J&E Associates, Inc., B-278771, March 12, 1998

B-278771 Mar 11, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The solicitation is required to contain a provision addressing the conflicts in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 9.5. Educational courses for service members at Fort Rucker are offered by educational institutions in the local area and elsewhere. Such courses are taught at the institution. Among the tasks required by the RFP were the following guidance and counseling services relating to a service member's selection of. A conflict of interest provision prohibiting such institutions from competing under the RFP was included in the draft statement of work. The only provision regarding conflicts of interest included in the RFP was the following: C.1.7.4.2. J&E alleges that the RFP must have an organizational conflict of interest provision which prohibits institutions with such potential for bias from competing under this RFP. View Decision Matter of: J&E Associates, Inc. File: B-278771 Date: March 11, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION J&E Associates, Inc. protests request for proposals (RFP) No. DABT01-97-R-0019, issued by the Department of the Army for educational and technical support services at Fort Rucker, Alabama. J&E protests that the agency did not address organizational conflicts of interest in the RFP. We sustain the protest. The RFP stated the following: C.1.1. Scope of Work. The Contractor shall provide all educational and technical support services to include management, supervisory, professional, technical, and administrative personnel to accomplish all tasks described in this contract to operate the Army Continuing Education Center (ACE-C) at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Educational courses for service members at Fort Rucker are offered by educational institutions in the local area and elsewhere. Such courses are taught at the institution, at Fort Rucker, or by mail. The Army provides financial assistance to service members enrolling in such courses either by reimbursing the service member for tuition payments, or by direct payments to the institution. Among the tasks required by the RFP were the following guidance and counseling services relating to a service member's selection of, or enrollment in such courses: C.5.3.2. The contractor shall assist servicemembers in making first time course and program choices and in planning educational programs. Assist servicemembers in establishing long and short range goals, and make plans to obtain those goals through guidance and counseling on the availability of ACE-C programs and services, and in enrolling service members in appropriate programs. . . . C.5.3.3. The contractor shall refer servicemembers, after initial guidance session, to an appropriate institution, schedule for necessary testing, and/or direct him/her to [an] appropriate workshop [developed and conducted by the contractor] for additional information or program to begin self-development activities. In addition to guidance and counseling services, the RFP at section C.5.2.2 required the contractor to administer the tuition assistance program. This involved monitoring of the eligibility of service members for tuition assistance, and receiving and verifying billing statements from institutions for courses in which service members enroll. The agency determined that prospective offerors would include educational institutions in the local area, as well as other institutions currently offering courses at Fort Rucker. A conflict of interest provision prohibiting such institutions from competing under the RFP was included in the draft statement of work. However, the contracting officer recommended deletion of this restriction on competition because she determined that these institutions could offer objective advice and assistance to service members, and that any potential bias in assisting in a service member's selection of courses and programs would be mitigated by the Army's direct oversight of the contractor. The final RFP did not restrict the competition. The only provision regarding conflicts of interest included in the RFP was the following: C.1.7.4.2. Conflict of Interest. The contractor shall not employ any person whose employment would result in a real or perceived organizational conflict of interest, [or] violate the requirements of [Department of Defense] 5500.7-Regulation, Joint Ethics Regulation and Fort Rucker employment statutes and regulations or [Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)] Sec. 3.104. J&E's protest alleges that the RFP did not address the organizational conflicts of interests of an educational institution, which if awarded the contract could advise service members to enroll in its own courses and review its own tuition billing statements.