Supplier Relationship

General Information for Suppliers

Florida International University (FIU) welcomes suppliers interested in doing business with the University. Our goal is to maintain an open, competitive, and friendly atmosphere to foster a mutually beneficial relationship with our suppliers.

Suppliers should note that FIU procurement Services follows all mandates in accordance with Federal and Florida Statutes, Board of Governors (BOG), Board of Trustees (BOT), and Florida International University Regulations. We subscribe and adhere to the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Educational Procurement. We continuously promote fair, ethical, and legal trade practices.

To this end, we request that all suppliers honor the established rules and regulations to conduct business with Florida International University.

No merchandise may be shipped nor any service performed without a Purchase Order (PO) or payment via a Departmental Card (PCard). Telephone orders require a PO unless a PCard is being used.

Note: Cold calls from prospective suppliers are not encouraged.

Business Opportunities

FIU publicly advertises business opportunities to ensure that all suppliers have the opportunity to participate in the solicitation process fairly and openly, while encouraging competition within the supplier community.

Electronic Solicitations ($150,000 and above)

FIU Sourcing Events which are $150,000 and above are on FIU’s Public Solicitation Portal, hosted by Jaggaer. To view and respond online to any posted solicitations, suppliers will have to login to the Jaggaer platform by either registering with Jaggaer or be part of the Jaggaer supplier network.

Visit FIU’s Public Solicitation Portal to see new business opportunities posted.

Electronic Quotes (eRFQ) (between $25,000 and $149,999.99)

FIU uses GovSpend for electronic Request for Quotation (eRFQ) for goods and services between $25,000 and $149,999.99. GovSpend is the only free online marketplace dedicated to helping government agencies obtain quotes faster and more efficiently through the use of technology. It is free to sign up and easy to use. For Suppliers that want to do business with FIU, you will need to sign up on the GovSpend site. When FIU posts an eRFQ, you will be instantly notified and can respond in less than 60 seconds. For assistance on creating your account, setting up your categories, and much more, visit the GovSpend Live Chat feature found on the lower right corner of your screen. Live Chat is available Mon – Fri 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST.

Click here to see eRFQ’s posted on FIU’s page hosted by GovSpend.

Invoices 

Upon completion of performance of services or provision of goods, please submit all invoices for work completed to the FIU Accounts Payable department electronically to invoices@fiu.edu for payment. Additionally, all payment questions should also be routed to the Accounts Payable department. Please refer to the Accounts Payable for contact information. This does not apply to invoices for service or provision of goods to FIU Libraries.

Fraudulent Purchase Order Attempts

Please be aware there are active fraudulent attempts to place POs and Request for Quotations (RFQ) that supposedly to originate from Florida International University. While the University cannot prevent this illegal activity, we are actively working with law enforcement to investigate these fraudulent attempts.

Here are common traits or themes in these fraudulent attempts that may assist identifying fraudulent requests:

• The email message is poorly written, with misspellings and awkward sentence structure.
• The sender’s email address or website link may look legitimate, but on careful review, they are clearly not authentic to FIU (all FIU emails end in @fiu.edu).
• The message may request shipment of products to a non-FIU address. See FIU’s list of campuses on our main website. Please email vendors@fiu.edu if you have received an order which is to be mailed to an address not listed on the above page.

• Please remain aware that the message may include an attachment that is designed to look like a purchase order, or it may include a logo or other graphic and a signature that may look legitimate, but these are copies or forgeries, not original documents. Only certain people are delegated authority to sign on behalf of the University, so please investigate the name of the person purporting to sign the agreement.

If after reviewing this advice, you are still unsure if the PO you received is fraudulent, please contact Procurement Services staff to determine the validity of the RFQ, PO, or contract prior to fulfillment.

Procurement Services at FIU appreciates the very important role our suppliers play in providing goods and services to our faculty and staff in support of their academic, research, and administrative endeavors. FIU takes these fraudulent actions very seriously and is working with the appropriate authorities.

If your company has been contacted, please:

• If your company has been fraudulently contacted, please report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Submissions to that law enforcement site are monitored by the appropriate Federal Agencies for on-line handling scams.

• If your company has shipped an order based on a fraudulent PO which appeared to be issued under the FIU name and is facing a financial loss, please also contact your local Law Enforcement agency and refer them directly to FIU’s case number: 2015-00145.

Questionable Supplier Practices

Any supplier that attempts to scam any FIU department or employee will be reported to Procurement Services and appropriate actions will be taken to prohibit the supplier from conducting business on our r Campuses.  Note: Florida Statutes 570.545 states that when unsolicited goods are delivered, the person is not obligated to return the goods to the sender or make payment to the supplier. The law also states that unsolicited goods shall be deemed a gift and recipient may use or dispose of them in any manner without obligation to the sender.

Supplier Portal

All prospective suppliers, including Honoraria, must meet one of the following criteria to register as a supplier with FIU through our Supplier Registration page prior to delivering any goods or services:

• Suppliers whose quote were approved on GovSpend.
• Suppliers who were awarded a winning bid from solicitations posted on Jaggaer.
• Suppliers with pending business with FIU that need a supplier ID for a requisition, PO, contract or payment to be created.

Please do not register on FIU’s Supplier Registration page if you do not meet the criteria above as your application will not be reviewed.

Read in detail the Supplier Registration Manuals below to proceed with the supplier registration request via the Supplier Public Home Page portal.

Note: All suppliers conducting business on FIU property must be properly insured.

• Supplier Registration Guide – US/Foreign Companies and Individuals
• Supplier Registration Guide – US Honorariums
• Supplier Registration Guide – Foreign Honorariums

Note: FIU faculty and staff, except in narrowly defined cases, cannot become FIU suppliers per FIU Ethics in Purchasing. FIU Departments should also consult the Employee or Independent Contractor checklist before requesting a former or current employee to register as a supplier.

Once a registration has been processed, suppliers will receive a confirmation email from vendors@fiu.edu containing the FIU supplier ID as well as the User ID.  This is the final part of the registration process for suppliers. To avoid the confirmation email being discarded by junk mail filters, we encourage suppliers to make the necessary adjustments to their e-mail inbox settings to allow this message to be delivered. Suppliers and FIU departments with questions regarding the onboarding process, requiring assistance completing the application, inquiring as to the status of an application or with any other supplier related question or concern, may reach out to vendors@fiu.edu.

Information Regarding NAICS, NIGP Codes, and Government Classification

The following websites are available to help suppliers with entering their relevant NAICS or NIGP codes. If you come across any issues, please contact us via email at vendors@fiu.edu for support.

The definitions for the government classifications listed in the Supplier Application are outlined below. Please be sure to select the proper classification when completing the Application.

• Certified MBE: A minority business enterprise that is certified as an MBE by the state of Florida.
• Non-MBE: A non-minority business enterprise or individual.
• Non-Certified MBE: A minority business enterprise that is not certified as an MBE with the state of Florida or an individual that is a minority.

For additional information on Government Classifications please refer to the State of Florida Office of Supplier Diversity

Supplier Change Request

Registered FIU suppliers that need to update their supplier information are required to login to their Supplier Account Login page via the Supplier Public Home Page  to make the change themselves. Please read in detail the Supplier Change Request Manuals below to proceed with the supplier change request(s) via the Supplier Public Home Page portal.

Supplier Change Request Guides

Additional Supplier Resources

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be found here .

FIU Initiatives designed to foster and grow SMBE participation

StartUP FIU Procurement Program

• Partnership between StartUP FIU and Procurement Services to increase annual expenditures to SMBEs for goods and services.
• Program does four things: 1) organize and analyze vendor and spend data, 2) implement software upgrades to make it easier for SMBEs to procure with FIU, 3) conduct community workshops and outreach programs and 4) conduct business accelerator program for local SMBEs.
• Management, launched first cohort of SMBEs Accelerator in 2019, helping 11 companies obtain 56 new contracts, totaling $3,538,623.10 in six months.
• Post COVID-19, the program went virtual, working with a new cohort of 11 SMBEs.

GovSpend Initiative

• GovSpend’s mission is to make government procurement more efficient and transparent through the use of technology and to help unlock opportunities for small minority-owned business enterprises (SMBEs) across the US.
• FIU implemented GovSpend, a single sign-on platform designed to facilitate the procurement process for small and minority-owned businesses and StartUP FIU trained 65 requestors.
• FIU has made it mandatory to utilize GovSpend for all purchases between $25,000 and $149,999.99 that require two quotes.

FIU SMBE Outreach Initiatives

• FIU Procurement Services attends an average of four SMBE outreach events annually and hosts at least one event annually at FIU, where suppliers learn how to do business with FIU.
• In 2019, StartUP FIU Procurement worked with Miami-Dade & Broward County Public Schools, FDOT, Broward Urban League, The City of Miami, Miami Water & Sewer Authority, Government Business Solutions, SBDC@FIU, and South Florida Minority Supplier Development Council to scale outreach, holding 14 workshops that reached 325 minority small businesses.
• Of these, 45 new SMBEs became vendors at FIU and 102 SMBEs completed trainings for FDOT’s Florida’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Certification, 60 obtained the certification.
• Post COVID-19, StartUP FIU Procurement has held three virtual events, attracting 85 SMBEs.

South Florida Anchor Alliance (SFAA)

As a valued supplier to FIU, we are committed to supporting you and helping you grow your business. To that end, we have joined with a group of 9 other regional institutions in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to increase contracting opportunities for local and small businesses. We are doing this by joining the South Florida Anchor Alliance (SFAA) Regional Marketplace, an online portal where suppliers can view contracting opportunities across the institutions, all in one easy-to-navigate place.

Click here to register with the SFAA Regional Marketplace.

Supplier Certification

Suppliers interested in becoming certified with the State of Florida should contact the Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD). Suppliers that become certified after submitting their initial application should notify Procurement at vendors@fiu.edu at the time of certification.