Source Selection Under the RFO FAR (4-Day Package)
This four-day course covers the entirety of source selection: choosing the right method, making the best-value decision, running the evaluation team, and protecting the integrity of the process.
This course is for the acquisition workforce who plan, run, support, or oversee competitive source selections and want to master the full process under the RFO FAR.
Day One — Source Selection Methodologies Under the RFO FAR: The best-value continuum and the four methods now available under the RFO FAR — lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA), tradeoff, highest technically rated with a fair and reasonable price, and phased acquisitions — what each is, when each fits, and how this choice shapes the acquisition. Evaluation factors and significant subfactors, how the requirement and the SOW or PWS feed the criteria, the rule that proposals are evaluated solely against the criteria in the solicitation, and the rating methods available under each approach.
Day Two — Best Value and the Tradeoff Decision: What best value means and where the tradeoff process sits on the continuum; building evaluation criteria that meaningfully distinguish between proposals; setting relative importance and comparing non-price factors to price; and the decision itself — weighing a higher-rated proposal against a higher price, exercising the Technical Evaluation Panel’s / Source Selection Authority’s independent judgment, and documenting the rationale so the award stands up to review.
Day Three — Conducting the Source Selection: Running the Evaluation Team. Building and leading the Technical Evaluation Panel / Source Selection Team (the decision makers are called by different names at different agencies) — who belongs on it, who runs it, and who should not be in the room; structuring the evaluation so it is consistent and tied to the stated criteria; conducting it — strengths, weaknesses, risks, and consensus grounded in the proposals; and building an evaluation record that explains what the team did, what it found, and why.
Day Four — Protecting the Source Selection: Procurement Integrity and Safeguarding. The Procurement Integrity Act and what it requires; what counts as source selection information; the conflict-of-interest checks, certifications, and non-disclosure agreements every evaluation team needs; and how to identify, mark, store, and safeguard sensitive information. We also focus on risk identification and mitigation strategies.
Throughout all four days, we cover the public policy and the law behind how the government runs source selection, where the rules live in the RFO FAR so you can find them yourself, and how sound process and thorough documentation protect both the award and the organization.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who spent her federal career in the acquisition workforce. She served as a Contract Specialist, COR, and AOR for the U.S. Navy (and later a Contract Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service), where she worked on more than $7.7 billion in federal contracts across RDT&E, engineering, medical, IT, construction, and major weapon-systems. She draws on that experience, along with her law degree and MBA studies, to teach the why behind the how — so participants leave with sharper judgment, not just a stack of slides. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies.
Best for: contracting officers, contract specialists, CORs, source selection authorities, evaluation team members, and the program and technical staff who plan, run, or support competitive source selections — anyone who wants the complete source selection process, start to finish, under the RFO FAR.
Format: Available as a four-day course, delivered in person or virtually. Eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees earn 8 CLPs per day (32 total). A note on CLPs: This course earns continuous learning points (CLPs) that both defense (DAWIA) and civilian (FAC-C, FAC-COR, and FAC-P/PM) acquisition professionals can apply toward their continuous learning requirements. Because agencies set their own rules on what qualifies for CLP credit, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) or component training office to confirm how it applies to your plan. Phoenix Canyon also offers each day as a standalone one-day course, for those who need single subject training with less time away from the desk.
You might also consider
Source Selection Methodologies Under the RFO FAR — One-Day Essentials — the first day on its own: the four methods and how to choose among them.
Best Value and the Tradeoff Decision — One-Day Essentials — the second day on its own: the most consequential judgment in source selection.
Protecting the Source Selection: Procurement Integrity and Safeguarding — One-Day Essentials — the fourth day on its own: the integrity rules and safeguards almost no one is trained on.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.
This four-day course covers the entirety of source selection: choosing the right method, making the best-value decision, running the evaluation team, and protecting the integrity of the process.
This course is for the acquisition workforce who plan, run, support, or oversee competitive source selections and want to master the full process under the RFO FAR.
Day One — Source Selection Methodologies Under the RFO FAR: The best-value continuum and the four methods now available under the RFO FAR — lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA), tradeoff, highest technically rated with a fair and reasonable price, and phased acquisitions — what each is, when each fits, and how this choice shapes the acquisition. Evaluation factors and significant subfactors, how the requirement and the SOW or PWS feed the criteria, the rule that proposals are evaluated solely against the criteria in the solicitation, and the rating methods available under each approach.
Day Two — Best Value and the Tradeoff Decision: What best value means and where the tradeoff process sits on the continuum; building evaluation criteria that meaningfully distinguish between proposals; setting relative importance and comparing non-price factors to price; and the decision itself — weighing a higher-rated proposal against a higher price, exercising the Technical Evaluation Panel’s / Source Selection Authority’s independent judgment, and documenting the rationale so the award stands up to review.
Day Three — Conducting the Source Selection: Running the Evaluation Team. Building and leading the Technical Evaluation Panel / Source Selection Team (the decision makers are called by different names at different agencies) — who belongs on it, who runs it, and who should not be in the room; structuring the evaluation so it is consistent and tied to the stated criteria; conducting it — strengths, weaknesses, risks, and consensus grounded in the proposals; and building an evaluation record that explains what the team did, what it found, and why.
Day Four — Protecting the Source Selection: Procurement Integrity and Safeguarding. The Procurement Integrity Act and what it requires; what counts as source selection information; the conflict-of-interest checks, certifications, and non-disclosure agreements every evaluation team needs; and how to identify, mark, store, and safeguard sensitive information. We also focus on risk identification and mitigation strategies.
Throughout all four days, we cover the public policy and the law behind how the government runs source selection, where the rules live in the RFO FAR so you can find them yourself, and how sound process and thorough documentation protect both the award and the organization.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who spent her federal career in the acquisition workforce. She served as a Contract Specialist, COR, and AOR for the U.S. Navy (and later a Contract Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service), where she worked on more than $7.7 billion in federal contracts across RDT&E, engineering, medical, IT, construction, and major weapon-systems. She draws on that experience, along with her law degree and MBA studies, to teach the why behind the how — so participants leave with sharper judgment, not just a stack of slides. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies.
Best for: contracting officers, contract specialists, CORs, source selection authorities, evaluation team members, and the program and technical staff who plan, run, or support competitive source selections — anyone who wants the complete source selection process, start to finish, under the RFO FAR.
Format: Available as a four-day course, delivered in person or virtually. Eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees earn 8 CLPs per day (32 total). A note on CLPs: This course earns continuous learning points (CLPs) that both defense (DAWIA) and civilian (FAC-C, FAC-COR, and FAC-P/PM) acquisition professionals can apply toward their continuous learning requirements. Because agencies set their own rules on what qualifies for CLP credit, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) or component training office to confirm how it applies to your plan. Phoenix Canyon also offers each day as a standalone one-day course, for those who need single subject training with less time away from the desk.
You might also consider
Source Selection Methodologies Under the RFO FAR — One-Day Essentials — the first day on its own: the four methods and how to choose among them.
Best Value and the Tradeoff Decision — One-Day Essentials — the second day on its own: the most consequential judgment in source selection.
Protecting the Source Selection: Procurement Integrity and Safeguarding — One-Day Essentials — the fourth day on its own: the integrity rules and safeguards almost no one is trained on.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.