Intersect Awareness & Connection

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase
#ITSS 481
The University of Mississippi (UM) anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as an IT sole source purchase.
Anyone objecting to this purchase as a sole source shall follow the procedures outlined below.
Commodity or commodities to be purchased (manufacturer, model, description):
Intersect Awareness and Connection
The need to be fulfilled by this item(s) and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of
the department:
UM seeks to narrow its targeted marketing to students with a high interest in pursuing post-secondary
education. Intersect offers direct marketing access to a database of high school students and counselors
through Naviance, which provides access to over 10 million students interested in higher education.
Intersect also uses the Naviance database and statistics to match students with institutions where it is
estimated they will have a greater rate of acceptance and success in the institution's programs. Intersect
enables institutions of higher learning to engage with K-12 students found on the Naviance platform.
Naviance assists students and school counselors with college planning tools. Naviance is currently
utilized by 45% of high schools in the US. Access to Naviance allows Intersect Awareness and Connection
to provide institutions of higher learning the capability of reaching approximately 10 million students,
90% of which are interested in higher education.
Name of company/individual selling the item and why that source is the only possible source that can
provide the required item(s):
Intersect is owned by PowerSchool, and EAB (Education Advisory Board) has an exclusive agreement
with PowerSchool to be the sole provider of the Intersect student recruitment platform. The underlying
technology that makes Intersect work is wholly unique and proprietary to PowerSchool. No other
product integrates with Naviance to connect students with best-fit higher education institutions while
they conduct their college research.
Why the amount to be expended for the commodity is reasonable:
The amount is reasonable because the cost-per-lead using Intersect will be significantly less than other
lead generating methods UM has explored and used.
Efforts that the agency went through to obtain the best possible price:
Leadership met with the company repeatedly to discuss our specific needs, other vendor options, and
pricing. The company offered a 5% discount for year 1.
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Submission Instructions and Format of Response from Objecting Parties:
Interested parties who have reason to believe that the item(s) above should not be certified as a sole source
should provide information in the following format for UM to use in determining whether or not to proceed with
awarding the Sole Source purchase.
1.1 Interested Party Information
1.1.1 Contact Name, Phone Number, Address and email address
1.1.2 Company Website URL, if applicable
1.2 Objection to Sole Source Certification
1.2.1 Interested parties must present specific objections to the Sole Source certification using the
criteria listed above.
1.2.2 A statement regarding the Interested Party's capabilities as related to this Sole Source
Certification Request.
1.2.3 Comments will be accepted at any time prior to Wednesday, July 15, 2026 at 10:00 am
(Central Time). Comments should be addressed to:
Jeff Wells, Procurement Manager
The University of Mississippi Procurement Services
164 Jeanette Phillips Drive
PO Box 1848
University, Mississippi 38677
1.2.4 Responses may be delivered by hand, via regular mail, overnight delivery, or e-mail at
solesource@olemiss.edu with cc: to bids@olemiss.edu and must reference the sole source
number.
1.2.5 UM WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS IN THE DELIVERY OF RESPONSES. It is solely the
responsibility of the Interested Parties that responses reach UM on time. Interested parties
may contact Jeff Wells at 662-915-7448 to verify the receipt of their responses. Responses
received after the deadline will be rejected.
If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, UM determines that the commodity in the
proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then UM will withdraw the
sole source certification and submit the procurement of the commodity to an advertised competitive
bid or selection process.
If UM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required purchase, then UM will
follow applicable ITS procedures for making the purchase.
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