Comprehensive Serials RFP_FINAL Draft_RFP - RG 3-10-26.docx

Request for Proposal 904552601

For

Comprehensive Serials Services

March 10, 2026

Note: This public body does not discriminate against faith-based organizations in accordance with the Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4343.1 or against a bidder or offeror because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other basis prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment.

RFP # 904552601, Comprehensive Serials Services

INCLUDE THIS PAGE WITH YOUR PROPOSAL, SIGNATURE AT SUBMISSION IS REQUIRED

DUE DATE: Proposals will be received until April 14, 2026 at 3:00 PM. Failure to submit proposals to the correct location by the designated date and hour will result in disqualification.

INQUIRIES: All inquiries for information regarding this solicitation should be directed to Roger Gupta, Phone: (540) 231-7953, e-mail: ragupta@vt.edu. All inquiries will be answered in the form of an addendum. Inquiries must be submitted by 5pm EST on March 25, 2026. Inquiries must be submitted to the procurement officer identified in this solicitation.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:

*Please note, proposal submission procedures have changed effective March 2023.

Proposals may NOT be hand delivered to the Procurement Office.

Proposals should be submitted electronically through Virginia Tech’s procurement portal. This portal allows you access to view business opportunities and submit bids and proposals to Virginia Tech digitally and securely.

Proposals must be submitted electronically at:

https://bids.sciquest.com/apps/Router/PublicEvent?CustomerOrg=VATech

Vendors will need to register through this procurement portal, hosted by Jaggaer. It is encouraged for all vendors to register prior to the proposal submission deadline to avoid late submissions. Registration is easy and free. If you have any challenges with the registration process, please contact Jaggaer Support at 1-800-233-1121 or procurement@vt.edu.

Click on the opportunity and log in to your vendor account to begin preparing your submission. Upon completion, you will receive a submission receipt email confirmation. Virginia Tech will not confirm receipt of proposals. It is the responsibility of the offeror to make sure their proposal is delivered on time.

Hard copy or email proposals will not be accepted. Late proposals will not be accepted, nor will additional time be granted to any individual Vendor.

Attachments must be smaller than 50MB in order to be received by the University.

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 or services in accordance with the attached signed proposal and as mutually agreed upon by subsequent negotiation.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: ____________________________ Date: _________________________

[INCLUDE THIS PAGE]

I. PURPOSE:

This Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks to solicit proposals to establish a contract or contracts through competitive negotiations for comprehensive print, online, and other format serial or continuations services for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia and The Virginia Association of State College and University Purchasing Professionals (VASCUPP).

VASCUPP is an association of fourteen public higher education founding and associate member institutions. One initiative of VASCUPP is to identify cooperative procurement opportunities and through competitive negotiations subsequently establishing contracts in accordance with the Code of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Purchasing Manual for Institutions of Higher Education and Their Vendors. All VASCUPP members as well as eligible agencies or institutions of the Commonwealth enjoy the benefits derived from increased economies of scale, resulting in lower prices and reduced administrative cost and effort. This solicitation is issued by and will be negotiated on behalf of all VASCUPP member institutions. Please see: https://vascupp.org/members. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is serving as the lead institution and signatory on this solicitation and any resulting award(s). The following paragraphs provide background information on the VASCUPP institutions leading this solicitation.

George Mason University (GMU) is a state-supported, comprehensive R1 University with an FTE (2024-25) of over 33,000. GMU is the only public doctoral university in Virginia to achieve the highest tier of Carnegie’s Opportunity Colleges and Universities: Higher Access, Higher Earnings. The university offers 78 undergraduate degrees, 94 master's degrees, and 38 doctoral degrees and has an associated law school. The University Libraries includes libraries on the main (Fairfax), Mason Square (Arlington) and Science & Technology (Manassas) campuses. GMU maintains over 500 journal orders, as well as over 4,000 titles via contracted publisher packages.

James Madison University (JMU) is a comprehensive R2 university in Harrisonburg, Virginia that is part of the statewide system of public higher education in the Commonwealth. The university offers 139 academic programs including 76 undergraduate level, 53 master’s level, and eight doctoral level. JMU’s primary emphasis is on the undergraduate student. JMU’s current (2025) FTE is 22,879. JMU employs 1,405 full and part-time faculty. JMU acquires both electronic and print serials, with over 530 individual subscriptions provided by our contracted subscription agent as well as several large electronic journal packages.

Old Dominion University (ODU) is a state-supported comprehensive, metropolitan, public research doctoral institution with a medical school located in the city of Norfolk in the Hampton Roads region of coastal Virginia. ODU is classified as a Carnegie Doctoral “Higher Research Activity" university and holds status as both a sea grant and space grant institution. University enrollment is nearly 26,000 students. Undergraduate students make up approximately 20,000 and graduate students approximately 6,000; international students account for almost 1500 enrollments. ODU offers more than 228 programs on campus, and 130 programs and certificates are offered online through ODUGlobal. These include 29 Doctoral programs, 59 Master’s programs, and 57 Bachelor’s programs, along with 81 certificates. The University employs 1,801 full-time instructional and clinical faculty members. ODU Libraries’ current subscription agent services 550 serials titles, mostly electronic, and several journal packages and databases.

Radford University is classified as the only “Doctoral/Professional University” that is part of the Commonwealth of Virginia higher education system. Radford’s current enrollment is approximately 7,600 full and part-time students. While Radford’s primary emphasis is on undergraduate students, the university offers master’s and specialized doctoral programs. The University employs over 1,300 full-time and over 380 part-time employees. Radford has close to 162 titles and one journal package managed by our subscription vendor.

The University of Virginia (UVa) is a comprehensive university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 27,000 students attending the University are exposed to the widest spectrum of disciplines – from arts and athletics to humanities and technology. Our students also enjoy a unique connection to the world beyond college through the University’s outstanding professional training, exemplified by its nationally ranked schools of Law, Business, and Medicine. UVa currently has over 11,000 permanent University faculty and staff who are committed to serving both the local and national community.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) enrolls over 28,000 students taught by over 2,400 full-time faculty and is classified by Carnegie as Research 1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production. The Libraries at VCU--the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus and the Health Sciences Library on the MCV campus--vend over 2,900 print and electronic serial orders through subscription agents, consortia, and direct with the publisher, many of which are large ejournal packages. Its current subscription agent service handles approximately 1,600 of these orders.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech (VT), is a public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. VT is a comprehensive research university and offers more than 110 undergraduate majors and over 120 master’s and doctoral programs, enrolling over 38,000 on- and off-campus students taught by 2,450 faculty. Most of VT's serials and continuations subscriptions are online. Materials allocations are likely to change during the intended contract. Virginia Tech reserves the right to increase or decrease the amount as determined by actual need and funding.

Created by royal charter in 1693, William and Mary (W&M) is a medium-sized R1 doctoral institution located in Williamsburg, VA. W&M consists of around 7,000 undergraduate students and over 2,700 graduate students. In addition to the college of Arts & Science, W&M has a business school, a law school, a school of education, a school of computing, data science, and physics, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. There are 2,790 full and part-time faculty and staff to support the curricular mission of the college. Presently, W&M uses two separate accounts for the main library and the law library with the same vendor for serials/continuations services. We currently maintain both electronic and print serials, with over 270 individual subscriptions provided by our contracted subscription agent as well as several large electronic journal packages, databases, and memberships that we purchase through them. As with other institutions, our allocations may change over the course of the contract, either increasing or decreasing, according to budget constraints and alignment with strategic initiatives for teaching and research.

II. SWaM BUSINESS PARTICIPATION:

The mission of the Virginia Tech supplier opportunity program is to foster opportunity in the university supply chain and accelerate economic growth in our local communities through the engagement and empowerment of high quality and cost competitive SWaM, and local suppliers. Virginia Tech encourages prime suppliers, contractors, and service providers to facilitate participation through partnerships, joint ventures, subcontracts, and other inclusive and innovative relationships.

For more information, please visit: https://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/

III. CONTRACT PERIOD:

The term of this contract is for five (5) years, or as negotiated. There will be an option for two (2) five (5) year renewals, or as negotiated.

IV. EVA BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT ELECTRONIC PROCUREMENT SYSTEM:

The eVA Internet electronic procurement solution streamlines and automates government purchasing activities within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia Tech, and other state agencies and institutions, have been directed by the Governor to maximize the use of this system in the procurement of goods and services. We are, therefore, requesting that your firm register as a vendor within the eVA system.

There are transaction fees involved with the use of eVA. These fees must be considered in the provision of quotes, bids and price proposals offered to Virginia Tech. The fee for an eVA registered vendor will be determined by the amount shown on any purchase order issued to the contractor. Failure to register within the eVA system may result in the quote, bid or proposal from your firm being rejected and the award made to another vendor who is registered in the eVA system.

Registration in the eVA system is accomplished on-line. Your firm must provide the necessary information. Please visit the eVA website portal at http://www.eva.virginia.gov/ and register as a supplier. This process needs to be completed before Virginia Tech can issue your firm a Purchase Order or contract. If your firm conducts business from multiple geographic locations, please register these locations in your initial registration.

For registration and technical assistance, reference the eVA website at: https://eva.virginia.gov/, or call 866-289-7367 or 804-371-2525.

V. CONTRACT PARTICIPATION:

It is the intent of this solicitation and resulting contract to allow for cooperative procurement. Accordingly, any public body, public or private health or educational institutions, or Virginia Tech’s affiliated corporations and/or partnerships may access any resulting contract if authorized by the contractor.

Participation in this cooperative procurement is strictly voluntary. If authorized by the Contractor, the resultant contract may be extended to the entities indicated above to purchase at contract prices in accordance with contract terms. The Contractor shall notify Virginia Tech in writing of any such entities accessing the contract, if requested. No modification of this contract or execution of a separate contract is required to participate. The Contractor will provide semi-annual usage reports for all entities accessing the Contract, as requested. Participating entities shall place their own orders directly with the Contractor and shall fully and independently administer their use of the contract to include contractual disputes, invoicing and payments without direct administration from Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech 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 Virginia Tech 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.

Virginia Tech will decide to award a single contract to one offeror or multiple contracts to multiple offerors based on the strength of proposals received and regarding the evaluation criteria utilized in the RFP. If a single offeror clearly has the best proposal, the award may be to that offeror. In the event of a multi-award, each VASCUPP University will have its choice of the contractor(s) that best suits its respective need.

Use of this contract does not preclude any participating entity from using other contracts or competitive processes as the need may be.

VI. STATEMENT OF NEEDS:

A. General:

The Contractor shall provide comprehensive services for print and electronic periodicals, continuations, e-journal packages, publishers' series, online databases (including aggregated databases), and other electronic resources, and continuing titles (hereafter referred to as serials) to VASCUPP Member Institutions and other state agencies of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as requested. Services include the provision of all serials, orders, renewals, cancellations, handling of claims, and invoicing.

B. Customer Service:

1. The Contractor shall assign a specific in-house account representative to handle the university’s orders, cancellations, claims, requests for reports, invoicing questions, etc. The in-house representative shall respond to all inquiries within one (1) business day, e-mail preferred.

2. A Contractor's representative shall visit the university, upon request and at intervals agreeable to both parties, to discuss service to the university's account and other serials management issues.

3. The Contractor shall provide toll-free telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for all staff assigned to the university's account.

4. The Contractor shall maintain accurate and current records of the university's active serials orders in the Contractor's online catalog and subscription management database.

5. The Contractor shall handle correspondence with publishers regarding duplication, cancellations, claims, address changes, adjustments, and other service communications such as title migrations and publisher changes.

C. Orders:

1. For new orders in an online format, Contractor will acknowledge new orders within two (2) business days and access permissions to the title should be delivered to the university within ten (10) business days of order submission to publisher.

2. For new orders in print format, the first issue of a new order should be delivered to the university within eight (8) weeks for North American publishers and ten (10) weeks for other publishers, or when the university has designated that the next volume should begin.

3. New orders and payments to publishers shall be released to publishers within ten (10) days of receipt of a new order.

4. Confirmed renewal orders and payments to publishers shall be released to publishers sixty (60) days prior to the expiration date of renewed subscriptions.

5. The Contractor shall accept new orders from the university at any time during the year. These orders shall be merged into the next main renewal invoice, unless otherwise specified by the university at time of order.

6. The university will specify the beginning issue and/or start date of a new subscription order. Unless otherwise indicated, the latest edition published is to be supplied.

7. The Contractor shall accept subscription orders on the annual renewal list invoice to run until not renewed expressly by the university or otherwise cancelled.

8. The Contractor shall provide special and priority handling of rush orders.

9. As part of the paid subscription, all indexes, supplementary numbers, and added volumes shall be serviced automatically as part of the subscription. The Contractor should notify the university of supplementary items not included as part of the subscription and indicate handling procedures for the same.

10. If unable to supply a title, the Contractor shall notify the university within thirty (30) days for North American publishers and forty-five (45) days for other publishers.

11. Order substitutions or additions of titles shall not be permitted unless expressly authorized by the university on a title-by-title basis.

12. The Contractor shall alert the university of the presence of any license agreements before placing the order with the publisher.

13. Contractor shall provide a common expiration date of December 31 unless otherwise indicated by the library or publisher.

14. On the Order Invoice the Contractor shall include assigned fund codes and the university’s order record number.

15. The Contractor shall alert the university to the possibility of online availability, any changes in the current online availability, and changes made to pricing models.

16. Contractor shall maintain for up to five (5) years full and complete records of all financial transactions processed for the university and, upon request, supply records to the university.

D. Subscription Renewals:

1. The Contractor shall notify the university of excessive price increases from the base price on the last renewal invoice before the order is placed with the publisher at benchmarks set by the university.

2. The Contractor shall supply a list of all subscribed titles for renewal, including fund code, order number, renewal date, the university’s order record number, title format, and estimated price. Contractor shall provide the renewal list in the format(s) designated by the university, (e.g., printed, PDF, or spreadsheet).

3. The university reserves the right to not renew orders. The university may indicate non-renewal by lining off on the annual renewal invoice, deselecting in Contractor's online renewal module, or contacting Contractor’s representative to prevent renewal for the subsequent periods.

4. On the renewal list, the Contractor shall alert the university to any changes in a title's format that may impact availability.

E. Claims:

1. The Contractor shall provide a flexible, fast, and effective online claims service with reporting and reclaiming assistance features, including bibliographic and financial information. The university may claim missing issues through the Contractor or directly from the publisher.

2. The university will submit claims to the Contractor’s representative and/or Contractor's online claiming module.

3. The Contractor shall submit claims to the publisher within five (5) business days of receipt from the university.

4. The Contractor shall notify the university of the status of all outstanding claims via a monthly report. The Contractor’s representative shall also respond to individual requests for claims status.

5. On claims for missing issues submitted by the university within the publisher's specified time period, the Contractor shall secure replacements free of charge or provide a credit to cover the cost for purchasing the missing issues, regardless of individual publisher policies regarding issuing refunds for non-received materials.

F. Cancellations:

1. The Contractor shall cancel individual titles at any time during the subscription year when notified by the university.

2. The effective date of cancellation will be determined by the university, except in the case of publishers' restrictions.

3. The Contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the university's cancellation notice via e-mail. Cancelled titles shall be deleted from further renewal lists and invoices.

4. The Contractor shall request refunds of any unexpired portions of orders. Refund credits for the full amounts refunded by the publishers shall be refunded to the university.

5. The university reserves the right to cancel any renewal that has increased from the base price on the last renewal invoice over the benchmark established by the university even if not advised of price increase before the renewal is placed with the publisher.

G. Contractor’s Serials Management System:

1. The Contractor must provide an online serials management system (System) for maintaining serials subscription functions such as ordering, renewing, cancelling, claiming, invoicing, financial, and title and subscription verification.

2. The Contractor shall maintain accurate and current records of the university's active serials orders in the System.

3. The contractor shall maintain at least five years of the university’s subscription data. Any perpetual access purchase data shall be maintained in perpetuity.

4. System records should provide comprehensive data on each title including, but not limited to:

a. Title, publisher, and ISSN

b. Available formats

c. Available packages and memberships with relationships to title clearly delineated

d. The university’s Library Services Platform (LSP)/ Integrated Library System (ILS) data such as fund codes and order number.

e. Account numbers

f. Active subscription data (most recent invoice, subscription cycle, term, order status)

g. Online Title registration information for third party platforms

h. Publisher’s registration identification number

i. Publisher contact information, including email address, physical address, and phone number

j. Title change details

k. Licensing information

l. Links to URL for online access

5. The Contractor shall provide the university with the administrative and technical support to perform online subscription management operations including, but not limited to, direct transmission of online orders, electronic claiming, and report generation.

6. The Contractor shall provide the university with the ability to search the System to determine availability, price, and other variables prior to placement of an order. The Contractor should provide training on how to use the System at no additional charge to the university.

H. Reports:

1. The Contractor shall make the monthly report data available online. These monthly reports to include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. Price increase alerts

b. Pricing model change alerts

c. Format changes / format options

d. Ceased publications

e. Current subscriptions with paid amount

f. Suspended publications

g. Publication delays

h. Publishing frequency changes

i. Publisher changes

j. Access policy changes (e.g., changing from closed to open access)

k. Title changes

l. Title mergers and splits

m. New volumes

n. Titles and issues claimed

o. Titles that the Contractor can no longer supply

p. Membership or combination subscription changes

q. Publisher package title lists

r. Titles recently cancelled by the university

s. Electronic availability (for new orders only)

2. The Contractor should supply fiscal and collection management reports free of charge as requested. The Contractor should make this fiscal and collection management report data available online. These reports to include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. Average total of all Contractor charges (service, handling, etc.)

b. Individual Contractor charges (service, handling, etc.)

c. Subscriptions listed by Library of Congress classification or title

d. Total expenditures by subject classification

e. Number of claims submitted

f. Number of claims resolved

g. List of membership and combination titles

h. Complete records of all financial transactions processed for the university

i. Current titles on order, title prices and current price adjustments, frequencies, quantities, invoice identification, and unique library-specified codes

3. The Contractor shall regularly notify the university of the availability of supplementary materials related to subscriptions, i.e. supplements and special issues not included in the main subscription.

4. The Contractor should provide custom fiscal and collection management reports in a timely manner as requested by the university. Reports should be provided in spreadsheet format.

5. The Contractor shall provide usage data for subscribed titles and packages upon request by University and dependent upon availability of usage data from Publisher.

I. Pricing:

1. The university reserves the right to obtain supporting documentation on prices from the Contractor at any time during the contract period.

2. The Contractor shall inform the university in advance of any potential changes to service charges or fee structure. Any service charge changes must be mutually agreed to by both parties.

J. Invoicing:

1. The following information shall appear on each invoice:

a. Name and address of the Contractor

b. The university bill-to address

c. The university ship-to address

d. The university account number assigned by the Contractor

e. The university’s purchase order number

f. The university’s LSP/ILS order record number for each title

g. Title (include a breakdown of titles which are parts of memberships, combinations, or series)

h. E-journal package title, if applicable

i. Publisher

j. Frequency

k. Number of copies being ordered for each subscription

l. ISSN

m. Period covered (inclusive dates)

n. Volume number (beginning with new title)

o. Price

p. Service charge, if any

q. Shipping and handling fees

r. Summary page detailing total prices, total additional charges (if any), and net total

s. The university’s LSP/ILS fund code

t. Format

2. Supplemental Invoices: The Contractor shall supply monthly supplementary invoices for titles on which the publisher price exceeded the originally billed publisher’s price with reasons for additional charges. The supplementary invoice shall also include any credits to the university's account that result from overcharges, cancellations or cessations of a subscription.

3. Separate Invoices: The Contractor should supply separate invoices as requested by the university.

4. The Contractor shall supply invoices in printable electronic format to the attention of the university’s invoice processing designee(s).

5. The Contractor should have the capability to transmit Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions with a variety of LSP/ILS environments.

6. The Contractor shall supply, upon request, proof of payments made to publishers.

7. Multi-title packages (bundled orders and ‘Big Deal’ packages) should be invoiced at the title level detail and title-by-title pricing when requested by the university.

8. The Contractor shall issue a check to the university for all outstanding credits at the end of the contracted fiscal year.

K. Shipments:

1. Delivery of all materials shall be made FOB destination inside the university’s premises as specified by the university.

2. The university shall not be held responsible for shipments lost in transit or otherwise not received. The Contractor shall provide, within publisher policies, replacement copies at no charge for defective, mutilated, or damaged issues.

3. Newspapers should be delivered by mail and for all available days (Monday – Sunday).

L. Other:

Upon request, the Contractor should provide the university with trial access to future serials management services and modules and other related peripheral services as they are developed.

VII. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION:

A. Specific Requirements

Proposals should be as thorough and detailed as possible so that Virginia Tech may properly evaluate your capabilities to provide the required goods or services. Responses should be presented in the same order as the requirements appear in the RFP. Offerors are required to submit the following information/items as a complete proposal:

1. Quality of products/services offered and suitability for the intended purposes:

a. Provide a narrative statement (bullet points) or statistical reports describing internal quality control procedures.

b. Electronic Resources:

1. Describe any electronic resource management modules offered to assist with the acquisition and management of electronic journals, electronic journal packages, and online databases.

2. Describe the process by which access is activated for online journals hosted on third party platforms (e.g. Ingenta, Karger, Highwire, etc.)

3. Describe the process if additional registration or license execution are required to place an order and access the subscribed publication.

4. Describe any statistics you can provide for electronic resource usage

5. Describe your system or resource for the collection and consolidation of journal and database usage statistics:

6. Describe how the system presents the data in a standardized and user-friendly format with a single point of access.

7. Describe and provide any conditions necessary for the library to access this system.

8. Describe how the system compiles and links statistics with payment data to determine cost-per-use for subscribed resources.

9. Describe how the system integrates vendors and payments that are not processed through the vendor.

10. Describe the process that is used to claim online journals and online journal access issues.

11. Provide a timeline describing the intervals between the time of receiving an online access problem report to when it is reported to the provider to when it is resolved.

12. Describe the initial and follow-up processes used to resolve the problem.

13. Describe any 24-hour reporting and response ticketing system to handle urgent or rush situations such as loss of access from subscribed materials or inability to access certain entitlements.

14. Describe how Open Access titles are identified and how the university will be notified of their existence.

15. Describe how online-only subscriptions that have delayed publications are handled.

16. Describe how billing would be handled throughout that delay.

c. Reports:

1. Provide samples of all standard reports available as outlined in Section VI.H.

2. Indicate any applicable policies, such as price or advance notice, required for preparation of customized or nonstandard reports.

d. Invoicing:

1. Provide a brief narrative outlining how the university’s prepayment and/or current subscription payments are insured or otherwise protected.

2. Provide a schedule of the payment, invoicing, and renewal cycle.

3. Describe your EDI interface and furnish a list of LSP/ILSs successfully using your EDI records.

4. Provide sample invoices and other relevant fiscal documents.

2. Qualifications and experiences of Offeror in providing the goods/services:

a. Explain how the offeror is a prime serials vendor dealing directly with serial publishers.

b. Provide the approximate number of serial publishers for which service is supplied.

c. Provide the approximate number of serial titles currently supplied.

d. Describe the offeror’s ability to provide and service serials subscriptions from domestic and non-U.S. publishers, from commercial and noncommercial publishers, and for open access and closed access publications and subscription models (e.g., subscribe-to-open, Read and Publish, APC discounts, etc.). Be sure to mention exceptions and exclusions.

e. Provide evidence of financial stability for at least the last three (3) years of the offeror's operation to include credit rating.

f. Provide a description (bullet points) of the key individuals who would be assigned to any resulting contract, including contact information and experience.

3. Specific plans or methodology to be used to provide the Services:

a. Provide a narrative statement (bullet points) describing specific plans for providing the proposed service, including how and when the services will be performed.

b. Describe in detail your step-by-step plan for converting subscriptions currently serviced by other vendors.

4. Price:

a. Describe any special rates or pricing you would offer in a multi-year, multi-institution consortial contract.

b. Describe any title fee discount or waiver you would offer in a multi-year, multi-institution consortial contract.

c. Describe any other price-related inducements you would offer in a multi-year, multi-institution consortial contract.

d. Describe any terms and/or discounts applicable for one-line invoice payments, prepayments, deposit accounts, and other payment options in a multi-year, multi-institution consortial contract.

e. Provide subscription pricing for all continuations as listed in Attachment B.

f. Describe any service charges applied to orders under this contract

5. Participation of SWaM Business:

If your business cannot be classified as SWaM, describe your plan for utilizing SWaM subcontractors if awarded a contract. Describe your ability to provide reporting on SWaM subcontracting spend when requested. If your firm or any business that you plan to subcontract with can be classified as SWaM but has not been certified by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD), it is expected that the certification process will be initiated no later than the time of the award. If your firm is currently certified, you agree to maintain your certification for the life of the contract. For assistance with SWaM certification, visit the SBSD website at http://www.sbsd.virginia.gov/

6. References:

Provide four (4) recent references, either educational or governmental, for whom you have provided the type of services described herein. Include the date(s) the services were furnished, the client name, address and the name and phone number of the individual the VASCUPP Serials RFP Committee has your permission to contact.

7. The return of the Submission Instruction page and addenda, if any, signed and filled out as required.

D. General Requirements

1. RFP Response: In order to be considered for selection, Offerors shall submit a complete response to this RFP to include;

a. One (1) electronic document in WORD format or searchable PDF of the entire proposal as one document, INCLUDING ALL ATTACHMENTS must be uploaded through the Virginia Tech online submission portal. Refer to page 2 for instructions.

Any proprietary information should be clearly marked in accordance with 1.b. & 2.d. below.

b. Should the proposal contain proprietary information, provide one (1) redacted electronic copy of the proposal and attachments with proprietary portions removed or blacked out. This redacted copy should follow the same upload procedures as described on Page 1 of this RFP. This redacted copy should be clearly marked “Redacted Copy” within the name of the document. The classification of an entire proposal document, line item prices and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not acceptable. Virginia Tech shall not be responsible for the Contractor’s failure to exclude proprietary information from this redacted copy.

No other distribution of the proposals shall be made by the Offeror.

2. Proposal Preparation:

a. Proposals shall be signed by an authorized representative of the Offeror. All information requested should be submitted. Failure to submit all information requested may result in Virginia Tech requiring prompt submission of missing information and/or giving a lowered evaluation of the proposal. Proposals which are substantially incomplete or lack key information may be rejected by Virginia Tech at its discretion. Mandatory requirements are those required by law or regulation or are such that they cannot be waived and are not subject to negotiation.

b. Proposals should be prepared simply and economically providing a straightforward, concise description of capabilities to satisfy the requirements 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 of the corresponding section of the RFP. It is also helpful to cite the paragraph number, subletter, and repeat the text of the requirement as it appears in the RFP. If a response covers more than one page, the paragraph number and subletter should be repeated at the top of the next page. 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 requirements of the RFP should be inserted at an appropriate place or be attached at the end of the proposal and designated as additional material. Proposals that are not organized in this manner risk elimination from consideration if the evaluators are unable to find where the RFP requirements are specifically addressed.

d. Ownership of all data, material and documentation originated and prepared for Virginia Tech pursuant to the RFP shall belong exclusively to Virginia Tech and be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by an Offeror shall not be subject to public disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. However, to prevent disclosure the Offeror must invoke the protections of Section 2.2-4342F of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data or other materials is submitted. The written request must specifically identify the data or other materials to be protected and state the reasons why protection is necessary. The proprietary or trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method such as highlighting or underlining and must indicate only the specific words, figures, or paragraphs that constitute trade secret or proprietary information. The classification of an entire proposal document, line-item prices and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not acceptable and may result in rejection of the proposal.

3. Oral Presentation: Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this RFP may be required to give an oral presentation of their proposal to Virginia Tech. This will provide an opportunity for the Offeror to clarify or elaborate on the proposal but will in no way change the original proposal. Virginia Tech will schedule the time and location of these presentations. Oral presentations are an option of Virginia Tech and may not be conducted. Therefore, proposals should be complete.

VIII. SELECTION CRITERIA AND AWARD:

A. Selection Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated by Virginia Tech using the following:

Criteria Maximum Point Value

4. Price (cost) 20

B. Award

Selection shall be made of two or more offerors deemed to be fully qualified and best suited among those submitting proposals on the basis of the evaluation factors included in the Request for Proposal, including price, if so stated in the Request for Proposal. Negotiations shall then be conducted with 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, Virginia Tech shall select the offeror which, in its opinion, has made the best proposal, and shall award the contract to that offeror. Virginia Tech may cancel this Request for Proposal or reject proposals at any time prior to an award. Should Virginia Tech 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. The award document will be a contract incorporating by reference all the requirements, terms and conditions of this solicitation and the Contractor's proposal as negotiated.

Virginia Tech reserves the right to award multiple contracts as a result of this solicitation.

IX. INVOICES:

Invoices for goods or services provided under any contract resulting from this solicitation shall be submitted by email to vtinvoices@vt.edu or by mail to:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) Accounts Payable North End Center, Suite 3300 300 Turner Street NW Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 Invoices for goods or services provided to VASCUPP Member Institutions or any Commonwealth of Virginia institution or agency under any contract resulting from this solicitation shall be submitted to their corresponding payment address.

X. METHOD OF PAYMENT:

Virginia Tech will authorize payment to the contractor as negotiated in any resulting contract from the aforementioned Request for Proposal. VASCUPP Member Institutions and state agencies will similarly authorize payments to the contractor in accordance with the contract documents and their respective established payment systems or as negotiated.

Virginia Tech’s payments can be expedited through the use of the Wells One AP Control Payment System. Virginia Tech strongly encourages participation in this program. For more information on this program please refer to Virginia Tech’s Procurement website: https://www.procurement.vt.edu/supplier-resources/wellsone.html or contact the procurement officer identified in the RFP.

The contractor will be paid on the basis of invoices submitted in accordance with the solicitation and any negotiations.

VASCUPP recognizes the importance of expediting the payment process for our vendors and suppliers. Member Institutions have implemented electronic payment programs to expedite payments and incentivized by discounts. To participate in any expedited payment program for a cash discount offered by a VASCUPP member institution, contractors may be required to enroll in these programs.

XI. ADDENDUM:

Any ADDENDUM issued for this solicitation may be accessed at https://bids.sciquest.com/apps/Router/PublicEvent?CustomerOrg=VATech. Since a paper copy of the addendum will not be mailed to you, we encourage you to check the web site regularly.

XII. COMMUNICATIONS:

Communications regarding this solicitation shall be formal from the date of issue, until either a Contractor has been selected or the Procurement Department rejects all proposals. Formal communications will be directed to the procurement officer listed on this solicitation. Informal communications, including but not limited to request for information, comments or speculations regarding this solicitation to any University employee other than a Procurement Department representative may result in the offending Offeror’s proposal being rejected.

XIII. CONTROLLING VERSION OF SOLICITATION:

The posted version of the solicitation and any addenda issued by Virginia Tech Procurement Services is the mandatory controlling version of the document. Any modification of/or additions to the solicitation by the Offeror shall not modify the official version of the solicitation issued by Virginia Tech Procurement Services. Such modifications or additions to the solicitation by the Offeror may be cause for rejection of the proposal; however, Virginia Tech reserves the right to decide, on a case-by-case basis, in its sole discretion, whether to reject such a proposal.

XIV. TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This solicitation and any resulting contract/purchase order shall be governed by the attached terms and conditions, see Attachment A.

XV. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION:

A. Edward Lener, Director of Collections, University Libraries, at Virginia Tech or their designee, shall be identified as the Contract Administrator and shall use all powers under the contract to enforce its faithful performance.

B. The Contract Administrator, or their designee, shall determine the amount, quantity, acceptability, fitness of all aspects of the services and shall decide all other questions in connection with the services. The Contract Administrator, or their designee, shall not have authority to approve changes in the services which alter the concept or which call for an extension of time for this contract. Any modifications made must be authorized by the Virginia Tech Procurement Department through a written amendment to the contract.

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION:

A. The individual user departments at Virginia Tech shall be identified as the Contract Administrators and shall use all powers under the contract to enforce its faithful performance.

B. The Contract Administrators in each user departments shall determine the amount, quantity, acceptability, fitness of all aspects of the services and shall decide all other questions in connection with the services. Contract Administrators, or designees, shall not have authority to approve changes in the services which alter the concept or which call for an extension of time for this contract. Any modifications made must be authorized by the Virginia Tech Procurement Department through a written amendment to the contract.

C. Roger Gupta, Senior Buyer and Contracts Officer, Procurement, shall oversee the contract in its entirety and will serve as the point of contact for issues involving this contract.

XVI. ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A – Terms and Conditions Attachment B - Subscription Pricing

ATTACHMENT A

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

RFP GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

See: https://www.procurement.vt.edu/content/dam/procurement_vt_edu/docs/terms/GTC_RFP_02182022.pdf

ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. ADDITIONAL GOODS AND SERVICES: The University may acquire other goods or services that the supplier provides other than those specifically solicited. The University reserves the right, subject to mutual agreement, for the Contractor to provide additional goods and/or services under the same pricing, terms and conditions and to make modifications or enhancements to the existing goods and services. Such additional goods and services may include other products, components, accessories, subsystems, or related services newly introduced during the term of the Agreement.

2. AUDIT: The Contractor hereby agrees to retain all books, records, and other documents relative to this contract for five (5) years after final payment, or until audited by the Commonwealth of Virginia, whichever is sooner. Virginia Tech, its authorized agents, and/or the State auditors shall have full access and the right to examine any of said materials during said period.

3. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS: It is understood and agreed between the parties herein that Virginia Tech shall be bound hereunder only to the extent of the funds available or which may hereafter become available for the purpose of this agreement.

4. CANCELLATION OF CONTRACT: Virginia Tech reserves the right to cancel and terminate any resulting contract, in part or in whole, without penalty, upon 60 days written notice to the Contractor. In the event the initial contract period is for more than 12 months, the resulting contract may be terminated by either party, without penalty, after the initial 12 months of the contract period upon 60 days written notice to the other party. Any contract cancellation notice shall not relieve the Contractor of the obligation to deliver and/or perform on all outstanding orders issued prior to the effective date of cancellation.

5. CONTRACT DOCUMENTS: The contract entered into by the parties shall consist of the Request for Proposal including all modifications thereof, the proposal submitted by the Contractor, the written results of negotiations, the Commonwealth Standard Contract Form, all of which shall be referred to collectively as the Contract Documents.

6. IDENTIFICATION OF PROPOSAL: Virginia Tech will only be accepting electronic submission of proposals. All submissions must be submitted to the Virginia Tech online submission portal. Upon completion you will be directed to your Submission Receipt. Virginia Tech will not confirm receipt of proposals. It is the responsibility of the offeror to make sure their proposal is delivered on time. Attachments must be smaller than 50MB in order to be received by the University. Proposals may NOT be hand delivered to the Procurement Office.

7. NOTICES: Any notices to be given by either party to the other pursuant to any contract resulting from this solicitation shall be in writing via email.

8. SEVERAL LIABILITY: Virginia Tech will be severally liable to the extent of its purchases made against any contract resulting from this solicitation. Applicable entities described herein will be severally liable to the extent of their purchases made against any contract resulting from this solicitation.

9. CLOUD OR WEB HOSTED SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS: For agreements involving Cloud-based Web-hosted software/applications refer to link for additional terms and conditions:…