Public Higher Education Bulletin

This emergency/quick purchase was required due to a situation in which the need for services to protect or further University interests was immediate and use of other competitive source selection procedures under the Illinois Procurement Code could not have been accomplished without significant risk of causing disadvantages to the University.

The current Illinois Public Higher Education Cooperative (IPHEC) award under #J402 expired, after a total of ten (10) years, on June 30, 2013. Solicitation #1SLE1302 was conducted to replace the expiring award to provide furniture and services for the IPHEC participating Universities. The University began the solicitation process in advance of the expiration date in order to provide for transitioning to a new provider and to account for ample review and approval time. After the clarification responses were received and reviewed, it was determined, based on the State of Illinois procurement code, that seven (7) of the Respondents be deemed not-responsive for non-compliance with registration requirements with the State Board of Elections (30 ILCS 500/20-160). The Respondents were notified of this action by letter on May 28, 2013 and some protests were filed. On June 18, 2013 a determination was made by the Chief Procurement Office to uphold the protests, based on an interpretation of the Higher Education Rules. Therefore, there will be no contracted provider in place for furniture until this re-evaluation can be completed, estimated for mid to end of August, 2013. This determination has created the situation where the IPHEC participating Universities must re-evaluate vendors. This emergency purchase is being established in order to enable Universities who have requirements for furniture and installation services, to place orders with a current IPHEC furniture provider without disruption during this evaluation period.

The University of Illinois, on behalf of IPHEC members is entering into these emergency awards in order to allow campus end-users the ability to continue to order office furniture, accessories and provide installation services without disruption. During the 90 day term of this emergency contract, the IPHEC will continue with the active solicitation process.