Section 3: Proposal Life Cycle

The Contract Specialists administers the compilation of the RFP which includes pre-proposal meetings and proposal submission due dates. During the RFP the Contract Specialist is the point of contact and receives all the communications during the solicitation. The Portfolio Manager and Contract Specialists send out an RFP notification through email. Proposals are accepted through a dedicated email address only. At that time the SMEs, who will participate on the PMC for the project, sign a non-disclosure agreement, which allows them to review and evaluate the proposals. The proposals go through a preliminary review to ensure that the proposal is complete and all project supervisors are eligible to apply for a new award. The Contract Specialists then redacts all identifying information for each proposal. The SMEs are then sent a request to review the proposals through an online survey. The proposals are reviewed and rated through a blind review. The full proposals are then sent out to the SMEs for a regular review. RTI receives responses and reviews the ratings given to the proposals for each project. A weight is applied to the ratings and the proposals are given a final score. RTI administers the PMC reviews and discussions of the proposals scores and rankings. The most qualified proposal for each project statement is then selected to move forward.
The Project Portfolio Manager submits the selections to the
EC and FHWA
 for concurrence. Once approved, the universities are then notified of the award and the projects are submitted to FHWA for approval as part of the SPR Part II Work Program. Components of a Request for Proposal
Each Project Statement released for an RFP shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:
  • Project Title
  • Project Statement Number (the proposal number will change to a project number once the project is accepted)
  • Fiscal Year
  • Statement of Problem
  • Technical Objectives
  • Desired Deliverables
  • Proposal Requirements
  • Pre-proposal Meeting information
  • Proposal Deadline

Proposal Selection

Submitted Proposals are initially evaluated through an administrative review. During this review, RTI staff determines whether:
  • All researchers on the proposed teams are eligible to participate in the program.
  • Each proposal is complete enough to be deemed responsive.
  • Each proposal meets any specific constraint or limitation specified in the RFP.
Proposals are then sent to the TxDOT PMCs to have the technical criteria evaluated. Proposals are rated against the criteria and described needs of a Project Statement. The Project Review Board then meets and decides which proposals will be awarded.

Project Template

All project templates submitted must contain, at a minimum, the following information.
  • Project Number
  • Title
  • Project Start Date
  • Project Termination Date
  • Project Manager
  • Project Status
  • Total Budget
  • Project Abstract, and
  • Project Deliverables.