Effective January 1, 2011 IMSA employees who have material knowledge concerning a procurement matter will be ethically charged to report procurement communications with a vendor or prospective vendor that a reasonable person would believe was made for the purpose of influencing a procurement decision under consideration or to be considered in the near future.
Please note that IMSA employees who are not involved in a procurement process are not required to report procurement communications under the Procurement Code.
Procurement Activities
Specific examples of procurement activity that must be reported by IMSA employees who have material knowledge concerning a procurement matter include, but are not limited to:
- Establishing or defining a procurement need or method of selection;
- Drafting, reviewing, or preparing specifications, plans, or requirements;
- Drafting, reviewing, or preparing any invitations for bid, requests for proposals (RFPs), requests for information, sole source procurement justifications, or selection information
- Evaluating bids/responses/offers;
- Publishing notices to the Procurement Bulletins;
- Letting or awarding a contract;
- Determining the contents of the procurement file or contract file;
- Resolving protests;
- Determining inclusion on prequalification lists or prequalification in general;
- Identifying potential conflicts of interests or the voiding/allowing a contract/bid/offer/subcontract for a conflict of interest;
- Voiding or allowing a contract/subcontract pursuant to Section 50-50 of the Illinois Procurement Code;
- Determining firm performance evaluations;
- Determining suspensions or debarments; and/or
- Approving change orders or the renewal or extension of an existing contract
Exempt Activities
Examples of procurement activity that need not be reported include those that are:
- Unsolicited from potential vendors that are not further disseminated or used by the receiving employees in a procurement decision
- Made in a public forum and/or during a meeting subject to the Open Meetings Act
- Regarding procedure and practice
- Between IMSA employees
- Regarding the administration and implementation of an existing contract (Note: change order communications require reporting.)
The Procurement Communications Reporting System
The Procurement Communications Reporting System requires IMSA employees to self-register by establishing an ID and password.
- The website to report procurement communications is:
- For questions regarding Log-in/ID and Password difficulties, please call the CMS Help Desk directly at: (800) 366-8768
- Select OPTION 1 and then SUB-OPTION 1.
- More information on procurement reporting can be found at:
- All reports submitted are approved by a designated State Procurement Officer (SPO) and published for public viewing at:
The Procurement Policy Board has charged agency Ethics Officers with the responsibility of communicating this reporting requirement and advising employees related to the reporting process. If you believe you have been involved in a communication with an outside party that requires reporting, please consult the Ethics Officer by sending an email detailing your specific situation to ethics@imsa.edu.
Instructional Tools & Additional Information
The Procurement Policy Board developed an instructional presentation which is available in PowerPoint and PDF format at: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/ppb/Pages/PCRSTutorial.aspx
