UC-Wide-Breach_Response_RFP_003891-Jan2026

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) EVENT AND PROCESS SUMMARY

SECTION I: ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

1.1 University of California

The University of California (UC), one of the largest and most acclaimed institutions of higher learning in the world, is dedicated to academic excellence in teaching, research, health care and public service. Since the opening of its first campus in 1868, the University of California system has been committed to responsible stewardship of its resources, education and innovation for the public good. The UC has approximately 285,000 undergraduate and graduate students, a workforce of 216,000, and encompasses ten campuses, six academic health centers, four law schools, a statewide Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is also involved in the operation and management of three national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as further detailed herein:

• Ten Campuses:	UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz.
• Six Health Centers:	UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco.
• The UC Office of the President: a central systemwide headquarters with offices primarily located in Oakland and Sacramento, California, and teaching/administrative offices in Washington, D.C.
• The Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources: a statewide research and public service organization that serves a large and diverse agricultural community. The division collaborates on research with all campuses, and conducts studies at nine research and extension centers and on private land in cooperation with California producers. In addition, research and educational programs are conducted in each of the state’s 58 counties.
• UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings)
• Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: owned by the Federal Government but managed by the University of California.
• Additional centers and offices as further detailed at: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/uc-system/parts-of-uc

Any awarded Agreement(s) will be available to all current and future locations of the University of California and its Affiliates.

UC Procurement Services

UC Procurement Services is the centralized procurement/supply chain hub for the University of California. UC Procurement Services develops and implements systemwide supply chain strategies and policies that leverage UC's purchasing power to optimize systemwide spend.

UC Procurement Services coordinates with the entire UC system to establish systemwide agreements for goods and services that are commonly purchased at UC locations. UC systemwide agreements are created through a competitive RFP and award process that considers the business requirements and policies of the University, along with the quality and price of goods and services.

UC Procurement Services also acts as a lead agency for OMNIA Partners (see Section 1.2 below) to create a portfolio of competitively bid contracts that benefit from the scale of UC's purchasing power. UC Procurement Services’ broad range of contracts can be used by UC campuses, other higher education institutions, K-12 education systems, local and state government and nonprofit agencies nationwide.

UC Sustainable Practices Policy

The University of California, as part of its commitment to sustainability and in alignment with its mission of teaching, research and public service will maximize its procurement of sustainable products and services, within the constraints of research needs and budgetary requirements and in compliance with all applicable rules, regulations and laws. The UC values the health and wellbeing of its students, staff, faculty, visitors, and suppliers, and seeks to provide healthy and accessible conditions for the communities it serves, as well as those throughout its supply chain. As such, goods, services, and supply chain impacts to health and wellbeing will be considered as fundamental factors when making procurement decisions. Where functional alternatives to harmful products and/or services exist, they will be strongly preferred.

i. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) monitoring platform
To better assess our supply chain impacts, we conduct assessments of our supplier’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance using the EcoVadis CSR monitoring platform (https://www.ecovadis.com/). This platform combines CSR assessment best practices and data management tools that allow organizations to demonstrate CSR management and performance. Suppliers responding to this RFP are invited to participate in an assessment through the EcoVadis platform. The supplier’s acceptance and participation in this CSR assessment requires the company to agree to share their scorecard with UC. The CSR assessment of each supplier will be managed through the EcoVadis online platform, and will focus on four main themes: Environment, Labor Practices & Human Rights, Fair Business Practices and Sustainable Procurement.

SECTION II: Purpose & Objectives of the RFP

2.1 RFP Objectives

The UC invites qualified and responsible Suppliers to prepare and submit proposals to this Request for Proposal (RFP) to provide Privacy Breach Response services (together, the “Goods and Services) all in accordance with Federal and State of California laws and the requirements of UC as further detailed in this RFP.

The overall objective of this RFP is to engage a firm to provide UC locations with a systemwide, centrally managed breach response including establishment of a call center facility, preparation of a communication plan, ensure UC data is secure and to coordinate with UC to make sure services must be accessible and easy to use. Qualified Suppliers are invited to submit proposals, based on the information provided in this RFP with the intent to establish a business alliance with UC and OMNIA Partners, that will maximize the resources of both organizations to meet the needs of UC and national participating agencies most effectively. 

There are no minimum or maximum guarantees in this RFP. However, based on the total UC historical spend, the Supplier shall provide the best pricing for this RFP in Goods and/or Services.

2.2 Issuing Office and Communications Regarding the RFP

This RFP, and any subsequent addenda to it, is being issued by UC Procurement Services on behalf of the University of California. UC Procurement Services is the sole point of contact regarding all procurement and contractual matters relating to the requirements described in this RFP. UC Procurement Services is also the only office authorized to change, modify, clarify, etc., the specifications, terms, and conditions of this RFP and any Agreements(s) awarded as a result of this RFP.

Suppliers are not permitted to communicate with any UC employee regarding this solicitation during the period between the RFP issue date and the announcement of awards, unless authorized by UC Procurement Services sole point of contact named below.

If a Supplier is found to be in violation of this provision, the UC reserves the right to disqualify that Supplier from further consideration.

SECTION III: SCOPE OF SERVICES

3.1 General Scope

Primary Objectives of this RFP:

• Establishment and operation of a call center facility (external and internal call centers) 

• Preparation and use of a breach incident communication plan – including distribution of breach notices, delivery tracking, etc.

• Active coordination to ensure successful engagements with UC 

• Ensure understanding of costs associated with communications work for an engagement 

• Ensure best in class Service Level Agreement Requirements 

• Ability to provide add-on services/benefits to affected individuals 

• Ensure UC data is secure 

• Services must be accessible & easy to use 

UC also recognizes that information technologies and services are rapidly evolving and advancing, and that Suppliers may be testing new technologies or developing new services that are not yet available to the public at the time of RFP response. Once these technologies are generally available, UC desires to have the ability to amend the Agreements awarded under this RFP to include these new technologies or service offerings at UC's sole and absolute discretion.

3.2 Agreement Term

The term of the Agreement shall commence upon execution of the Agreement and will be for a period of 5 years (the “Initial Term”) with optional renewals (the “Renewal Terms”), at the sole discretion of the UC, for a total of 10 years. Category discounts shall remain firm for the Initial Term and all Renewal Terms of any Agreement which may be awarded pursuant to this RFP. All pricing must be verifiable and auditable from the date of the contract award.

SECTION IV: RFP REQUIREMENTS & PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

4.1 Timeline

Suppliers interested in submitting proposals in response to this RFP should do so according to the schedule in the Timelines section in the CalUsource portal, tabulated below. A Supplier may be disqualified for failing to adhere to the dates and times for performance specified in the portal. All times are Pacific Time Zone and dates are subject to change at the sole discretion of the UC.

Anticipated Timeline of Events	Date
RFP Release date	3/9/2026
Supplier Questions Period	3/9/2026-3/19/2026
Questions deadline	3/19/2026
UC Questions Answered	3/29/2026
RFP Closing and Supplier Response	4/8/2026
Finalists Presentations	6/14/2026
Notify Apparent Awardees	7/10/2026
Negotiations complete	October 2026
Anticipated Award date/Contract Signature	October 2026

The UC reserves the right to modify the above schedule of events in the Timelines section for this RFP in the CalUsource portal and make changes to other provisions in this RFP.

4.4 Addenda to the RFP

Any changes, additions, or deletions to this RFP will be in the form of written addenda issued by UC via the CalUsource portal. Any addenda to this RFP will be distributed to all participating Suppliers via the CalUsource portal. The UC will not be responsible for failure of any prospective Supplier to receive such Addenda. All Addenda will become part of the RFP.

4.5. Method of Submission

Proposals in response to this RFP must be submitted online using CalUsource no later than the time and due date stated in the Timelines section in CalUsource portal. No mailed, telephone, emailed, facsimiled, or late proposals will be considered.

Responses will take time to enter into the CalUsource portal. It is highly recommended that Suppliers review the Supplier Resources at https://CalUsource.net/supplier-resources/ for guidance on how to navigate and use CalUsource. Supplier’s inability to enter their response into the CalUsource portal will not be accepted as a reason for a late response.

For questions about CalUsource, please contact UC Procurement Support at support@ucprocure.zendesk.com. For technical issues, contact GEP Support: 1-732-428-1578 or support@gep.com. Please identify yourself as registering in the University of California network.

4.6 Proposal Submission Process

Suppliers must provide a complete, straightforward, concise response to all Guidelines, Questionnaires, Price Sheets, and any other information requested in the RFP as detailed in the CalUsource portal. Suppliers warrant that all information provided is true and accurate. The submission of false, inaccurate, or otherwise misleading information may be grounds for disqualification from the RFP process, as well as jeopardize Supplier’s eligibility to participate in future UC business.

4.6.1 Guidelines

This is a prerequisite section for accessing the complete RFP package. Suppliers must read and follow the instructions for each of the following Guidelines documents.

1) RFP Event and Process Summary (this document)

2) Supplier Bidding Guide to CalUSource

3) UC Supplier Code of Conduct

4) Mutual NDA – The Regents of the University of California

5) UC Terms and Conditions of Purchase, dated December 14th, 2021

6) Business Associate Agreement

7) UC Appendix for Data Security, dated August 20th, 2021

8) UC Invoice Transmission and Payment and Settlement terms

4.6.2 Questionnaires

This section contains a set of questionnaires, and Suppliers are required to respond to all questionnaires listed below. Your responses will be evaluated and graded.

9) Company Profile

10) Privacy Breach Response Questionaire

11) Sustainability

12) IT Security

13) Pricing

14) Finalist Presentation and References (acknowledgement needed)

4.6.4 Attachments

This section contains the following:

Attachment A – PrivacyRFP_Requirements_SOW_2026

Attachment B – Supplier Questions Template

Suppliers are required to respond to all proposal documents for each category in which they are submitting a response. Your responses will be evaluated and graded.

Attachments will not be accepted unless requested by UC. For Questions requiring attachments requested by UC, please label the attachments with your company name so evaluators can easily find the referenced attachment. Attachment Naming Convention example is provided below:

Questionnaire title_ Q #

E.g. Supplier Information_Q#3

4.7 Superfluous Materials

Supplier must not provide superfluous materials such as marketing materials or website links in response to, or in lieu of, specific responses to the questions herein, and may be disqualified for providing superfluous materials.

4.8 Collusion

Collusion among Suppliers is not allowed. If there is proof of collusion among Suppliers, all proposals involved in the collusive action will be rejected.

4.9 Late Proposals

Late proposals will not be accepted unless it is UC’s determination that UC’s technical issues or other similar issues are responsible for the delay or failure.

4.10 Supplier Questions and Clarifications

An opportunity to submit questions will be allowed up to 5 pm (PT), March 19th, 2025.

Each Supplier is expected to exercise their best professional independent judgment in analyzing the requirements of this RFP to determine whether additional clarification is necessary or desirable before responding. If there are discrepancies in, omissions to, or questions about the information provided in the RFP or by any other source, a request must be submitted via email using the following instructions.

Please use Attachment B – Supplier Questions Template to document and submit your questions via email to Hilary.Steinman@ucop.edu.

Note: All Supplier questions will be consolidated and shared with all RFP participants without attribution.

4.11 Proposal Preparation Costs

All costs incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals and related documentation, including Supplier’s presentations, interviews, demonstrations, and provision of the Services to UC for independent testing purposes, will be borne by the Supplier.

4.12 Proposal Validity Period

All Proposals shall remain available for UC acceptance for a minimum of one-hundred and twenty (120) days following the RFP closing date.

4.13 Errors and Omissions

If the Supplier discovers any discrepancy, error, or omission in this RFP or in any of the attached documents, UC shall be notified immediately, and a clarification/notification will be issued to all Suppliers who have access to this RFP. No Supplier will be entitled to additional compensation for any error or discrepancy that appears in the RFP where UC was not notified and a response provided. All Addendums of Clarification will be distributed to the Proposal Participants via the CalUsource portal.

4.14 General Conditions

Please note the following requirements regarding this RFP:

4.14.1 Information and data distributed from UC to participating suppliers is to be used by the supplier solely for the purposes of responding to this RFP and cannot be used for any other purpose.

4.14.2 The initial proposals will be considered binding. Financial negotiations will continue throughout the evaluation process; however, suppliers’ original financial proposals are binding.

4.14.3 Additional information may be solicited and accepted during the evaluation process.

Modifications or corrections of oversights to the original proposal may be allowed at UC’s sole discretion; however, UC cannot guarantee that revised proposal elements will be accepted.

4.14.4 Supplier must operate within the guidelines of all federal, state, and local labor laws and codes. Supplier must possess all trade, professional or business licenses as may be required by the work contemplated by this RFP.

4.15 OMNIA Partners Response for National Cooperative contract

4.15.1 Line of Business (LOB) Offering

Within the National Program, each Supplier awarded an item under this solicitation may offer their complete product and service offering / Line of Business (LOB). Pricing for complete product and service offering / LOB items will be determined by a percentage discount reduced from the Supplier’s current published MSRP (as defined in the RFP). The pricing percentage discount offered must be entered on the LOB in the applicable price sheet(s) in the Supplier’s response. The Participating Agency reserves the right to accept or reject any or all LOB items offered. Additionally, The University of California reserves the right to either accept or reject either the full or a partial product offering of LOB items for use within the UC system from awarded suppliers.

4.15.2 Federal Funds

Due to products and services potentially being used in response to an emergency or disaster recovery situation in which federal funding may be used, provide alternative pricing that does not include ‘cost plus a percentage of cost’ or pricing based on time and materials. If time and materials is necessary, a ceiling price that the contract exceeds at its own risk will be needed. For goods and services provided in a situation where an agency is eligible for federal funding, Supplier is subject to and must comply with all federal requirements applicable to the funding including, but not limited to, the FEMA Special Conditions section located in the Federal Funds Certifications Exhibit.

4.15.3 Special Offers and/or Promotions

In addition to decreasing prices for the balance of the Agreement term due to a change in market conditions, Supplier may conduct sales promotions involving price reductions for a specified lesser period. Supplier may offer Participating Agencies competitive pricing which is lower than the not-to-exceed price set forth herein at any time during the Contract term and such lower pricing shall not be applied as a global price reduction under the Contract.

4.15.4 Exhibit A- Questionnaire Response for National Cooperative contract

Using the questionnaire include a detailed response to Exhibit A – OMNIA Partners Response for National Cooperative Contract included in the OMNIA Questionnaire. Responses should highlight experience, demonstrate a strong national presence, and describe how Supplier will educate its national sales force about the contract. Supplier should also describe how products and services will be distributed nationwide and include a plan for marketing the products and services nationwide, as well as describe how volume will be tracked and reported to OMNIA Partners.

The successful Supplier will be required to sign Exhibit B – OMNIA Partners Administration Agreement. Suppliers should have any reviews required to sign the document prior to submitting a response. Supplier’s response should include any proposed exceptions to the OMNIA Partners Administration Agreement

Section V: Proposal Evaluation and Agreement Award

5.1 Most Responsive and Responsible Supplier

Any Agreements(s) resulting from this RFP will be awarded to the most responsive and responsible Supplier(s) whose proposal, in UC’s opinion, offers the greatest benefit to UC when considering the total value, including, but not limited to, the quality of the Services, and total cost (including prompt payment discounts, available volume discounts, and other elements of value to the UC). A responsive and responsible Supplier is one whose offer satisfies the requirements of this RFP, is considered capable of performing, and is otherwise eligible and qualified to perform in the manner stated in this RFP.

5.2 Best Value

Proposals will be evaluated by the UC using a Best Value evaluation methodology which is the most advantageous balance of price, quality, service, performance and other elements as defined by the University, achieved through methods in accordance with Public Contract Code Section 10507.8 and determined by the following objective performance criteria that may include technical capabilities, financial capabilities, past experience, quality control, price, life-cycle costs, sustainable offerings and practices, supplier diversity and National program requirements. The UC Evaluation team will examine each proposal to determine through the application of uniform criteria the ability of each Supplier to meet the UC’s specifications. For the purposes of this RFP, Supplier responses will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Criteria	Weight
Written Response	50%
Sustainability	15%
Finalist Presentation	10%
Financials	25%

5.3 Investigations

The UC may request additional information either from the Supplier or others, utilize site visits, Supplier presentations, interviews, sandbox testing, and make any other investigations as it deems necessary to verify the Supplier’s qualifications and ability to successfully meet the requirements of this RFP. The UC also reserves the right to obtain Dun & Bradstreet reports or similar independent reports for further indications of the Supplier’s ability.

5.4 Right to Reject

The UC reserves the right to reject any proposal in which the information submitted fails to satisfy UC and/or the Supplier is unable to provide the information or documentation within the period requested. Any submitted proposal that does fails to comply with the requirements of this RFP will be considered non-responsive and will not be evaluated or eligible for award of any subsequent contract.

5.5 Waiver

The UC may waive irregularities in a proposal if UC judges that such action will not negate fair competition and will permit proper comparative evaluation of Proposals submitted. The UC’s waiver of an immaterial deviation or defect shall in no way modify the RFP documents or excuse the Supplier from full compliance with the RFP specifications in the event the Agreement is awarded to that Supplier.

5.6 Right to Award

The UC reserves the right to award an Agreement to Supplier(s) if deemed to be in the best interests of UC, solely at the discretion of UC. The UC reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, make more than one award, split the award or make no award. The UC also reserves the right to award any number of local or national Agreement(s) at the same time.

5.7 Agreement Award

Any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP will include the requirements and specifications in the RFP, as well as the contents of the proposal response as accepted by UC and will be in writing.

5.8 Right to Interview

The UC reserves the right to conduct interviews with some or all of the suppliers at any point during the evaluation process. However, UC may determine that interviews are not necessary. In the event interviews are conducted, information provided during the interview process shall be taken into consideration when evaluating the response.

5.9 Right to Negotiate and Withdraw

The UC’s selection may be made based on initial proposals or UC may elect to negotiate with Suppliers selected as finalists. The UC reserves the right to negotiate the modification of proposed prices and/or terms and conditions with the Supplier offering the best value to the UC prior to the execution of an Agreement. Additionally, UC reserves the right to withdraw this RFP at any time.

5.10 Multi-Phased Initiative

This Initiative will consist of the following separate phases:

5.10.1 Phase I: Prerequisite Contract Language

Supplier must acknowledge and agree to all requirements of the RFP as outlined in the Guidelines section in CalUsource before advancing in the proposal process.

University of California Terms and Conditions - The successful supplier(s) must be willing to accept the terms of the Purchasing Agreement; UC Terms & Conditions, dated 12/14/2021; UC Appendix Data Security, dated 8/20/2021; UC Appendix HIPAA Business Associate, dated 8/10/2021; UC Appendix GDPR, dated 4/27/2021.

If there are any UC terms and conditions to which your company cannot agree to related to any of the UC contract documents listed in the above paragraph, your exception and proposed language must be included as part of your proposal response. Any exceptions not submitted with your proposal will not be considered. NOTE: Exceptions to the UC Terms & Conditions, UC Appendix Data Security, UC Appendix HIPAA Business Associate, UC Appendix GDPR may incur scoring penalties.

5.10.2 Phase II: Minimum Qualifications

To be considered for evaluation of UC’s HR Consulting Services RFP, you need to be meet the following minimum qualifications:

- Be able to fulfill UC’s Privacy Breach Requirements SOW

• Work successfully in a highly matrixed and complex organization

• Understand and integrate relevant trends and innovations within the consulting, transformation, and other key pillars of technical and strategy consulting.

• Manage long-term relationship strategy by regularly communicating with UC Systemwide procurement to deliver quarterly business updates, and run an annual “State of the Relationship” review with both campus and systemwide leadership present

• Embrace a “systemwide first” mindset, with use and adoption of the systemwide agreement and utilizing previous work from other campuses to draw upon institutional knowledge

• Counsel and advise effectively at all levels of the organization

UC will review responses to determine if a Supplier meets the minimum qualifications. Only those proposals deemed to meet the minimum qualifications will be evaluated and scored.

Finalists will be identified based on the quality and responsiveness of the written proposals.

5.10.3 Phase III: Finalist Presentations (at UC discretion)

a. The identified finalists resulting from Phase II will advance to Phase III.

b. Suppliers may be requested to conduct a live virtual presentation to demonstrate Suppliers’ ability to provide the Services. However, UC may determine that presentations are not necessary. In the event presentations are conducted, information provided during the presentation process shall be taken into consideration when evaluating the stated criteria. The UC shall not reimburse the Supplier for any costs associated with the Phase III process.

5.11 Pricing and Incentives

5.11.1 Pricing for Services is being requested within the HR Consulting Services RFP Pricing Template document to this RFP and is to be completed and uploaded within the defined Attachments section of CalUSource.

Utilizing the excel pricing proposal template, Supplier shall provide the pricing requested in the financial pricing template provided.

The RFP process will not allow for multiple best and final offers. One initial bid and one best and final offer among the selected finalists are anticipated, and additional offers will not be accepted. Suppliers should provide their best offer with initial bid.

5.11.2 Pricing/Discount Structures resulting from this RFP process shall remain firm for the initial period of any Agreement awarded pursuant to this RFP. Suppliers are encouraged to provide details of and propose additional discounts for volume orders, incentive and patronage programs, special manufacturer offers, minimum order quantity, free goods program, total annual spend, etc.

5.12 No Mandatory Use

Supplier is advised that there is no mandatory use policy at the University of California for Agreements. Thus, UC does not guarantee any specific amount of business forthcoming from this RFP. A winning Supplier may still see competition at any given UC location for any given Service. However, by providing outstanding prices, service, and the best overall total cost and quality to UC systemwide, the winning Supplier is expected to garner a large percentage of total available UC business.

5.13 Exclusions

Supplier is advised that some goods and/or services may be subject to pre-existing Agreements with other Suppliers, or may be outside the scope of this RFP and may not be included in any awarded contract or may be included on a limited basis.

5.14 Offshoring of Services

UC will not, as a part of a contract that will displace UC employees, pay to train workers located in foreign countries or who plan to relocate to a foreign country. Please note that a condition of awarding a contract will be that Supplier agrees to the warranties in Article 6 of UC’s Terms & Conditions of Purchase. Additionally, Supplier must do one of the following in its proposal:

5.14.1 Certify under penalty of perjury that the services will be performed solely with workers within the United States, including any services that Supplier would provide using a sub-supplier; or

5.14.2 Describe in its proposal any parts of the services that will be performed by workers outside of the United States.

5.15 Disclosure of Records/Confidentiality of Information

5.15.1 All Proposal responses and related documents, submitted to UC in response to this RFP become the exclusive property of UC upon receipt and will not be returned.

5.15.2 Proposal response(s), which are incorporated into any resulting Agreement(s) with the University of California, may be subject to the State of California Public Records Act (CA State Government Code 6250, et. seq.). This Request for Proposal, together with copies of all documents pertaining to any award, if issued, will be kept for a period of one (1) year from date of contract expiration or termination and made part of a file or record which shall be open to public inspection. Certain private, trade secret or confidential information may be considered exempt from the California Public Records Act. Any trade secret or company confidential information submitted as a part of this proposal shall be clearly marked “Trade Secret Information” or “Confidential Information.”

5.15.3 Should a request be made of the University of California for access to information designated confidential or trade secret by the Supplier, and UC denies the request based on that designation, the Supplier may be responsible for all legal costs necessary to defend such action if the denial is challenged in a court of law.

5.16 Specifications and Exceptions

Unless documented as an Exception, the submission of a proposal will confirm Supplier’s acceptance of all RFP specifications. In documenting an Exception to the RFP specifications, Supplier must provide a detailed itemization and explanation for each deviation from the RFP specifications, clearly describing any alternate goods and/or services that could be provided to satisfy those requirements. Supplier should list any items it wishes to exclude from its standard catalog. Absence of an itemization and explanation will mean that Supplier is willing and able to meet all RFP specifications. If Supplier does not document an Exception regarding the RFP specifications and it is found that goods and/or services delivered do not meet the RFP specifications, Supplier will be required to correct same at Supplier’s expense. Supplier is cautioned that if UC does not approve Supplier’s request for exception to the RFP specifications, and Supplier does not withdraw the request, the proposal may be deemed non-responsive and ineligible for award.