Procurement Connections Meeting - March 16

Highlights

• Supplier presentation: Slower shared an overview of IT consulting capabilities and recent UC work. 
• Tariff/trade: Monitoring continues. Weekly summaries will stay in the agenda, with deeper detail shared when needed.
• eProcurement: Fisher Scientific v24 is scheduled to go live 4/1. Additional supplier content updates remain in review.
• Facilities & equipment: Multiple agreement amendments/extensions are in progress across furniture, building controls, flooring, and plumbing.
• Hospitality & food: Compostable Disposable Foodware RFP is targeted for release in April.
• Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA): Outreach to systemwide partners continues ahead of the 4/24/26 effective date.
• Professional services: HR consulting RFP finalist presentations are complete; awards are expected by 5/1.

Tariff and Trade Updates

Adrian continues monitoring tariff developments with AI-generated summaries posted in the agenda . Detailed analysis available via attachment with articles and UC-specific impacts . Updates will continue as long as tariffs remain a significant topic .

E-Procurement Updates

Content Approved:

• Official Scientific version 24 scheduled to go live April 1st

Content Pending Review:

• BioLegend version 19 and Illumina version 8

Enablement Go-Lives:

• Santa Cruz Millennial Punch-Out
• Santa Barbara Home Depot HD Supply Punch-Out

Facilities and Equipment Contracts

Waste Management:

• Stericycle: Negotiating extension of UCHealth agreement through 8/30/2026 to allow time for overall strategy development
• Amendment currently being drafted by Stericycle

Furniture Contracts (expiring 4/30/2027):

• Steelcase: Removing tariff language for orders shipping after 4/15, processing price increase effective 6/15
• Kimball: Reviewing 3% price increase request and updating price list with new products/removing obsolete items
• Norinol: Working on extensions

Building Controls:

• Johnson Controls: Processed name change amendment to Johnson Controls Building Solutions
• Sunbelt Controls: Requesting 3% price increase (within contract terms) due to union labor rate increases averaging 5%
• Schneider Electric: Requesting 5% increase, contract caps at 3%, awaiting response to pushback

Dorn Furniture Brands:

• DCI: Performance concerns, meeting with owner to discuss issues
• SFI: Performing well, receiving three-year extension
• Savoy: Under review

Flooring:

• All seven manufacturers expiring April 2027
• Working on extensions, updating dealer lists and product lists
• Expect completion within six weeks

Plumbing:

• Ferguson Plumbing: Processing extension from 4/30/2026 to 11/31/2027 to align with adoption agreement

Price Files:

• Graybar: Received price file showing negative 9% impact (price reduction)
• Small business award

Hospitality and Food Services

RFP Development:

• Compostable Disposable Foodware RFP: Met with Zero Waste Working Group, creating vendor pricing proposal outline, targeting release by end of April

Contract Extensions:

• Handgard: Extension to 9/30 sent out, pricing remained same or decreased by 4.7% on some SKUs due to China tariff reduction and commodity pricing

Strategic Planning:

• System-wide Distribution RFP under review, determining Cisco extension length and drafting strategic timeline

Sustainability:

• Global Climate Leadership Council approved for additional funding
• Tim Gallerno and Marilyn finalizing Phase 2 project report

Economic Development and Policy

Program Development:

• Received external counsel review of ECI program
• Met with legal counsel regarding BIS 43 and SBG
• On track to move forward with PAC
• Sustainable practices policy discussions ongoing, also on track for PAC

Events:

• UC participating in California State Supply Diversity Symposium Wednesday in Pasadena (all welcome)
• Economic Impact Advisory Council meeting Monday-Tuesday next week in Oakland at UCOP building

Information Technology Procurement

WCAG 2.1 Compliance:

• Title 2 legislation takes effect next month requiring UC digital products to be WCAG 2.1 compliant
• Continuing outreach to system-wide partners for conformance

Active RFPs:

• Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC): Third-party risk management platform RFP at sandbox phase, targeting award by end of fiscal year
• Software Reseller: Major initiative RFP just published for system-wide agreements with limited set of resellers as default channel for software procurement
• Threat Detection and Identification: Massive six-category initiative with three awards in progress on schedule

Web Analytics RFP - OneTrust Non-Award:

• OneTrust was selected through evaluation for cookie and consent management
• Unable to finalize system-wide agreement due to unacceptable liability terms and caps that didn't align with UC framework
• Escalated to executive leadership, resulted in non-award decision
• Campuses may still contract individually with OneTrust (limited current engagement)
• Existing system-wide agreement with CASI remains in place for same services
• Lesson learned: considerable time spent on negotiations without resulting award

Life Sciences Procurement

Chemical Safety:

• UCOP chemical safety initiative for chemical cabinet replacement Phase 1 starting
• Meeting with Systemwide Safety on 4/15 about purchasing options
• Suppliers being considered: Grainger, VWR, Avantor, Fisher

Gas Contracts:

• No new updates from suppliers

LICA Agreement:

• Received final language revisions for sections 1.2 (patronage) and 1.3 (sustainability)
• Reviewing final language before proceeding with amendment to receive patronage incentives

Scientific Services:

• Scientific Service Plus (certified small business) initially wanted to withdraw but agreed to stay after meeting
• Working together on revising labor rates outlined in agreement

Lab Medical Consumables:

• New RFP targeting small businesses in non-acute medical space
• Contract completed 3/6/26 with single award to WestNet
• Implementing e-commerce and catalog for Halyard medical products

Logistics and Travel

EV Charging:

• ChargePoint: Working on new system-wide agreement for EV charging infrastructure
• Updated draft expected this week with final T&C and Appendix C edits
• Expected completion no later than end of April

Hotel Agreements:

• Finalized 24 local hotel agreements for calendar year 2026
• Project complete for now (possible additional contracts during year)
• All contracts available on Calusource

Future Projects:

• Travel Agency RFP: Initial planning stages, expected mid-summer 2026 release
• Looking at lead agency opportunity through AMIA
• Target active date: early calendar year 2027
• Charter Transportation Services: Next in queue, expected later in 2026 depending on resources

Professional Services

On-Demand Talent - MSP Project:

• UC Berkeley preparing for implementation and rollout (kickoff occurred last week)
• UC Merced kickoff call in preparation 

HR Consulting RFP:

• One of three consulting RFP pillars (alongside IT consulting where Slower was awarded)
• Just completed finalist presentations this morning after 17 presentations
• Expecting 5-10 awards by May 1st (possibly sooner than April)
• Covers various HR functions and consulting services

Privacy Breach Response Services:

• RFP launched last Monday
• Reissuing agreement at end of life with similar scope to 10 years ago
• Covers call centers and response services when breach occurs

Partnerships and Strategic Relationships

US Bank Program:

• Annual US Bank Card bonus of $2.4 million being sent to participating sites
• Currently finishing assessment
• Will be sent later this month with audit findings

Student Engagement Fund:

• $125,000 annual funding for student internships
• Working with communications group to update posting
• Card admins will receive notification to request internships
• Requirement: white paper at project conclusion highlighting work and best practices
• Awards typically made 60-90 days after request

Omnia Partnership:

• Jeff Smith moved on, Johnny P is new UC rep
• Johnny P previously worked at Amazon and negotiated Amazon agreement with UC San Diego
• Has met with two CPOs, will join campus-specific calls

Upcoming Events

• Procurement Exchange Session: Friday at 10am with Toby Weiss from Procurement Leaders on "Remodeling Procurement's Internal Alliances"
• California Supplier Diversity Symposium: Wednesday in Pasadena - Event link
• Economic Impact Advisory Council Meeting: Monday-Tuesday next week in Oakland at UCOP
• UC San Diego Partnership Summit: March 31st with Slower as key partner