1. PENNSYLVANIA’S STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION
State System of Higher Education Regional Procurement Fair West Chester University   Doing Business with the PA State System of Higher Education Melodi S. Benson Director, Strategic Sourcing September 29, 2015

2. Purpose of this Session
For any commodity or service supplier: …to better understand the State System, the University organization, and strategic sourcing opportunities

3. The Universities 14 universities: Universities… 110,000 Students
$4.4 billion in economic impact
Universities…
have professional procurement and contracting staffs
operate both “collaboratively” and “independently”

4. At the Office of the Chancellor
Strategic Sourcing Department, provides:
policy, guidance, and facilitation for the 14 state-owned universities
coordination and collaboration among system initiatives
administration of centrally-held open-end contracts
supplier/contract management

5. Location Office of the Chancellor Dixon University Center
2986 North Second Street
Harrisburg, PA
Click on Doing Business with the State System
Click on Strategic Sourcing
*This will open to the Strategic Sourcing page.

6. Strategic Sourcing Organization:
Melodi Benson Director, Strategic Sourcing Linda Venneri Collaborative Contracts Manager Robert Gross Purchasing Manager, Dixon University Center

7. 3 levels of Procurement at the State System:
University Managed
Each University has its own Procurement Department
Construction Support Office
Facilities Management Office at the Office of the Chancellor
Supports the State System's 14 universities with a variety of facilities and construction procurement-related functions
Strategic Sourcing Department
Sourcing commodities and services based on volume spend inclusive across the system
Located at Office of the Chancellor

8. How to become a State System supplier:
First, if you are not already registered, go to the PASSHE eProcurement web site and register as a vendor:
Gets you noticed by many of the Universities during solicitations
Register under the correct service area.
You do not need to be on this list to do business with PASSHE:
As part of our procurement laws, we do open competitive bidding for procurements over $10,000. That means if you are a supplier that meets the requirements of the solicitation, you may bid.

9. How to become a State System supplier:
3) Qualifying Solicitations:
Occasionally, RFP’s (proposals) are issued as Qualifying Solicitations (QCC’s). This is done for pre-determined commodities or services (i.e. IT services, Temp Labor).
The process requires that you must submit to the initial RFP and be selected for qualification in order to receive future requests for quotation (RFQ’s) for those items.

10. How to become a State System supplier:
4) Additionally:
Become familiar with the State System policies and guidelines. This also can be found on the State System web site.
Solicitations are posted by both the universities and the Office of the Chancellor. Ultimately, it is the supplier’s responsibility to look for bid opportunities.

11. Our Mission:
Provide excellent customer service and value to the State System organization through negotiation and cost-saving initiatives.
Provide quality products and services at the best value, i.e., price, quality, delivery and supplier partnership.
Demonstrate and support social responsibility within the Procurement organization.
Always maintain the highest level of ethical and legal standards throughout all our business transactions and relationships .

12. Supplier Role: Excellent customer service Quality products
The expectation is that suppliers will PARTNER with us to provide the best overall value.
Each university should benefit from the volume provided through collaboration efforts of the universities.

13. Supplier Role: Social responsibility
As an organization that promotes education, we believe in providing assistance to all small or diverse businesses who wish to do business with the State System
There are no diverse business set asides—however, if two suppliers are close in an evaluation process and one is a diverse supplier, we will typically award to the diverse supplier
Are you a diverse supplier or do you subcontract with diverse suppliers?

14. Supplier Role: Social responsibility SUSTAINABILITY:
How can you support our sustainability initiatives?
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS:
How can you assist PASSHE and the surrounding communities in the event of an emergency?

15. Supplier Role: Ethical and Legal standards
Compete based on the quality of what you can offer!
No back-door selling or lobbying.
Positively no gifts!
Be patient with the process.
Work with the issuing office and they will guide you through the process if you have questions.
Debrief sessions

16. VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
Definition: The enhancement added to a product or service by a company before the product is offered to customers.
As a supplier, how can you help us demonstrate the best-value expenditure of a public dollar?
Do you provide any training or process enhancements for our students, faculty or staff?
Do you support education through internships or scholarships?
What kind of discounts or savings opportunities do you offer? (collaboration, standardization, electronic payment method, procurement card payment, etc.?)

17. Open Records-Right to Know
Effective July 2008, any procurement consideration greater than $5,000 must be uploaded to the Treasury website and available for public viewing.
Beginning January 1, 2009, anyone can request contract information including unsuccessful bidder information
Suppliers must designate any information they believe is proprietary but the final determination is made by the Open Records officer and Legal Counsel.
Look at website and click on ‘Right to Know’ for additional information.

18. Open Records-Right to Know
Congratulations! You have the contract..now what?
Suggestions on maintaining your business….
Manage the relationship. Be proactive!
Offer suggestions on improvements that will benefit PASSHE, i.e., quality, delivery, cost savings, time savings, new products, etc.
Have regular meetings with your PASSHE and University contacts.
If problems occur, address them immediately.
Don’t wait until contract is about to expire before we hear from you. Make sure Procurement is aware of your organization contact.
Provide detail spend reporting. Offer additional reporting capabilities if available.

19. QUESTIONS?