USM SSP 26_020 Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase of Accommodate by Symplicity.

Location:	Mississippi
Posted:	Mar 17, 2026
Due:	Apr 3, 2026
Agency:	State Government of Mississippi
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	A - Research and development
Solicitation No:	9280-26-R-RFIN-00025
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

Procurement Details

Smart Number	9280-26-R-RFIN-00025	Advertised Date	03/17/2026 9:10 AM
RFx #	3150006750	Submission Date	04/03/2026 8:00 AM
RFx Status	Open	Major Procurement Category	INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT)
RFx Opening Date	04/03/2026 8:00 AM	Sub Procurement Category	SOLE SOURCE NOTICES
RFx Type	Req. for Information
Agency	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
RFx Description	USM SSP 26_020 Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase of Accommodate by Symplicity. http://www.ms.gov/dfa/contract_bid_search/Bid RFx: 3150006750 Comments/objections will be received as required per Section 31-7-13 (C) of the Mississippi Code until 8:00 a.m. (Central Time) on April 3, 2026.

Contact Information

Name	Amber Floyd	Email	amber.floyd@usm.edu
Phone	601 266 4855	Fax

RFx Items

PRODUCT CATEGORY	PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
92045	Serv CompSoftMaint

Awarded

VENDOR NAME

VENDOR NUMBER

AWARD DATE

AWARD AMOUNT

FUNDING SOURCE

Bid Attachments

Attachments SSP 26_020 Accommodate by Symplicity
Attachments Symplicity - Accommodate - Business Justification
Attachments Symplicity - Accommodate - Sole Source Letter (Vendor)
Attachments USM SSP 26_020 Advertisement

Attachment Preview

USM SSP 26_020 Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase of Accommodate by Symplicity.

http://www.ms.gov/dfa/contract_bid_search/Bid

RFx: 3150006750

Comments/objections will be received as required per Section 31-7-13 (C) of the Mississippi Code until

8:00 a.m. (Central Time) on April 3, 2026.

Any person or entity that objects and proposes that the commodity listed is not sole source and can be

provided by another person or entity shall submit a written notice to:

Jacob Cochran

Director of Procurement & Contracts 118 College Dr. Box 5003 Hattiesburg, MS 39406

bids@usm.edu

Phone: 601-266-4131

Subject Line must read "Sole Source Objection USM SSP 26_020"

The notice shall contain a detailed explanation of why the commodity is not a sole source procurement.

Appropriate documentation shall also be submitted if applicable.

If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, USM determines that the commodity in the

proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then USM will withdraw the

sole source request publication from the procurement portal website and submit the procurement of

the commodity to an advertised competitive bid or selection process.

If USM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required commodity, then USM

will appeal to the Public Procurement Review Board. USM will have the burden of proving that the

commodity is only provided by one (1) source.

Run Dates: 3/17, 3/24

The University of Southern Mississippi

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

SSP 26_020

The University of Southern Mississippi anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as a sole

source purchase. Anyone objecting to this purchase shall follow the procedures outlined below.

1. Description of the commodity that USM is seeking to procure:

Student Accessibility Services is seeking to enter a partnership with Symplicity, Inc. to license the

Accommodate platform for accommodation caseload management for the next 3 years. Accommodate is a

user-friendly option that synchronizes accommodation requesting, notification, management, and

implementation for students, faculty, and staff.

Accommodate is a cloud-based software platform designed to help colleges and universities manage and

deliver accessibility accommodations for students with disabilities. The system centralizes the entire

accommodation process by allowing students to request services online, upload documentation, schedule

exams with testing accommodations, and track the status of their requests. At the same time, accessibility

services staff and faculty can use the platform to review requests, coordinate services such as note-taking

or assistive technology, communicate with students, and maintain detailed case records.

Accommodate is a one-of-a-kind package through its integration with Microsoft Office and other third-

party vendors, automated workflows, and 24/7 customer support. By consolidating information into one

digital system, Accommodate streamlines administrative tasks, improves communication across campus,

and helps institutions ensure compliance with accessibility regulations while providing timely support to

students.

2. What efforts were made by the Agency to determine that the proposed provider is the

only entity that can provide the commodity needed?

Accommodate is considered one-of-a-kind for the following reasons. This list is not exhaustive, but lists

rationale relevant to the success of Student Accessibility Services:

1. Symplicity, the enterprise behind Accommodate, has extensive experience working within

student affairs spaces and is familiar with the needs and goals of student affairs divisions

nationwide.

2. Accommodate’s user friendliness is unparalleled and allows SAS to manage their own systems,

meaning they can revise and adjust processes without time-consuming back and forth with

Symplicity and/or iTech. In addition, Accommodate offers an internal form builder, allowing

students to utilize the platform as a “one-stop” to request accommodations, schedule exams, and

even provide feedback and other insights.

The University of Southern Mississippi

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

SSP 26_020

3. Accommodate offers full integration with Microsoft Office, simplifying appointment booking

and management for students, staff, and faculty.

4. Case management is seamless and provides updates and notifications to ensure all cases are

quickly managed and appropriately documented promptly.

5. Accommodate is the only platform that truly automates the timely notification of faculty

regarding student accommodation. This will save several hours of staff-power each semester.

6. Accommodate supports an accurate, granular user-rights system that protects student data by role.

Administrators have full access to edit testing schedules, accommodations, etc., which is

something the other few providers struggle with.

7. Symplicity offers 24/7 user support, whereas other vendors do not provide this and can not

guarantee support to students, staff, and faculty in a timeframe that may be critical for

accommodation implementation.

3. What efforts were made to ensure the best possible price for the commodity was

obtained?

SAS has worked with Symplicity's sales and finance team to establish the optimal financial liability for

the university related to Accommodate. To offset the initial cost of implementation + yearly fee, SAS has

negotiated paying the implementation cost and associated fees in FY25, where there is substantial surplus

in the 10H10 170001 05100 CNTRSRV line. This means that in FY26, SAS would only have to pay the

yearly fee in the first full year, rather than both the yearly fee and implementation cost.

SAS has negotiated the implementation cost from $10,000 to $8,000, representing a 20% discount.

4. Why is the commodity the only one that can meet the needs to the Agency?

In short, the user experience is what makes Accommodate by Symplicity a sole source. Below are some

examples of how other entities profess to offer the same thing, but fall short in their claim.

Exam Scheduling: When scheduling exams, faculty have two options to deliver exams to SAS. The first

is to either email/deliver a copy of the exam to our office. The second is to use the current management

system to upload a copy of the exam. Unfortunately, the current provider only builds a testing schedule

The University of Southern Mississippi

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

SSP 26_020

based on the faculty members who upload an exam using our system and complete a “contract” with

exam directions. This means that SAS staff must spend considerable staff power to generate a new

schedule with ALL exams when users with other platforms can generate a schedule within seconds.

When discussing this with our current provider, the solution was to require all faculty to take this

additional step. This increases faculty load and requires faculty members who may not be technologically

savvy to learn a new system. We are of the mindset that receiving an exam anyway is acceptable, and

asking faculty members to learn another system while they have to manage so many other important

processes online is simply unreasonable.

Currently, staff members, up to the director, cannot alter test times or schedule late exams for students.

We cannot set a scheduling deadline and override this on the administrative side, making exam

scheduling difficult.

Application Accessibility: The Accommodate platform is known for its user-friendliness and

commitment to an accessible accommodation experience. Due to various technical issues and other

reasons related to the application process with SAS, the department currently has several incomplete

applications from students who began the process and stopped before submitting.

Additionally, SAS can not assist students with completing an application without requiring them to sign

into the platform. While this does not sound like a major inconvenience, not every student and family

comes to our office with a device or with their USM credentials (freshmen). Our current partner offers no

solution for in-person application, while Accommodate does.

The current partner’s system may be WCAG compliant, but compliance and accessibility are two

different constructs. SAS struggles with redirecting stakeholders back to our website to apply when they

have taken the time to come to our office.

Seamless Faculty Notification: Currently, SAS staff-power is spent at the beginning of each semester

generating a list of students and manually directing the database to send notification of accommodations

to each instructor. Accommodate can perform this task at a fraction of the time taken, if not

instantaneously upon request, freeing up accessibility staff to assist with the beginning of semester

activities or troubleshooting accommodation issues.

Report Accuracy: The current application for accommodations is not customizable. When students

undergraduates. The current provider has no solution for this.

The current sync with Peoplesoft has remained inaccurate despite our attempts to work with iTech to

resolve the issue. The current provider offers no assistance, and our current iTech members were not part

of the integration of the current system, so navigating this process has been difficult.

If instructors are not listed in SOAR, this results in the unwanted drop of accommodations for courses.

Concerned students frequently reach out and ask why accommodations were cancelled when they did not

make this request. This is due to a sync error between the current provider and PeopleSoft that the current

partner takes no ownership in resolving. To be clear, this is not a misstep from iTech; it is simply a

symptom of a system that was developed and left behind with no guidance.

The University of Southern Mississippi

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

SSP 26_020

The Accommodate application process is completely customizable, allowing SAS to track students based

on the variables that we determine.

Full Microsoft Office Integration: Accommodate boasts a full integration with Microsoft Office

applications, unlike similar products. Students and staff can use Accommodate in tandem with Microsoft

Outlook and Teams to manage appointments and exam bookings.

Staff Support: Currently, staff support with the current partner is intermittent and inconsistent. When

trying to resolve issues, simple questions are not answered for days, and sometimes receive no responses

until late hours. We have no direct line outside of putting in a ticket to work with this company.

Creating More Opportunities to Initiate a Feedback Loop: Accommodate features a one-of-a-kind

form builder within its platform, truly allowing it to be a “one-stop” for registered students, from

application, notification, implementation, and reflection on accommodation services. This allows SAS to

invite students to provide more consistent feedback within a system they are already familiar with.

5. Why is the amount expended for the commodity reasonable?

Although this partnership represents a higher upfront investment than our current agreement, the pricing

is fixed and does not increase with student enrollment growth, ensuring long-term cost stability and

scalability.

Data provided by Accommodate indicates that partner institutions experience an average retention

increase of at least 1%. Based on our current enrollment figures, each retained student generates

approximately $27,000 in profit. A 1% improvement in retention would therefore represent an estimated

$2,841,720 in additional revenue, delivering a substantial return on investment and strengthening the

institution’s overall financial position.

While a 1% university-wide increase in retention is an ambitious target, the model remains compelling

even under more conservative outcomes. Retaining just one additional student for a single academic year

would offset most of the incremental cost associated with Accommodate over the duration of the

partnership, demonstrating strong return potential even at minimal performance gains.

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Daily notification on new contract opportunities

With GovernmentContracts, you can:

Find more opportunities and win more business
Receive daily alerts for all new bid opportunities
Get contract opportunities matched to your business

ONE WEEK FREE TRIAL

USM SSP 26_020 Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase of Accommodate by Symplicity.

Attachment Preview

See also