MODIFICATION
R -- SCOPS SPREE
- Notice Date
- 12/8/2010
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship & Immigration Services, USCIS Contracting Office, 70 Kimball Avenue, Burlington, Vermont, 05403
- ZIP Code
- 05403
- Solicitation Number
- CIS-SSN-SCOPS-SPREE
- Archive Date
- 12/16/2010
- Point of Contact
- Lindsey Mongeon, Phone: 80287241974628
- E-Mail Address
-
Lindsey.Mongeon@dhs.gov
(Lindsey.Mongeon@dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- 1 PURPOSE This synopsis is for informational and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a solicitation or a commitment to issue a solicitation. It is issued for the purpose of conducting market research in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 to determine industry capabilities, including those of small businesses, to meet the Government's requirement. No solicitation is being issued at this time and the Government makes no assertion that a solicitation will be issued. The Government is not obligated to, and will not pay for, any information received from potential sources as a result of this notice. 2 BACKGROUND USCIS is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS secures America's promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of the immigration system. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) allows U.S. employers and individuals (in some cases) to file various petitions seeking lawful employment in the U.S. based on employment credentials. Many of these petitions involve Professors, Scientists, and Researchers, who file petitions under the following categories: • Individual of Extraordinary Ability: 203(b)(1)(A) of the INA; • Outstanding Professor or Researcher: 203(b)(1)(B) of the INA; • Member of Professions with Advanced Degree or Exceptional Ability, including National Interest Waivers: 203(b)(2) of the INA; and, • Individual of Extraordinary Ability: 101(a)(15)(O)(i) of the INA. Approximately 25,500 petitions are received annually under these categories which relate to SPREE filings. USCIS' SCOPS Directorate has four Service Centers throughout the U.S. (California, Nebraska, Texas, and Vermont) which currently process the petitions after receipt. The current processing time for standard processing from receipt of petition to final decision is approximately four (4) months. Additionally, USCIS offers Premium Processing on some cases which requires an adjudicative action in fifteen (15) days or less. At this time, a standard method does not exist to evaluate the professional qualifications of Scientists, Professors and Researchers, which include, without limitation, education, experience, publications, scholarly research, journal impact, awards and patents. As such, SCOPS adjudicators rely heavily on the Internet to research the validity of the information submitted in these petitions. 3 OBJECTIVE This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is intended to determine the number of potential offerors qualified to provide services that will assist SCOPS in standardizing its research and evaluation of professional qualifications and other field-specific benchmarks (detailed below) for Scientists, Professors and Researchers, thus improving the quality of petition adjudications and reducing processing times and the amount of paper evidence that is required to support the petition. SCOPS envisions achieving this objective via a web-based application/database infrastructure through which adjudicators would generate qualification summaries and/or evaluation reports to assist them in the evaluation of SPREE filings. The contractor shall be capable of executing the following:  The contractor shall be capable of providing access to an electronic database through which SCOPS employees can verify evidence and produce summary and/or evaluation reports related to Scientist, Professor and Researcher petitions including, without limitation, the following categories: • Education o All degrees/diplomas earned  Name of institution;  Field of study;  Class Standing; and,  Year of completion. • Training o Training Positions  Name of Institution;  Years at Institution;  Name of Laboratory Head; and,  Research focus of the laboratory. • Membership in Associations o Association Name o Association Purpose o Level of Membership within the Association  Requirements to obtain that level of membership • Qualifications (Accomplishments, Education, Fees, etc.) • Who votes to grant membership • Scholarly Research o Publications  Field; • Sub Field/Specialty  Name of Journal; • Journal Impact Factor; • Journal Impact Factor ranking compared to other journals in that field;  Number of times article cited; • Name and title of person who cited; o Location (city, country) of person who cited; • Name of Journal where cited; o Journal Impact Factor o Journal Impact Factor ranking compared to other journals in that field; o Collaborations  Name and title of person who collaborated with; • Role person played within collaboration • Name of Institution; • Location (city, country) of Institution; and, • Laboratory focus  Role o Lectures  Location of lecture;  Type of lecture (Poster Presentation, Keynote Address/Speaker, Panel Participant, etc.);  Title of lecture; and  Audience of lecture. • Contributions to Field o Patents (Pending and Issued)  Country of Issuance;  Abstract;  Application Number;  Filing Date;  Patent Number;  Issue Date; and,  Licensed Technology from Patent. • Volume Issued • Name of Licensee • Location of Licensee o Clinical Trials  Type (Treatment, Prevention, Diagnostic, Screening, or Quality of Life);  Current Phase (I, II, III, or IV); and,  New Drug Application. • Grants/Contracts o Type (Scholarship, Financial Aid, Travel Award, Money, Grant, or Contract). o Issuing Authority:  Name  Criteria for Issuance  Purpose Year Awarded o Amount o Period • Awards o Issuing Authority:  Name  Criteria for Issuance  Purpose o Year Awarded o Amount o Previous winners of award. • Positions Held o Title o Institution o Dates held  The contractor shall be capable of providing ad hoc analytic support as requested by SCOPS, which may include, without limitation, (i) improving or modifying system functionality (e.g., adding additional qualification categories and/or developing/adding qualification evaluation features), and (ii) assisting SCOPS employees in interpreting summary and/or evaluation reports to determine the significance of petition applicant qualifications.  The contractor shall be capable of providing system user support and training to SCOPS employees, which may include, without limitation, (i) general helpdesk support (e.g., resolving issues related to user log-in and answering system-related questions) and (ii) ongoing system training (including the development of training materials, if necessary) for SCOPS employees at each of the four Service Centers. 4 RESPONSE FORMAT AND GUIDELINES 4.1 Format, delivery date, and point of contact Responses shall be in Microsoft Word for Office 2003 (.doc) format and are due no later than 15 December, 2:00 PM Eastern Time (ET). All responses will be submitted via email (virus scanned) to the point of contact listed below: Point of Contact: Lindsey Mongeon Email: lindsey.mongeon@dhs.gov Phone: 802-872-4197, ext. 4628 Facsimile and hard (paper) copies will not be accepted. DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. No pricing information is allowed. 4.2 Content The response shall be divided into two sections. Section 1 of the response shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum: • Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact • Corporate Web site address • Business • Large business • Small business • Small disadvantaged business • 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business • HUBZone small business • Woman-owned small business • Veteran-owned small business • Service-disabled veteran-owned small business • DUNS number • North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code classifications Section 2 of the response shall address, in detail, the firm's capabilities to provide the type of services identified in Section 3 of this SSN. 5 CONCLUSION This SSN is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this SSN. The information in this SSN is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. This SSN does not constitute a commitment to procure any of the items/services discussed, nor is it a commitment or authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/BC/ACB/CIS-SSN-SCOPS-SPREE/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor site, United States
- Record
- SN02340428-W 20101210/101208233954-b9c0c2f4443c422ea4b34330420d20ca (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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