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F. Remedies

Formal processes for (a) submission of protests and appeals by vendors, firms, and contractors, and (b) debarment of vendors, firms and contractors by the University on behalf of the Medical Center in conjunction with Medical Center procurements are hereby established. The President of the University shall (1) designate an individual to whom protests shall be directed, and (2) appoint a Medical Center Procurement Appeals Board to whom appeals shall be directed for review and subsequent action. The Medical Center Procurement Appeals Board (the "Board") shall be comprised of five individuals with procurement and purchasing experience, one of whom shall be appointed chairperson. The initial Board shall include two members appointed for a term of one year, and three members, including the chair, who shall be appointed for terms of two years. All subsequent appointments shall be for terms of two years. The Board shall sit in panels of three members as appointed by the chair to consider appeals. The Board shall adopt written procedures governing its process, which shall provide for a hearing if requested by the vendor, and which shall require a written decision of the Board including findings of fact for all appeals. The University shall provide such staff as is necessary for the Board to complete its work.

Protests may challenge determinations of vendor, firm, or contractor non-responsibility or ineligibility, or award of contracts, provided that such protests and appeals are filed in writing and received by the Director, Materiel Support Services, within ten (10) calendar days of such actions by the Medical Center. Where the protest is dependent upon the provision of information to the vendor by the University, the ten (10) day period shall be tolled upon the vendor's request for such information and shall resume upon the requested information being made available to the vendor. Any protest shall state with specificity the basis of the challenge. Remedies shall be limited to reversal of the action challenged on the basis that it is arbitrary, capricious, not in accordance with law, or not in accordance with the terms and conditions of the solicitation documents.

Any appeal of the denial of a protest must be filed in writing with the Medical Center Procurement Appeals Board, in care of the Chief Contracting Officer of the University, and received by the Board within ten (10) calendar days of the denial of the protest. Remedies shall be limited to reversal of the action challenged on the basis that it is arbitrary, capricious, not in accordance with law, or not in accordance with the terms and conditions of the solicitation documents.

The University, on behalf of the Medical Center, may debar for a specified period or take corrective measures with any vendor, firm, or contractor, for one or more reasons. The causes for debarment, scope and term of debarment, and application of debarment provisions to other parties such as manufacturers or suppliers shall be those set forth below:

Debarment is action taken by the institution to exclude individuals or vendors from contracting with the institution for particular types of goods or nonprofessional services for specified periods of time. Debarment does not relieve the vendor of responsibility for existing obligations.

The purpose of debarment is to protect the institution from risks associated with awarding contracts to persons or vendors having exhibited an inability or unwillingness to fulfill contractual requirements, and to protect the institution's interests and the integrity of the procurement process by preventing individuals or vendors which have displayed improper conduct from participating in the institution's business for specific periods of time.

1. Causes for Debarment

The debarring official can debar an individual or vendor without judicial determination for any of these reasons:

• a. Breach (including anticipatory breach) of contract with an institution.
• b. Sale or attempted sale to an institution of items or services which are required to be purchased under another contract, when the vendor knew or had reason to know that the items or services are required to be purchased under that contract.
• c. Statement of an unwillingness or inability to honor a binding bid. A mere request to withdraw a bid, which does not otherwise state an unwillingness or inability to perform, is not a cause for debarment.
• d. Falsifying or misrepresentation of manufacturer's specifications in order to appear responsive to a solicitation.
• e. Conferring or offering to confer any gift, gratuity, favor, or advantage, present or future, upon any employee of an institution who exercises any "official responsibility" for a "procurement transaction" as those terms are defined in the Code of Virginia, Section 11-73. It is not necessary that the employee accept the offer, or that the offer be made with intent to influence the employee in an official act. Offers of any discounts or privileges not available to all State employees is considered to be offering an advantage.
• f. Failure to disclose a condition constituting a conflict of interest by any officer, director, owner, or partner of the vendor awarded the contract or purchase order.
• g. Any cause indicating that the individual or vendor is not a responsible vendor.
• h. A determination by the institution that a vendor has used abusive or obscene language or behaved in a threatening manner toward institutional personnel.
• i. Sale, under non-emergency conditions, of building materials, supplies, or equipment for any building or structure constructed by or for the institution by an independent vendor employed to furnish architectural or engineering services, but not construction for such building or structure or from any partnership, association or corporation in which such architect or engineer has a personal interest (Code of Virginia, Section 2.1-639.2 and Section 11-79).
• j. Sale of goods or services to the institution when such sale is prohibited by any debarment then in effect.
• k. Conviction of any criminal offense involving public contracting. Examples include, but are not limited to, bribery (Code of Virginia, Section 18.2-447) and knowingly making a false statement in regard to collusion on a solicitation (Code of Virginia, Section 18.2-498.4). Conviction for any of the above of any officer, director, owner, partner, agent, or related business entity of a vendor constitutes grounds for the removal of the vendor.
• l. Court judgment finding a violation of either Federal or State antitrust laws.
• m. Conviction of any offenses indicating a lack of moral or business integrity.
• n. Any other activity which is so serious as to justify debarment.

If the debarring official finds that the cause for debarment reflects on the vendor's traits or tendencies only with regard to certain goods or services, the debarment may apply only to such goods or services. Otherwise the debarment applies to all goods and services within the purview of the debarring institution.