Spotlighting Recent Successes: Residence Hall Furniture Contract
A long-time supplier’s change in product offerings provided an opportunity to evaluate Iowa State’s dorm room furniture, including input from the students who use it.
For over two decades, Iowa State University purchased dorm room furniture such as loft beds, dressers, wardrobes, desks, and chairs from Iowa Prison Industries (IPI). IPI provided Iowa State with quality, long-lasting furniture pieces, and Iowa State was able to support another state entity through these purchases. In late 2021, IPI ended its furniture manufacturing program, resulting in Iowa State bidding a contract for dorm room furniture for the first time.
Iowa State Residence Halls and Procurement Services worked together to write specifications for the furniture pieces, considering what is currently provided for furniture in dorm rooms and determining what pieces were working and what needed to be updated.
Iowa State sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) in February 2024 and received several responses. Residence Hall representatives and Procurement Services performed the first round of evaluation for the RFP, ensuring the furniture met our specifications and safety regulations.
For the second round of the evaluation, we wanted student input. We asked the four highest-scoring suppliers from the first round of the evaluation to provide sample furniture pieces. Each supplier provided a complete set of furniture, including a loft bed, wardrobe, desk, and chair to be set up in the Union Drive Community Center. Students were invited to see the furniture and provide feedback on the sample pieces through a survey. We received great feedback from the students and used this information to complete our final round of evaluation.
Procurement Services awarded the contract to Weitz Company Inc. This contract will be used to replace dorm room furniture in buildings and supplement our inventory as needed.