1 Office of Procurement Presents Request for Proposal (RFP) Process

Office of Procurement Contact Information Address: 900 Hungerford Drive, Suite 110 Rockville, Maryland Phone: Web: 2

Montgomery College Office of Procurement What is a Request for Proposal?  It is a procurement method used to procure goods or services for contracts over $10,000 in value. 3

Montgomery College Office of Procurement When is a Request for Proposal used?  It is used when pricing is not the sole determinant for contract award. 4

Montgomery College Office of Procurement What determinants other than price are considered?  Qualifications  Experience  Past Performance  Certifications  Higher Education (Community College) Clients 5

Montgomery College Office of Procurement RFP Process Step 1:  Develop RFP document. This process includes obtaining good or service requirements from requesting department, and inserting those requirements into the RFP document template  Template language is amended accordingly to reflect required good or service.  RFP draft is assigned a number and shared with requesting department prior to issuance. 6

Montgomery College Office of Procurement RFP Process Step II:  RFP document is listed on the Office of Procurement website, and downloaded by the vendor community. It includes a deadline for proposing firms to submit proposals. Submittal deadline is typically two weeks from RFP issuance date, but can be longer due to complexity of procurement.  A pre-proposal conference may be included as part of the RFP process, which occurs prior submittal deadline date. The purpose of this conference is to invite interested firms in to review the RFP document in general, and RFP requirements in particular. 7

Montgomery College Office of Procurement RFP Process Step III:  Prior to the proposal submittal deadline, the requesting department shall assemble a proposal evaluation committee. The role of this committee is evaluate the technical merits of each submitted proposal and score each based on established criteria that is crafted by procurement staff, and listed in the RFP. Recommended size of committee is 3 of 5 members. Odd number committees are preferred.  The Office of Procurement will facilitate RFP proposal evaluation process with committee. Steps include the following: 8

Montgomery College Office of Procurement 9 RFP Process Step III (continued):  Facilitation steps include the following: a.Meet with proposal evaluation committee to lay out proposal evaluation process instructions. b.Distribute vendor proposals (with the exception of submitted pricing) to committee, along with score sheets. Procurement Office is responsible for scoring the pricing of bids. c.Collect all proposals and score sheets when completed.

Montgomery College Office of Procurement 10 RFP Process Step IV:  Upon receipt of all proposals and score sheets from committee, the Office of Procurement will undertake the following: a.Review all score sheets for completeness b.Combine all individual technical proposal scores to arrive at one score for each proposal. c.Evaluate and score pricing submitted by each proposer. d.Add pricing score to technical score to arrive at one total score for each proposal.

Montgomery College Office of Procurement 11 RFP Process Step V:  The proposal with the highest combined technical and price score will be awarded a contract.  Should the one-time or annual value of the contract exceed $250,000, a contract award recommendation will have to be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval.  Once Board approves contract, a contract award letter, along with a purchase order is sent to awarded firm. A separate, fully executed contract may also be required, which is reviewed by General Counsel prior to execution. Requesting Department will be notified accordingly.

Montgomery College Office of Procurement 12 Post Contract Award: Awarded contract is monitored for compliance by requesting department and Office of Procurement.

FAQs Q:Do RFP contract awards result it the lowest price? A:No. They result in “best value” awards instead. Q:Can RFP contract award pricing be negotiated? A:No. Pricing is fixed. Q:Do RFP contract awards require board approval? A:Only if the total contract dollar value exceeds $250K. Q:Can RFPs be cancelled? A:Yes, they can be cancelled prior to contract award. 13

Thank you! 14