SS 460 - NOTICE OF PROPOSED SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE.pdf

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

#SS 460

The University of Mississippi (UM) anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as a sole source purchase. Anyone objecting to this purchase as a sole source shall follow the procedures outlined below.

Commodity or commodities to be purchased (manufacturer, model, description):

Pasco Experiments EX-9987 Reflection and Refraction Experiment Kit

The need to be fulfilled by this item(s) and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of the department:

The UM Physics department offers optics labs, which is 1/3 of the course content in the accompanying lecture course. These courses are required content for physics majors and engineers. The current reflection and refraction lab equipment needs replacement as it is several decades old, defunct, and no longer manufactured. The Pasco reflection and refraction kit includes a planar mirror, concave mirror, convex mirror, converging lens, diverging lens, and a bright light source (quartz-halogen bulb) to allow the students to trace the light rays without requiring total darkness in the room. The experiment apparatus is compatible with our other Pasco optics experiments and contains all the necessary components for the students to derive the laws of reflection and refraction themselves.

Name of company/individual selling the item and why that source is the only possible source that can provide the required item(s):

The Pasco Reflection and Refraction experiment kit is the only apparatus that compatible with our other Pasco optics experiments. Pasco is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the Pasco Reflection and Refraction experiment kit.

Why the amount to be expended for the commodity is reasonable:

$7,800.00 is a reasonable amount for lab equipment that, based on our previous geometric optics kits, will last decades serving tens of thousands of students.

Efforts that the agency went through to obtain the best possible price for the commodity:

We negotiated a 3% discount.

Submission Instructions and Format of Response from Objecting Parties:

Interested parties who have reason to believe that the item(s) above should not be certified as a sole source should provide information in the following format for UM to use in determining whether or not to proceed with awarding the Sole Source purchase.

1.1 Interested Party Information

1.1.1 Contact Name, Phone Number, Address and email address

1.1.2 Company Website URL, if applicable

1.2 Objection to Sole Source Certification

1.2.1 Interested parties must present specific objections to the Sole Source certification using the criteria listed above.

1.2.2 A statement regarding the Interested Party's capabilities as related to this Sole

Source Certification Request.

1.2.3 Comments will be accepted at any time prior to Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 10:00 am (Central Time). Comments should be addressed to:

Jeff Wells, Procurement Manager The University of Mississippi Procurement Services 164 Jeanette Phillips Drive PO Box 1848 University, Mississippi 38677

1.2.4 Responses may be delivered by hand, via regular mail, overnight delivery, or e-mail at solesource@olemiss.edu with cc: to purchase@olemiss.edu and must reference the sole source number.

1.2.5 UM WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS IN THE DELIVERY OF RESPONSES. It is solely the responsibility of the Interested Parties that responses reach UM on time. Interested parties may contact Jeff Wells to verify the receipt of their responses. Responses received after the deadline will be rejected.

If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, UM determines that the commodity in the proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then UM will withdraw the sole source certification and submit the procurement of the commodity to an advertised competitive bid or selection process.

If UM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required commodity, then UM will appeal to the Public Procurement Review Board for approval to purchase.

mailto:solesource@olemiss.edu mailto:%20purchase@olemiss.edu