Policy
Directive
Effective Date: April 18, 2003
Expiration Date: April 18, 2013
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NASA Policy Directive |
NPD 3451.5C Effective Date: April 18, 2003 Expiration Date: April 18, 2013 |
This NPD establishes an award program that rewards NASA individuals for creating and implementing improved results on individual contracts, or innovative changes in contracting processes that save resources and enhance mission attainment. This award program is not a substitute for other awards (e.g., annual performance awards); it is in addition to other awards for which an individual or group may be eligible. This award is defined as a superior accomplishment award for a special act or service.
This NPD applies to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities.
a. 5 U.S.C., Chapter 45, Subchapter I.
b. 5 CFR, Part 451, Subpart A, Office of Personnel Management.
NASA`s pledge to support the Office of Federal Procurement Policy award program for outstanding results from contracting.
a. The Assistant Administrator for Procurement is responsible for overall management of this award program, including establishing the process for making nominations, establishing the criteria for selecting award winners and determining eligibility, in addition to being the approving official for all awards made under this NPD.
(1) Award nominations will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria described below, which are applicable to the specific nomination. In addition, Procurement Officers will be advised at the beginning of each award period when there are any additional criteria or subcriteria that are applicable during that evaluation period.
(a) The use of new techniques, or the innovative use of existing acquisition approaches (e.g., using the Consolidated Contracting Initiative), that reduce the cost or improve the quality or timeliness of the acquisition and can be reliably measured.
(b) The effective implementation of acquisition streamlining techniques that improve the use of all resources, including the size of the acquisition team.
(c) The ability of the acquisition team to accomplish the acquisition within established milestones, including completion of activities from proposal receipt to award within 120 days.
(d) The application of Headquarters and Center Procurement Initiatives in such a way as to achieve improved efficiency, effectiveness and/or better meet customer needs.
(2) Eligibility.
(a) Only NASA employees who are not Senior Executive Service employees are eligible for cash awards.
(b) Employees who have separated from NASA since the acquisition are not eligible for cash awards.
(c) Headquarters employees, with the exception of employees of the NASA Management Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are generally not eligible for cash awards unless the contribution was both significant and integral to the acquisition (e.g., a voting member on the Source Evaluation Board {SEB}).
(d) While emphasis for this program is on a group (i.e., the entire acquisition team), it is acceptable to nominate an individual(s) whose efforts deserve recognition.
(e) None of these eligibility criteria preclude awards of other than cash to anyone nominated and selected for recognition, including employees not eligible for a cash award.
b. The Center Procurement Officers are responsible for crafting and submitting nominations to Headquarters in accordance with the following:
(1) Awards will be made on a semiannual basis, in February and August. Therefore, nominations must be received by January 31 and July 31 of each year for acquisition actions completed in the preceding 6 months.
(2) Nominations must be submitted by the Procurement Officer in writing to the Office of Procurement Administrative Officer at NASA Headquarters.
(3) Nominations must include the following information, as relevant:
(a) A description of how the acquisition activity meets the criteria described in part 5a(1) of this document. Each item must be thoroughly documented and contain a detailed explanation of the outstanding achievement(s). Nominations will succeed or fail based upon the quality of the supporting documentation and rationale.
(b) If nominating a specific acquisition, provide a brief title and description, dollar amount, number of proposals received and evaluated (if any), and number of days from proposal receipt to selection/award.
(c) Recommended monetary or other award amount and supporting rationale. If a group award, indicate how the money will be distributed. The award need not be monetary in nature; for example, providing time off (in accordance with NASA policies) to a SEB that has had no free time might be a better reward than money.
(d) A point of contact at the Procurement Office, including telephone number.
(e) A point of contact for the funds transfer, including telephone number.
(4) The Procurement Officer will normally make the award presentations. Acquisition Improvement Awards may only be given to the individuals selected from the nomination.
(a) A certificate, titled "Acquisition Improvement Award," and signed by the Procurement Officer, will be presented to each awardee.
(b) The Procurement Officer should take all reasonable steps to provide maximum recognition of the recipients of the awards. This could involve awards ceremonies, posting photographs of recipients, announcements in local newspapers or newsletters, etc.
c. The Office of Procurement Administrative Officer is responsible for managing all aspects of the acquisition awards process except for the evaluations of Center nominations. The Administrative Officer`s responsibilities include all correspondence with the Centers, maintaining a history of past awards, and transferring the appropriate funds to the Centers.
None.
None.
NPD 3451.5B, dated April 18, 2003.