Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

UConn asserts contracting watchdog has only limited power over it

  • Higher Education
  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • February 23, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"
UConn's Storrs campus

CTMirror.org file photo

UConn\’s Storrs campus

The University of Connecticut has told the watchdog agency that oversees state contracting that it has only limited authority to investigate allegations made against the school.

“The constituent units [of higher education] are not ‘state contracting agencies’” under the law, UConn’s Office of the General Counsel wrote to the state Contracting Standards Board in an email earlier this month.

UConn receives hundreds of millions of dollars from the state each year for operating costs and construction projects.

The Contracting Standards Board was created in 2007 as one of the reforms enacted in response to the scandals that drove Gov. John G. Rowland from office. The law allows anyone who bids on a contract to contest its award by complaining to the board, which determines whether an investigation is warranted.

The law also requires state agencies to go through a rigorous process before privatizing services provided by state employees. UConn argues the contracting agency has oversight over the university only when it seeks to outsource work done by state employees to private contractors.

This UConn opinion was prompted by allegations about how the winner of a multi-million-dollar contract for janitorial work was selected. The complaint to the standards board alleged that university administrators improperly reversed a selection committee’s initial decision to award the contact to GCA Services Group, which had the existing contract.

The allegations — made by GCA and an anonymous member of the selection committee — were deemed serious enough by a subcommittee of the watchdog agency for it to notify state prosecutors.

That notification didn’t sit well with UConn’s Office of General Counsel.

“The OGC viewed this action as unwarranted…The subcommittee’s decision to make a criminal referral would inevitably interfere with the OGC’s ability to conduct its review,” attorneys Patrick F. Nevins and Michael Sullivan wrote the agency in a Jan. 22 letter.

The university’s internal investigation concluded that UConn had “deviated from its standard procurement guidelines.”

However, the investigation “found no basis to suggest any criminal behavior or corruption occurred at any point during this process.”

Regardless, the university decided that, “these deviations are sufficiently serious to support the university’s decision to reconsider its recommendation to award the contract to DTZ.” 

In the meantime, the current janitorial contract with GCA Services Group has been extended through May.

While this dispute may soon be resolved, the contracting board will have to determine whether it agrees with UConn’s conclusion that public colleges and universities are exempt from much of the board’s oversight.

Julia Lentini Marquis, the chief procurement officer for the standards board, said the law on the question is not clear.

“The legislative intent isn’t clear,” she said during an interview. “There hasn’t been resolution on the matter.”

The board is expected to take up the question at its meeting on March 6.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas is CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter and an original member of the CT Mirror staff. She has won first-place awards for investigative reporting from state, New England, and national organizations. Before joining CT Mirror in late 2009, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. She has also worked for Congressional Quarterly and the Toledo Free Press. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
CSCU board votes for one-year tuition freeze
by Adria Watson

For the community colleges, services and extension fees will also remain at the 2020-21 levels.

Bill would create sexual misconduct climate surveys for Connecticut’s colleges
by Adria Watson

The surveys would be conducted every two years.

CSCU students and faculty push back against contract proposals
by Adria Watson

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities faculty and students gathered outside of Central Connecticut State University Friday morning to protest the Board of Regents’ recent contract proposals, saying the changes could lead to larger class sizes and possibly losing accreditation. “The BOR must … understand their proposals are developed with union-busting in mind,” said Eastern Connecticut […]

State community college system deficit up nearly 38%
by Adria Watson

Much of the shortfall is due to a sharp decrease in enrollment.

Lamont keeps school funding on auto-pilot, despite calls to end ‘funding discrimination’
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Adria Watson

The move is sure to displease groups that have been calling for a major increase in state education spending.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut must protect vulnerable populations from biased and discriminatory healthcare practices
by William Smith

At a time of great uncertainty for the public health of our nation, the path to protect patients in Connecticut from unfair and even discriminatory healthcare rationing is clear. And it begins with turning away from European models that rely on controversial approaches to determine the price and value of new drugs.

Opinion Governor Lamont can negotiate a bold, equitable budget
by Callie Gale Heilmann

Last summer, after George Floyd’s murder sent a shock wave through our nation, people across Connecticut took to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism and inequality in our state. Residents in urban, rural, and suburban communities spoke in one unified voice demanding that in Connecticut, Black Lives Matter. This is a call for the liberation of Black folks -- for the removal of structural, institutional and economic violence that has thwarted the progress of Black people and the progress of our state.

Opinion Connecticut should have a one-house legislature — and fewer lawmakers
by Alan Calandro

In 2020, there were 35 out of 187 (19%) statehouse seats that were basically uncontested, which meant the election/balloting in these cases was a foregone conclusion. This is the norm, election after election. By definition then, we have too many statehouse seats in Connecticut.

Opinion Everybody in, especially those left out
by State Rep. Anne Hughes

In the wake of the spate of gun violence massacres, resuming again with deadly consequences, we are at a familiar crossroads: Do we revert to our usual, American individualized ‘othering,’, or do we reconcile that there is no ‘them’- only ‘us,’ that we refuse to claim? I’m campaigning to reframe the American ‘us’ from some of y’all to “ALL of us all!”

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO