Contracting for Science Students in Fiscal Year 1999 Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 12:29:42 -0400 To: "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "DC - All District Chiefs" From: "Alice A. Sabatini" Subject: Contracting for Science Students Reply Requested by July 24, 1998 Cc: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "AO - All Administrative Officers", "Nancy J Hill, Chief, Mgmt Support Section, Reston, VA" In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 442 MEMORANDUM June 29, 1998 To: District Chiefs Branch Chiefs From: Alice A. Sabatini Administrative Officer, Water Resources Division Subject: Contracting for Science Students in Fiscal Year 1999 REPLY REQUESTED BY JULY 24, 1998 The following are documents sent to me from John Peterson, Chief, Office of Acquisition and Federal Assistance in the Office of Program Support (OPS). John has informed me that the Geologic Division (GD) is piloting the use of this program during the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 1998. After this pilot, they will determine what actions need to be taken to implement this program bureauwide. There is also an effort underway to ensure that the enabling authority included in our FY 1998 appropriation will be continued in subsequent appropriations. We are taking action now to prepare for the use of this new authority in anticipation of a positive completion of the GD pilot. Please email Nancy Hill (njhill) by June 24, 1998, if you are interested in contracting for science students during FY 1999 under this program. Your response should indicate how many students you would like to contract by office location. In August, we will send a memorandum (similar to the one shown in Attachment 1) to all colleges and universities within a 50 mile radius of the offices indicating interest in the use of this program. We will provide the appropriate Branch and District Chief with a listing of all respondents and forward the same information to OPS for the issuance of the appropriate procurement documents. We also plan to work with OPS to clarify the role of the field warranted contracting officers in this program. I am optimistic that this program will prove to be beneficial to WRD. Please let me know if you have questions about this program that are not described in the following information or if you have concerns about our implementation approach. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Instructions and information related to orders placed for student services under authority provided by PL 105-83 under USGS's initial operational pilot program PL 105-83, the Department of the Interior's FY 1998 Appropriation Act included under USGS's General Administrative Provisions unusual language authorizing USGS to contract for the services of students in a manner which, absent the new authority, would likely have been construed as contracting for 'personal services'. When asked about the latitude that this new authority gives us, the DOI Solicitor's Office concluded, "...that Congress has expressly intended that these contracts be awarded and, therefore, that such awards are not limited by the general prohibition on personal services. In fact, the existence of the prohibition may be one reason why Congress believed that explicit legislation permitting such contracting was necessary. Furthermore, the qualifier "temporary or intermittent" in the statute indicates a congressional awareness that permanent or longer-term use of these students/recent graduates WOULD begin to infringe upon proper use/hiring of government employees. Furthermore, the legislation treats these contractors AS employees for a number purposes, which supports the inference that Congress was not intending to limit their duties as "employees." In short, to the extent that these student services may otherwise appear to be "personal services", we have statutory authority to contract for them. Finally, with regard to the IRS or others, subsequently looking into any of these orders related to determining that an employee-employer relationship developed, we believe that the specific language in the appropriations act will govern and that no situation similar to the "Betts" case in Central Region will develop. For the remainder of FY 1998, the USGS will gain experience in utilizing this authority through an operational pilot program. Early next FY, we will assess the results of the program and refine it for the future, presuming the authority will be retained in our appropriations act. The Solicitor's Office did provide some cautions on the use of students under this authority and cautioned against any extensive use of this authority in a non-competitive environment. These cautions are addressed as follows and will be addressed in our pilot program. Issues we want to be sure to cover in the pilot program include: 1. Establish a competitive environment by making an announcement to potentially interested parties and for the selection of students who will benefit from the experience gained working with USGS scientists. In the case of awards to universities and other institutions, we will encourage them to make selections based on the requirements we present to them. 2. Assure that the authority is used only as intended for science students. 3. Assure that the students are not empowered to make decisions that must be made by government personnel (i.e., no contracting out of "inherent governmental functions"). 4. Assure that the authority is not utilized in a carte blanche fashion to institute a program of sequential short-term, continually revolving, hires with the intent OR the effect of relieving USGS from hiring government employees when it would normally would have done so to obtain similar services. We need to assure that the program's purpose is clearly to acquaint future scientists with USGS specialties and operations so that some day they may either become a USGS employee or work with USGS from within any organization that they choose to pursue their career. 5. Because of the potential tax related problems for individual students as noted in item 6 below, it would be preferable to make awards under the program primarily with institutions in as uniform a manner as possible. However, since the pilot effort is starting after many of the institution's academic year has completed, we will be placing a number of awards to individual students. 6. In cases where awards are made to individuals, we need to be sure they are aware and understand the tax and social security implications of essentially acting as an independent contractor. 7. For purposes of defining "recent graduate", we will recognize individuals who have graduated within 12 months of proposed start date of the proposed project. 8. When making awards to colleges or universities, we must assure ourselves that they understand that we will not participate in any form of tuition renumeration program they may have with student employees. Requirements Identification: Each USGS division using this authority will provide a short description of the nature of the programs under which it would like to place students. The description should include general information that indicates what working conditions the student is likely to encounter, especially if field work or unusual environments are likely. Each order must include full information relative to the specific project within the overall program that is being support by the award. The program personnel must agree to fairly consider each candidate responding to a general announcement which might meet their project's requirements and to document their technical decision(s) for the contractual record. Operational Information: A master file containing decision documents and other information about the overall program is being prepared and maintained in Office of Acquisition and Federal Assistance (OAFA), Reston. It includes coverage for: Service Contract Act Exemption- Federal Acquisition Regulation 22.1003-3(f) applies. Competition & CBD synopsis: We prefer to maintain a competitive environment even though the authorizing legislation exempts these actions from CBD synopsis requirements. We will, using our program division's knowledge of curriculum at schools within a 50 mile radius of USGS offices and planned field camp sites, fax a general announcement to the institutions to get the widest possible response to our requirements. Attachment #1 is an example of a faxed announcement that will be used in the first pilot effort under this authority. In addition to the faxed announcement, program personnel may use their contacts within the institutions to increase participation in the program. When a requisition is prepared for a specific order it shall include a short statement that the capabilities of all interested students have been reviewed and reason(s) for selecting the successful student(s) and/or institution. Purchasing offices will code orders valued at more the $2,500 as "competitive". Pricing information: A table of various weekly stipends USGS has decided to pay based on educational level of the student and geographic locale where she/he is working under the order is provided as attachment #3. The table's rates include increases to base rates to account for the student having to pay "self-employed" tax rates and applies if the order is placed with an individual and when an institution will not be paying "employer" contributions for social security and medicare. An additonal table is being developed for those cases where the institution WILL pay 'employer" contributions on those taxes and will be provided later. Until that time, attachment 3#'s rates should be multiplied by .92 and the result rounded to the nearest $5.00 to establish stipend rates for institutions that will pay the 'employer' taxes. If applicable to the order: indirect costs of educational institutions, non-profit, and not-for-profit organizations necessary to support payroll and other costs shall be established and billed as a separate line item. Because stipend amounts have been established by the USGS, the "fair and reasonable" pricing standard has been met. University and college indirect cost rates can be readily checked with the cognizant Government audit organization. Attachment # 3's rates have been established based on a 5 day work-week. Where field camps operate 6 or 7 days per week, the weekly stipend should be increased by 20% or 40% respectively. For any week in which the student works less than the number of days upon which the stipend rate has been established, the stipend for that week will be reduced by 1/5th, 1/6, or 1/7th whichever is applicable. Sample copies of Purchase Orders to individuals and institutions have been prepared and provided to the three OPS procurement offices and the program divisions. After the pilot project, we will look into establishing the contractual agreements in such manner that field warranted contracting officers may be able to place orders under them. If the order is placed directly with an individual student, the award should be bi-lateral and he/she must sign and return an acknowledgment to the contracting officer stating that he/she fully understands and accepts attachment #2. The text of attachment #2 can be incorporated into the award document as an Article and the student's bi-lateral signature on the document can be used as the acknowledgment. Program personnel shall base requisition estimates on the established stipend rates and any university indirect cost rates proposed. OAFA Contracting Officers will include the division program personnel in negotiations with the institution establishing the final rate. For ease of administration (in case one or more students to not complete the full number of weeks ordered, the line item in the order for the institution's indirest or G&A costs may be expressed as $xxx.xx per week or in some other manner than a single quantity "NTE" unit item as shown on the sample order. 5. Project Description: Program division requisitions shall include a description of the specific project(s) that the student(s) will be working on and information about what he/she will be routinely expected to do in the course of pursuing that project. Any special requirements, skills needed, work environment conditions that will be encountered, are to be specified so that all parties understand what will be expected of the student. This information shall be incorporated into the order. Attachment 1 June 1, 1998 NOTICE OF WORK OPPORTUNITY FOR EARTH SCIENCES STUDENTS Dear Sir or Madam: This is a faxed letter request for quotations/expressions of interest. We are providing this information to all schools with an earth sciences curriculum located within a 50 mile radius of USGS, Geologic Division office locations and known field camp locations for the summer 1998 field season. All students interested and recommended by their school to work with USGS either in field camps or in laboratory environments, as indicated in attachment #1's description of the USGS's Geologic Division's needs, will be considered in the award process. The U. S. Department of the Interior's Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 Appropriations Act (PL 105-83) included authority for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to contract directly with individual students or indirectly with institutions or nonprofit organizations for the temporary or intermittent services of science students or recent graduates. For the remaining 4 months of this FY the USGS intends to contract on a pilot basis for the services of students and recent graduates (within the past 12 months), using this authority either via purchase orders placed primarily with universities and other institutions or with individual students. Should your institution choose to participate, you will have primary responsibility for selecting among interested students at your campus and recommending them to USGS for participation in this program. To be eligible during this pilot program, a student must have completed two years of college. For those students whom you choose to recommend, a single page resume/statement of qualifications including a listing of the course material taken to date and the students overall GPA is required. Any work or volunteer experience related to scientific field assistant and/ or laboratory assistant should also be included in the resume. There should be a statement included in your response to indicate whether your department has a preference for USGS to contract with the university or directly with the students. We request a faxed reply not later than seven days from receipt of this notice, but we will consider replies received late so long as there are any further awards available. Your reply should include a statement of the total number of students who have expressed an interest in this program. Compensation to the student will be based on their educational experience in fixed weekly stipends as listed in Attachment 2 (for awards directly to the student). If an award is made to the institution, an additional amount for administering the student's tax and benefits will be negotiated with the institution. Stipends for awards made to the institution will be slightly lower in value, as Attachment 2 accounts for students' self-employment social security taxes, etc. Please fax your response to the appropriate USGS coordinator identified below based upon your school's geographic location: East of the Mississippi River: Elaine Traub 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 953 Reston, Virginia 20192-0001 Telephone: (703) 648-4391 E-mail: etroub@usgs.gov Fax: (703) 648-6859 Central States:(MN,IA,MO,AR,LA,TX,OK,KS,NE,SD,ND,MT,WY,CO, and NM) Jennifer Andrews Box 25046, MS 911 Denver Federal Center Denver, Colorado 80225 Telephone: (303) 236-5440 E-mail: jaandrews@usgs.gov Fax: (303) 236-5448 Western States: (AK, HI,WA,OR,CA,ID,NV and AZ) Tina Casias 345 Middlefield Road, MS 919 Menlo Park, California 94025-3591 Telephone: (650) 329-4885 E Mail: tcasias@usgs.gov Fax: (650) 329-5125 We are sorry that this notice is coming so late in the year and we would like to thank you in advance for your interest in this program. We intend to evaluate this pilot project at the end of the year and incorporate improvements in the future, if you have any suggestions please feel free to offer them along with your response. Sincerely, John K. Peterson Chief, Office of Acquisition and Federal Assistance phone 703-648-7373 email: jpeterso@usgs.gov Attachment (2 pages) Description of the USGS Geologic Division's Need for Temporary or Intermittent Contractual Services of Science Students & Recent Science Graduates Types of Services Required: Geologic Field Investigations (includes one or more of the following): Performs or assists with geologic field investigations, such as collecting and describing fossils, minerals, rocks, and ore samples; field identification of rocks and minerals; and trenching and deploying seismic equipment. May prepare field samples for further analysis. Laboratory/Office Technical Support (includes one or more of the following): Performs laboratory study of rocks, minerals and other geologic problems, using the full range of laboratory procedures and appropriate equipment; assembles and evaluates field data; plots information on maps, sections, graphs, tables and other diagrams; prepares preliminary interpretive compilations of geologic data; and assists in the preparation of reports, including drafting, pertaining to geologic research. Laboratory procedures include: rock and sample preparation, utilization of binocular and petrographic microscopes, mineral separation via magnetic, liquid, or centrifuge methods; geochemical analysis and/or thin section preparation/analysis. Services also required for geocoding spatial information including database and spreadsheet input/manipulation. Required expertise/skills: Geologic Field Investigations: Completion of at least two or more years of academic course work including study of earth science disciplines. Knowledge of geologic principles and practices to apply standard scientific techniques in the completion of assignments involving geologic investigations and studies. Knowledge of scientific disciplines related to the collection and interpretation of geologic data. Skill in analyzing geologic data sufficient for map construction and for interpretation. Knowledge of basic computer operations, including desktop units. Laboratory/Office Technical Support: Completion of at least two or more years of academic course work including study of earth science disciplines. Skill in applying standard laboratory techniques and use of related equipment applicable to the analysis of geological samples (e.g., operation of binocular and petrographic microscopes). Knowledge of scientific disciplines related to the collection and interpretation of geologic data. Experience in the preparation of reports pertaining to geologic research. Knowledge of basic computer operations and desktop units. Special Requirements: Geologic Field Investigations: Work performed out-of-doors. Considerable walking/hiking; climbing over rough terrain and uneven slopes; and overnight tent camping required. May be required to carry field samples and/or equipment weighing approximately 15 to 40 pounds. Must be a licensed driver to operate a motor vehicle. CPR and/or First Aid skills highly desirable. Laboratory/Office Support: Laboratory work may involve prolonged standing in a laboratory environment. Basic computer skills required for both laboratory and office support services needs. Good eye-hand coordination and color perception are required for the analysis of photographic data. Description of Working Conditions Geologic Field Investigations: Work is performed in a field setting involving exposure to a range of weather and temperature conditions. Exposure to poisonous growth, insects and reptiles could occur. Skill in outdoor camping required. Laboratory/Office Support: Work is performed in a laboratory and/or office. Work in the laboratory may involve use of equipment which can result in exposure to dust, chemicals, mechanical and laboratory hazards, and noise. Special safety precautions are required including use of safety glasses, masks, gloves, coats, etc. Approximate Number of Students Needed: Geologic Field Investigations: Approximately 25 students. Principal work locations include Reston, Virginia; Lakewood, Colorado; and Menlo Park, California. Actual field sites vary. Laboratory/Office Support: Approximately 25 students. Principal work locations include Reston, Virginia; Lakewood, Colorado; and Menlo Park, California. Compensation: Geologic Field Investigations: Compensation commensurate with level of education and amount of experience. Students selected are responsible for all costs of transportation to and from the principal duty station location, and for lodging and all food costs while assigned to the principal duty station location . Transportation provided from principal duty station location to field investigations site(s). Meals/costs of food provided while at field investigations' sites. Laboratory/Office Support: Compensation commensurate with level of education and amount of experience. Students selected are responsible for all costs of transportation to and from the principal duty station location and for lodging and all food costs. Attachment 2 STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT: A. Workmen's Compensation: The U.S. Government will be responsible under the provisions of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code for compensating the student for any injury incurred while performing services under this order. B. Tort Claims (liability): The U.S. Government will be responsible under the provisions of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code for any damages that may result from your activities while performing services under this order, except where they are result of unauthorized or expressly prohibited actions or gross negligence on your part. C. In order for the USGS to process payment to the student, he/she must have a checking or savings account at a financial institutions that will accept direct deposits of Federal funds. D. Payments may be made on a two week cycle but should in no case shall the payment terms be longer than monthly, in arrears. E. The USGS will report the total amount paid under this order to the U.S. Treasury on a Standard Form 1099. F. No Federal, State or local income taxes will be deducted from payments made under this order. The student is fully responsible for any taxes required as a result of payments made under this order. G. No Social Security FICA or Medicare taxes will be deducted from payments made under this order. The student is fully responsible for any such taxes required as a result of payments made under this order. H. With the sole exception of extending coverage under items 1 & 2 above and even though elements of administration of these orders might otherwise be construed as creating an employer-employee relationship, the statutory authority for this order clearly states that the student is not for any other purpose considered to be a Federal employee and no rights or benefits as such will accrue to the student. Signed Acknowledgment: __________________________ (Printed name) ________________________ Date: ________________ WEEKLY RATE STIPEND TABLE FOR STUDENT SERVICES VIA DIRECT PURCHASE ORDERS* Rest of Denver Menlo Park Los Angeles Alaska Reston Boston U. S. **Two Years or more of College 405.00 420.00 410.00 460.00 400.00 405.00 395.00 **BA/BS 450.00 465.00 460.00 515.00 445.00 455.00 440.00 **BA/BS Plus One Year 560.00 580.00 570.00 635.00 555.00 560.00 545.00 Of Graduate School **MA/MS 685.00 705.00 695.00 775.00 675.00 685.00 665.00 **PhD 825.00 855.00 840.00 940.00 820.00 830.00 805.00 *Includes cost of self employment taxes for social security and medicare. **Course work/Degree in Earth Science Related Curricula