Kansas State University

The Cone of Silence prohibits any supplier communication regarding a bid solicitation after the Request for Bidding has been submitted to the K-State Purchasing office. This Cone of Silence is designed to protect the professional integrity of the procurement process by shielding it from undue influences prior to the recommendation of award.

Suppliers are to email all questions regarding the bid solicitation to the K-State Purchasing office, kspurch@ksu.edu. All supplier questions received by the deadline specified in the bid solicitation will be forwarded to the department contact. The department's answers will be published in the form of a bid addendum on the K-State Purchasing Solicitations site. Should any unauthorized communication occur between University personnel and a potential supplier, that supplier's bid may be disqualified or the entire bid process cancelled.

After a bid closing, if clarifications are needed regarding submitted bid proposals, departments will need to work in conjunction with the K-State Purchasing office.

The Cone of Silence is terminated once a purchase order has been released, a contract has been fully executed or all bids have been rejected.

• K-State Purchasing Responsibilities
  • Verify that the bid was received by 2 p.m. on the specified closing date
    
    • Bids received after 2 p.m. will not receive consideration. They will not be forwarded to the department for review.
  • Confirm that the K-State bid form is signed.
    
    • If a signed K-State bid form is not submitted, the bid will not receive consideration. It will not be forwarded to the department for review.
  • Tally other documents as requested in the bid solicitation.
  • Enter bid pricing into the bid tabulation spreadsheet.
  • Create Award Recommendation Letter for department completion.
• Department Responsibilities
  • Review bid tabulation spreadsheet and bids for correlation to specifications requested in the bid solicitation.
  • Confirm bid amount still falls within department's budgeted amount.
  • Complete the Award Recommendation Letter, signed by an authorized department signatory, and upload to the Purchasing File Upload Portal
• Awards are to be made to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder meeting the bid specifications.
  • Responsive = meets all material aspects of bid solicitation
  • Responsible = is reliable and capable of performing the requirements in the bid solicitation

Consideration may focus toward but is not limited to:

• Cost
• Conformity to specifications
• Quality and performance of the products or services being requested
• Delivery / completion time
• Adequacy and completeness of bid
• Supplier's understanding of the project
• Compliance with the terms and conditions of the bid solicitation
• Experience in providing like products or services
• Qualified staff

When a purchase commitment is over $50,000 and has required a Solicitation committee to convene, additional considerations must be taken into account.

• RFP Evaluation Committee Guidelines
• RFP Scoring Rubric

Multiple Awards

• The University reserves the right to award to more than one supplier, unless the supplier specifies otherwise in the submitted bid.

Where more than one item is specified in the bid solicitation, the University reserves the right to determine the low bid on the basis of individual items, systems, or on the basis of all items included in the bid solicitation.

The University reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids or part of a bid; to waive any informalities or technicalities; and to clarify any ambiguities in bids.

On the Award Recommendation Letter, departments may request that a bid process be cancelled for one or more of the following reasons:

• It is in the best interest of the University due to funding or legislative changes
• Bid prices exceed the project's budget
• The original specifications / scope of work was inaccurate / unclear
• The need no longer exists
• The proposed alternate item will not meet needs
• A Cone of Silence violation

On the Award Recommendation Letter, departments may request that a bid process be rebid for one or more of the following reasons:

• It is in the best interest of the University due to funding or legislative changes
• Bid prices exceed the project's budget
• The original specifications / scope of work was inaccurate / unclear
• The proposed alternate item will not meet needs
• A Cone of Silence violation
• No responsive bids were received
• The bids received did meet minimum specifications
• The review process took longer than expected and the bid expired (vendor quotes are typically valid for 30 days)