Federally Sponsored Grants and Cooperative Agreements $250,000 and above

A purchase for services, supplies, and equipment for any item or group of similar items over $250,000 should be processed as a formal solicitation in the form of an Invitation to Bid (Bid) or Request for Proposals (RFP).  Public advertisement of the opportunity is required.

Under Uniform Guidance, non-competitive awards may be used when one or more of the following circumstances apply:

1. The item is available only from a single source (this must be verifiable);
2. The public exigency or emergency for the requirement will not permit a delay resulting from competitive solicitation;
3. The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes noncompetitive proposals in response to a written request from the non-Federal entity; or
4. After solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate

Requests for sole source approval must be made to the Sponsor's Grants Officer and not to the Program Officer.

When publicly advertised, Sealed Bid(s)/RFP(s) shall be received until the date and time indicated in the document for the return of Bids/Proposals. Any Bid/Proposal received after the designated time shall neither be accepted nor considered for evaluation, recommendation and award. See the Procurement Manual for further information on Bids and  RFPs and their associated procedures.

Once a request for Bid/RFP is released, the university is under a “cone of silence.” Individuals should not discuss the requirements of the solicitation or in any way offer additional information to suppliers outside of a formal addendum to the solicitation documents. If a supplier contacts a school/department directly, that potential supplier should be referred to the appropriate representative issuing the solicitation. No verbal or written information obtained other than by the Bid/RFP documents or by an addendum to the Bid/RFP is binding on the university. 

Unless otherwise noted in the Special Conditions section of a Bid/RFP, responses received to Bids/RFPs shall not be publicly opened. Bids/RFPs will then be evaluated, tabulated, and an award recommendation made. A supplier may not proceed with filling the requirement of the Bid/RFP until a contract has been executed or a Purchase Order released to the supplier.