State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) Request for Proposals Executive Search Firm September 2014
Table of Contents I. RFP Summary Statement 3 II. Background Information 3 III. Scope of Services 3 IV. Required RFP Response Information 4 V. RFP Specifications 5 VI. Selection Process 7 2
State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) Request for Proposals October 2014 Executive Search Firm I. RFP SUMMARY STATEMENT The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) is soliciting proposals for an executive search firm to assist the Board of Trustees with filling the position of Executive Director. A firm submitting a proposal is referred to as the Responder. Minority-, Female- and/or Disabled-Owned Business Enterprises (MWDBE), as those terms are defined in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act (30 ILCS 575/), are encouraged to submit Proposals. Illinois-based entities are also encouraged to submit Proposals. II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Agency Background SURS is the administrator of a cost-sharing, multiple-employer public employee retirement system. SURS provides retirement, disability, death and survivor benefits. SURS membership includes employees of Illinois public universities, community colleges and other affiliated organizations. As of June 30, 2013, SURS membership totals more than 202,354 active, inactive and retired participants. SURS maintains both a defined benefit and defined contribution plan. SURS is a component unit of the State of Illinois financial reporting entity and is included in the State s financial reports as a pension trust fund. SURS is governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees, consisting of five members who are appointed by the Governor of Illinois; four members who are elected by the active participants and two members who are elected by annuitants of the system. The Board members serve six year, staggered, terms. SURS Annual Financial Report as of June 30, 2013, is available for download at www.surs.org. III. SCOPE OF SERVICES SURS is seeking a professional executive search firm to assist the Board of Trustees by conducting a nation-wide search for a well-qualified Executive Director. Duties in the search process will include the following: a) Develop a job description and job announcement that refine the requirements and qualifications of the ideal candidate. b) Develop detailed outreach, interview and selection plans. c) Recruit and screen qualified candidates. 3
d) Present an appropriate selection of candidates for interviews. e) Organize, schedule, and facilitate all interviews with the candidates. f) Conduct thorough background and reference checks on the candidate to whom the Board chooses to extend an offer. g) Assist with negotiating final terms of employment. h) Notify unsuccessful candidates. The scope of work will end when the candidate selected by the Board has accepted the executive director position and has remained in the position for one year. IV. REQUIRED RFP RESPONSE INFORMATION A. Proposal Contents Any firm responding to this RFP must submit its proposal via e-mail in one electronic document. A specific outline must be followed in order to facilitate SURS review and evaluation of the responses received. A response to this RFP must include the following sections in the order listed: 1. Transmittal letter 2. Executive Summary 3. Firm s Expressed Understanding of the Services Required 4. Firm s Detailed Cost Projection 5. Firm s Qualifications 6. Firm s Responses to the Questions set forth below. B. RFP Questions 1. Briefly describe your firm s background, size, and history as it may be relevant to the services required, with an emphasis on past searches for executive level professionals employed by public retirement systems. Please describe any familiarity or experience your firm has with Illinois public pension systems. 2. Describe the relevant special services your firm provides, particularly those that may not be offered by other firms. 3. Within the past three years, have there been any significant developments in your firm such as changes in ownership or restructuring? Do you anticipate any significant changes in the near future? If so, please describe. C. RFP Additional Information Request 1. Include professional biographies for all employees listed in your proposal. 2. Provide a detailed explanation of the search process you would employ. This should include how you identify, process, assure diversity in the applicant pool and evaluate the candidates. Specifically identify the outreach efforts you would utilize to reach minority, women and persons with disabilities that may be qualified candidates. 3. The anticipated role of SURS Staff and Trustees in the search process. 4
4. Documentation procedures. 5. A proposed timetable. The Board expects to have the final candidates for the position within 120 days after selection of a firm. The timetable should include a schedule of progress reports that would be submitted to SURS Human Resources Department and the Board. 6. Provide a detailed description of any guarantees that the responder offers, including a guarantee that if the Board determines that it does not have a strong candidate, or if the selected candidate resigns or the candidate s employment is terminated for any reason other than death or disability within one year after the date of employment with SURS, then the responder will again conduct all recruitment activities at no additional cost to SURS. 7. Attach a sample contract agreement your firm uses for the provision of services to governmental clients. A SURS Standard Addendum (attached hereto as Exhibit A) must be appended to any contract entered into with a SURS service provider. 8. Please provide at least three client references for whom your firm has performed similar work to that requested in this RFP. For each client, please provide the name, address, and telephone number for the client s contact. V. RFP SPECIFICATIONS A. Fee Arrangements The proposed fees shall include all costs and expenses for providing the services as described in this RFP. The fee proposal must expressly state that the proposed fees are guaranteed for the term of the contract. B. Submission Deadline In order to be considered for selection, proposals must be received via e-mail in Adobe Acrobat or Word format to Ms. Brenda Dunn at humanresources@surs.org, no later than 4:30 p.m. CST, on October 17, 2014. Please reference the Executive Search Firm RFP in your transmittal/cover letter. An e-mail confirmation will be sent confirming receipt of the proposal. All timely proposals become the property of SURS. Upon completion of the selection process, all responses, including that of the firm selected, will be considered a matter of public record and shall be available for viewing and reproduction, as provided by the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.) C. Submission Of Questions In order to clarify any issues in this Request for Proposals, the System will respond only to questions that are presented in writing via e-mail to Ms. Brenda Dunn at humanresources@surs.org. All questions should be submitted to SURS by 4:30 p.m. CST, October 2, 2014. These questions will be consolidated into a single Q&A document and 5
responded to by the System on, or about, October 10, 2014. The Q&A document will be posted on the SURS web site at www.surs.org without divulging the source of the query. D. Schedule The following schedule may be changed if necessary. In no event will the dates listed below be changed to earlier dates. RFP issuance on: September 24, 2014 Written questions from potential October 2, 2014 responders must be received by: Answers to written questions will be October 10, 2014 disseminated on: Proposals due: October 17, 2014 Quiet Period September 24 to October 30, 2014 Selection of firm: October 30, 2014 E. Rules Regarding Contact The proposal quiet period begins on September 24, 2014, and ends on October 30, 2014. SURS reserves the right to request additional information from any or all responders to assist in its evaluation process. However, during the proposal period, no responder or any person acting on behalf of a responding company may contact the SURS Board of Trustees, any Individual trustee, or SURS staff member, other than the contact person specified above, by email. No responder may, at any time, attempt to influence the evaluation other than by a properly submitted response to this RFP or to a formal request for information or presentation. Violation of these rules of contact constitutes grounds to reject the proposal of any offender. F. Rights Reserved This RFP does not obligate SURS to complete the RFP process. SURS reserves the right without prejudice to reject any or all proposals submitted. SURS also reserves the right to remove one or more of the services from consideration for this contract should the evaluation show that it is in SURS best interest to do so. SURS also may, at its discretion, issue a separate contract for any service or groups of services included in this RFP. SURS may negotiate additional provisions to the contract awarded under this RFP. 6
SURS reserves the right to amend any segment of this RFP prior to the announcement of a selected firm. In case of such amendment, all respondents will be afforded the opportunity to revise their proposals to accommodate the amendment. There is no express or implied obligation for SURS to reimburse responders for any expenses incurred in preparing responses to this RFP. All material submitted in response to the RFP will become the property of SURS. Materials received will be considered public information and will be open for public inspection in accordance with the State of Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). VI. SELECTION PROCESS The selection process under this RFP will be as follows: A. Non-Qualifying Proposals The Evaluation Team will evaluate each Proposal to determine if it was submitted in accordance with the requirements set forth in this RFP, including whether the Proposal meets all of the applicable minimum qualifications. Any non-qualifying proposals will be rejected at this time and the proposing firms so notified. B. Selection of Finalists Following a review of submitted materials by the Evaluation Team, selected firms should be prepared to make a presentation to the SURS Board of Trustees at a date and location to be determined by SURS. All costs of responding to the RFP, including any travel expenses incurred, are at the cost of the responder, and will not be reimbursed by SURS. C. Selection Criteria 1. Competitive pricing 2. Previous demonstrated experience in providing executive search services 3. Scope of services to be provided 4. References 5. Possible qualification as an MWDBE vendor and/or Illinois vendor as defined in the SURS Inclusion Policy 6. Other criteria as determined by the selection committee 7