NOTE: THIS IS AVAILABLE FOR CONVENIENCE ONLY IN PREPARING
PROPOSALS. PROPOSERS ARE NOT TO ALTER ANY WORDING. THE
OFFICIAL RFP DOCUMENT IS THE PDF VERSION.
SECTION III
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
ARTICLE 1
INITIAL TECHNICAL PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Initial Technical Proposal Requirements
1.1
Transmittal Letter. A transmittal letter prepared on the Proposer's business
stationery must accompany the proposal. The purpose of this letter is to transmit the
proposal; therefore, it should be brief, but shall list all items contained within the
Technical Proposal as defined below. The letter must be signed by an individual who is
authorized to bind the firm to all statements, including services and financial, contained
in the proposal. The transmittal letter should list those student account functionality
components for which the Proposer is proposing a solution.
(See Sample Form in
Appendix A.)
1.2
Signing of Forms. The proposals, if submitted by an individual, shall be signed
by the individual; if submitted by a partnership, they shall be signed by such member or
members of the partnership as have authority to bind the partnership; if submitted by a
corporation, they shall be signed by an officer, and attested by the corporate secretary
or an assistant corporate secretary. If not signed by an officer there must be attached a
copy of that portion of the by-laws or a copy of a board resolution, duly certified by the
corporate secretary, showing the authority of the person so signing on behalf of the
corporation.
2.
Initial Technical Proposal Criteria: Clear, concise, yet detailed responses to
the technical criteria below are to be provided in the initial technical proposal. As well,
the Bid/Proposal Affidavit and Acknowledgement of Receipt of Addenda (if applicable)
are to be included in the initial technical proposal. Marketing material may be provided,
but is to be included as an appendix rather than within the body of the proposal.
The following information must be furnished in the Initial Technical Proposal per this
solicitation. Failure to include any of the items listed below may disqualify your firm's
response.
The Initial Technical Proposal should be prepared in a clear and concise manner. It
should address the appropriate points of this RFP that are applicable to its response
except price information. The contents of this volume must address the following
items, as indicated below, and additionally, must include the appropriate completed
forms or responses as indicated in items 2.1 through 6. as listed below. Offerors must
paginate the Technical Proposal and are requested to provide a table of contents
to separate the responses to each of the technical criteria below:
2.1 Mandatory Requirements:
2.1.1If submitting a proposal to provide hosting/gateway services (payment
acceptance and application), proposer must have managed services for a client with an
annual transaction volume of at least 30,000 transactions and must have PCI-DSS
certification.
2.1.2If submitting a proposal to provide 1098T services, proposer must have processed
and distributed or printed 1098T’s for a single annual volume of 5,000 forms for one
client and have a total cumulative minimum for all clients of 30,000 forms.
2.1.3 If submitting a proposal to provide payment plan services, proposer must have
managed plans for a client with a single annual plan volume of at least 1,000 and
have a total cumulative minimum for all clients of 5,000.
2.1.4 If submitting a proposal to provide payment plan services, Perkins Loan
Servicing, and/or 1098T Form services, Proposer must provide all levels of
customer service support directly to UMUC’s students, including but not limited to
phone, email, voicemail, and chat.
2.1.5. Proposer must be PCI/PHDSS Compliant.
2.2
Executive Summary: In no more than fifteen (15) pages including all
appendices, the Proposer is to submit an Executive Summary which clearly and
concisely summarizes the Proposer’s intent to meet the requirements of the RFP.
The following is to be provided in this Executive Summary:
2.3 Evidence that the Mandatory Requirements above are met.
2.3.1 The Proposer is to provide evidence of similar or relevant Programs or
Services that meet the UMUC requirements for the particular component or
components for which they are submitting a proposal. UMUC will evaluate each
component separately with higher consideration given in the evaluation to those
Proposers who demonstrate the capabilities and qualifications of providing a) all
of the five services or b) more than one component.
Proposer is to provide client and short case studies that the Proposer deems are the
best examples of prior or current clients. The contracts/clients provided should be
similar and relevant in size, scope and complexity to the University of Maryland
University College’s requirements. Evidence that Proposer meets the mandatory
requirements detailed above is to be provided. Client name, address, contact person,
email address, and telephone number including area code and extension of contact
person are to be provided for the contracts provided.
2.3.2 Provide a brief description of student account services provided or being provided
to UMUC and other University System of Maryland (USM) institutions or Maryland State
Agencies. Past performance with UMUC and/or other USM institutions and/or Maryland
State Agencies may be factored into the initial technical evaluation.
Company Profile: Provide a description of your firm’s relevant
qualifications to perform the requested services. Also, please include the
following information:
2.4









A brief history of the firm including how long firm has been in business,
including primary business focus or specialty
Firm overview, corporate background, mission statement, and/or
philosophy; including management team biographies, including length of
tenure with current proposer
Description of your firm’s capabilities to handle large volumes of
transactions and response times with such volumes, capacity, and
resources specific to each student account business functionality you are
responding to:
o Hosting Services and Payment Gateways (Payment Acceptance
and Application),
o 1098T Services,
o Payment Plans,
o Federal Perkins Loan Program,
o Third Party Payer Software Solutions, and
o related Services for higher education institutions;
Headquarters location - Location of office that will provide the services to
UMUC and number of employees
Geographical locations of service and/or administrative offices
o List of clients serviced at each location
o Number of employees (management, team leads, etc) at each
location;
Number of years in providing student accounts/financial services;
Percent (%) of annual sales for the following business funcitonailities:
o
Hosting Services and Payment Gateway
o
1098T Services
o
Payment Plans
o
Federal Perkins Loan Program
List of higher education clients which are being served by the Proposer;
Any other notable facts that may demonstrate your firm’s unique
qualifications and aid in the selection process.

Financial Attestation: Firms shall provide a statement or attestation of its
financial condition to confirm that it has adequate financial resources to
support its Technical Proposal response.
Such statement and/or
attestation may include: a) financial statements (unaudited) for the past
three (3) years; b) audited financial statements for the past three (3) years;
c) prospectus of publicly traded firms; d) letter signed by authorized
company personnel attesting to its financial viability (preferably notarized
statement); or e) any other documentation that firm feels adequately
attests to its financial resource viability.
It is acceptable that such
documentation be provided solely in the original copy of the Technical
Proposal. (Note: The response to this Financial Attestation criteria is
NOT included in the limit of 15 pages. )
NOTE: To ensure that the Contractor has sufficient financial resources to support the
contract, prior to the award of the contract(s), UMUC may, at its sole discretion, request
that the Contractor shall submit complete audited financial statements for the most
recent fiscal years showing the true condition of the Proposer’s assets, liabilities and net
worth. If requested, the financial statements must include a balance sheet and income
statement. If the Proposer is a partnership or joint venture, individual financial
statements must be submitted for each general partner or joint venture thereof.
2.5
Provide an organizational chart of the firm showing the structure of the firm’s
divisions and/or departments with a focus on key functions involved in serving this
Contract as well as a geographic map of centers. This chart should show the location
of the centers that will service UMUC’s account as well as the management structure of
the firm. The geographic location of the upper level management and regional
management support staff, as well as, those staff actually anticipated to be assigned
and dedicated to manage and staff this account are to be provided.
3.
Proposal Affidavit: State Procurement Regulations require that each proposal
submitted by a firm include a signed Proposal Affidavit. A copy of this Proposal Affidavit
is included in Appendix A.
4. Insurance: Provide a copy of a Certificate of Insurance verifying your firm's
coverage for Professional Liability, Commercial General Liability, Worker's
Compensation, and Professional Liability.
5. Acknowledgement Of Receipt Of Addenda Form: If any addenda to the RFP
documents are issued prior to the due date and time for proposals, this form (found in
Appendix A) is to be completed, signed, and included in the Proposer's Initial
Technical Proposal.
6. Acknowledgement of Review of UMUC Contract Terms and Conditions: Per
Section I, Paragraph 1.4: The Proposer is to warrant that they have reviewed
Appendix B and will execute a contract with these mandatory terms and conditions
upon request by UMUC, as may be negotiated.
Any exceptions to the Contract are
to be noted. Proposer is to also acknowledge that UMUC is under no obligation to
accept such requested exceptions and, as a result of such exceptions, may elect to
find the Proposer not susceptible of the award(s) of the Contract(s).
7. Initial Technical Proposal Submittal: Proposers must submit the required number
of copies of his/her Initial Technical Proposal by the closing time and date specified in
Section 1 of the RFP. Late submittals cannot be accepted.
END OF SECTION III, ARTICLE 1