VCCS-WIDE-25-69091_Scholarship Award Management_RFP.pdf

Request for Proposals

Issue Date: July 24, 2024

RFP Number: VCCS-WIDE-25-69091

Title: Scholarship Award Management Software

Issuing Agency: Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia Community College System Shared Services Center 147 Daleville Centre Drive Daleville, Virginia 24083

Contract Term: Four (4) years with eight (8) two (2) year renewals, at VCCS’s sole option, or as negotiated.

Proposals will be Received Until: August 29th, 2024, at 2:30 PM EST.

All Proposals must be received in eVA by the date and time stated immediately above. Any Proposals received after the stated time and date will not be considered.

In lieu of a Pre-Proposal Conference, questions will be accepted by e-mail to Aubrey Wilcher through August 2nd, 2024, at 5:00 pm EST.

Any inquiries regarding this solicitation should be directed only to:

Aubrey Wilcher, IT Senior Contract Officer Email: awilcher@ssc.vccs.edu

All inquiries must be made in writing and must be submitted electronically as indicated in the RFP. No oral inquiries will be accepted. From the date of issuance of this RFP, until the selection of a Contractor(s) is announced, all questions concerning any part of this RFP shall be directed ONLY to Aubrey Wilcher

(awilcher@ssc.vccs.edu). It is not permissible for an Offeror, or any entity working on behalf of an Offeror, to solicit information from any individual or government source (Federal or State) other than from the official point of contact listed above. Any unauthorized solicitations for information are grounds for disqualification of Offeror’s proposal.

In compliance with this Request for Proposals (RFP) and to all the conditions imposed therein and hereby incorporated by reference, the undersigned offers and agrees to furnish the goods and services in accordance with the attached submitted proposal or as mutually agreed upon by subsequent negotiation.

Legal Name of Firm: Date:

Address of Firm:

By:

eVA Vendor ID Number: Name:

DSBSD Certification Number: Title:

Phone: Email:

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, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation, or veteran status or any other basis prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment. Faith-based organizations may request that the issuing agency not include subparagraph 1.e in General Terms and Condition C.

Such a request shall be in writing and explain why an exception should be made in that invitation to bid or request for proposal

Request for Proposals # VCCS-WIDE-25-69091 – Virginia Community College System

Table of Contents

Section Description Page Number

Cover Page ** 1

I Purpose 3

II Statement of Needs Error!

Bookmark not defined.

III Compliance 6

IV Proposal Administration and Instructions 7

V Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions 9

VI Evaluation and Award Criteria 12

VII General Terms and Conditions 13

VIII Special Terms and Conditions 23

IX IT Terms and Conditions 28

X Method of Payment 35

XI Pricing Schedule 36

XII Ordering Procedures 36

XIII Attachments 36

- Complete and Return with Proposal:

Attachment 1 – Vendor Data Sheet ** 37

Attachment 2 – State Corporation Commission Form ** 38

Attachment 3 – Proprietary and Confidential Information Form ** 39

Attachment 4 – Small Business Subcontracting Plan ** 40

Attachment 5 – Pricing schedule ** 42

Attachment 6 – Information Security Requirements 43

** These items must be completed and returned as part of the RFP submission package.

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit sealed proposals from qualified offerors to establish one or more contracts through competitive negotiation for a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Scholarship Award Management Software. The VCCS invites any qualified offeror to respond to this RFP by submitting a proposal for such work, services, and/or items consistent with the terms and conditions set forth herein.

This procurement is being conducted on behalf of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The VCCS consists of 23 colleges with 40 campuses located across the state, as well as two central agencies: the System Office and Shared Services Center. Each of these VCCS entities may use any awarded contract at their option.

However, they are under no obligation to do so, and there is no guarantee that any awarded contractor shall receive a request for product or services from any of the 23 colleges, the System Office or the Shared Services Center.

II. STATEMENT OF NEEDS

The Successful Offeror shall furnish all services including, but not limited to, providing the necessary materials, services, incidentals, and related items necessary to provide and support a Scholarship Award Management Software that is paperless, flexible, and configurable.

The Successful Offeror shall meet the required qualifications that follow:

1. SPECIFIC SERVICES:

The Scholarship Award Management Software shall include but is not limited to the following capabilities:

Proposals should at a minimum address the following:

A. For the students

a. Access to an online scholarship application process

i. Include details of the interactions that are available within the process.

ii. Include if the application allows for uploading documents, such as transcripts, recommendation letters, etc.

b. Ability to access scholarships from a school-branded web portal

c. Allow students to manage scholarships from a single portal, including

i. Application

ii. Essay Submissions

1. Include if there are any minimum or maximum word counts built into the software.

iii. Recommendation Requests

iv. Thank You Requests

B. For Administrators

a. Have configurable custom fields

b. Ability to add custom questions, as well as personalize the wording of matching questions

c. Simple web-based administrator interface

d. Multiple ranking schemes to ensure consistency and objectivity in the awarding process

e. Automate the process for sending thank you letters by an administrator with the ability to approve, reject, or edit.

C. General

a. Automatically archive closed scholarships so they are not viewable by student body

b. Provide management of scholarships, applications, review processes, awarding, and student communications

c. Include a flexible workflow, user roles, and user rights across colleges and departments

d. Provide paperless application review by multiple people across campus

i. Describe the process for external reviewers, such as those from a Scholarship Foundation, that do not have campus email addresses

e. Ability to configure application scoring to weigh different criteria as defined by the school

f. Provide disbursement rosters to be extracted for posting of scholarships

g. Include dashboards and reports that give actionable insight.

2. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Any proposed solution must address and/or provide the following technical requirements to include, but not limited to the following:

a) Describe what data is stored in your product and any data disposition and backup processes.

b) What is the average initial set-up time for the system?

c) Are there institutional hardware requirements for VCCS for your product? Please describe

d) Provide a detailed description of the software upgrade methodology. How often does software update and how do these updates impact service?

e) Provide a detailed description of the approach to handling software licenses on this project. Provide a copy of the license agreement(s).

f) Describe how your company prevents system outages and ensures maximum uptime for the system.

g) Describe how your company intends on complying with all VCCS IT privacy requirements and the data security requirements outlined in Attachment 8 “VCCS Cloud Service Provider Security Requirements” including confirmation of your company’s SOC 2 Type II certification or equivalent.

h) Identify your hosting environment and provide any supporting information for 3rd party hosts including confirmation of a SOC 2 Type II Certification or equivalent.

a. Note: SOC 2 Type II Certification equivalent is (a) The Federal Risk and Authorization

Management Program (FedRAMP), or (b) ISO3000 Type 2 Certifications.

i) Describe how your company intends on providing for disaster recovery of all system data.

j) Describe how segregation of duties is maintained using a Role Based Access model and the various roles for users supported by your solution. Indicate which roles are exclusive to your personnel, which roles are exclusive to VCCS users, and which of these roles have elevated privileges that allow modification of user role assignments within your solution. The solution should allow centralized administration of a multi-tenant segregated environment such that college users can only access personnel assigned to their respective college with central administration having access to all employee data across the enterprise.

k) Describe if/how your solution supports Single Sign On (SSO) and integration with Student Information

Systems (SIS)

3. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) must be developed by the contractor, in coordination with the VCCS and the express concept that the SLA must be acceptable to the VCCS and their appointed counsel from the Office of the

Attorney General. The SLA shall include a description of the products and/or services provided, levels of acceptable services, verifiable performance criteria, their monitoring and reporting and remedies. The VCCS retains the right to monitor and revoke any activity related to its assets. The VCCS retains the right to audit responsibilities defined in any resulting contract or agreement, to have those audits carried out by a third party, and to enumerate the statutory rights of auditors.

a) Describe the methodology and process for identifying performance criteria, levels of acceptable service and monitoring and reporting activities.

b) Define the metrics for integration transaction success and cycle times; uptime and maximum downtimes; and meantime to repair.

c) Describe how your company intends on providing technical support via telephone and email and identify error levels and response times.

d) Provide a draft SLA that incorporates performance commitments, obligations, and expectations.

e) Describe the methodology and process for establishment of an escalation process for problem resolution.

f) Describe the methodology, performance metrics, expectations, and obligations for performance regarding customer service and help desk activities.

III. COMPLIANCE

A. The Selected Firm/Vendor will comply with all applicable laws and industry standards in performing services under this agreement. Any Selected Firm/Vendor personnel visiting College facilities will comply with all applicable Virginia Community College System and College policies regarding access to, use of, and conduct within such facilities. The College will provide copies of such policies to the

Selected Firm/Vendor upon request.

B. Selected Firm/Vendor warrants that the service it will provide to the College is fully compliant with all state and federal laws, regulations, industry codes, and guidance that may be applicable to the service, which may include:

1. Any applicable national, federal, state or local law, rule, directive or regulation relating to the privacy of personal information, including, without limitation, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20

U.S.C. §1232g, and its implementing regulations (“FERPA”), the Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the Privacy and Security Rules issued thereunder, the Health

Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”), the Financial

Modernization Act of 1999 (“Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act”), the Fair Credit Reporting Act as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Virginia

Consumer Data Protection Act;

2. any privacy policy or practice applicable to any personal information that Customer or any User accesses, uses, colleges, or maintains hereunder, including, without limitation any practice required in connection with the processing of credit card data, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security

Standards (PCI-DSS); and

3. Federal Export Administration Regulations, Federal Acquisitions Regulations, Defense Federal

Acquisitions Regulation and Department of Education guidance.

C. If the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is applicable to the Selected

Firm/Vendor service provided to the College, the Selected Firm/Vendor agrees to:

1. Store, transmit, and process College Data in scope of the PCI DSS in compliance with the PCI DSS;

2. Attest that any third-party providing services in scope of PCI DSS under this agreement will store, transmit, and process College Data in scope of the PCI DSS in compliance with the PCI DSS;

3. Provide either proof of PCI DSS compliance or a certification (from a recognized third-party security auditing firm), within 10 business days of the request, verifying Firm/Vendor and any third party who stores, transmits, or processes College Data in scope of the PCI DSS as part of the services provided under this agreement maintains ongoing compliance under PCI DSS as it changes over time;

4. Store, transmit, and process any College Data in scope of the PCI DSS in a manner that does not bring the College’s network into PCI DSS scope; and

5. Attest that any third-party providing services in scope of PCI DSS under this agreement will store, transmit, and process College Data in scope of the PCI DSS in a manner that does not bring the College’s network into PCI DSS scope.

IV. PROPOSAL ADMINISTRATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

A. Overview - This RFP was developed to provide all potential Suppliers with the information required to prepare proposals. This section outlines the administrative procedures and guidelines you must use and comply with when preparing a proposal. Nothing in this RFP constitutes an offer or an invitation to a contract.

B. Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) - This RFP is governed by the Virginia Public Procurement Act (“VPPA”), Code § 2.2-4300 et seq., and other applicable laws.

C. Anti-Discrimination- § 2.2-4310 and § 2.2-4311, and § 2.2-4343.1(E) - By submitting its proposal, a Supplier certifies to the Commonwealth that it will conform to the provisions of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended as well as the Virginia Fair Employment Contracting Act of 1975, as amended; and, where applicable, the Virginians With Disabilities Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act and § 2.2-4311 of the VPPA.

D. Ethics in Public Contracting - § 2.2-4367 et seq. - By submitting its proposal, a Supplier certifies that its proposal is made without collusion or fraud; that the Supplier has not offered or received any kickbacks or inducements from any other bidder, supplier, manufacturer, or subcontractor in connection with its proposal; and that the Supplier has 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. In addition, a Supplier will disclose any actual or perceived conflicts of interest in its proposal and will notify VCCS if it becomes aware of a potential conflict of interest in the future.

E. Announcement of Award - § 2.2-4300 et seq. - If a contract is awarded or announced as a result of this RFP, the purchasing agency will post notice of the award decision on the DGS/DPS eVA web site (http://www.eva.virginia.gov) for a minimum of 10 days. No award decision will be provided verbally. Any final contract, including pricing, awarded as a result of this RFP will be made available for public inspection.

F. Authorization to Transact Business in the Commonwealth - § 2.2-4311.2 - All Suppliers organized as a stock or nonstock corporation, limited liability company, business trust, or limited partnership, or registered as a registered limited liability partnership must be authorized to transact business as a domestic or foreign business entity if so required by Title 13.1 or Title 50 of the Code, or as otherwise required by law. In its proposal, Supplier must include either (i) Supplier’s identification number issued to it by the State Corporation Commission; or (ii) a statement explaining why Supplier is not required to be registered. No award can be made to any Supplier without this information unless this requirement is waived. Appendix D of this solicitation includes a space for Supplier to provide the information required in (i) or (ii) of this subsection. If a Supplier anticipates the use of additional resources through a partnership or subcontracting relationship with other entities, the requirements of this Section 2.F will also apply to any entities that are engaged as partners or subcontractors of Supplier providing services directly to the Commonwealth upon award of a contract.

http://www.eva.virginia.gov/ http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+2.2-4311.2

G. Prohibited Products and Services - § 2.2-5514 - No Supplier may include as part of its proposal, whether directly or indirectly through subcontractors, any hardware, software, or services that have been prohibited for use on federal systems by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

H. Prohibited Contributions and Gifts - § 2.2-4376.1 - No Supplier that submits a proposal in response to this solicitation, and no individual who is an officer or director of the Supplier shall knowingly provide a contribution, gift, or other items or make an express or implied promise to make such a contribution or gift to the Governor, his political action committee, or the Secretary of Administration during the period between the submission of the proposal and the award of any resulting contract award with an expected value of $5 million or more dollars.

I. Liability - The issuance of this RFP and the receipt of information in response to this RFP will not cause VCCS to incur any liability or obligation, financial or otherwise, to any Supplier. VCCS assumes no obligation to reimburse or in any way compensate a Supplier for expenses incurred in connection with its proposal.

J. Disclosure - Except as provided in paragraph “K” below, all proceedings, records, contracts and other public records relating to this procurement shall be open to the inspection of any citizen, or any interested person, firm or corporation, in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.)

K. Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information - FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE FOLLOWING STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULT IN ALL PROPOSAL MATERIALS BEING SUBJECT TO RELEASE TO OTHER

OFFERORS AND THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VPPA AND THE VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF

INFORMATION ACT.

Pursuant to Code § 2.2-4342(F), trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by a bidder or offeror in connection with a procurement transaction (or, if applicable, a prequalification application submitted pursuant to subsection B of § 2.2-4317) shall not be subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code § 2.2- 3700 et seq.) if a Supplier:

i). invokes the protections of this section in writing prior to or upon submission of the data or other materials, ii). identifies specifically the data or other materials to be protected, and iii). states the reasons why protection is necessary.

Please note that you may not designate as trade secrets or proprietary information (a) an entire bid, proposal, or prequalification application; (b) any portion of a bid, proposal, or prequalification application that does not contain trade secrets or proprietary information; or (c) line-item prices or total bid, proposal, or prequalification application prices. The classification of an entire proposal or of pricing as a trade secret or proprietary information is not acceptable and will not be honored by VCCS or the Commonwealth.

You should also provide as a separate appendix to your proposal a list of all pages in the proposal that contain proprietary information and the reason you deem the information proprietary.

Suppliers should keep in mind that procurement and contract records are generally public records open to inspection in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (see Code § 2.2-4342(A)) and that transparency in procurement, contracting, and other governmental functions serves important public policy objectives. See Code §§ 2.2-4300(C) & 2.2-3700(B). Accordingly, Suppliers should not designate as trade secrets or proprietary information any more of their proposal than is necessary.

By submitting a proposal in response to the RFP, a Supplier grants VCCS a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to retain, reproduce, and use the proposal (including any http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+2.2-4376.1 exhibits or other documents or materials the proposal incorporates) in any format for governmental purposes required or provided for by Virginia law. The foregoing includes, but is not limited to, the right for AGENCY to use information submitted in response to this document in any manner AGENCY may deem appropriate in evaluating the fitness of the services or solution(s) proposed

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. GENERAL PROPOSAL PREPARATION

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

(electronic) through eVA, the Commonwealth’s electronic procurement system no later than 2:30 p.m., Eastern time on August 29th, 2024. No other distribution of the proposal shall be made by the offeror.

Offerors proposals will remain valid until contract award.

a. Response:

1) One (1) original proposal including the RFP, coversheet, and signed acknowledgement of any addenda (if applicable) Email is not acceptable.

2) One (1) redacted copy (only if offeror has invoked the protections trade of §2.2-4342F of the

Code of Virginia). Redacted copy must be identical to the original copy with the exception of removal/overwritten redacted information – (marked “REDACTED”). Email is not acceptable.

2. Proposal Preparation:

a. Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originated and prepared for the VCCS pursuant to this solicitation shall belong exclusively to the VCCS 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, the offeror must invoke the protections of § 2.2-4342F of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data or other material is submitted. The written notice must specifically identify the data or 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 in the original submitted proposal. Additionally, the offeror must submit a redacted copy of the proposal if invoking said protection. The classification of an entire proposal document, line item prices, and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not acceptable and will result in rejection of the proposal.

b. Proposals shall be submitted by an authorized representative of the offeror. All information requested should be submitted. Failure to submit all information requested may result in the purchasing agency 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 the purchasing agency. Mandatory requirements are those required by law or regulation or are such that they cannot be waived and are not subject to negotiation.

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

d. The entire proposal response should be limited to 100 typed pages (excluding the complete RFP, without attachments) submitted and filled out as required. No font shall be smaller than 11 Point.

Page size shall be 8 ½ x 11 inch. Larger pages are allowed for figures or tables, but should be used sparingly. All pages should be numbered. Please note, eVA has a maximum file size per attachment of 60 MB.

e. 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. Please cite the paragraph number, sub letter, 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 sub letter 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.

f. As used in this RFP, the terms “must”, “shall”, “should” and “may” identify the criticality of requirements. “Must” and “shall” identify requirements whose absence will have a major negative impact on the suitability of the proposed solution. Items labeled as “should” or “may” are highly desirable, although their absence will not have a large impact and would be useful, but are not necessary. Depending on the overall response to the RFP, some individual “must” and “shall” items may not be fully satisfied, but it is the intent to satisfy most, if not all, “must” and “shall” requirements. The inability of an Offeror to satisfy a “must” or “shall” requirement does not automatically remove that Offeror from consideration; however, it may seriously affect the overall rating of the Offeror’s proposal.

3. Oral Presentation / Demonstrations/Site Visits: Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this RFP may be required to give an oral presentation or provide a demonstration of their proposed solution to the agency. This provides an opportunity for the Offeror to clarify or elaborate on the proposal. This is a fact finding and explanation session only and does not include negotiation. The issuing agency will schedule the time and location of these presentations. Oral presentations are an option of the purchasing agency and may or may not be conducted. The College reserves the right to conduct an on-site inspection of the Offeror's facility in order to meet with personnel and evaluate facilities prior to contract award. This pre-award site visit will be provided at no cost to the Offeror.

B. SPECIFIC PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

Proposals should be as thorough and detailed as possible so that the VCCS may properly evaluate your capabilities to provide the required services. Offerors are required to submit the following items as a complete proposal:

1. RFP cover sheet and all addenda acknowledgments, if any, signed and filled out as required.

A. Offeror (Vendor) Data Sheet, included as an attachment to the RFP, all other attachments as noted, and other specific items or data requested in the RFP.

B. A written narrative statement to include:

1. Business – State your firm’s core business, background, and experience in the relevant market, (Not to exceed 3 pages)

2. Corporate Identity – Provide the identity of any parent entity, including address, phone, and fax numbers, FEIN or Tax ID No., company website and contact email. Provide the identity of any of your subsidiaries, as applicable, (not to exceed 3 pages).

3. Organization and Structure - Please provide an overview of your firm’s organizational operating structure and describe the operational and functional relationships of the business units within your organization, as they relate to your proposal and VCCS’s stated needs and requirements.

Organizational charts are helpful supplements to the descriptions.

Indicate whether your firm expects to provide the Service’s with existing resources or plans to secure additional resources by partnering or subcontracting. If applicable, identify the additional resources required to provide the Service’s included in the proposal and the timetable for obtaining such resources. If your firm expects to utilize a partnership or subcontracting relationship, any such partner or subcontractor shall comply with the requirements of Section 2.F above.

4. Strategic Relationships - Please identify any and all strategic relationships with other related

Suppliers you have or anticipate having. State all subcontractors expected to be employed and outsourced Service to be used in implementing the proposed solution. VCCS reserves the right to request that Supplier provide all the information described in this section for any and all major subcontractors proposed by Supplier.

5. Financial Information

i. Total Annual Revenue – State your total annual revenue and indicate the revenues associated with the provision of services relevant to your proposal.

ii. Dun and Bradstreet Credit Report – Include your firm’s current full D&B business Report, if D&B issues reports on Offeror.

iii. Annual Reports - Please provide certified, audited financial statements (i.e., income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements) for the most recent three years. (Any

Supplier that has been in business for a shorter period of time is requested to submit any available certified, audited annual financial statements.) VCCS may request copies of or access to current and historic annual reports. VCCS reserves the right to access a

Supplier’s publicly available financial information and to consider such information in its evaluation of such Supplier’s proposal.

6. Offeror Experience Level and Customer References - You should have a demonstrable, proven record of providing Service similar to those defined in Section III to customers of similar scope and complexity. Please provide three customer references, with contact names, email addresses, phone numbers, Solution descriptions, and dates implemented that VCCS may use as a reference check in evaluating your proposal. VCCS will make such reasonable investigations as deemed proper and necessary to determine the ability of a Offeror to perform a resultant contract. These may include, but may not be limited to, reference checks and interviews. The references should be from organizations where Offeror is providing Services that are similar in type and scope to those identified in Section III.

7. Security Risk Management Overview - Provide an overview of your firm’s comprehensive security risk management processes including your application, monitoring, and management of the controls used. Provide details as to how you establish the context for security risk-based decisions, how you assess the risk, how you respond to the risk once it’s determined, and how you monitor the risk on an ongoing basis using communications and feedback for continuous improvement within your organization.

8. Account Management Plan - Provide a detailed description of the approach that your firm would take in order to manage the business and performance aspects of an awarded contract.

Provide a detailed description of the approach your firm would take to support self-sufficiency of a public body with respect to the solution and the transition of solution management to a public body requesting such transition.

C. Specific methodology and plans for providing the proposed services including:

1. What, when, how and by whom the services will be performed or accomplished.

2. Projected timeline for delivery of services relative to award date of contract.

3. Implementation of system

4. Experience of Offeror and personnel

5. Project Management requirements

D. Proposed fees: Complete Attachment 5 – Pricing Schedule for all goods and services as outlined in this

RFP.

VI. EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA

A. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Proposals will be evaluated by the VCCS using the following criteria:

Evaluation Criteria % of Total

Specific Plans and Methodology 20

Experience and Qualifications 20

Technical Requirements 15

Maintenance and Support 15

Proposed Pricing 10

Small Business Plan 20

TOTAL 100

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 Proposals, including price, if so, stated in the Request for Proposals. Negotiations shall 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, the agency shall select the offeror(s) which, in its opinion, has made the best proposal(s), and shall award the contract to that offeror(s). The Commonwealth may cancel this Request for Proposals or reject proposals at any time prior to an award and is not required to furnish a statement of the reasons why a particular proposal was not deemed to be the most advantageous (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4359D).

Should the Commonwealth determine in writing and in its sole discretion that only one offeror is fully qualified, or that one offeror is clearly more highly qualified than the others under consideration, 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 the solicitation and the contractor’s proposal as negotiated.

VII. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. APPLICABLE LAWS AND COURTS: This solicitation and any resulting contract shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its choice of law provisions, and any litigation with respect thereto shall be brought in the circuit courts of the Commonwealth. The agency and the contractor are encouraged to resolve any issues in controversy arising from the award of the contract or any contractual dispute using Alternative

Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4366). ADR procedures are described in Chapter 9 of the Vendors Manual. The contractor shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules and regulations.

B. ANTI-DISCRIMINATION: By submitting their bids, bidders certify to the Commonwealth that they will conform to the provisions of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, as well as the Virginia Fair Employment Contracting

Act of 1975, as amended, where applicable, the Virginians With Disabilities Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act and § 2.2-4311 of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA). If the award is made to a faith-based organization, the organization shall not discriminate against any recipient of goods, services, or disbursements made pursuant to the contract on the basis of the recipient's religion, religious belief, refusal to participate in a religious practice, or on the basis of race, age, color, gender sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin and shall be subject to the same rules as other organizations that contract with public bodies to account for the use of the funds provided; however, if the faith-based organization segregates public funds into separate accounts, only the accounts and programs funded with public funds shall be subject to audit by the public body. (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4343.1E).

In every contract over $10,000 the provisions in 1. and 2. below apply:

1. During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees as follows:

a. The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment 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, except where there is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the contractor. The contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

b. The contractor, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor, will state that such contractor is an equal opportunity employer.

c. Notices, advertisements and solicitations placed in accordance with federal law, rule or regulation shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this section.

d. If the contractor employs more than five employees, the contractor shall (i) provide annual training on the contractor's sexual harassment policy to all supervisors and employees providing services in the Commonwealth, except such supervisors or employees that are required to complete sexual harassment training provided by the Department of Human Resource Management, and (ii) post the contractor's sexual harassment policy in (a) a conspicuous public place in each building located in the Commonwealth that the contractor owns or leases for business purposes and (b) the contractor's employee handbook.

e. The requirements of these provisions 1. and 2. are a material part of the contract. If the Contractor violates one of these provisions, the Commonwealth may terminate the affected part of this contract for breach, or at its option, the whole contract. Violation of one of these provisions may also result in debarment from State contracting regardless of whether the specific contract is terminated.

f. In accordance with Executive Order 61 (2017), a prohibition on discrimination by the contractor, in its employment practices, subcontracting practices, and delivery of goods or services, on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, political affiliation, disability, or veteran status, is hereby incorporated in this contract.

2. The contractor will include the provisions of 1. above in every subcontract or purchase order over $10,000, so that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor.

C. ETHICS IN PUBLIC CONTRACTING: By submitting their bids, bidders certify that their bids are made without collusion or fraud and that they have not offered or received any kickbacks or inducements from any other bidder, supplier, manufacturer or subcontractor in connection with their bid, 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.

D. IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT OF 1986: Applicable for all contracts over $10,000: By entering into a written contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Contractor certifies that the Contractor does not, and shall not during the performance of the contract for goods and services in the Commonwealth, knowingly employ an unauthorized alien as defined in the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

E. DEBARMENT STATUS: By participating in this procurement, the vendor certifies that they are not currently debarred by the Commonwealth of Virginia from submitting a response for the type of goods and/or services covered by this solicitation. Vendor further certifies that they are not debarred from filling any order or accepting any resulting order, or that they are not an agent of any person or entity that is currently debarred by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

If a vendor is created or used for the purpose of circumventing a debarment decision against another vendor, the non-debarred vendor will be debarred for the same time period as the debarred vendor.

F. ANTITRUST: By entering into a contract, the contractor conveys, sells, assigns, and transfers to the Commonwealth of Virginia all rights, title, and interest in and to all causes of action it may now have or hereafter acquire under the antitrust laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia, relating to the particular goods or services purchased or acquired by the Commonwealth of Virginia under said contract.

G. MANDATORY USE OF STATE FORM AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR RFPs: Failure to submit a proposal on the official state form provided for that purpose shall be a cause for rejection of the proposal. Modification of or additions to any portion of the Invitation for Offeror’s may be cause for rejection of the proposal; however, the Commonwealth reserves the right to decide on a case-by-case basis, in its sole discretion, whether to reject such a proposal as nonresponsive. As a precondition to its acceptance, the Commonwealth may, in its sole discretion, request that the bidder withdraw or modify nonresponsive portions of a bid which do not affect quality, quantity, price, or delivery.

No modification of or addition to the provisions of the contract shall be effective unless reduced to writing and signed by the parties.

H. CLARIFICATION OF TERMS: If any prospective bidder has questions about the specifications or other solicitation documents, the prospective bidder should contact the buyer whose name appears on the face of the solicitation no later than five working days before the due date. Any revisions to the solicitation will be made only by addendum issued by the buyer.

I. PAYMENT:

1. To Prime Contractor:

a. Invoices for items ordered, delivered, and accepted shall be submitted by the contractor directly to the payment address shown on the purchase order/contract. All invoices shall show the state contract number and/or purchase order number; social security number (for individual contractors) or the federal employer identification number (for proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations).

b. Any payment terms requiring payment in less than 30 days will be regarded as requiring payment 30 days after invoice or delivery, whichever occurs last. This shall not affect offers of discounts for payment in less than 30 days, however.

c. All goods or services provided under this contract or purchase order, that are to be paid for with public funds, shall be billed by the contractor at the contract price, regardless of which public agency is being billed.

d. The following shall be deemed to be the date of payment: the date of postmark in all cases where payment is made by mail, or when offset proceedings have been instituted as authorized under the Virginia Debt

Collection Act.

e. Unreasonable Charges. Under certain emergency procurements and for most time and material purchases, final job costs cannot be accurately determined at the time orders are placed. In such cases, contractors should be put on notice that final payment in full is contingent on a determination of reasonableness with respect to all invoiced charges. Charges which appear to be unreasonable will be resolved in accordance with Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4363 and -4364. Upon determining that invoiced charges are not reasonable, the Commonwealth shall notify the contractor of defects or improprieties in invoices within fifteen (15) days as required in Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4351. The provisions of this section do not relieve an agency of its prompt payment obligations with respect to those charges which are not in dispute (Code of Virginia, §

2.2-4363).

2. To Subcontractors:

a. Within seven (7) days of the contractor’s receipt of payment from the Commonwealth, a contractor awarded a contract under this solicitation is hereby obligated:

(1) To pay the subcontractor(s) for the proportionate share of the payment received for work performed by the subcontractor(s) under the contract; or

(2) To notify the agency and the subcontractor(s), in writing, of the contractor’s intention to withhold payment and the reason.

b. The contractor is obligated to pay the subcontractor(s) interest at the rate of one percent per month (unless otherwise provided under the terms of the contract) on all amounts owed by the contractor that remain unpaid seven (7) days following receipt of payment from the Commonwealth, except for amounts withheld as stated in (2) above. The date of mailing of any payment by U. S. Mail is deemed to be payment to the addressee. These provisions apply to each sub-tier contractor performing under the primary contract. A contractor’s obligation to pay an interest charge to a subcontractor may not be construed to be an obligation of the Commonwealth.

3. Each prime contractor who wins an award in which provision of a SWaM procurement plan is a condition to the award, shall deliver to the contracting agency or institution, on or before request for final payment, evidence, and certification of compliance (subject only to insubstantial shortfalls and to shortfalls arising from subcontractor default) with the SWaM procurement plan. Final payment under the contract in question may be withheld until such certification is delivered and, if necessary, confirmed by the agency or institution, or other appropriate penalties may be assessed in lieu of withholding such payment.

4. The Commonwealth of Virginia encourages contractors and subcontractors to accept electronic and credit card payments.

J. PRECEDENCE OF TERMS: The following General Terms and Conditions, Cloud Terms and Conditions, IT Terms and

Conditions, Special Terms and Conditions, APPLICABLE LAWS AND COURTS, ANTI-DISCRIMINATION, ETHICS IN PUBLIC

CONTRACTING, IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT OF 1986, DEBARMENT STATUS, ANTITRUST, MANDATORY USE OF STATE FORM AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS, CLARIFICATION OF TERMS, PAYMENT shall apply in all instances. In the event there is a conflict between any of the other General Terms and Conditions and any

Special Terms and Conditions in this solicitation, the Special Terms and Conditions shall apply.

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

L. ASSIGNMENT OF CONTRACT: A contract shall not be assignable by the contractor in whole or in part without the written consent of the Commonwealth.

M. CHANGES TO THE CONTRACT: Changes can be made to the contract in any of the following ways:

1. The parties may agree in writing to modify the terms, conditions, or scope of the contract. Any additional goods or services to be provided shall be of a sort that is ancillary to the contract goods or services, or within the same broad product or service categories as were included in the contract award. Any increase or decrease in the price of the contract resulting from such modification shall be agreed to by the parties as a part of their written agreement to modify the scope of the contract.

2. The Purchasing Agency may order changes within the general scope of the contract at any time by written notice to the contractor. Changes within the scope of the contract include, but are not limited to, things such as services to be performed, the method of packing or shipment, and the place of delivery or installation. The contractor shall comply with the notice upon receipt, unless the contractor intends to claim an adjustment to compensation, schedule, or other contractual impact that would be caused by complying with such notice, in which case the contractor shall, in writing, promptly notify the Purchasing Agency of the adjustment to be sought, and before proceeding to comply with the notice, shall await the Purchasing Agency's written decision affirming, modifying, or revoking the prior written notice. If the Purchasing Agency decides to issue a notice that requires an adjustment to compensation, the contractor shall be compensated for any additional costs incurred as the result of such order and shall give the Purchasing Agency a credit for any savings. Said compensation shall be determined by one of the following methods:

a. By mutual agreement between the parties in writing; or

b. By agreeing upon a unit price or using a unit price set forth in the contract, if the work to be done can be expressed in units, and the contractor accounts for the number of units of work performed, subject to the

Purchasing Agency’s right to audit the contractor’s records and/or to determine the correct number of units independently; or

c. By ordering the contractor to proceed with the work and keep a record of all costs incurred and savings realized. A markup for overhead and profit may be allowed if provided by the contract. The same markup shall be used for determining a decrease in price as the result of savings realized. The contractor shall present the Purchasing Agency with all vouchers and records of expenses incurred and savings realized.

The Purchasing Agency shall have the right to audit the records of the contractor as it deems necessary to determine costs or savings. Any claim for an adjustment in price under this provision must be asserted by written notice to the Purchasing Agency within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the written order from the Purchasing Agency.