate to arrive at agreement on any updates/changes; or, (3) Decide not to renew the selection, if requested updates/changes are not justified and within the scope of the original selection. Page 6 of 6