1-RFP GMU-RB0607-25 IT Consulting and Staff Augmentation.pdf

Purchasing Department 4400 University Drive, MS 3C1, Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: 703.993.2580; http://fiscal.gmu.edu/purchasing/

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

GMU-RB0607-25

ISSUE DATE: September 4, 2025

TITLE: IT Consulting & Staff Augmentation Services

PRIMARY PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Regina Bazile, Senior Buyer SECONDARY PROCUREMENT OFFICER: Katherine Sirotin, Director

QUESTIONS/INQUIRIES: Submit all inquiries through George Mason’s Bonfire Portal, no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on September 11, 2025. All questions must be submitted through George 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 George Mason’s Bonfire portal and by 5:00 PM ET on October 1, 2025.

PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: October 16, 2025 @ 2:00 PM ET. ATTENTION: PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED VIA EMAIL, MAIL, THROUGH eVA OR IN PERSON. SEE SECTION XIII.A.1 FOR DETAILS ON ELECTRONIC PROPOSAL SUBMISSION.

IMPORTANT! All communication with Offerors will take place in Bonfire, to include negotiations. George 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 George 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 George Mason.

☐ Option 2: Proposed Exceptions and/or Additional Documents Submitted:

1. We have reviewed George 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 George 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 prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment.

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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 George 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 George Mason’s Standard Contract.

□ Any Statements of Work or supplemental document(s) George 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 George 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 requested and answers all questions outlined in Section XII.d. Specific Requirements. Your proposal must include a response to each of these 4 questions at the end of Section XII.B.

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 XIII.A.1.

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GMU-RB0607-25

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. COSTS OF SERVICES 8

XIII. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 9

XIV. INITIAL EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SUBSEQUENT AWARD 11

XV. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION 12

XVI. PAYMENT TERMS/METHOD OF PAYMENT 12

XVII. SOLICITATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS 12

XVIII. RFP SCHEDULE 13

ATTACHMENT A SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN 15

ATTACHMENT B STANDARD CONTRACT & DATA SECURITY ADDENDUM 17

ATTACHMENT C SAMPLE INVOICE FORMAT 29

I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit proposals to establish a contract through competitive negotiations with one or more qualified vendors to provide “as needed” information technology related staff augmentation support, to supplement Mason’s existing ITS workforce, and project/task specific IT consulting services to George Mason University. Mason anticipates making multiple awards under this RFP. There will be no guarantee of any Statements of Work (“SOW”) as a result of an award. George Mason University (herein after referred to as “George Mason,” or “University”) is a public institution of higher education and 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 George Mason.

IV. FINAL CONTRACT: ATTACHMENT B to this solicitation is George Mason’s standard two-party contract. It is the intent of this solicitation to base the final contractual documents off of George Mason’s standard two-party contract and George 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 George 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, George Mason cannot agree to any of the following terms in any documents or hyperlinks:

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 George Mason prior to the start of the contract.

In addition to the above note, the Offeror must submit with their proposal any agreement that George 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 https://vascupp.org/ 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 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: Vendor agrees to fully support the Commonwealth of Virginia and George Mason’s efforts related to SWaM goals. Upon contract execution, eligible vendors (as determined by George 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 George Mason by the entity awarded a contract. Subcontractors cannot submit invoices to George 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 is a diverse, innovative and entrepreneurial institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located just outside Washington, D.C., our beautiful 677-acre residential campus boasts a diverse student population. Over 6,200 students live on campus in over 40 residence halls.

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.

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.

Mason’s Information Technology Services (ITS) is at the forefront of enabling the university’s mission through strategic innovation and digital transformation. As technology continues to evolve rapidly, ITS is committed to delivering secure, scalable, and forward-thinking solutions that support academic excellence, research advancement, and operational efficiency.

Our service areas encompass strategic governance, user-focused service delivery, robust cybersecurity, and innovative technology operations, all designed to support and enhance George Mason University's mission and community needs.

Mason has periodically performed RFP’s for consulting and staff augmentation. The last RFP, number GMU-1700-21 was conducted in 2021 and those contracts are now expiring. History of those contracts can be viewed at the following location:

Contract Insight - Contract Management System Public Portal While not predictive of future needs, over the last 12 months, Mason has utilized approximately 23 staff augmentation positions and 6 general consulting engagements.

XI. STATEMENT OF NEEDS: George Mason University (Mason) desires to contract with qualified firms to provide information technology (IT) related staff augmentation support, to supplement Mason’s existing ITS workforce, AND high-level strategic and tactical expertise and a range of services to support technologies used by the University. It is anticipated that contracts will be awarded to multiple firms for some and/or all of the services listed on an “as needed basis”. Mason has a strong preference for firms who can provide both IT staff-augmentation support and on-demand IT Consulting services as defined below.

In addition, Mason strongly prefers those firms with prior higher education experience and who have been in business https://eva.virginia.gov/ https://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/ https://gmu.cobblestone.software/public/default.aspx for at least three years.

1. IT Staff-Augmentation Services – George Mason University has a central IT department known as Information Technology Services (ITS) that supports the various campuses and colleges IT systems and needs. To support this function the University has recurring need to augment our existing IT staff/functions with temporary, supplemental personnel/support from contracted sources. Successful firms will work directly with ITS to determine the necessary skill set for each job order/position placed, and must ensure the University’s minimum qualifications are met. The University will not consider outsourcing recruitment or hiring functions and is not considering “temporary-to-permanent” placement arrangements as part of this solicitation. Employees of firms may apply for regular University positions, but will be subject to the same competitive application and selection process as other applications. The University will not agree to non-compete or non-solicitation clauses.

i. Due to the variety of IT needs throughout the organization, the University is looking to contract with IT staffing firms that can accommodate quick recruitment and placement for the following types of roles/areas of support and preferably with experience, background and knowledge working with the University’s Key Applications/Systems (or similar systems) listed below:

1. Areas of Support: Application integration, data center, business intelligence and databases, collaborative technologies, communications and project management, computer and software resources, data governance and integration, email and telecommunications, enterprise applications, infrastructure and network, IT security, learning management systems, systems integration, technology and classroom support, technology enhanced classrooms, videoconferencing and telepresence, virtual computing labs, and web content management. Learn more at https://its.gmu.edu/about-its/

2. George Mason University Key Applications:

• Enterprise Resource Planning: Ellucian Banner

• Learning Management System: Canvas

• Business Intelligence: MicroStrategy

• Customer Relationship Management: Salesforce

• IT Service Management: TeamDynamix

• Information Security and Risk: Splunk, CrowdStrike, Defender, Archer, and Sentinel

• Collaboration Tools: M365, Zoom

• WebTools: Drupal, WordPress

• Enabling Applications: Adobe (ETLA), DocuSign, and Qualtrics

• Automation: Process Maker (Ellucian Workflow)

2. Contractors are required to supply their own computer equipment, but the University has the right to require contractors to use University-supplied equipment. If the use of University-supplied equipment is required, it will be shipped to/from the contractor at the University’s expense. If University-supplied equipment is provided, contractors are required to return the equipment at the end of their contract.

3. In order to prevent potential labor law violations, the temporary workers placed at the University shall not simultaneously be active University employees (including student workers). All temporary workers of a successful offeror provide shall be considered your agency’s employees, not the University’s.

4. Temporary workers released or rejected by a particular University department for significant violation(s) of University policy (e.g., failure to follow security protocols) cannot be referred for any future assignments at any University location. Failure to meet this criterion shall be considered a breach of contract.

5. Successful offerors shall agree that the University may hire your firm’s employees at any time during or after the initial contract term or any extension thereof. The University does not recruit temporary workers for permanent positions or engage in temp-to-hire contracts, but temporary workers are free to apply for open positions at the University on the same terms as any other applicant. This does not preclude firms from having non-compete agreements with their employees but the University will not be a party to or responsible for upholding said non-compete agreement between the firm and their employee.

6. Successful offerors shall obtain, at your expense, all necessary bonding, permits, licenses, and required insurance coverage, to comply with federal, state, and local statutes, rules, and regulations applicable to employment services.

7. Selected firms will be solely responsible for staying fully informed of and faithfully observing all laws, ordinances, and regulations affecting the rights of your employees, and you shall protect and indemnify the University and its officers and agents, against any claims of liability arising from or based on any violation thereof. Successful https://its.gmu.edu/about-its/

Vendors are required to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the United States and to follow all applicable state and federal laws.

h. Your employees shall comply with all University health and safety protocols. These protocols are binding on temporary agency workers placed with the University. The University has the discretion to discontinue the use of a temporary worker who does not follow these protocols.

i. Similarly, your employees shall comply with all instructions from University personnel pertaining to conduct and building regulations. The University reserves the right to request the removal or replacement of any temporary worker at any time, for any reason that is not a violation of public law. Your agency’s employees are expected to conduct themselves professionally and comply with any departmental dress codes.

2. On-Demand IT Consulting Services - Work awarded in this area may still be informally competed amongst vendors that were selected from this RFP. Terms and Conditions will be conforming as provided herein. Contractor shall serve on special projects as a technology expert when requested and as needed. Reports shall be provided back to Mason summarizing options and providing recommendations. Contractor shall serve as a technology advisor to understand, communicate, and propose solutions as requested. Contractor shall serve as a resource of research, implementation, troubleshooting, and other technical tasks to support the efforts of George Mason University Information Technology Services (ITS) staff. Functional consultants shall be represented by the contractor as experts in the tasks and functions assigned.

For a list of key applications see Section XI. 1. i. 2 “George Mason Key Applications”. Project Management tools can be seen at https://its.gmu.edu/working-with-its/ppmo/

Learn more about student connectivity at https://its.gmu.edu/service/network-access/

a. Provide detailed corporate competencies/experience serving one or more of the roles, technologies and capabilities listed below:

i. Change and transformation

1. Change analysis - business analysis, requirements definition and management, and user acceptance testing

2. Change implementation - portfolio, program and project management and/or support

3. Change planning - business process improvement, organization design and implementation, and organizational change management

ii. Delivery and operation

1. Data and records operations - database administration and records management

2. Security services - cybercrime investigation, digital forensics, identity and access management, penetration testing, security operations, and vulnerability assessment

3. Service management - asset management, technology management, application support, configuration management, deployment, infrastructure operations, network support, system software administration, and technology service management

iii. Development and implementation

1. Data and analytics - business intelligence, data analytics, data engineering, data management, data modelling and design, and database design

2. Systems development - infrastructure design, network design, programming/software development, software configuration, software design, systems and software lifecycle engineering, and systems design

3. User centered design - customer experience and user experience analysis, design, and evaluation

iv. Strategy and architecture

1. Governance, risk and compliance - artificial intelligence (AI) and data ethics, audit, governance, quality assurance, quality management, and risk management

2. Security and privacy - information and data compliance, information assurance, information security, threat intelligence, and vulnerability research

3. Strategy and planning - enterprise and business architecture, formal research, information management, information systems coordination, solution architecture, strategic planning, and sustainability

b. Describe approach and methodology to providing IT services to George Mason. Include how your firm would manage the scope of projects and how your firm aligns with current best practices.

c. Provide examples of the names, qualifications, and experience in key personnel and subject matter experts to be assigned to George Mason. Designate who would be assigned as the primary relationship manager for this account. The https://its.gmu.edu/working-with-its/ppmo/ https://its.gmu.edu/service/network-access/

University reserves the right to accept or reject any proposed or assigned consultant, without cause, at any time during the duration of the contract.

d. Describe the ability to provide continuity of consultants throughout the duration of a project. Provide examples of both on-site and remote teams that would work with George Mason within the USA.

e. Describe services available from your firm and/or partners and associated costs. Examples of services that could be included are:

i. Implementation

ii. Development

iii. Project Management

iv. Architecture and Design

v. Capacity Planning

vi. Installation and Configuration

vii. Performance and Scalability

viii. Conversion

ix. Monitoring, administration and upgrades

x. Operations metrics

f. Describe the ability to assist in the development and offering of training and documentation, as well as a thorough transfer of knowledge to ITS on any given engagement.

g. Provide examples of recent projects and managed services at representative agencies comparable to George Mason.

Describe the project, time frame, end result, etc. Prior higher education experience is preferred but not required.

h. Describe how your firm would propose a functional staffing plan indicating the number, characteristics, and schedule for the consultants.

i. Describe any functions to be subcontracted and the expertise and credentials required from the subcontractor.

XII. COST OF SERVICES: George Mason University strongly encourages contractors to propose deeply discounted rate structures in their submission. An award from Mason not only presents an opportunity to do business with the University, but may also open the door to additional work with other participating entities. (See CONTRACT PARTICIPATION for more details.)

Contractors shall complete, in Bonfire, the pricing schedule (“Labor Rates (BT-24KX))”. Please provide hourly pricing for any and all labor categories and rates associated with IT staff augmentation, consulting, planning, install, implementation, development project management, etc. Specifically address the following in your proposal:

a. Labor rates should be broken out by the actual hourly rate paid to the employee, firm’s mark-up on the rate, and the fully burdened hourly rate to be billed to the University for temp labor and IT consulting services. See Bid Table: BT-24KX.

b. Confirm that travel expenses will be reimbursed at cost with no markup and may not exceed Commonwealth of Virginia expense guidelines. For consulting, rates must include travel-related expenses if contractor is traveling within a 50-mile radius of George Mason's Fairfax campus. If the contractor is traveling from outside a 50-mile radius of the Fairfax Campus, travel will only be paid on a reimbursement basis in accordance with George Mason's polices, http://fiscal.gmu.edu/travel/, and GSA per diem rates. Additional hourly rates for travel will not be considered. Under no circumstances shall Mason make payment or provide reimbursement for any travel fees, including parking for temporary workers.

c. If different than hourly pricing, describe your pricing structure for consulting engagements, training options and associated costs. Include a catalog of training offerings and differentiation between technical staff and end-user training.

d. Provide a sample invoice for both staff augmentation AND consulting services as part of your offer. Mason has provided an Example Invoice as Attachment C – Sample Invoice Format showing an acceptable breakdown for an example project for both a consulting and staff augmentation engagement. At a minimum, contractors are required to provide a breakdown of the hours worked, the rate, and the total per engagement/project or per day for staff augmentation services.

e. For your last five most recent, either ongoing or completed projects (Determined by date of final payment by the customer) that exceeded $100k and were billed on an hourly basis, list the following:

1. The type of consulting

2. The original estimated hours

3. The final hours billed

4. The original project cost estimated

5. The final price (all charges) paid by the customer

XIII. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. RFP Response: In order to be considered, Offerors must submit a complete response to George 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. George 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. George 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 George 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. George 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.

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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 not exceed fifteen (15) single sided 8.5”x11” pages. Font size should be no smaller than 10-point. Within these 15 pages firms should cover the core proposal requirements listed in Section XIII. B Specific Requirements. The firm’s title page, executive summary/cover letter, table of contents and/or indexes will not count towards the 15 pages. A firm may include additional appendices to illustrate work samples, resumes, reports or other supporting information however, only the 15 pages will be evaluated against the scoring criteria by the Committee.

d. 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.

e. 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 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 George 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.

George 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 George 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 George 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. Proposals should be 10-point or larger and should not exceed 15 pages in length, excluding the procedural information, executive summary, and resumes.

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 George Mason’s two-party contract, Attachment B.

d. Any SOW or supplemental document George 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

2 pages.

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 George 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:

a. Provide pricing as specified in XII. COST OF SERVICES.

b. Complete the pricing schedule in Bonfire.

c. Provide a sample invoice that conforms to the breakout provided in Attachment C – Sample Invoice

Format. If you are unable to conform to this format you must provide a justification for why this is not feasible.

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.

XIV. 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 of products/services offered and suitability for the intended purpose 30

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

3. Specific plans or methodology to be used to provide the services 15

4. Price Offered 20

5. Offeror is certified as a small, minority, or women-owned business (SWaM) 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 George 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, George 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 George 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. George 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.).

XV. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION: Upon award of the contract, George 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 George 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. SEE SAMPLE INVOICE FORMAT IN ATTACHMENT C.

Option #1- Payment to be mailed in 10 days-George 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, George 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).

mailto:acctpay@gmu.edu mailto:AcctPay@gmu.edu mailto:enrollment@paymode-x.com

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 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 George 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 George Mason’s Bonfire Portal. Proposals submitted after the due date and time has expired will not be accepted nor considered. George 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 GEORGE MASON FORM AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Failure to submit a proposal on the official George 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, George 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. George 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: George 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 George Mason all such information and data for this purpose as may be requested. George Mason reserves the right to inspect the offeror’s physical facilities prior to award to satisfy questions regarding the offeror’s capabilities. George Mason further reserves the right to reject any proposal if the evidence submitted by, or investigations of, such offeror fails to satisfy George 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 George 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: George…