Amendment 1.docx

SAP

State of South Carolina

Invitation for Bid Amendment 1

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400025121 6/01/2023

NAKENDRA PERRY

803-896-0022 nperry@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services 1201 Main Street, Ste 600 Columbia SC 29201-3734

DESCRIPTION: Third Party Financial Aid Services

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: State Board for Tech & Comprehensive Ed

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 06/19/2023 11:00:00 EST (See "Deadline for Submission of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 05/30/2023 11:00:00 EST (See "Questions from Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: Submit one (1) original copy

CONFERENCE TYPE: Not Applicable

DATE & TIME:

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Not Applicable

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, you agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(Full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(Business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov )

PRINTED NAME

(Printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES – DO NOT APPLY PER SC CONSOLIDATED PROCUREMENT CODE 11-35-1524, E (3)

PREFERENCES - DO NOT APPLY PER SC CONSOLIDATED PROCUREMENT CODE 11-35-1524, E (3)

____In-State Office Address same as Home Office Address ____In-State Office Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICIATION (JUN 2017)

The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “State’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does. Any restatement of part or all of an existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: Underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2A097-1]

Answers to bidder’s questions:

1. Is there an incumbent providing these services? If so, who is the current supplier?

State’s Response: Yes, FA Solutions

2. If so, has the current supplier been invited to bid on the RFP?

State’s Response: Yes

3. Has the institution experienced success and/or challenges with previous suppliers?

State’s Response: Success

4. Is this RFP required to go to bid due to a contract expiring, or is this RFP issued by choice?

State’s Response: Contract Expiring

5. Please clarify the scope of work, is SFAA-DPS looking to hire interim financial aid staff to assist Northeastern Technical College’s current staff or to completely outsource the whole Financial Aid office of Northeastern Technical College to a contractor?

State’s Response: NETC is outsourcing the financial aid packaging component. The provider will package student financial aid; communicate with students by email, letter, phone, etc., to complete packaging. The provider will be responsible for obtaining FAFSA’s from students, obtaining verification documents from students and packaging aid. Provider will be required to send staff to campus for any emergency issues that arise and need immediate attention.

6. How many positions do you seek to fill? (e.g., How many FTEs or hours in a given week need to be fill?)

· For each position, do you want full-time (FT) or will full-time equivalency (FTE) suffice? In other words, if you are looking for a Financial Aid Officer to be backfilled for 40 full-time hours, will you accept 2 Financial Aid Officers that are 1 FTE (each working 20 hours per week)?

State’s Response: This is a contract for services; we will not be seeking to fill any positions. This will be a third-party service.

7. Section III on page 16 states - No external platforms will be used. Contractor personnel must be able to work on-site and remotely.”

· What platforms / Financial Aid Systems does Northeastern Technical College use? Ellucian - Colleague

· The RFP mentions Ellucian. Is it Colleague or Banner?

· What is the breakdown between on-site and remote hours? For example:

· 1 week on-site; 3 weeks off-site

· 1 week on-site; 1 week off-site

· On-site and Off-site within the same week On-site hours will only be in the case of an emergency. No set schedule.

· For the on-site hours, can travel expenses be reimbursed separately or do they need to be part of the rate?

State’s Response: They need to be part of the rate; you may identify the number of emergency hours allotted per contract.

8. Do you expect the contracted staff to work during normal business hours? If yes, what are your normal business hours of operation?

State’s Response: Staff need to be available during normal business hours but may work extended hours to complete task in a timely manner. Normal business hours are Monday-Thursday 8:00-5:00 and Friday 8:00-1:30 (August-May) 7:30-5:30 Monday – Thursday (June)

9. Will Northeastern Technical College provide laptops to consultants and/or VPN access if no laptop is provided?

State’s Response: No laptops will be provided; VPN access will be provided.

10. Please clarify a conflict within the RFP documentation as it relates to scope of work. If “no external platforms will be used” and data will be stored on Northeastern Technical College’s system and devices, can you clarify the questions regarding government information in our systems on page 44. Specifically questions 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 mention government information in our systems.

State’s Response: For any information obtained from NETC that may be used for reporting or distribution back to the college, data must be kept in a secure location and must be password protected when shared.

11. Can you clarify the insurance requirements? The insurance requirements found on page 27 states $1M CGL, $1M Auto, $1M Workers Comp. However, page 28, section e, says $5M per occurrence and $10M aggregate.

State’s Response: There are three types of insurance: Commercial General Liability, or CGL, Automobile Liability; and Workers Compensation/Employer’s Liability. These insurance requirements are utilized due to the contractor performing substantial services on state property or within a state building.

However, indicated page 28 and (e) can be found on page 27. The $5,000,000 per occurrence limits define how much a policy will pay for any one incident or claim. The $10,000,000 aggregate limits define how much a policy will pay over the policy’s duration.

12. Will we have an opportunity to review RFP Q&As from the other respondents?

State’s Response: See page 10 of solicitation. Clause titled:

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS (FEB 2015)

(a) Any prospective offeror desiring an explanation or interpretation of the solicitation, drawings, specifications, etc., must request it in writing. Questions regarding the original solicitation or any amendment must be received by the Procurement Officer no later than five (5) days prior to opening unless an earlier date is stated on the Cover Page. Label any communication regarding your questions with the name of the procurement officer, and the solicitation's title and number. Oral explanations or instructions will not be binding. [See R. 19-445.2042(B)] Any information given a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all other prospective offerors as an Amendment to the solicitation if that information is necessary for submitting offers or if the lack of it would be prejudicial to other prospective offerors. See clause entitled "Duty to Inquire." We will not identify you in our answer to your question. (b) The State seeks to permit maximum practicable competition. Offerors are urged to advise the Procurement Officer -- as soon as possible -- regarding any aspect of this procurement, including any aspect of the Solicitation that unnecessarily or inappropriately limits full and open competition. [See R. 19-445.2140] [02-2A095-2]

ALL OTHER TERMS, CONDITIONS, BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS, AND SPECIFICATIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED. IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF ANY CONFUSION OR UNCERTAINTY ARISES AS A RESULT OF THIS AMENDMENT, IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR TO CONTACT THE PROCUREMENT OFFICER FOR CLARIFICATION. CONTACT INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE COVER PAGE OF THIS AMENDMENT. REFERENCE THE “DUTY TO INQUIRE” CLAUSE IN THE ORIGINAL INVITATION FOR BID.

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