​The Association of Public Health Laboratories, Inc. (APHL or the Association), in collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Training Education and Development (OTED), the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is developing a Human and Animal Food Laboratory Professionals Curriculum Framework. APHL and its partners are creating courses based on the competencies developed on the curriculum framework. APHL is seeking a course programmer(s) for the development of online courses in Lectora Inspire 18.
Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), APHL seeks to identify a company or individual who can create a web-based course that:

  • Is built in Lectora Inspire 18
  • Meets 508 compliance standards
  • Includes interactivities as indicated in storyboard
  • Meets SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) compliance

Eligibility

Interested parties must submit a proposal to APHL that provides all of the information specified in the Proposal Submission section below. In order to be considered for funding, an applicant must ensure APHL has its complete proposal by no later than the Proposal Due Date specified in the Anticipated RFP Schedule section below. Applicants will find proposal submission information in the Response Submittal section below.

Anticipated RFP Schedule

Applications are due to the individual(s) specified in the Final Response section of this RFP by 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on January 6, 2020. APHL anticipates the following schedule for the entire competitive bidding process:

December 18, 2019   -   APHL issues RFP

December 23, 2019   -   Letter of Intent due to APHL by 5:00 pm EST 

January 6, 2020          -   Last day to submit questions (exceptions may be granted at APHL’s sole discretion)

January 10, 2020        -   Complete RFP responses due to APHL by 5:00 pm EST

January 14, 2020        -   APHL completes the evaluation process and contacts winning/selected applicant(s)

January 15, 2020        -   APHL publicly announces the names of the selected applicant(s) on its procurement website, www.aphl.org\rfp

February 25, 2020     -   Anticipated start date of LCF course programming project

Response Submittal 

Confirmation of Intent to Respond

APHL requests that prospective applicants submit a brief email statement indicating intent to submit a proposal by no later than 5:00 PM EST on December 23, 2019. The letter of intent should be emailed to Robyn Randolph, Sr. Specialist, Food Laboratory Accreditation (Robyn.Randolph@aphl.org). While the letter of intent is not binding and does not enter into the review of the RFP, the information that it contains allows APHL’s evaluation team to plan the contract development and review process. Potential applicants must include the name of the organization or individual that will submit the proposal in their email.

Final Response

APHL must receive a complete proposal no later than 5:00 PM EST on January 10, 2020.  Applicants may send proposals by the following methods:

Via email to Robyn Randolph, Sr. Specialist, Food Laboratory Accreditation (robyn.randolph@aphl.org); or

Via certified, registered or express mail through the postal service or via trackable mail delivery services provided by DHL, FedEx, and UPS, addressed to:

c/o Robyn Randolph
The Association of Public Health Laboratories, Inc.
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 700
Silver Spring, MD 20910

APHL will send an email acknowledging the receipt of your application. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours, please email the points of contact below to confirm receipt.

Regardless of the delivery method, APHL must receive all responses by 5:00 PM EST. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the APHL receives applicant’s proposal by this deadline.

APHL may terminate or modify the RFP process at any time during the response period. Any changes will be post to the RFP site, www.aphl.org\rfp.  

Questions

Please direct all questions regarding this RFP or its application requirements via email to Robyn Randolph at robyn.randolph@aphl.org, with a copy to Catherine Johnson at catherine.johnson@aphl.org. A table of Frequently Asked Questions is included as Appendix C of the RFP.

A member of APHL’s Food Safety staff will respond directly to the questions on an individual basis as questions are received. While APHL will endeavour to answer questions within one business day of receipt, additional time may be needed depending on the issue raised.

APHL should receive all questions by 5:00 pm EST on January 6, 2020. APHL is unlikely to answer any question received after this deadline, but it will have discretion to do so if APHL’s Food Safety staff reasonably feel that the question raises a substantial issue that could affect multiple applicants, and may be answered without impacting the application submission and review process. Should APHL opt to answer any late questions, APHL will post the question and answer to APHL’s procurement website (www.aphl.org\rfp) and will not respond directly to the sender.

Materials

The Course Programmer for Laboratory Curriculum Framework Courses RFP provides detailed information in regards to this request, please read it in its entirety.