PREFACE

Under the authority of NASA Handbook 1101.3, The NASA Organization and in accordance the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 44.3 - "Contractors Purchasing Systems Reviews" and NASA FAR Supplement 1844 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Headquarters Office of Procurement conducted a Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) of the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a federally funded research and development center.

A contract was let to sponsor an agreement between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the California Institute of Technology (Contractor), a private nonprofit educational institution, which establishes the relationship for the operation of the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) known as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

As the operator of JPL, The California Institute of Technology is responsible for fiduciary responsibilities in managing Government resources in support of NASA Prime Contract Number NAS7-03001.

The objective of this review, in accordance with FAR Subpart 44.301, is to "evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness with which the contractor spends Government funds and complies with Government policy when subcontracting."

The results of the review, which are set forth in this report, will be provided to the Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO)/Procurement Officer, at the NASA Management Office (NMO). In accordance with FAR Subpart 44.301, the review (and subsequent report) "provides the ACO a basis for granting, withholding, or withdrawing approval of the contractor's purchasing system."

The CPSR was an integrated team approach lead by NASA Headquarters Office of Procurement, with assistance from the NASA Management Office at JPL, Defense Contract Management Agency, Santa Ana, CA, Small and Disadvantaged Business Office, NASA Headquarters and NASA Quality Assurance Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center (Supplier Assurance Team). Attachment (1) Defense Contract Management Agency Report, Attachment (2) Small and Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Utilization Report and Attachment (3) Supplier Procurement Quality Assurance Report are hereby incorporated.

The CPSR was conducted from April 11 through April 22, 2005. An entrance conference was conducted that consisted of the CPSR Team Members, Dr. Robert Parker, Director and Mr. Jeff Lupis, Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO)/Procurement Officer at the NMO; and JPL staff as follows: Stan Jankowski, Acquisition Division Manager; Amanda Beckman-Hezel, Deputy Acquisition Division Manager; Jean Walker, Staff Assistant-Principal; Dean Ines, Manager-Audit Liaison Office, Ray Lemus, Manager, Acquisition Planning and Compliance Section.

On April 22, 2005 an exit briefing was held to discuss the CPSR findings.

JPL Exit Briefing Attendees were: Dean Currie, Vice President for Business and Finance, Caltech; Harry Yohalem, General Counsel; Dale Johnson, CFO and Director for Business Operations; Stan Jankowski, Acquisition Division Manager; Amanda Beckman-Hezel, Deputy Acquisition Division Manager; Jean Walker, Staff Assistant-Principal; Ray Lemus, Manager, Acquisition Planning and Compliance Section; Dean Ines, Manager-Audit Liaison Office; Rich Moyer, Director for Audit Services and Institute Compliance and Richard Brace, Manager, Office of Safety and Mission Success.

Mr. Jeff Lupis, NMO ACO/Procurement Officer represented the NMO.

Mr. Tom Luedtke, Assistant Administrator, Ms. Monica Manning, CPSR Program Manager, Mr. John Trahan, Co-Lead and Mr. Robert Navarro, Safety and Mission Assurance Representative represented NASA Headquarters.

This report serves as a basis, in part, for fulfilling internal control requirements in accordance with the Federal Manager's Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-255).

Unless permission is received from the ACO, this report shall only be distributed in accordance with FAR Subpart 44.307. The release of this report is governed under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

Any findings in this report should not be considered as technical direction from the Government.

Monica Manning, Program Manager
JPL Contracting Purchasing System Review
Analysis and Assessment Team
Office of Procurement, NASA Headquarters

For information about the findings please contact the Procurement Officer at the NASA Management Office, Jeff Lupis, (818) 354-5359.