UW Business Diversity Program Plan

UW Business Diversity Program Plan
(In accordance with WAC 326-40-040)
"Diversity is a core value and an ongoing priority of the University of
Washington. From our learning environment to our everyday practices, we are
committed to ensuring that diversity and equality of opportunity are integrated
into everything we do. This includes how we do business."
Michael K. Young
President
UW Business Diversity Program Plan
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UW Business Diversity Program Plan
(In accordance with WAC 326-40-040)
I. Statement of Commitment
The UW’s Business Diversity Program is a sound and strategic investment for both the state of
Washington as well as the University of Washington. The UW seeks to enhance the diversity of
businesses competing for work with the UW, improve competition and position its procurement
and contracting strategies to be in line with the increasing diversity of businesses in the state and
in the nation.
It is the policy of the University of Washington that the full range of business enterprises,
including small, minority and women-owned businesses shall be given the maximum practicable
opportunity to participate in competition for any and all procurement and contracting by the
University. UW policies, procedures, and practices shall be consistent with the institution’s
commitment to maximize such opportunities.
Through the Business Diversity Program, we are pleased to pursue this initiative to support the
economic needs of Washington and the vital role diversity plays in the state, national, and global
marketplace.
Michael Young
President
V’Ella Warren
Senior Vice President, Finance and Facilities
II. Vision
The University of Washington will be an academic community strengthened by the utilization of
businesses whose ownership is representative of the diverse community we serve.
III. Mission
We proactively engage with and support the University of Washington's commitment to creating
an environment for businesses contracting with the University that reflects diversity, promotes
opportunity, and values transparency.
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IV. UW Business Diversity Program Overview
The University of Washington, through its Business Diversity Program, with strong support from
the University’s President, Michael K. Young, is committed to ensuring equal opportunity for the
vendors, suppliers, service providers, consultants, architects, engineers, and contractors who
serve the University so that the enterprises competing for University business reflect the
diversity of the Washington business community. The Business Diversity Program helps
strengthen the economic development and viability of local businesses and helps ensure that the
University receives quality goods and services at competitive prices.
This plan has been developed consistent with the requirements of WAC 326-40-040. The plan
includes targeted outreach efforts aimed at increasing opportunities for a diverse range of
businesses, including businesses certified as either women or minority-owned businesses through
the State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE), to compete for and
participate in University contracts. In addition to certified M/WBE firms, the outreach efforts
outlined in this plan will also be inclusive of minority and women-owned businesses that are
currently not certified with OMWBE and/or have chosen an alternative agency for certification.
References in this plan to minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, and M/WBEs
shall refer to certified firms (MBEs, WBEs, MWBEs, CBEs), and/or non-certified firms, as the
context suggest. No provision of this plan is intended to provide for or encourage, and the plan
should not be construed as providing for or encouraging, the granting of any unlawful
preferences in University contracting, and the provisions of this plan will be implemented in
accordance with the requirements of state and federal law.
The Business Diversity Program:

Seeks to assure equality of opportunity for a diverse range of businesses, including small,
minority, and women-owned businesses

Supports UW Departments and Schools/Colleges in considering a diverse range of
businesses in sourcing decisions

Conducts business opportunity fairs and provides information on how to do business with
the University

Provides training opportunities and educational forums for businesses

Encourages larger suppliers and contractors to develop and expand their commitment to
business diversity with their subcontractors

Recommends qualified businesses become certified as minority or women business
enterprises with the State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises
(OMWBE).
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V. Management of Business Diversity Program
A) The staff for the Business Diversity Program reports to the Associate Vice President in
Finance & Facilities Administration/Strategy Management group and have primary
responsibility for the effective implementation of the University of Washington’s
Business Diversity Program. The Business Diversity Program provides functional
guidance, direction and support to the UW Schools, Colleges and Administrative Units
to increase their understanding, awareness and participation with the UW’s Business
Diversity efforts, Federal goals, State and public laws, and all relevant contractual or
legislative mandates pertaining to Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises
(M/WBE) and other diversity initiatives.
B) The Business Diversity Program is supported by the following University staff:

Business Diversity Director
This position is responsible for the leadership and effective implementation of the
University of Washington’s Business Diversity Program. The Business Diversity
Director provides strategic direction and leadership for the day-to-day operation of
the UW Business Diversity Program. The Director’s role is to maximize
opportunity for a diverse range of businesses, including both current and potential
small and M/WBE suppliers of goods and services to participate in the University’s
procurement and contracting process.
Supervises: Business Diversity Specialist and Admin Support/Student Asst

Business Diversity Specialist
The Business Diversity Specialist supports the effective implementation of the
University of Washington’s Business Diversity Program. This position reports to
the Business Diversity Director and is responsible for the coordination, event
management and special project leadership of the Business Diversity Program.
C) The Business Diversity Program is supported by a campus-wide Advisory Board. This
committee is an internal group of UW leaders, representing several different UW
Departments and Schools/Colleges who:

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


Serve as a BDP Champion/Liaisons in their respective departments/schools/colleges
Work with BDP staff to create and prioritize business diversity goals in their
respective departments/schools/colleges
Are campus advocates for business diversity
Partner with BDP staff to create and manage the UW business diversity message
Meet quarterly (or as needed) with the BDP staff to provide strategic input on
program policies and procedures
D) The Business Diversity Program receives regular strategic input on program policies
and procedures from its Business Diversity Steering Committee consisting of business,
community and UW leaders. The Steering Committee :
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

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Meets with the BDP staff bi-annually to be informed of UW business diversity
progress
Provides strategic advice on program policies, procedures, and goals
Advocates for the UW Business Diversity Program in their respective communities
E) The Business Diversity Program will compile information regarding the following:

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Dollars spent directly with prime small and certified minority and women business
enterprises
Subcontracted dollars spent with certified minority and women business enterprises
Number of new UW contractual business relationships with small businesses and
certified minority and women business enterprises
Dollars spent with certified small businesses, minority and women business
enterprises by school/college and department
VI. Business Diversity Initiatives
The Business Diversity Program encourages a focus on business diversity throughout the
University and with the University’s suppliers, contractors, consultants, and service providers
through measurable initiatives. The following is a list of specific measures the University will
take to increase the diversity of businesses competing for University contracts and supplying
goods and services to the University:
A) Capital Projects Office: Recognizing the potential for diverse business participation
at the subcontractor and lower-tier subcontractor levels on construction projects
managed by the Capital Projects Office, we encourage our general contractors to play a
significant role in our efforts to increase utilization. To encourage participation in UW
projects and to eliminate arbitrary barriers for participation as subcontractors, the
Capital Projects Office takes the following actions:
1. Conducts “one-on-one introductory meetings” for architects/engineers (A/E) and
construction contractors interested in pursuing work at UW/CPO
2. Conducts diversity outreach thru various groups that include AIA Seattle Diversity
Roundtable, AEA, AEA Diversity Subcommittee, and NAMC
3. Includes a requirement for outreach plans by A/E’s submitting qualifications for
design contracts and GC/CM firms pursuing construction work, and the efforts of
the Outreach Plan Evaluation Committees to review those
4. Holds meetings with individual A/E and GC firms regarding their outreach efforts
5. Conducts ongoing evaluation of selection metrics for A/E selections
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6. Participates in ongoing dialogue with other public agencies regarding their diversity
plans
7. Tracks 2nd tier metrics for A/E and GC spend on subs
8. Uses the services and assistance of minority and women business resource agencies
and organizations.
Encourage bidders to contact OMWBE for the names of certified firms or request
assistance from the following organizations, as appropriate, if the bidder does not
know any certified minority and women business enterprises that can perform the
desired subcontractor and/or supplier functions:
a. UW Business Diversity Program
(206) 543-0847 or (206) 616-3741
http://f2.washington.edu/bdp/
b. Small Business Administration
(206) 553-7310
http://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/2/3157
c. Northwest Minority Supplier Development Council
(206) 575-7748
http://www.northwestmsdc.org/
9. After award of a General Contractor/Construction Manager (GC/CM) Contract and
prior to the Contractor conducting any subcontract bidding, the Contractor will be
required, per the terms of the GC/CM Contract, to prepare an M/WBE Outreach
Plan for the UW’s review and approval. The M/WBE Outreach Plan shall outline
the outreach and voluntary goal achievement strategies the Contractor intends to
implement, and should also address the Contractor’s proposed actions to comply
with the requirements of Section 10.10 of the General Conditions for GC/CM
Projects at the University of Washington.
B) Procurement Services: UW Procurement Services staff works with departments
across campus to ensure opportunity for a diverse set of businesses to provide goods
and services to the UW at competitive prices.
a. It is a UW practice for informal solicitations for purchased goods and services to be
secured from enough suppliers to assure establishment of a competitive price. A
record of competition for all such purchases will be documented for audit purposes.
The University requires Procurement Services buyers to provide documentation
verifying that a “Good Faith Effort” was employed to allow a diverse range of
firms, including small, minority and women-owned firms, the opportunity to
participate to the fullest extent practicable. At a minimum, the Buyer will solicit
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quotes from one certified minority owned and one certified woman owned business
in addition to majority owned supplier(s) when practicable. Additional certified
minority and women-owned businesses will be included in informal solicitations for
goods and services with a high concentration of M/WBE firms.
b. When developing solicitations, consideration will be given to unbundling the
contract and making multiple awards, thereby affording greater opportunity for
M/WBE participation.
c. A UW solicitation may include a requirement for the bidder to provide a supplier
diversity outreach plan and information about their program. This may be
considered a factor when awarding the contract.
d. Purchases of goods and services under the threshold for competition are frequently
made directly by campus departments. The Business Diversity Program partnering
with Procurement Services conducts outreach meeting to UW campus
colleges/schools and departments to encourage the consideration of a diverse range
of businesses, including M/WBE firms. Departments will be encouraged to use the
BDP and UW Contracts websites where they can search for M/WBE businesses.
e. Procurement Services Buyers participate and attend UW, state and regional supplier
events, increasing awareness of the UW’s desire to provide opportunities for
M/WBE firms to participate in available solicitations.
f. When appropriate, Procurement Services executes intergovernmental purchasing
agreements with other government agencies to broaden the availability of M/WBE
businesses with access to University business.
g. Procurement Services Buyers encourages suppliers not currently certified with
OMWBE to consider certification.
Business and Economic Development Center: The UW Business & Economic
Development Center (BEDC) provides student consulting teams and small business
education to nearly 200 small businesses across Washington each year. Student consulting
projects last from one week to eight months and reach 35-45 Seattle-area businesses each
year as well as six businesses in Central and Southeast Washington. Business education
classes range from an 18-hour course (Business Certificate Program) for businesses with
revenues of under $300,000 to a week-long residential executive education program
(Minority Business Executive Program). The Business Certificate Program is offered in
Seattle (both in English and Spanish), Everett, Yakima (offered in Spanish), Tri-Cities, and
Spokane with about 175 businesses. The Minority Business Executive Program draws 2530 minority- and women-owned businesses from across the U.S.
1. The BDP works with the BEDC to identify small, disadvantaged and certified
minority and women-business enterprises that are currently serving the University,
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and those with the potential to serve, and BEDC will offer them the opportunity to
participate in relevant BEDC programs.
2. The BEDC measures the overall growth of participating small, minority and
women-owned firms and the success these companies have with receiving contracts
with the UW, other WA state agencies, and private companies.
C) Business Opportunity Fairs/Workshops
i.
Goods & Services
 The Business Diversity Program hosts semi-annual supplier workshops to
help women and minority-owned firms learn how to do business with the UW.
UW Procurement Services Buyers attend the workshops to answer questions.
Those businesses that are not certified federally or with the state are offered
the opportunity to meet with representatives from OMWBE and SBA to learn
about their certification processes.
 Annually the BDP and Procurement Services host a supplier fair to promote
small, minority and women-owned firms to individual UW campus
departments whose faculty and staff make purchases directly that are under
the competitive bid threshold.
 The BDP highlights monthly on its website M/WBE firms, small firms, and
firms that have not previously worked with the University. This is an effort to
raise the awareness of a diverse pool of qualified firms for UW campus buyers
and decision makers to utilize.
ii.
Construction and Architectural & Engineering
 Networking Forums between general contractors and small, emerging and
minority and women-owned subcontractors, and between architects and
minority and women-owned engineering sub-consultants encourage the
development of working relationships and partnerships between these
businesses.
 The Capital Projects Office features in the “PROFILES” section of its internal
newsletter A/E firms that are either M/WBE, small, or firms that have not
worked for the UW before. This is an effort to raise the awareness of a diverse
pool of qualified firms for CPO project managers to utilize.
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D) Recognition
The BDP intends to publicly recognize UW departments and businesses with an
exceptional track record for supporting business diversity throughout the fiscal year.
i.
Large businesses: Each year one large firm will be publicly recognized at the
annual UW Minority Business of the Year Awards for its commitment to
diversity and embracing the UW’s mission to utilize small businesses and
certified women and minority business enterprises on campus.
ii.
UW faculty and/or staff: Faculty and/or staff will be sent a letter/card of
appreciation from UW leadership thanking them for assisting the UW with its
diversity initiatives. This letter/card will also be an invitation to a small
reception hosted by the BDP.
E) Communicating the policy and appropriate procedures to all staff
i.
This Plan will be circulated to all units responsible for its implementation, and
posted on the BDP’s website. Campus training material and classes related to
procurement shall incorporate discussion of the UW policy and commitments
with regard to minority and women-owned firm participation in UW contracts.
ii.
Annually, University staff with authority for UW procurement and contracting
receive instruction, training, written procedures and forms as necessary from the
Director of Procurement Services, Associate Vice President for Capital Projects
and their designees, and/or Directors of other departments and offices. The staff
will be expected to have a working understanding of those portions of the plan
that directly relate to their programs.
iii.
Training for staff will take place on an as needed basis either jointly between
departments and BDP or individually by departments, in order to ensure
compliance with the UW Plan, chapter 39.19 RCW, and chapter 326 WAC.
iv.
The BDP and appropriate staff meet quarterly to discuss initiatives and progress
toward meeting goals.
F) Annual Forecasting of Contracting, Procurement and Other Expenditure Activity
i.
Within the first quarter of each fiscal year, the Capital Projects Office will
estimate expenditures for the year by class of contract. At a minimum this shall
include forecasts in the following categories:
1. Public Works Construction
2. Architectural and Engineering Services
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ii.
Procurement Services posts master contract information on the UW Contracts
website. Currently; Procurement Services utilizes the Washington Electronic
Business Solution (WEBS) to notify registered suppliers of new formal bidding
opportunities.
G) Individual Contract Voluntary Goal Setting
i.
ii.
iii.
Procurement Services: Procurement Services has established voluntary goals of
6% MBE and 4% WBE to be achieved incrementally over the next three to five
years.
Capital Projects Office: The Capital Projects Office has established voluntary
participation goals for its construction and consultant contracts of 10% for
MBEs and 6% for WBEs.
The University acknowledges that the stated goals are long-term objectives and
will require time to achieve. Thus in the short-term, the University’s goal is to
achieve incremental improvement in its current utilization of certified minority
and women business enterprises. The BDP will work with Procurement Services
and the Capital Projects Office to develop strategies to help meet the voluntary
goals. (click here to review UW supplier diversity metrics)
H) Monitoring and Ensuring Compliance
i.
Purchasing contracts will be monitored by Procurement Services; contracts for
public works construction and architect/engineer services will be monitored by
the Capital Projects Office.
ii.
Any supplier or contractor who appears to be out of compliance with the terms
of the contract as it relates to M/WBE participation provisions will be given
written notice and a defined time to correct the apparent deficiency. If
correction does not occur, the Director of Procurement Services or the Associate
Vice President for Capital Projects will see that appropriate corrective action is
initiated.
I) Record Keeping
i.
The Director of Procurement Services or designee is responsible for record
keeping related to goods and services. The Capital Projects Office Contracts
Manager or designee is responsible for record keeping for public works
construction, and architect/engineer contracts.
ii.
The BDP will generate an annual report highlighting the activities and
accomplishments of the year regarding the University’s utilization of minority
and women-owned businesses.
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J) Reporting of Data to OMWBE
Procurement Services utilizes the University’s automated Purchasing and Accounts
Payable System (PAS) and the Capital Projects Office utilizes Prolog, an internal
record keeping system; all supplier payments are made through eProcurement, ProCard
or PAS. Quarterly reports of expenditures in various categories are generated using
PAS, eProcurement, and ProCard data. These reports are sent to OMWBE for
comparison against the current list of certified firms. OMWBE generates a final report
that includes the adjusted reporting base total, total payments to certified M/WBEs, and
percentage of spend with certified M/WBEs by category. The final adjusted report is
used to monitor University progress towards achieving goals for M/WBE participation.
The University reports data to OMWBE in compliance with WAC 326-40-050, the
Colleges Reporting Guidelines and/or as the OMWBE Director may determine.
K) Resolving Disputes and Complaints
Consistent with the protest provisions of any solicitation or bid, the University will
respond to any protest or complaint, including those that may relate to small and
M/WBE provisions of the solicitation. All such protests or complaints will be reviewed
by either the Director of Purchasing Services or designee, or the Associate Vice
President for Capital Projects or designee, and responses will be consistent with the
terms of the solicitation. The UW will work with the OMWBE and provide timely
access to records and information as needed for the conduct of investigations or the
preparation of reports.
L) Review and Revision of Documents and Policies
It will be the responsibility of the Director of Procurement Services and the Associate
Vice President for Capital Projects to review annually, or as circumstances require,
competitive procurement practices, bid/contract language, forms and procedures to
identify areas which hinder or create barriers to the successful implementation of this
Plan. Any unresolved issues will be escalated for resolution to the Associate Vice
President responsible for BDP.
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Appendix I
The following are examples of the MWBE language currently used in bid documents and RFPs
Procurement Services:
INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS
In accordance with chapter 39.19 RCW, the University of Washington encourages participation
in all of its contracts by firms certified by the Office of Minority and Women’s Business
Enterprises (OMWBE). Participation may be either on a direct basis in response to this
solicitation or on a subcontractor basis. However, no preference will be included in the
evaluation of proposals, no minimum level of MWBE participation shall be required as a
condition for receiving an award, and proposals will not be rejected or considered nonresponsive on that basis. Any affirmative action requirements set forth in federal regulation or
statutes included or referenced in the contract documents will apply.
The established annual procurement participation goals for the solicitation are: MBE 6% and
WBE 4%. These goals are voluntary. For information on certified firms, Suppliers may contact
OMWBE at (360) 753-9693, (866) 208-1064 toll-free, or http://www.omwbe.wa.gov.
Capital Projects Office:
RFQ: M/WBE: The University of Washington is committed to providing the maximum
practicable opportunity for participation by minority business enterprises (MBEs) and women
business enterprises (WBEs) in its contracts through direct contracts with the University, and
sub-consulting or supplier participation. The University strongly encourages MBEs and WBEs
certified by the State OMWBE to respond to this RFQ. Voluntary goals of 10% for MBEs and
6% for WBEs have been established for this project. However, no minimum level of MWBE
participation will be required as a condition for entering into a contract. The University is also
an affirmative action-equal opportunity employer.
Advertisement for Bids for Construction Projects: M/WBE: The University of Washington
is committed to providing the maximum practicable opportunity for participation by minority
and women-owned businesses (MWBE) in public works. Voluntary goals for this project have
been established as 10% MBE and 6% WBE. Participation may be either on a direct basis in
response to this invitation to bid, or as a subcontractor or supplier. However, no minimum level
of MWBE participation shall be required as a condition for receiving an award and bids will not
be rejected or considered non-responsive if they do not include MWBE participation. Bidders
may contact OMWBE at (360) 664-9750 to obtain information on certified firms.
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