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Doing Business with Pennsylvania’s State
System of Higher Education (State System)
Supplier Overview
October 10, 2014
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Location
Office of the Chancellor
Dixon University Center
2986 North Second Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717-720-4000
http://www.passhe.edu/pages
Click on Business Partners (bottom of screen)*
*This will open to the Strategic Sourcing page.
E D U C A T I O N
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Procurement Organization
Melodi S. Benson
Director, Strategic Sourcing
Linda A. Venneri
Collaborative Contracts Manager
Robert L. Gross
Purchasing Manager—Dixon University Center
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Three Main Levels of Procurement at the
State System
I.
University Level
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Each of the 14 state-owned Universities of Pennsylvania’s
State System of Higher Education has its own
Procurement Department.
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Each University manages both construction and overall
procurement needs for the University.
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Three Main Levels of Procurement at the
State System
II. Construction Support Office (CSO)
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Is a component of the Facilities Management Office
located in the Office of the Chancellor.
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Supports the State System’s 14 Universities with a
variety of facilities design and construction
procurement-related functions.
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Three Main Levels of Procurement at the
State System
III. Strategic Sourcing Department
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Located at Dixon University Center.
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Collaborates and supports the State System’s 14
Universities by sourcing commodities and services
based on volume spend inclusive across the System.
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Provides contract management support for the System.
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Provides all the Procurement requirements for the
Dixon University Center.
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How to become a State System supplier
• First, if you are not already registered, go to the State
System’s eProcurement website and register as a
vendor. This will get you noticed by many of the
Universities during solicitations. Please be certain to
register under the correct service areas and NIGP
codes.
• You do not need to be on this list to do business with
the State System. As part of our procurement laws, we
do open competitive bidding for procurements over
$19,100. That means if you are a supplier that meets
the requirements of the solicitation, you may bid.
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How to become a State System supplier
Qualifying Solicitations
• Occasionally, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are
issued as Qualifying Solicitations (QCCs). This is done
for predetermined commodities or services (e.g.,
Consulting 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 (RFQs) for those items.
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How to become a State System supplier
• Become familiar with the State System policies and
guidelines. These can be found on the System’s
website.
• 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.
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Our Mission
• Provide excellent customer service and value to the State
System through negotiation and cost-saving initiatives.
• Provide quality products and services at the best value,
e.g., 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.
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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.
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Supplier Role
• Social Responsibility
 SUSTAINABILITY
How can you support our sustainability
initiatives?
 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
How can you assist the State System and the
surrounding communities in the event of an
emergency?
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Supplier Role
• Ethical and Legal Standards
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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. The issuing
office will generally provide debrief sessions upon
request. This helps suppliers not selected understand
how they can be more successful in the future.
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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 the 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? (Do
you offer collaboration, standardization, electronic payment
method, procurement card payment, etc.?)
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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 the website and click on ‘Strategic Sourcing—
Right-to-Know Laws’ for additional information.
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Congratulations! You have the contract...now what?
Suggestions on maintaining your business…
 Manage the relationship. Be proactive!
 Offer suggestions on improvements that will benefit the State
System, e.g., quality, delivery, cost savings, time savings, new
products.
 Have regular meetings with your State System and University
contacts.
 If problems occur, address them immediately.
 Do not wait until your contract is about to expire before we hear
from you. Make sure Procurement is aware of your organization
contact.
 Provide detailed spend reporting. Offer additional reporting
capabilities if available.
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