Upon an approved finding that a project meets the criteria set forth above, the president or the president's designee may proceed to conduct a competitive process that is open, fair, and unbiased and results in one or more contracts with a qualified entity or team on the most advantageous terms. The process must include at least the following elements:

(1) RFQ/RFP. Contracts will be awarded through either a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or a Request for Proposals (RFP) process or a combination thereof. The RFQ/RFP will include a clear description of what the university believes to be most important about the project as well as the weight of selection criteria.

(2) Public notice. The university shall publish at least once in a legal newspaper of general circulation published in, or as near as possible to, that part of the county in which the project will be constructed, a notice of its RFQ/RFP, and information regarding the availability and location of the RFQ/RFP documents.

(3) Selection criteria. Selection criteria shall include, but are not limited to, qualifications of the project team, technical excellence and competence, experience, capacity to accomplish the work, ability to deliver a quality project, past performance of the team or its constituent members, and price or fee, taking into consideration the estimated cost of construction as well as the long-term performance, operation and maintenance of the building or improvement.

(4) Negotiations. The university shall first attempt to negotiate a contract with the entity deemed to have submitted the best overall response. If such negotiations are not successful, the university may proceed to negotiate with the entity deemed to have submitted the next best response.