#### 1852.219-79 Mentor requirements and evaluation.

As prescribed in 1819.7215, insert the following clause:

# Mentor Requirements And Evaluation (OCT 2023)

(a) The purpose of the NASA Mentor-Protégé Program is for a NASA prime contractor to provide developmental assistance to:

(1) Provide incentives to NASA contractors, performing under at least one active approved subcontracting plan negotiated with NASA to assist protégés in enhancing their capabilities to perform as viable NASA, other Government, and commercial suppliers on contract and subcontract requirements;

(2) Increase the overall participation of protégés as subcontractors and suppliers under NASA contracts, other Federal agency contracts, and commercial contracts; and

(3) Foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between protégés and mentors.

(b) The Mentor shall comply with the annual reporting requirements detailed in NASA FAR Supplement 1819.7212.

(c) NASA will evaluate the Mentor's performance on the following factors in the subcontracting element of the annual Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR). If this contract includes an award fee incentive, this evaluation will also be included as part of the subcontracting element in the award fee evaluation process.

(1) Specific actions taken by the contractor, during the evaluation period, to increase the participation of protégés as subcontractors and suppliers;

(2) Specific actions taken by the contractor during this evaluation period to develop the technical and corporate administrative expertise of a protégé as defined in the agreement;

(3) The extent to which the mentor and protégé have met the developmental milestones outlined in the agreement; and

(4) The extent to which the mentor has contributed to advancing the protégé's technical readiness level. This factor only applies if the protégé is a current NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II contractor.

(d) Annual reports shall be submitted by the Mentor and the Protégé to the MPPO, following the annual report template found on the website at *www.nasa.gov/osbp.*

(1) Except for as noted in paragraph (d)(4) of this section, the Mentor may include its developmental expenditures from the annual report, reference 1819.7212, Reporting Requirements, in its reported dollars in its Summary Subcontracting Report (SSR) in eSRS.

(2) If the protégé is also the mentor's immediate next-tier subcontractor under a NASA contract that contains a subcontracting plan, the Mentor may also include its developmental expenditures in its Individual Subcontracting Report (ISR) for that contract. Expenditures may be applied to each socio-economic subcategory on the SSR and ISR for which the protégé qualifies.

(3) Developmental expenditures included in SSR's and ISR's must also be separately reported and explained (including the actual dollar amount) in the “Remarks” section of each report.

(4) Expenditures for AbilityOne protégés cannot be included in SSR's or ISR's, since there is no such reporting category for SSR's or ISR's.

(e) The mentor will notify the cognizant NASA center and NASA OSBP in writing, at least 30 days in advance of the Mentor's intent to voluntarily withdraw from the program or upon receipt of a protégé's notice to withdraw from the Program.

(f) Every six months, the Mentor and Protégé, as appropriate, will formally brief the MPPO, and the contracting officer during a formal program review regarding program accomplishments, as it pertains to the approved agreement.

(g) NASA may terminate MPA for good cause, thereby excluding mentors or protégés from participating in the program. These actions shall be approved by the MPPO. NASA shall terminate an agreement by delivering to the contractor a letter specifying the reason for termination and the effective date. Termination of an agreement does not constitute a termination of the subcontract between the mentor and the protégé. A plan for accomplishing the subcontract effort should the agreement be terminated shall be submitted with the agreement.

(End of clause)

[54 FR 28340, July 5, 1989, as amended at 80 FR 12947, Mar. 12, 2015; 80 FR 50212, Aug. 19, 2015; 88 FR 69886, Oct. 10, 2023]