TRB Minority Student Fellows Program

Pursuant to 13.106-1(b), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) intends to negotiate a sole source purchase order with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies for sponsorship of minority student's participation in the annual TRB Minority Student Fellows Program. The selected students will attend the annual meeting of the TRB in Washington, D.C., and will present a student-authored research paper at a poster or lectern session at the meeting. This program is unlike any other currently existing programs and serves a unique and complementary purpose. There are unique aspects to this program that set it apart from other minority Fellowship programs. One aspect is that in other existing minority Fellowship programs, such as the well-established Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP), the student applies for the fellowship; in contrast, for the proposed TRB Minority Student Fellows Program, the participating eligible school chooses the fellow and their sponsor. This unique aspect of the program allows the institutions to get promising students involved in the paper writing process at an earlier stage in their education so that they can get exposure to and think seriously about a transportation career. Another unique aspect of this program is that most Fellowship programs include panels that evaluate and select individual applicants; under the TRB Minority Student Fellows Program, however, the participating universities identify and select which student will receive the Fellowship each year. The schools use this program to complement activities associated with other programs such as the DDETFP program. The program managers for the TRB Minority Student Fellows Program and the FHWA DDETFP coordinate each year to ensure students only receive a grant from one of the respective programs for the year. A purchase order, issued under FAR Part 13, is anticipated and the total estimated value is not to exceed $125,000 over a potential 5 year period; base year with four one-year options. The intent of this notice is not to request competitive proposals, and any information received from interested parties will only be considered solely for determining whether a competitive procurement should be conducted. However, interested parties may submit a description of their firm's capabilities for satisfying this requirement, which demonstrates they possess the ability to successfully perform this effort. All questions concerning this matter should be addressed directly to Kevin Hardy at [email protected] .