OUS MWESB Policy Implementation

[Business Affairs Office News]

Dear Campus,

As a follow-up to previous campus communications, University of Oregon is implementing the Oregon University System (OUS) Equity Contracting and Purchasing Policy.  The goal of this policy is to expand economic opportunities for historically underrepresented businesses by encouraging participation in OUS contracting and purchasing.  As part of this policy implementation the following requirements will be in effect starting Monday, October 1, 2012 for University of Oregon.

Purchasing of Goods and Services:

*         All Informal Procurements with a contract value of more than $25,000 for purchase of goods or services under a competitive process shall require soliciting at least one certified Minority, Women, or Emerging Small Business (MWESB) firm.

*         If no certified MWESBs are available for the applicable solicitation, self-reported MWESBs may be used to meet this requirement.

*         Solicitation of MWESB firms should occur timely and reasonable notice is required for firm response.  To achieve reasonable notice identifying available MWESB firms prior to proceeding with a procurement is recommended.

*         This policy also requires keeping record of all solicitation efforts to MWESB firms. For support in identifying firms see Outreach Tools below.
Outreach Tools: (http://pcs.uoregon.edu/content/search-vendor)


*         Vendor Registration Portal. This tool allows departments to search, filter and download information for vendors who have registered their information in the Portal.  Using your duck id login, the tool can filter the vendor list by commodity code, MWESB status or sustainable/green initiatives.  The results can be saved, emailed or printed.  The Portal is open for all firms to register their information with UO so they may be either certified, self-reported MWESB or none. The tool also has expanded features for reviewing your vendors, products and services.



*         Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business Certified Firms Search Page.  This link takes you to the list of State Certified MWESB vendors.  It is an excel download and contains NIGP commodity codes and descriptions for searching and vendor contact information.  This list contains all state certified vendors.
Recording Efforts Made:


*         Procurement Forms.  The Procurement forms have been updated to capture a firm's status on the signature page.  All quotes received must be signed by the vendor to be considered for award.



*         Procurement Checklists.  The checklist has been updated to capture the solicitation efforts made to MWESB firms.  This section will need to be completed for each procurement.



*         Procurement Log. Purchasing and Contracting Services (PCS) will track the department's solicitation efforts (as documented on the procurement checklist) on the procurement log once the award is made.
Starting October 1, 2012 departments will need to follow the outreach requirements outlined above. The tools available should assist departments in performing meaningful outreach to MWESB businesses.  PCS welcomes feedback and suggestions for improving the tools and resources we have available to support this policy implementation.  Please contact PCS with questions at 346-2419 or email competitionsupport at uoregon.edu<mailto:competitionsupport at uoregon.edu>.

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