Understanding Proposal Evaluations: Source Selection Authority and Award Types

The Source Selection Authority (SSA) serves a role of vital importance to the procurement process.  It is the SSA who is ultimately responsible for selecting the source whose proposal represents the “best value” to the Government.  But what must an SSA do to ensure that proposals are properly evaluated?  How does an SSA determine which proposal represents the “best value”?  And what does it mean for an SSA to exercise “independent judgment”?  This virtual class is for both contractors and agencies that wish to have a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the SSA.

This virtual class will address:

• Statutory and regulatory provisions affecting the SSA
• The source of authority of the SSA
• The duties and responsibilities of the SSA
• The relationship between the SSA and the agency’s evaluators
• What is meant by the SSA’s independent judgment
• The Court of Federal Claims decision in Information Sciences Corp. v. U.S.
• GAO’s decision in NOVA Corp.
• What is an adequately-documented source selection decision
• What is meant by “best value” and LPTA
• How lowest-priced technically-acceptable procurements affect the role of the SSA

Topics & Dates

January 8: Technical and Management Evaluations
February 12: Price Evaluations
March 12: Past Performance Evaluations
April 9: Cost Realism Evaluations
May 14: Key Personnel Evaluations
June 11: Socioeconomic Evaluations
September 10: Responsibility Evaluations
October 8: Source Selection Authority and Award Types