GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING

This is your assigned pre-course work instruction for your upcoming CON 280 class. The CON 280 course is based upon the Services Acquisition Process model. Choose a specific Individual Critical Thinking Assignment (ICTA) in CON 280 from the list provided in the document “1280 ICTA Assignments Listing Civ.” Sign up for that topic by clicking the link in the “Select Your ICTA Assignment Here!” thread. Then write your name next to the topic you want to claim. Each person must present on a dif- ferent topic, so if the topic you want has already been claimed, you must se- lect a different one. Once you have selected your specific ICTA assignment, you will conduct your research and develop a written report and a PowerPoint presentation as pre-class work. These products are to be posted to your individual assignment uploads folder in Student Central no later than 0800 on day 1 of the class. Submit your paper copy, organized as follows:

 Cover page that includes the topic and lists the questions you are required to an- swer

 Research paper  List of Sources (not required if footnotes are used within the paper)  Handout containing slides (4-6 slides per sheet)

Use the ICTA grading rubric (found at the end of this instruction) to develop your paper and subsequent briefing. Your research paper and PowerPoint briefing slides must be posted to Student Central not later than 0800 hours on the first morning of class. This is a 45-point assignment and it is strongly recommended that you take the time to prepare the material and practice the presentation. The day that you will be required to present your briefing will be tied to the course material in which that topic resides. The schedule for the briefings will be provided on day 1 of class so you should come to class prepared to present right away. It is strongly recommended that you take time to do this paper and prepare a professional-looking briefing since you will be graded on the content and quali- ty of both the paper and the briefing. The specific format of the research paper is not dictated, however, the paper should be between 3 and 4 double-spaced pages, plus a reference page (not in-

CON 280: Source Selection and Administration of Service Contracts

2 © Management Concepts Incorporated

cluded in the 3 to 4 page count) typed in a 12-pitch font. Please pay particular at- tention to grammar and punctuation. All papers must reflect appropriate refer- ences for cited works. Your paper should represent your own best effort of a con- tracting professional seeking Level II DAWIA certification. Copies of all papers will be retained by Management Concepts. When you are ready to post your ICTA materials, do the following: 1) From your transcript in Student Central, launch the CON 280 class page. 2) Navigate to you individual assignment upload folder within the Topics tab of

the CON 280 class page. 3) Click the button to “Create Posting” and select “Create File.”

4) Title your file with the name of the assignment (in this case “Pre-class ICTA

paper”). Drag and drop your file into the designated area, or use the Select a File button to browse your device’s files for upload.

5) When finished, click Done at the bottom of the page. 6) Repeat the same steps to upload your Power Point Presentation, entitled “Pre-

class ICTA Presentation”) as a separate file posting, but within the same individual assignment folder.

Note: These instructions apply to how to submit all assignments, and they are also written out in the featured posting in your individual assignment upload folder.

Each student will be given 10 minutes to present their briefing. Students will re- ceive a grade for the quality of the PowerPoint presentation; therefore, reading from the slides is strongly discouraged. You should research your topic and pre- sent the material to the class as a knowledgeable contracting professional. On the morning of your scheduled briefing, please be familiar with the classroom equip- ment used for the briefing. Your instructor will be happy to give you time before or after class or during the lunch period to learn the equipment.

CON 280: Source Selection and the Administration of Service Contracts

© Management Concepts Incorporated 3

You will be provided questions in the ICTA Assignments Listing posted on Stu- dent Central. Use the provided questions to direct your research and guide the paper outline, however, do not limit your paper to the ideas provided. Adequate research will also lead you to several informational resources of which you should take advantage. In order to provide a presentation commensurate with a FAC-C or DAWIA II- level course, you should seek out mentors, supervisors, or senior contracting pro- fessionals for advice or review of the paper for accuracy. Your instructor will not be available to provide a review of the paper prior to submission but the rubric details the possible levels of and how points will be applied for the overall grade.

CON 280: Source Selection and Administration of Service Contracts

4 © Management Concepts Incorporated

ICTA GRADING RUBRIC

The Instructor will use the following rubric to grade your work for this assign- ment.

ICTA REPORT GRADING RUBRIC

Thorough Acceptable Unacceptable Score 8-10 points 4-5 points 0-2 points –Definition Define the topic. What is it? Explain the back- ground. Why does it exist? Where is it found? –Construct Are there any ele- ments or sub-topics associated with this subject?

The student thoroughly defined the topic in their own words demonstrat- ing evidence of accurate research cit- ing multiple references. The student provided an informative background on the topic. The student detailed the components of the topic and their im- portance (with refer- ences).

The student made an at- tempt at de- fining the topic, howev- er there was evidence of “cutting and pasting” in the paper. The student only cited a single source as a refer- ence or a background on the topic. The paper listed the el- ements or components of the topic, but failed to cite refer- ences.

The student ei- ther did not de- fine the topic or the effort was of such poor quali- ty that it could not justify more than minimal recognition. The student did not attempt to explain the components of the topic, or the attempt was of such poor quali- ty that it could not warrant more than min- imal recogni- tion.

Out of 10 pts

Thorough Acceptable Unacceptable Score 8-10 points 4-6 points 0-2 points -Application The student The paper The paper did Out of

CON 280: Source Selection and the Administration of Service Contracts

© Management Concepts Incorporated 5

How does it apply? What is its im- portance? How would one im- plement it?

accurately described the application of the topic to a factual con- tracting situ- ation. The student pro- vided refer- ence(s) to support his/her com- ments. The student did an excellent job explain- ing the im- portance of the topic and why it is a relevant part of the lexicon of the con- tracting pro- fessional.

describes the topic’s appli- cation, but lacks a veri- fiable refer- ence to sup- port comments made. The paper lacked convincing statements as to the im- portance of the topic to the contract- ing profes- sional.

not address the application of the topic in a contracting sit- uation or either the effort was of such poor quali- ty that it could not justify more than minimal recognition.

10 pts

Thorough Acceptable Unacceptable Score 4-5 points 2-3 points 0-1 point -Research Are there any case studies that are as- sociated with the topic? (e.g. Court rulings, GAO, ASBCA, etc.) What conclusions can be drawn from the information you found?

The student offered mul- tiple case references to support the topic citing significant facts of the case. The student drew logical con- clusions from the case find- ings.

The student cited a single case refer- ence to sup- port the topic or did not draw a logi- cal conclu- sion from the cited refer- ence.

The paper did not contain a case study or either the at- tempt was of such poor quali- ty that it could not justify more than minimal recognition.

Out of 5 pts

CON 280: Source Selection and Administration of Service Contracts

6 © Management Concepts Incorporated

Thorough Acceptable Unacceptable Score 8-10 points 4-6 points 0-2 points -Professional Pa- per Is the paper indica- tive of a product cre- ated by a contract- ing professional? (e.g. spelling, syn- tax, logic, paragraph transitions, etc.)

The paper had no more than one misspelled word. The paper had no more than one word used improp- erly. The pa- per had no more than one sentence with improp- er syntax. The paper contained a high degree of logic re- garding its research and structure in- dicative of a contracting professional.

The paper had no more than two misspelled words. The paper had no more than two words used improp- erly. The paper had no more than two syntax errors.

The paper had more than two errors, more than two im- properly used words, and more than two syntax errors. The paper failed to provide cohe- sive thought process or logic.

Out of 10 pts

TOTAL FOR PAPER

Out of 35 pts

ICTA PRESENTATION GRADING RUBRIC

Thorough Acceptable Unacceptable Score Presentation 8-10 points 4-7 points 0-3 points –Sequence Presents in-

formation in logical, inter-

Presents in- formation in logical se-

Audience can- not understand presentation

Out of 3 pts

CON 280: Source Selection and the Administration of Service Contracts

© Management Concepts Incorporated 7

esting se- quence which engages the audience.

quence which audience can follow.

because there is no sequence of information or presenter jumps around.

–Confidence Demon- strates full knowledge (more than required) with expla- nations and elaboration. Student used aids (e.g. slides, pre- pared noted, etc.) with considerable aplomb. Student en- gaged the audience us- ing effective eye contact and meaning- ful body lan- guage.

Student is at ease with content, but fails to elabo- rate. Student occasionally read from the slides or pre- pared notes. Student has some difficul- ty engaging the audience due to occa- sional lack of eye contact and effective body lan- guage.

Does not have grasp of infor- mation (i.e. cannot answer questions about subject). Stu- dent relied heavily on read- ing from the slides or pre- pared notes. Student did not engage the au- dience. The presentation suffered due to a considerable lack of eye con- tact and effec- tive body lan- guage.

Out of 3 pts

–Vocabulary Uses vocabu- lary appro- priate for the audience. Ex- tends audi- ence vocabu- lary by defining words that might be new to most of the audience.

Uses vocabu- lary appro- priate for the audience. Ex- tends audi- ence vocabu- lary by defining words that might be new to most of the audience.

Uses several (5 or more) words or phrases that are not under- stood by the au- dience.

Out of 2 pts

–Volume Volume is Volume is Volume often Out of

CON 280: Source Selection and Administration of Service Contracts

8 © Management Concepts Incorporated

loud enough to be heard by all audi- ence mem- bers throughout the presenta- tion.

loud enough to be heard by all audi- ence mem- bers at least 90% of the time.

too soft to be heard by all au- dience mem- bers.

2 pts

TOTAL FOR PRESENTATION

Out of 10 pts

Exercise Total

Out of 45 pts

Legend

Thorough

Work indicative of that produced by a dedicated con- tracting processional. Demonstrates depth of knowledge resultant from considerable research and application.

Acceptable

Work that can be considered adequate for the purposes of usual application, but lacking the element of exten- sive commitment.

Unacceptable

Work that is lacking the evidence of commitment to task. Work that is the result of minimal effort and not indicative of the output of a dedicated contracting pro- fessional.