1-GMU-GL0203-26-Anonymous Compliance and Ethics Reporting System final.pdf

Purchasing Department 4400 University Drive, MS 3C1, Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: 703.993.2580; http://fiscal.gmu.edu/purchasing/

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

GMU-GL0203-26

ISSUE DATE: February 3, 2026

TITLE: Anonymous Compliance and Ethics Reporting System

PRIMARY PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Grace Lymas, Assistant Director

SECONDARY PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Katherine Sirotin, Director

QUESTIONS/INQUIRIES: Submit all inquiries through Mason’s Bonfire Portal, no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on February 10, 2026. All questions must be submitted through Mason’s Bonfire portal. For assistance with technical questions related to Bonfire, contact

Support@GoBonfire.com or visit Bonfire’s help forum at https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us. Responses to questions will be posted to

Mason’s Bonfire portal by 5:00 PM ET on February 19, 2026.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: March 3, 2026 @ 2:00 PM ET. ATTENTION: PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED VIA EMAIL, MAIL, THROUGH eVA OR IN PERSON. SEE SECTION XII.A.1 FOR DETAILS ON ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL SUBMISSION.

IMPORTANT! All communication with Offerors will take place in Bonfire, to include negotiations. Mason can only message individuals at your organization that have interacted in Bonfire for this specific RFP. Please ensure the appropriate person to handle negotiations and other RFP communication has individually logged into the system and either downloaded documents, submitted your proposal or asked a question.

In Compliance With This Request For Proposal And To All The Conditions Imposed Therein And Hereby Incorporated By Reference, The

Undersigned Offers And Agrees To Furnish The Goods/Services In Accordance With The Attached Signed Proposal Or As Mutually Agreed

Upon By Subsequent Negotiations.

Name and Address of Firm:

Legal Name: Date:

DBA:

Address:

By:

Signature

FEI/FIN No. Name:

Fax No. Title:

Email: Telephone No.

SWaM Certified: Yes: No: (See Section VII. SWaM CERTIFICATION for complete details).

SWaM Certification Number:

Check the box next to the option that applies to your proposal submission. See section IV. Final Contract for additional information.

☐ Option 1: Full Acceptance:

1. We have reviewed Mason’s Standard Contract and all related documents.

2. We have no proposed changes.

3. We understand that if we are advanced to negotiations, no contract exceptions, redlines, vendor documents, or additional terms will be considered, unless proposed by

Mason.

☐ Option 2: Proposed Exceptions and/or Additional Documents

Submitted:

1. We have reviewed Mason’s Standard Contract and all related documents.

2. We have included a list of proposed exceptions and/or redlined contract documents with our proposal.

3. We understand that if we are advanced to negotiations, no additional contract exceptions, redlines, vendor documents, or additional terms will be considered beyond what has been submitted with our proposal, unless proposed by Mason.

This public body does not discriminate against faith-based organizations in accordance with the Governing Rules, § 36 or against a Bidder/Offeror because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other pro4012hibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment.

https://gmu.bonfirehub.com/ mailto:Support@GoBonfire.com https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us

OFFEROR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Offerors responding to this RFP should use this checklist to ensure all requested documents are completed and submitted with their proposal.

□ RFP Cover Page, accurately filled in and signed with checked off box confirming your proposal contains any exceptions to Mason’s Standard Contract and all terms and conditions or subsequent Statements of Work that could apply over the life of any resulting contract.

□ All addenda, if any were issued and a signature line is included.

□ Attachment A - Small Business Subcontracting Plan. This is a requirement for all Offerors.

□ Exceptions (if any) to Mason’s Standard Contract.

□ Any Statements of Work or supplemental document(s) Mason may be required to sign or that could potentially be incorporated into a final contract or apply during the term of a resulting contract.

□ Any agreement that Mason would be required to sign with a third party.

□ State your payment preference as required in Bonfire. Only select one payment option.

□ Ensure your proposal contains all information listed and answers all questions outlined in Section XII.B. Specific

Requirements. Your proposal must include a response to each of these 4 questions listed at the end of this section.

1. Are you and/or your subcontractor currently involved in litigation with any party?

2. Please list any investigation or action from any state, local, federal or other regulatory body (OSHA, IRS, DOL, etc.) related to your firm or any subcontractor in the last three years.

3. Please list all lawsuits that involved your firm or any subcontractor in the last three years.

4. In the past ten (10) years has your firm’s name changed? If so, please provide a reason for the change.

□ If your proposal contains proprietary information, you must submit a second copy in accordance with Section XII.A.1.

General Requirements and Section XII.A.2.d. that outlines the specific submission format.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GMU-GL0130-26

SECTION DESCRIPTION PAGE

I. PURPOSE 4

II. PURCHASING MANUAL/GOVERNING RULES 4

III. COMMUNICATION 4

IV. FINAL CONTRACT 4

V. ADDITIONAL USERS 4

VI. eVA BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT VENDOR REGISTRATION 5

VII. SWaM CERTIFICATION 5

VIII. SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN 5

IX. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 5

X. BACKGROUND 5

XI. STATEMENT OF NEEDS 5

XII. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 6

XIII. INITIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SUBSEQUENT AWARD 9

XIV. ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS REVIEW BOARD (ASRB) REQUIREMENTS 9

XV. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION 10

XVI. PAYMENT TERMS/METHOD OF PAYMENT 10

XVII. SOLICITATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS 10

XVIII. RFP SCHEDULE 11

ATTACHMENT A SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN 12

ATTACHMENT B STANDARD CONTRACT 14

I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit competitive proposals to establish a contract with one or more vendors for a third‑party, anonymous ethics and compliance reporting system for George Mason University (“George

Mason” or “University”). George Mason is a public institution of higher education and an agency of the Commonwealth of

Virginia.

II. PURCHASING MANUAL/GOVERNING RULES: This solicitation and any resulting contract shall be subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Virginia Purchasing Manual for Institutions of Higher Education and their Vendor's, and any revisions thereto, and the Governing Rules, which are hereby incorporated into this contract in their entirety. A copy of both documents is available for review at: https://vascupp.org

III. COMMUNICATION: Communications regarding the Request For Proposals shall be formal from the date of issuance until a contract has been awarded. Unless otherwise instructed offerors are to communicate with only the Procurement Officers listed on the cover page. Offerors are not to communicate with any other employees of Mason.

IV. FINAL CONTRACT: ATTACHMENT B to this solicitation is Mason’s standard two-party contract. It is the intent of this solicitation to base the final contractual documents off of Mason’s standard two-party contract and Mason’s General Terms and Conditions as outlined in Attachment B – Standard Contract. Any exceptions to our standard contract and General Terms and Conditions must be denoted in your RFP response. Other documents may be incorporated into the final contract, either by way of attachment or by reference, but in all cases this contract document and Mason’s General Terms and Conditions shall jointly take precedence over all other documents and will govern the terms and conditions of the contract.

As a public institution of higher education and agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Mason cannot agree to any of the following terms in any documents:

A. An express or implied waiver of sovereign immunity.

B. An agreement to indemnify, defend or hold harmless any entity.

C. An agreement to maintain insurance.

D. An agreement providing for binding arbitration.

E. An agreement providing for the payment of attorneys' fees, costs of collection, or liquidated damages.

F. Waiver of jury trial.

G. Choice of law or venue other than the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Contracts will only be issued to the FEI/FIN Number and Firm listed on the signed cover page submitted in your RFP response.

Joint proposals will not be accepted.

Note: The Offeror must include any and all terms and conditions, additional documents, and/or statements of work that could potentially be incorporated into a final contract or apply during the term of a resulting contract. As outlined in Attachment B –

Standard Contract, Statements of Work (“SOW”) for specific engagements may only include the work to be performed during scope of the specific engagement. Additional terms and conditions will not be accepted on any SOW submitted during the course of the contract. All SOW’s must be on a form approved by Mason prior to the start of the contract.

In addition to the above note, the Offeror must submit with their proposal any agreement that Mason would be required to sign with a third party.

V. ADDITIONAL USERS: It is the intent of this solicitation and resulting contract(s) to allow for cooperative procurement.

Accordingly, any public body, public or private health or educational institutions, or affiliated corporations may access any resulting contract if authorized by the contractor.

Participation in this cooperative procurement is strictly voluntary. If authorized by the Contractor(s), the resultant contract(s) will be extended to the entities indicated above to purchase goods and services in accordance with contract terms. As a separate contractual relationship, the participating entity will place its own orders directly with the Contractor(s) and shall fully and independently administer its use of the contract(s) to include contractual disputes, invoicing and payments without direct administration from the University. No modification of this contract or execution of a separate agreement is required to participate; however, the participating entity and the Contractor may modify the terms and conditions of the contract to accommodate specific governing laws, regulations, policies, and business goals required by the participating entity. Any such modification will apply solely between the participating entity and the contractor.

The University may require the Contractor provide semi-annual usage reports for all entities accessing the contract. The

University shall not be held liable for any costs or damages incurred by any other participating entity as a result of any authorization by the Contractor to extend the contract. It is understood and agreed that the University is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any entity and will not be considered in default of the contract no matter the circumstances.

https://vascupp.org/

Use of the resulting contract(s) does not preclude any participating entity from using other contracts or competitive processes as needed.

VI. eVA BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT VENDOR REGISTRATION: The eVA Internet electronic procurement solution, website portal www.eVA.virginia.gov, streamlines and automates government purchasing activities in the Commonwealth.

The eVA portal is the gateway for vendors to conduct business with state agencies and public bodies. All vendors desiring to provide goods and/or services to the Commonwealth shall participate in the eVA Internet eProcurement solution by completing the free eVA Vendor Registration. All bidders or offerors agree to self-register in eVA and pay the Vendor Transaction Fees prior to being awarded a contract. Registration instructions and transaction fees may be viewed at: https://eva.virginia.gov/

VII. SWaM CERTIFICATION: Upon contract execution, eligible vendors (as determined by Mason and the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity) shall submit all required documents necessary to achieve SWaM certification to the

Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity within 90 days. Vendors currently SWaM certified agree to maintain their certification for the duration of the contract and shall submit all required renewal documentation at least 30 days prior to existing SWaM expiration. https://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/

VIII. SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN: All potential offerors are required to fill out and submit Attachments A with their proposal.

Note: Invoices shall only be submitted to Mason by the entity awarded a contract. Subcontractors cannot submit invoices to

Mason under any resulting contract.

IX. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: One (1) year from Effective Date of contract with nine (9) successive one-year renewal options (or as negotiated).

X. BACKGROUND: George Mason University’s short history is one of an enterprising and innovative pioneer, creating a major teaching and research university from a small, one-room schoolhouse in just 50 years. George Mason University is recognized as an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. With strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering and information technology, dance, organizational psychology and health care, Mason students are routinely recognized with national and international scholarships. Enrollment is more than 38,000, with students studying in 198 degree programs at the undergraduate, masters, doctoral, and professional levels. Additionally, Mason has more than 200,000 living alumni with 60% residing in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Due to George Mason University’s rapid growth – particularly in the area of sponsored research – and the increasing complexity of compliance and ethics requirements, the university implemented the Office of Institutional Compliance and Ethics in 2021.

The Office of Institutional Compliance and Ethics serves as a strategic resource and guide, helping the university community identify and manage compliance risks and act ethically. The office supports the university by promoting ethical decision-making, fostering a culture of accountability and integrity, and ensuring adherence to laws and regulations through implementation and management of an institutional Ethics and Compliance Program in accordance with accepted best practices for such programs. George Mason has numerous reporting channels for specific types of concerns, but at present does not operate a central, anonymous reporting platform for compliance and ethics concerns. The Office of Institutional Compliance

& Ethics currently receives such reports directly via email, and receives approximately 27 reports per year directly (five‑year average). This procurement is intended to provide a critical component of the Ethics and Compliance Program by streamlining compliance and ethics reporting, providing a platform to surface and address issues and risks pertaining to compliance and ethics, and to align Mason with peer institutions and accepted best practices.

Mason has campuses in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William counties. In addition to these three campuses, George Mason

University operates a site in Woodbridge, VA and has partnered with the Smithsonian Institution to create the Smithsonian-

University School of Conservation in Front Royal, Virginia. Approximately 6,000 employees are distributed at these locations.

Mason also offers programs online and at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon. Each location has a distinctive academic focus that plays a critical role in the economy of its region.

XI. STATEMENT OF NEEDS: George Mason University seeks proposals for an outsourced, anonymous, 24/7 reporting solution whereby individuals can submit concerns about potential ethical misconduct or non-compliance, or seek ethics or compliance guidance, in order to promote ethical conduct and meet regulatory requirements.

Contractor will provide the university with an outsourced, anonymous reporting system that includes:

● The ability to identify oneself as the reporter or to remain anonymous;

• The inability to track an individual’s identity, phone number, or IP address;

• Multiple reporting options, such as telephone, web, and smart device;

• Trained intake personnel familiar with the higher education industry;

https://eva.virginia.gov/ https://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/

• Translation services (include list of foreign languages outside of English)

• Case Management Software;

• Options for generating automated reports (e.g., reports by type or allegation class, by substantiation, by days open, and comparison to industry data);

• 24 hour per day, 7 day per week availability;

• Compliance with relevant accessibility, privacy, and security laws, regulations, and standards.

Additionally, the system should be vendor‑hosted (SaaS) and not require on‑premises or hybrid deployment. The platform must operate completely off‑site and will not be integrated with Mason’s enterprise systems (e.g., Banner, HRIS) nor require single sign‑on.

Reporting channels should include multiple platforms/capabilities, (such as web, telephone, and/or smart‑device interfaces), with trained intake personnel and standard multilingual translation services.

To preserve reporter anonymity, the system must apply industry best‑practice safeguards (e.g., network‑level anonymity, secure session handling, log hygiene, telecom anonymization or voice distortion, etc.) and must not track personal identifiers

(e.g., IP address, phone number, etc.).

Accessibility and compliance: the solution must conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, ADA, and Section 508, and provide a current VPAT/Accessibility Conformance Report. Security attestations must include a current SOC 2 Type II report available at the time of contract, and the solution is subject to Mason’s Data Security Addendum.

Data governance and residency: vendors shall disclose the geographic location(s) of data storage and processing. All data must reside within the United States. Vendors must comply with applicable laws and regulations, including Virginia privacy statutes, NIST 800-53 and FERPA

Operational expectations: the University expects 24/7 availability of the reporting channel(s). Offerors should state uptime commitments, support SLAs (with expected response within ~24 hours for urgent compliance matters), and surge‑capacity approaches during crisis events. Offerors should outline their onboarding approach.

Scalability: the system should be capable of handling report volumes consistent with a large, public R1 research university and be scalable with potential growth in submissions and user demand.

Administrative access: University staff will primarily review and manage cases directly within the platform, with export options made available as needed.

XII. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. RFP Response: In order to be considered, Offerors must submit a complete response to Mason's Purchasing

Office prior to the due date and time stated in this RFP. Offerors are required to submit one (1) signed copy of the entire proposal including all attachments and proprietary information. If the proposal contains proprietary information, then submit two (2) proposals must be submitted; one (1) with proprietary information included and one (1) with proprietary information removed (see 2.d. below for details on how to submit a redacted proposal). The Offeror shall make no other distribution of the proposals.

At the conclusion of the RFP process proposals with proprietary information removed (redacted versions) shall be provided to requestors in accordance with Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. Offerors will not be notified of the release of this information.

An Offeror may not request any of the following be proprietary and/or confidential in their proposal:

a. Pricing or any calculation used to determine pricing;

b. A notation or footer on the bottom of every page with “proprietary and confidential;”

c. Entire contents of company history or executive summary;

d. A case study, social media post, or billboard already available to the public;

e. Name of company or firm listed as a reference;

f. Any resulting Statement of Work (SOW), Order Form, or Invoice.

ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: ATTENTION: PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE

ACCEPTED VIA EMAIL, MAIL, THROUGH eVA, OR IN PERSON. Mason will only accept electronic proposal submissions via Bonfire for this Request for Proposals.

The following shall apply:

a. You must register with Bonfire and submit your proposal, and it must be received prior to the submission deadline, by submitting through the online Bonfire portal at https://gmu.bonfirehub.com.

b. The Offeror must ensure the proposals are uploaded and submitted through Bonfire sufficiently in advance of the proposal deadline. Plan Ahead: It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure that electronic proposal submissions have sufficient time to make its way through Bonfire’s submission portal. Mason recommends you submit your proposal the day prior to the due date.

c. Submissions by other methods will not be accepted. Minimum system requirements: Microsoft

Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, or Mozilla Firefox. JavaScript and browser cookies must be enabled.

d. Respondents should contact Bonfire at support@gobonfire.com for technical questions related to submission or visit Bonfire’s help forum at https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us.

e. Submission materials should be prepared in the file formats listed under Requested Information for this opportunity in the Bonfire Portal. The maximum upload file size is 1000 MB. Documents should not be embedded within uploaded files, as the embedded files will not be accessible or evaluated.

f. All solicitation schedules are subject to change.

g. Go to Mason’s Bonfire Portal for all updates and schedule changes. https://gmu.bonfirehub.com

h. All communication with Offerors will take place in Bonfire, to include negotiations. Mason can only message Offerors that have interacted with this specific RFP. Please ensure the appropriate person to handle negotiations and other RFP notifications has submitted the Offerors proposal in

Bonfire.

2. Proposal Presentation:

a. Proposals shall be signed by an authorized representative of the Offeror. All information requested must be submitted. Failure to submit all information requested may result in your proposal being scored low.

b. Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of capabilities to satisfy the requirement of the RFP. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of content.

c. Proposals should be organized in the order in which the requirements are presented in the RFP. All pages of the proposal should be numbered. Each paragraph in the proposal should reference the paragraph number corresponding section of the RFP. It is also helpful to cite the paragraph number, sub letter and repeat the text of the requirement as it appears in the RFP. The proposal should contain a table of contents which cross references the RFP requirements. Information which the Offeror desires to present that does not fall within any of the requirement of the RFP should be inserted at the appropriate place or be attached at the end of the proposal and designated as additional material.

A WORD version of this RFP will be provided upon request.

d. Except as provided, once an award is announced, all proposals submitted in response to this RFP will be open to inspection by any citizen, or interested person, firm or corporation, in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by a firm prior to or as part of its proposal will not be subject to public disclosure under the Virginia

Freedom of Information Act only under the following circumstances: (1) the appropriate information is clearly identified by some distinct method such as highlighting or underlining; (2) only the specific words, figures, or paragraphs that constitute trade secrets or proprietary information are identified; and (3) a summary page is supplied immediately following the proposal title page that includes (a) the information to be protected, (b) the section(s)/page number(s) where this https://gmu.bonfirehub.com/ mailto:support@gobonfire.com https://vendorsupport.gobonfire.com/hc/en-us information is found in the proposal, and (c) a statement why protection is necessary for each section listed. A statement simply noting “trade secret” is not a sufficient reason for redaction. The firm must also provide a separate attachment of the proposal with the trade secrets and/or proprietary information redacted. If all of these requirements are not met, then the firm’s entire proposal will be available for public inspection.

IMPORTANT: A firm may not request that its entire proposal be treated as a trade secret or proprietary information, nor may a firm request that its pricing/fees be treated as a trade secret or proprietary information, or otherwise be deemed confidential. If after given a reasonable time, the Offeror refuses to withdraw the aforementioned designation, the proposal will be rejected.

3. Oral Presentation: Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this RFP may be required to give an oral presentation/demonstration of their proposal/product to Mason. This will provide an opportunity for the

Offeror to clarify or elaborate on their proposal. Performance during oral presentations may affect the final award decision. If required, oral presentations will be scheduled at the appropriate time.

Mason will expect that the person or persons who will be working on the project to make the presentation so experience of the Offeror’s staff can be evaluated prior to making selection. Oral presentations are an option of Mason and may or may not be conducted; therefore, it is imperative all proposals should be complete.

B. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS: Proposals should be as thorough and detailed as possible to allow Mason to properly evaluate the Offeror’s capabilities and approach toward providing the required services. Offerors should submit the following items as a complete proposal.

1. Procedural information:

a. Return signed cover page and all addenda, if any, signed and completed as required.

b. Return Attachment A - Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

c. Exceptions (if any) to Mason’s two-party contract, Attachment B.

d. Any SOW or supplemental document Mason may be required to sign. See section IV. Final Contract

e. State your payment preference as required in Bonfire. (See section XVI.)

2. Executive Summary: Submit an executive summary at the beginning of the proposal response not to exceed

3 pages that addresses how the Offeror can meet the university’s Statement of Needs as set forth above.

3. Qualifications and Experience: Describe your experience, qualifications and success in providing the services described in the Statement of Needs to include the following:

a. Background and brief history of your company.

b. Names, qualifications and experience of personnel to be assigned to work with Mason.

c. No fewer than three (3) references that demonstrate the Offeror’s qualifications, preferably from other comparable higher education institutions your company is/has provided services with and that are similar in size and scope to that which has been described herein. Include a contact name, contact title, phone number, and email for each reference and indicate the length of service.

4. Specific Plan (Methodology): Explain your specific plans for providing the proposed services outlined in the Statement of Needs including:

a. Your approach to providing the services described herein.

b. What, when and how services will be performed.

5. Proposed Pricing: Provide detailed pricing for any system/software, consulting/services, training, etc. and include the following:

a. Breakdown separately all recurring and one-time cost associated with your offered solution/system. Pricing should include cost for implementation, integration, support services, training, data transfer, and maintenance. Pricing should be inclusive of all associated costs for this system/solution/service.

b. Any special pricing, such as additional integrations, user access tiers, etc.

c. Provide any discounts for volume, multi-year commitment, enterprise-wide licensing etc.

Rates must include travel-related expenses if Offeror is traveling within a 50-mile radius of Mason's Fairfax campus. If Offeror is traveling from outside a 50-mile radius of the Fairfax Campus, travel will only be reimbursed in accordance with Mason's polices, http://fiscal.gmu.edu/travel/, and GSA per diem rates.

6. In your proposal response please address the following:

a. Are you and/or your subcontractor currently involved in litigation with any party?

b. Please list any investigation or action from any state, local, federal or other regulatory body (OSHA, IRS, DOL, etc.) related to your firm or any subcontractor in the last three years.

c. Please list all lawsuits that involved your firm or any subcontractor in the last three years.

d. In the past ten (10) years has your firm’s name changed? If so please provide a reason for the change.

XIII. INITIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SUBSEQUENT AWARD:

A. INITIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA: Proposals shall be initially evaluated and ranked using the following criteria:

Description of Criteria Maximum Point Value

1. Quality, including ease of use, of products/services 25 offered and suitability for the intended purpose

2. Qualifications and experience of offeror in providing the goods/services, including references 25

3. Specific plans or methodology to be used to provide the services 20

4. Price Offered 20

5. Offeror is certified with Virginia

SBSD at the proposal due date & time. 10

Total Points Available: 100

B. AWARD: Following the initial scoring by the evaluation committee, at least two or more top ranked offerors may be contacted for oral presentations/demonstrations or advanced directly to the negotiations stage. If oral presentations are conducted Mason will then determine, in its sole discretion, which offerors will advance to the negotiations phase. Negotiations shall then be conducted with each of the offerors so selected. Price shall be considered, but need not be the sole determining factor. After negotiations have been conducted with each offeror so selected, Mason shall select the offeror which, in its sole discretion has made the best proposal, and shall award the contract to that offeror.

When the terms and conditions of multiple awards are so provided in the Request for Proposal, awards may be made to more than one offeror. Should Mason determine in writing and in its sole discretion that only one offeror has made the best proposal, a contract may be negotiated and awarded to that offeror. Mason is not required to furnish a statement of the reasons why a particular proposal was not deemed to be the most advantageous (Governing Rules §49.D.).

XIV. ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS REVIEW BOARD (ASRB) REQUIREMENTS: After conclusion of negotiations/Best and Final Offer (BAFO) but prior to award of a contract (and/or release of funding to procure your solution) your solution/system will be submitted to Mason’s Architectural Standards Review Board (ASRB). The ASRB will review your system for security, accessibility (508 compliance, WCAG 2.1 Level AA), ease/ability to integrate with existing systems, etc. The contractor must agree to submit their product/system/software to ASRB and submit any requested information to assist in the review process. ASRB approval is required prior to contract award or funding being released to procure the system/product. ASRB review typically takes six to eight weeks depending on the completeness of submissions and review findings. Vendors must be prepared to provide SOC 2 Type II reports, VPAT and security/architecture documentation, and to respond promptly to ASRB inquiries. The contractor should be prepared to submit any of the following items including but not limited to:

• Data Dictionary identifying the data elements available for use in the product;

• Data integration documentation;

• Architecture diagrams;

• Security documentation, including but not limited to the vendor’s SOC 2 Type (preferred) and/or your third-party hosting vendor’s SOC 2 Type II (or other equivalent security audit). If you cannot provide this documentation for your organization and/or your third-party hosting vendor, please clearly state as such in your offer. If you have a SOC 2

Type II for your organization (or other equivalent security audit) and/or your third-party hosting vendor but require an NDA in order to release it please state as such in your offer and clearly define which organization (you or your http://fiscal.gmu.edu/travel/ third-party vendor) you can provide a SOC 2 Type II (or other equivalent security audit) for and a copy of your NDA.

If you are providing an equivalent security audit (not a SOC 2 Type II) please clearly define what type of audit you are submitting.

• VPAT, and a useable software demo or “sandbox” for accessibility testing;

• And any single sign-on documentation;

• Additional documentation or items may be requested as needed during the review process;

• The contractor may be asked to answer ASRB questions verbally or in writing.

It is imperative that the contractor comply with these requests in a timely fashion as any delay will result in a delay of contract award. Failure to provide documentation or extended delay may result in negotiations concluding without award

XV. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION: Upon award of the contract, Mason shall designate, in writing, the name of the Contract

Administrator who shall work with the contractor in formulating mutually acceptable plans and standards for the operations of this service. The Contract Administrator shall use all powers under the contract to enforce its faithful performance. The Contract

Administrator shall determine the amount, quality and acceptability of work and shall decide all other questions in connection with the work. All direction and order from Mason shall be transmitted through the Contract Administrator, or their designee(s) however, the Contract Administrator shall have no authority to approve changes which shall alter the concept or scope of the work or change the basis for compensation to the contractor.

XVI. PAYMENT TERMS / METHOD OF PAYMENT:

PLEASE NOTE: THE VENDOR MUST REFERENCE THE PURCHASE ORDER NUMBER ON ALL INVOICES SUBMITTED

FOR PAYMENT.

Option #1- Payment to be mailed in 10 days-Mason will make payment to the vendor under 2%/10 Net 30 payment terms.

Invoices should be submitted via email to the designated Accounts Payable email address which is acctpay@gmu.edu.

The 10-day payment period begins the first business day after receipt of proper invoice or receipt of goods, whichever occurs last. A paper check will be mailed on or before the 10th day.

Option #2- To be paid in 20 days. The vendor may opt to be paid through our Virtual Payables credit card program. The vendor shall submit an invoice and will be paid via credit card on the 20th day from receipt of a valid invoice. The vendor will incur standard credit card interchange fees through their processor. All invoices should be sent to:

George Mason University

Accounts Payable Department

4400 University Drive, Mailstop 3C1

Fairfax, VA 22030

Voice: 703.993.2580 | Fax: 703.993.2589 e-mail: AcctPay@gmu.edu

Option#3- Net 30 Payment Terms. Vendor will enroll in Paymode-X where all payments will be made electronically to the vendor’s bank account. To sign up for electronic payments, please contact the Paymode-X Enrollment Team at 1-800-331-

0974 or email enrollment@paymode-x.com. The enrollment team can assist you with any questions about the enrollment process and setting up the membership.

Please state your payment preference in your proposal response.

XVII. SOLICITATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

A. ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARD: Upon the award or the announcement of the decision to award a contract over

$200,000, as a result of this solicitation, Mason will publicly post such notice on the DGS/DPS eVA web site

(https://eva.virginia.gov/) for a minimum of 10 days.

B. BEST AND FINAL OFFER (BAFO): At the conclusion of negotiations, the offeror(s) may be asked to submit in writing, a best and final offer (BAFO). After the BAFO is submitted, no further negotiations shall be conducted with the offeror(s).

C. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: By submitting a proposal the contractor warrants that they have fully complied with the

Virginia Conflict of Interest Act; furthermore certifying that they are not currently an employee of the Commonwealth mailto:acctpay@gmu.edu mailto:AcctPay@gmu.edu mailto:enrollment@paymode-x.com of Virginia.

D. DEBARMENT STATUS: By submitting a proposal, offerors certify that they are not currently debarred by the

Commonwealth of Virginia from submitting bids or proposals on contracts for the type of goods and/or services covered by this solicitation, nor are they an agent of any person or entity that is currently so debarred.

E. ETHICS IN PUBLIC CONTRACTING: By submitting a proposal, offerors certify that their proposal is made without collusion or fraud and that they have not offered or received any kickbacks or inducements from any other offeror, supplier, manufacturer or subcontractor in connection with their proposal, and that they have not conferred on any public employee having official responsibility for this procurement transaction any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything of more than nominal value, present or promised, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value was exchanged.

F. LATE PROPOSALS: To be considered for selection, proposals must be received in Mason’s Bonfire Portal by the designated date and hour. The official time used in the receipt of proposals is the proposal due date and hour in

Mason’s Bonfire Portal. Proposals submitted after the due date and time has expired will not be accepted nor considered. Mason is not responsible for any delays related to Bonfire’s website or vendor registration process. It is the responsibility of the offeror to ensure that their proposal is submitted by the designated date and hour.

G. MANDATORY USE OF MASON FORM AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Failure to submit a proposal on the official Mason form provided for that purpose may be a cause for rejection of the proposal. Modification of or additions to the General Terms and Conditions of this solicitation may be cause for rejection of the proposal; however, Mason reserves the right to decide, on a case-by-case basis, in its sole discretion, whether to reject such a proposal.

H. OBLIGATION OF OFFEROR: It is the responsibility of each offeror to inquire about and clarify any requirements of this solicitation that are not understood. Mason will not be bound by oral explanations as to the meaning of specifications or language contained in this solicitation. Therefore, all inquiries must be in writing and submitted as instructed on page 1 of this solicitation. By submitting a proposal, the offeror covenants and agrees that they have satisfied themselves, from their own investigation of the conditions to be met, that they fully understand their obligation and that they will not make any claim for, or have right to cancellation or relief from the resulting contact because of any misunderstanding or lack of information.

I. QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFERORS: Mason may make such reasonable investigations as deemed proper and necessary to determine the ability of the offeror to perform the services/furnish the goods and the offeror shall furnish to Mason all such information and data for this purpose as may be requested. Mason reserves the right to inspect the offeror’s physical facilities prior to award to satisfy questions regarding the offeror’s capabilities. Mason further reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by, or investigations of, such offeror fails to satisfy

Mason that such offeror is properly qualified to carry out the obligations of the resulting contract and to provide the services and/or furnish the goods contemplated therein.

J. RFP DEBRIEFING: In accordance with §49 of the Governing Rules Mason is not required to furnish a statement of the reasons why a particular proposal was not deemed to be the most advantageous. However, upon request we will provide a scoring/ranking summary and the award justification memo from the evaluation committee. Formal debriefings are generally not offered.

K. TESTING AND INSPECTION: Mason reserves the right to conduct any test/inspection it may deem advisable to assure goods and services conform to the specifications.

XVIII. RFP SCHEDULE (Subject to Change): Go to Mason’s Bonfire Portal for all updates and schedule changes.

https://gmu.bonfirehub.com

ATTACHMENT A

SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN

TO BE COMPLETED BY OFFEROR

Offerors must advise any portion of this contract that will be subcontracted. All potential offerors are required to include this document with their proposal in order to be considered responsive.

Small Business: "Small business (including micro)” means a business which holds a certification as such by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (DSBSD) on the due date and time for proposals. This shall also include DSBSD certified women- owned and minority-owned businesses and businesses with DSBSD service disabled veteran owned status when they also hold a DSBSD certification as a small business on the proposal due date. Currently, DSBSD offers small business certification and micro business designation to firms that qualify.

Certification applications are available through DSBSD online at www.SBSD.virginia.gov (Customer Service).

Offeror Name:

Preparer Name: Date:

Who will be doing the work: □ I plan to use subcontractors □ I plan to complete all work

Instructions

A. If you are certified by the DSBSD as a micro/small business, complete Section A of this form.

B. If the “I plan to use subcontractors” box is checked, complete Section B of this form. For the proposal to be considered and the offeror to be declared responsive, the offeror shall identify the portions of the contract that will be subcontracted to any subcontractor, to include DSBSD certified small business for the initial contract period in relation to the offeror’s total price for the initial contract period in Section B.

Section A

If your firm is certified by the DSBSD provide your certification number and the date of certification.

Certification Number: Certification Date:

Section B

If the “I plan to use subcontractors” box is checked, populate the requested information below, per subcontractor to show your firm's plans for utilization of any subcontractor, to include DSBSD-certified small businesses, in the performance of this contract for the initial contract period in relation to the offeror’s total price for the initial contract period. Certified small businesses include but are not limited to

DSBSD-certified women-owned and minority-owned businesses and businesses with DSBSD service disabled veteran-owned status that have also received the DSBSD small business certification. Include plans to utilize small businesses as part of joint ventures, partnerships, subcontractors, suppliers, etc. It is important to note that these proposed participation will be incorporated into the subsequent contract and will be a requirement of the contract. Failure to obtain the proposed participation dollar value or percentages may result in breach of the contract.

Plans for Utilization of Any subcontractor, to include DSBSD-Certified Small Businesses, for this Procurement

Subcontract #1

Company Name: SBSD Cert #:

Contact Name: SBSD Certification:

Contact Phone: Contact Email:

Value % or $ (Initial Term): Contact Address:

Description of Work:

Subcontract #2

Company Name: SBSD Cert #:

Contact Name: SBSD Certification:

Contact Phone: Contact Email:

Subcontract #3

Contact Name: SBSD Certification:

Contact Phone: Contact Email:

Subcontract #4

Contact Name: SBSD Certification:

Contact Phone: Contact Email:

Subcontract #5

Contact Name: SBSD Certification:

Contact Phone: Contact Email:

ATTACHMENT B – STANDARD CONTRACT

Note: Other documents may be incorporated into this document, either by way of attachment or by reference, but in all cases this contract document shall take precedence over all other documents and will govern the terms and conditions of the contract.

This Contract entered on this ____ day of , 2025 (Effective Date) by ________________ hereinafter called “Contractor”

(located at ____________) and George Mason University hereinafter called “Mason,” “University”.

I. WITNESSETH that the Contractor and Mason, in consideration of the mutual covenants, promises and agreement herein contained, agree as follows:

II. SCOPE OF CONTRACT: The Contractor shall provide for the of George Mason University as set forth in the Contract documents.

During the term of this Contract, Contractor may issue Statements of Work (“SOW”) to modify the scope of the engagement or otherwise change the work to be performed under this Contract. All SOW’s must be on a form approved by Mason prior to the start of this Contract. Any SOW that does not conform to the pre-approved SOW form shall be void even if approved by

Mason. Additionally, the SOW shall be limited to modifications to the scope of the engagement or other changes to the work to be performed under this Contract; any other terms contained in a SOW shall be void and have no effect even if approved by

Mason. Other than changes to the scope of the engagement or the work to be performed under this Contract, Contractor may not change, modify, add, supersede, or remove any term from this Contract through a SOW.

III. PERIOD OF CONTRACT: One year from the Effective Date with four (4) successive one-year renewal options. (or as negotiated)

IV. PRICE SCHEDULE: The pricing specified in this section represents the complete list of charges from the Contractor. Mason shall not be liable for any additional charges.

Negotiated price schedule will be inserted here.

A.

V. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION: ___________ shall serve as Contract Administrator for this Contract and shall use all powers under the Contract to enforce its faithful performance. The Contract Administrator shall determine the amount, quality and acceptability of work and shall decide all other questions in connection with the work. All direction and order from Mason shall be transmitted through the Contract Administrator, however, the Contract Administrator shall have no authority to approve changes which shall alter the concept or scope or change the basis for compensation.

VI. METHOD OF PAYMENT: As selected from RFP Payment Term Options / Method of Payment. Contractor shall submit invoices directly to acctpay@gmu.edu and copy the Contract Administrator. Invoices must reference a Mason Purchase Order number to be considered valid. Invoices will only be accepted if submitted after services rendered or goods received. All invoice will be paid Net 30 (or as selected in Payment Terms / Method of Payment), after receipt of invoice in the accounts payable email inbox.

VII. THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS SHALL CONSIST OF (In order of precedence):

A. This signed form;

B. Data Security Addendum (attached);

C. Negotiation Response(s) dated XXXXX (attached);

D. RFP No. GMU-XXXX-XX, in its entirety (attached);

E. Contractor’s proposal dated XXXXXX (attached);

F. Contractor’s Statement of Work template (attached).

VIII. GOVERNING RULES: This Contract is governed by the provisions of the Restructured Higher Education Financial and

Administrative Operations Act, Chapter 10 (§ 23.1-1000 et seq.) of Title 23.1 of the Code of Virginia, and the “Governing

Rules” and the Purchasing Manual for Institutions of Higher Education and their Vendors. Documents may be viewed at:

Purchasing Department 4400 University Drive, MS 3C1, Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: 703.993.2580; http://fiscal.gmu.edu/purchasing/ mailto:acctpay@gmu.edu https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title23.1/chapter10/ https://vascupp.org.

IX. CONTRACT PARTICIPATION: It is the intent of this Contract to allow for cooperative procurement. Accordingly, any public body, public or private health or educational institutions, or affiliated corporations may access this Contract if authorized by the Contractor.

Participation in this Contract is strictly voluntary. If authorized by the Contractor, the contract will be extended to the entities indicated above to purchase goods and services in accordance with contract terms. As a separate contractual relationship, the participating entity will place its own orders directly with the Contractor and shall fully and independently administer its use of the contract to include contractual disputes, invoicing and payments without direct administration from the University. No modification of this Contract or execution of a separate agreement is required to participate; however, the participating entity and the Contractor may modify the terms and conditions of the contract to accommodate specific governing laws, regulations, policies, and business goals required by the participating entity. Any such modification will apply solely between the participating entity and the Contractor.

The University may request the Contractor provide semi-annual usage reports for all entities accessing the Contract. The

University shall not be held liable for any costs or damages incurred by any other participating entity as a result of any authorization by the Contractor to extend the Contract. It is understood and agreed that the University is not responsible for the acts or omissions of any entity and will not be considered in default of the contract no matter the circumstances.

Use of this Contract does not preclude any participating entity from using…