130-WTCC1576715556-25TM Assessment Management, Course Evaluation, Accreditation and Credentialing Software System.pdf

RFP 130-WTCC1478640696-25TM

May 10 2024

OFFER

The Purchasing Agency solicits offers for Services and/or goods described in this solicitation. All offers and responses received shall be treated as Offers to contract as defined in 9 NCAC 06A.0102(12).

EXECUTION

In compliance with this Request for Proposal (RFP), and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned offers and agrees to furnish any or all Services or goods upon which prices are offered, at the price(s) offered herein, within the time specified herein.

Failure to execute/sign offer prior to submittal shall render offer invalid. Late offers are not acceptable.

OFFEROR:

STREET ADDRESS: P.O. BOX: ZIP:

CITY, STATE & ZIP: TELEPHONE NUMBER: TOLL FREE TEL. NO

NAME & TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING: FAX NUMBER:

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE: DATE: E-MAIL:

Offer valid for one hundred twenty (120) days from date of offer opening unless otherwise stated here: ____ days

ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER

If any or all parts of this offer are accepted, an authorized representative of Purchasing Agency Wake Technical Community College shall affix its signature hereto and any subsequent Request for Best and Final Offer, if issued.

Acceptance shall create a contract having an order of precedence as follows: Best and Final Offers, if any, Special terms and conditions specific to this RFP, Specifications of the RFP, the Department of Information Technology Terms and Conditions, and the agreed portion of the awarded Vendor’s Offer. A copy of this acceptance will be forwarded to the awarded Vendor(s).

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO.

130-WTCC1576715556-25TM

Wake Technical Community College Contract Name:

Bid Opening Date: June 17, 2025 at 2:00 pm Refer ALL Inquiries regarding this RFP to the procurement lead through the Message Board in the NCEP Sourcing Tool. See section _8.0_ for details

TANGELA MOSES-MALLOY

WTCC SENIOR PROCUREMENT MANAGER

TEMOSESMALLOY@WAKETECH.EDU

Issue Date: May 20, 2025 Commodity Code: 432323 -Data Management & Query Software Purchasing Agency: Wake Technical Community College (WTCC)

Requisition No.:

May 10 2024

FOR PURCHASING AGENCY USE ONLY

Offer accepted and contract awarded this date _______________, as indicated on attached certification, by

(Authorized representative of Wake Technical Community College).

May 10 2024

Table of Contents

1.0 ANTICIPATED Procurement Schedule

2.0 Purpose of RFP

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Agency Background

2.3 SUMMARY OF PROBLEM Statement

2.4 Contract Term

2.5 Effective Date

2.6 Contract Type

3.0 RFP requirements and Specifications

3.1 General requirements and Specifications

3.2 Security Specifications

3.3 Enterprise Specifications

3.3.1 ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAMS

3.3.2 SOLUTION ROADMAP

3.3.3 IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT

3.3.4 INTEGRATION APPROACH

3.3.5 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY

3.3.6 DATA MIGRATION

3.3.7 APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

3.3.8 ACCESSIBILITY

4.0 Business and Technical REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Business and Technical SPECIFICATIONS

5 Cost of Vendor’s Offer

5.1 Offer Costs

5.2 Payment Schedule

6 Evaluation

6.1 Source Selection

6.2 Evaluation Criteria

6.3 Best and Final Offers (BAFO)

6.4 POSSESSION AND REVIEW

7 Vendor Information and Instructions

7.1 General Conditions of Offer

7.2 General Instructions for Vendor

8.0 Instructions for Offer Submission

9.0 Other Requirements and Special Terms

9.1 Vendor Utilization Of Workers Outside of U.S

9.2 Financial Statements

9.3 Financial Resources Assessment, Quality Assurance, Performance and Reliability

9.4 Vendor’s License or Support Agreements

9.5 Resellers

9.6 DISCLOSURE OF LITIGATION

May 10 2024

9.7 CRIMINAL CONVICTION

9.8 Security and Background Checks

9.9 Assurances

9.10 Confidentiality of offers

9.11 Project Management

9.12 Meetings

9.13 Recycling and Source Reduction

9.14 Special Terms and Conditions

9.15 AGENCY Terms and Conditions

Attachment A: Definitions Attachment B: Department of Information Technology Terms and Conditions Attachment C: Description of Offeror Attachment D: Cost Form Attachment E: Vendor Certification Form Attachment F: Location of Workers Utilized by Vendor Attachment G: References Attachment H: Financial Review Form

RFP 130-WTCC1576715556-25TM

May 10 2024

1.0 ANTICIPATED PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE

The Agency Procurement Agent will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:

Action Responsibility Date

RFP Issued WTCC 5/20/2025

Vendor Written Questions Deadline Potential Vendors 5/27/2025 at 5:00pm

Agency’s Response to Vendor Written Questions/ RFP Addendum Issued

WTCC 6/3/2025

Offer Opening Deadline Vendor(s) 6/17/2025 at 2:00 PM

Offer Evaluation WTCC 6/26/2025

Selection of Finalists WTCC 7/31/2025

Negotiations with Finalists Agency designees and selected Vendor(s)

8/4/2025

Anticipated Contract Award WTCC 9/1/2025

2.0 PURPOSE OF RFP

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this RFP is to solicit Offers for Assessment Management (AMS), Course Evaluation, Accreditation and Credentialing Software System. Solutions shall provide faculty with a better understanding of how well they are meeting the learning needs of their students. Student feedback assists in developing, modifying, and improving courses. Departments use the course evaluation results to evaluate instructors’ teaching effectiveness each year. The system shall include products and platforms for institutional assessment, compliance and accreditation, the development and management of strategic planning, learning outcomes assessment, and course evaluations.

2.2 AGENCY BACKGROUND

WTCC is the largest community college in North Carolina, serving over 74,000 students annually. WTCC offers a wide range of degree, diploma, and certificate programs, as well as non-credit courses for workforce development and personal enrichment. Wake Tech also has programs, such as in Health Sciences, that require field placement.

Official Student FTE: https://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/about-us/data-reporting/data-dashboards-page/total-instructional-activity-fte/ For 2023-2024:

CU FTE: 19499.3

CE FTE: 3592.7

Basic Skills FTE: 1307.4

Faculty at Wake Tech:

A snapshot can be found at the NC Community College System (NCCS) Office dashboard:

https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nccommunitycolleges.edu%2Fabout-us%2Fdata-reporting%2Fdata-dashboards-page%2Ftotal-instructional-activity-fte%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crsmadsen%40waketech.edu%7C8b222431ea634066dce608dd5cb3b7e7%7C16cc8ad984fe481db9b048e7758c41aa%7C0%7C0%7C638768649141412063%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=P03CjCTrq%2Fs7a%2B6ni5iq3sLFGCXY%2FFS5KezzgCWBbdg%3D&reserved=0 https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nccommunitycolleges.edu%2Fabout-us%2Fdata-reporting%2Fdata-dashboards-page%2Ftotal-instructional-activity-fte%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crsmadsen%40waketech.edu%7C8b222431ea634066dce608dd5cb3b7e7%7C16cc8ad984fe481db9b048e7758c41aa%7C0%7C0%7C638768649141412063%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=P03CjCTrq%2Fs7a%2B6ni5iq3sLFGCXY%2FFS5KezzgCWBbdg%3D&reserved=0

May 10 2024 https://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/about-us/data-reporting/data-dashboards-page/employee-headcount/

963 CU faculty 317 CE faculty 123 Basic Skills faculty

2.3 SUMMARY OF PROBLEM STATEMENT

There are many elements of institutional assessment, program and course evaluation, accreditation, and college-wide strategic planning that are currently housed on disparate software platforms; to streamline processes, improve efficiencies, and reduce fatigue in learning new tools, the ideal solution would include one system with features that serve each of these functions and allow for communication and integration among them.

• The college’s current AMS is a legacy AMS software and more sophisticated and intuitive AMS platforms exist that may enhance user experience and allow for better integration of institutional assessment, data collection and data sharing, and strategic planning.

• The current method for reporting on outcomes data is manual, with users entering findings and attaching data reports into the AMS without the ability to connect to other data reporting systems, such as Microsoft PowerBI.

• The process for retrieving assessment reports for our accrediting institution is also manual and time-consuming through our current AMS. The current AMS does not connect directly to the platform for organizing and submitting accreditation documentation. Other AMS’s may provide this functionality and considerably reduce the time and personnel needed for this task, as well as reduce potential discrepancies between the documentation housed in the AMS and that which is manually exported and then imported into Compliance Assist.

• The college currently does not have a software system for credentialing and should seek one.

The current faculty credential evaluation process:

o Hiring Manager completes required fields for faculty applicant.

o In FACAPP document: Hiring Manager completes Curriculum Faculty Employment Application

Review Forms (FACAPP) and attaches the following: application, resume, transcripts, and justification memo (if needed) and completed FACAPP forms.

o Packet forwarded (via email) to chain of command for review and approval signatures.

o HR consultant sees the candidate’s name on his/her dashboard and reviews for the start date.

o Once FACAPP is fully approved and submitted to HR, the HR consultant verifies items in packet for completeness.

2.4 CONTRACT TERM

A contract awarded pursuant to this RFP shall have an effective date as provided in the Notice of Award.

The term shall be three (3) years and will expire upon the anniversary date of the effective date unless otherwise stated in the Notice of Award, or unless terminated earlier. WTCC retains the option to extend the Agreement at its sole discretion.

2.5 EFFECTIVE DATE

This solicitation, including any Exhibits, or any resulting contract or amendment shall not become effective nor bind the State until the appropriate State purchasing authority/official or Agency official has signed the document(s), contract or amendment; the effective award date has been completed on the document(s), by https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nccommunitycolleges.edu%2Fabout-us%2Fdata-reporting%2Fdata-dashboards-page%2Femployee-headcount%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crsmadsen%40waketech.edu%7C8b222431ea634066dce608dd5cb3b7e7%7C16cc8ad984fe481db9b048e7758c41aa%7C0%7C0%7C638768649141438337%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=MS0F3M8eGJIveM7XtuOtix%2FE2EmpVhMx2c9VKHJYVUs%3D&reserved=0 https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nccommunitycolleges.edu%2Fabout-us%2Fdata-reporting%2Fdata-dashboards-page%2Femployee-headcount%2F&data=05%7C02%7Crsmadsen%40waketech.edu%7C8b222431ea634066dce608dd5cb3b7e7%7C16cc8ad984fe481db9b048e7758c41aa%7C0%7C0%7C638768649141438337%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=MS0F3M8eGJIveM7XtuOtix%2FE2EmpVhMx2c9VKHJYVUs%3D&reserved=0

May 10 2024 the State purchasing official, and that date has arrived or passed. The State shall not be responsible for reimbursing the Vendor for goods provided nor Services rendered prior to the appropriate signatures and the arrival of the effective date of the Agreement. No contract shall be binding on the State until an encumbrance of funds has been made for payment of the sums due under the Agreement.

2.6 CONTRACT TYPE

Indefinite Quantity Agency Specific Contract – Pursuant to 9 NCAC 6B.0701, this solicitation will establish an indefinite quantity agency specific contract between a Vendor and WTCC. The quantity of Goods or Services that may be used by WTCC is undetermined. An estimated quantity based on history or other means may be used as a guide but shall not be a representation by WTCC of any anticipated purchase volume under any contract made pursuant to this solicitation. One supplier is needed to provide the required specifications.

3.0 RFP REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

3.1 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

3.1.1 REQUIREMENTS

Requirement means, as used herein, a function, feature, or performance that the System must provide. If the offer cannot meet the requirements, they will not be evaluated.

3.1.2 SPECIFICATIONS

Specification means, as used herein, a detailed description that documents the function and performance of a system or system component.

The apparent silence of the specifications as to any detail, or the apparent omission of detailed description concerning any point, shall be regarded as meaning that only the best commercial practice is to prevail and that only processes, configurations, materials and workmanship of the first quality may be used. Upon any notice of noncompliance provided by WTCC, Vendor shall supply proof of compliance with the specifications. Vendor must provide written notice of its intent to deliver alternate or substitute Services, products, goods or other Deliverables. Alternate or substitute Services, products, goods or Deliverables may be accepted or rejected in the sole discretion of WTCC; and any such alternates or substitutes must be accompanied by Vendor’s certification and evidence satisfactory to WTCC that the function, characteristics, performance and endurance will be equal or superior to the original Deliverables specified.

3.1.3 SITE AND SYSTEM PREPARATION

Vendors shall provide the Purchasing Agency complete site requirement specifications for the Deliverables, if any. These specifications shall ensure that the Deliverables to be installed or implemented shall operate properly and efficiently within the site and system environment. Any alterations or modification in site preparation, which are directly attributable to incomplete or erroneous specifications provided by the Vendor and which would involve additional expenses to the State, shall be made at the expense of the Vendor.

3.1.4 EQUIVALENT ITEMS

Whenever a material, article or piece of equipment is identified in the specification(s) by reference to a manufacturer’s or Vendor’s name, trade name, catalog number or similar identifier, it is intended to establish a standard for determining substantial conformity during evaluation, unless otherwise specifically stated as a brand specific requirement (no substitute items will be allowed). Any material, article or piece of equipment of other manufacturers or Vendors shall perform to the standard of the

May 10 2024 item named. Equivalent offers must be accompanied by sufficient descriptive literature and/or specifications to provide for detailed comparison.

3.1.5 ENTERPRISE LICENSING

In offering the best value to the State, Vendors are encouraged to leverage the State’s existing resources and license agreements, which can be viewed here:

https://it.nc.gov/resources/statewide-it-procurement/statewide-it-contracts

a) Identify components or products that are needed for your solution that may not be available with the State’s existing license agreement.

b) Identify and explain any components that are missing from the State’s existing license agreement.

c) If the Vendor can provide a more cost-effective licensing agreement, please explain in detail the agreement and how it would benefit the State.

3.2 SECURITY SPECIFICATIONS

Vendors must comply with data security measures as outlined by FERPA ,HIPPA, Title II WCAG 2.1AA, and relevant security standards (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2). Vendors should provide documentation and certifications to demonstrate compliance with these educational data privacy standards.

3.2.1 SOLUTIONS NOT HOSTED ON STATE INFRASTRUCTURE

The Assessment Management and Course Evaluation solutions will be required to receive and securely manage data that is classified as High Risk. Refer to the North Carolina Statewide Data Classification and Handling policy for more information regarding data classification. The policy is located at the following website: https://it.nc.gov/document/statewide-data-classification-and-handling-policy.

To comply with the State’s Security Standards and Policies, State agencies are required to perform annual security/risk assessments on their information systems using NIST 800-53 controls. This requirement additionally applies to all Vendor-provided, agency-managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions which will handle data classified as Medium Risk (Restricted) or High Risk (Highly Restricted) data.

(a) Vendors shall provide the following completed reports: Vendor Readiness Assessment Report Non-State Hosted Solutions (“VRAR”) and HECVAT reports at offer submission This report is located at the following website: https://it.nc.gov/documents/vendor-readiness-assessment-report and a HECVAT: Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit™ | EDUCAUSE Library

(b) Upon request, Vendors shall provide a current independent 3rd party assessment report in accordance with the following subparagraphs (i)-(iii) prior to contract award. However, Vendors are encouraged to provide a current independent 3rd party assessment report in accordance with subparagraphs (i)-(iii) at the time of offer submission.

(i) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certification, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, or HITRUST are the preferred assessment reports for any Vendor solutions which will handle data classified as Medium Risk (Restricted) or High Risk (Highly Restricted).

(ii) A Vendor that cannot provide a preferred independent 3rd party assessment report as described above may submit an alternative assessment, such as a SOC 2 Type 1 assessment report. The Vendor shall provide an explanation for submitting the alternative assessment report. If awarded this contract, a Vendor who submits an alternative assessment report shall submit one of the preferred assessment reports no later than 365 https://it.nc.gov/resources/statewide-it-procurement/statewide-it-contracts https://it.nc.gov/document/statewide-data-classification-and-handling-policy https://it.nc.gov/document/statewide-data-classification-and-handling-policy https://it.nc.gov/documents/vendor-readiness-assessment-report https://it.nc.gov/documents/vendor-readiness-assessment-report https://library.educause.edu/resources/2020/4/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit https://library.educause.edu/resources/2020/4/higher-education-community-vendor-assessment-toolkit

May 10 2024 days of the Effective Date of the contract. Timely submission of this preferred assessment report shall be a material requirement of the contract.

(iii) An IaaS vendor cannot provide a certification or assessment report for a SaaS provider UNLESS permitted by the terms of a written agreement between the two vendors and the scope of the IaaS certification or assessment report clearly includes the SaaS solution.

(c) Additional Security Documentation. Prior to contract award, the State may in its discretion require the Vendor to provide additional security documentation, including but not limited to vulnerability assessment reports and penetration test reports. The awarded Vendor shall provide such additional security documentation upon request by the State during the term of the contract.

3.3 ENTERPRISE SPECIFICATIONS

3.3.1 ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAMS

RESERVED

3.3.2 SOLUTION ROADMAP

RESERVED

3.3.3 IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT

The proposed solution must externalize identity and access management. The protocols describing the State’s Identity and Access Management can be found at the following link:

https://it.nc.gov/services/vendor-engagement-resources#Tab-IdentityAccessManagement-1241 Describe how your solution supports the above protocols, as well as making them available for application integration/consumption.

3.3.4 INTEGRATION APPROACH

Describe proposed solution capabilities to interoperate with other solutions. Identify the standards supported, integrations platforms, adaptors, APIs, and the like.

3.3.5 DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Describe the proposed solution capabilities related to the following areas:

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) – describe how proposed solution supports Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) metrics.

System Backup – describe backup plan capabilities.

Disaster Recovery Testing – describe the frequency and test procedures for end-to-end disaster recovery testing. Business Continuity Plan (BCP) – describe capabilities proposed solution can provide in support of agency’s continuity of operations and incident responses.

3.3.6 DATA MIGRATION

Describe approaches available for data conversion and/or data migration to load current data into proposed solution.

https://it.nc.gov/services/vendor-engagement-resources#Tab-IdentityAccessManagement-1241

May 10 2024

3.3.7 APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

Describe how the proposed solution monitors and reports the metrics on system performance.

Describe how the proposed solution manages user administration.

Describe the audit capabilities of proposed solution related to management of the application.

3.3.8 ACCESSIBILITY

The Vendor must comply with industry accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.1AA and Section

508. A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) must be provided as evidence of compliance, ensuring the solution meets Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) standards for educational institutions.

Describe how the proposed solution complies with industry accessibility standards.

Provide product documentation that demonstrates how the proposed solution is digitally accessible or if not fully accessible, provide the roadmap with timeline for remediation.

Standards include:

• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1AA:

https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/new-in-21/#introduction

• Section 508: https://www.section508.gov/

• Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®): https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat

3.3.9 ENTERPRISE, SERVICES, AND STANDARDS

Vendors should refer to the Vendor Resources Page for information on North Carolina Department of Information Technology regarding architecture, security, strategy, data, digital, identity and access management and other general information on doing business with state IT process.

The Vendor Resources Page found at the following link: https://it.nc.gov/vendor-engagement-resources. This site provides vendors with statewide information and links referenced throughout the RFP document. Agencies may request additional information.

4.0 BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

• The proposed software system solution shall include all products and platforms for institutional assessment, compliance and accreditation, the development and management of strategic planning, learning outcomes assessment, course evaluations, and credentialing.

• The vendor must provide a secure, cloud-based platform for institutional assessment, compliance and accreditation, the development and management of strategic planning, learning outcomes assessment, course evaluations, and credentialing.

• The vendor must support multiple assessment types, including formative, summative, and diagnostic assessments.

• The vendor must offer customizable course evaluation forms that can be tailored to different programs and courses.

https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.section508.gov%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cstarr.christen%40nc.gov%7C3737b44528934d4e45f508dc3a2fddad%7C7a7681dcb9d0449a85c3ecc26cd7ed19%7C0%7C0%7C638449224463398992%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=pzgUTV7chyDcngdl6SvQJ3tAIz7RLJvSY02jf8A4SRg%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.itic.org%2Fpolicy%2Faccessibility%2Fvpat&data=05%7C02%7Cstarr.christen%40nc.gov%7C3737b44528934d4e45f508dc3a2fddad%7C7a7681dcb9d0449a85c3ecc26cd7ed19%7C0%7C0%7C638449224463405831%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5PxuYxDYvzebQ0oJ4qLv%2BXmBS25YhqJa3ms9L3r8c8c%3D&reserved=0 https://it.nc.gov/vendor-engagement-resources https://it.nc.gov/vendor-engagement-resources

May 10 2024

• The vendor must provide real-time reporting and analytics tools for both assessment results and course evaluations.

• The vendor must ensure compliance with relevant educational standards and regulations, such as FERPA, HIPPA and ADA.

• The vendor must offer integration capabilities with existing Learning Management Systems

(LMS) used at Wake Tech Community College.

• The vendor must provide user training and ongoing technical support to faculty and staff.

• The vendor must allow for the secure storage and retrieval of assessment and evaluation data.

• The vendor must enable automated notifications and reminders for faculty and students regarding assessment deadlines and course evaluations.

• The vendor must include tools for peer review and collaborative assessment among faculty members.

Requirements for the function and performance of the proposed software solution:

A. Assessment Management

1. Allows for communication and integration among multiple products or platforms within a solution.

2. Product suite includes products/platforms for institutional assessment, compliance and accreditation, strategic planning, learning outcomes assessment, course evaluations, and credentialing.

3. SAML – must allow for integration with the college’s identity management program (Entra/Azure) including the support for multi-factor authentication

4. Users should have the ability to access appropriate application resources areas through a system hierarchy established within Microsoft active directory, support for automation in maintenance.

5. All data storage should be in an allowed country, data must meet the NIST standards for encryption for data in motion and at rest.

6. Please describe your backup solution or state how this tool can integrate with our existing backup solution, Rubrik.

7. If the tool interfaces with Blackboard Ultra, it must use Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) version 1.3

8. If there is any need for REST API calls in Blackboard, the cost for those calls should be included in our package. (This will require the vendor to register with the selected vendor as a partner and request integration themselves). The solution cannot use Wake Tech’s current block of API calls as we sometimes near our current cap.

9. Vendor provides on-demand training for various levels and various roles.

10. Ability to efficiently export and archive the data held in the system.

11. Data sharing agreement that aligns with Wake Tech’s protocols.

12. Has Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) on file.

13. Allows for flexibility in structuring assessment cycles and required components.

May 10 2024

14. Connects directly to the platform for organizing and submitting accreditation documentation.

15. Ability to copy/import/nest application resources areas from within the program (e.g., courses within programs and courses for general education).

16. Ability to assign multiple measures to an outcome and store calculation procedures for identifying pass/meeting targets.

17. File management for supporting documentation.

18. Includes review system for assessment cycle submissions.

19. Ability to document assessment plans, findings, action plans, and status reports for course learning outcomes, program learning outcomes, operational outcomes, and institutional learning outcomes.

20. Ability to connect learning outcome assessment data with a specific student identifier (student id number, user id, and/or email).

21. Uses standard Blackboard Ultra assessments for submission of assignments to ensure that student users are not impacted.

22. Connects directly to our Student Information System (SIS), currently Ellucian’s Colleague.

23. Connects directly to our Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard Ultra. Many systems connect only to gradebook columns in Blackboard. Ideally, the system would be able to connect to specific row(s) of a rubric and specific question(s) on a quiz.

24. Link assessment to curricula through automated curriculum mapping features.

Optional, but Highly Valued:

• Ability to use Wake Tech’s language (for instance, some software calls things “Goals” others call it “Learning Outcomes” others “Learning Objectives”).

• Ability to assess Learning Outcomes and Operational Outcomes and report on them separately.

B. Course Evaluation

1. Must integrate with Blackboard Ultra. Evaluations can be scheduled for sending at specified times within a term

2. API access for custom integrations with institutional databases.

3. The system must support manual course imports, allowing administrators to upload course data manually when necessary for conducting course evaluations.

4. Must sync dynamically with Blackboard Ultra to track student’s real-time enrollment status

5. Evaluation Data Tagging based on Enrollment Status: Course evaluation responses should be tagged based on the student's final enrollment status

i. Completed evaluation & completed Course (students submitted the evaluation and remained enrolled through course completion)

ii. Completed evaluation & dropped course (students submitted the evaluation but withdrew from the course before completion)

6. Should provide real-time response rate tracking on the final enrollment status of students in the course.

7. Instructor and Student Notifications

i. Automated reminders to students to complete evaluations.

8. Notification system for instructors and administrators when reports are available. Must support evaluations for team-taught courses, allowing students to provide feedback for multiple instructors in a single survey while including both instructor-specific and course-

May 10 2024 level questions. Report access must be role-based, ensuring instructors see only relevant feedback based on question type.

9. Should include tools for qualitative analysis, allowing to analyze open-ended responses at the instructor, department, and division levels to identify themes, insights, and trends.

10. Must provide role-based access to reports (e.g. department heads, division deans, admins) aligned with the institutional hierarchy.

11. Reports/Statistics:

• Individual Reports ο Instructor Evaluations

• Aggregate Reports ο Instructor Course Evaluations ο All Distance Ed Course Evaluations ο Student Support Services Evaluations

• Sections to Programs/Departments o Course Sections to Program/Department Association

• Sections to Divisions ο Course sections to Division Association

• Course Sections Not associated with a Division Course Sections with not instructor

Longitudinal Analysis Report of Course Evaluations by Terms at multiple levels including:

o Course sections o Instructor o Department o Division

C. Compliance and Accreditation

1. Comprehensive solution for managing the complexities of accreditation, streamlining processes and enhancing overall efficiency

2. Provides centralized evidence collection that allows the institution to gather crucial evidence for external stakeholders in one central location, simplifying the documentation process;

integrates data across all stages of accreditation

3. Simplified Reporting: The platform provides data-driven tools for generating comprehensive reports, including offline versions for accreditor review. It also checks for broken links in reports to ensure accuracy.

4. Provides a digitized accreditation process; integrates seamlessly with our AMS and Strategic Planning Module, 365 Outlook apps and SharePoint

5. Transparent editor that tracks changes and manages attachments

6. Track and guide reaffirmation and substantive change notification/approval process

7. Ability to create prospectuses templates and produce the prospectus template

8. Progress Monitoring and Data Visualization: Institutions can monitor the completion of requirements in real-time and visualize data to track learning achievements across the campus

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9. Customizable Permissions: Different levels of permissions allow institutions to control access to sensitive information while ensuring that all collaborators can contribute effectively

10. Automatic notifications, triggers and task management tools

11. Ability to create workflows that align with the institution’s unique accreditation standards

12. Provides templates that can be customized to fit specific needs ensuring consistency and compliance.

13. Enables the creation, review and approval of institutional policies and procedures by authorized users. System tracks proposed changes, comments, approvals and archives the finished policy/procedure document.

14. Manage program review

D. Strategic Planning (Development, Tracking and Management)

Development:

1. Users can create a strategic plan that contains the institution's strategic priorities and goals, align goals to learning and success outcomes, and the ability to run insight reports to demonstrate this alignment

2. Mechanism to track progress

3. Integrate external data such as Labor Market data

4. Close integration between strategic planning and assessment management

5. Ability to add tactics to strategic goals within a strategic plan.

6. Connecting strategic plan Goals to institutional learning goals and institutional practice guides with a centralized mapping experience

Tracking/Management:

1. Offers project views that organize work as a list, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart or Kanban board

2. Breaks work into tasks and subtasks with clear owners and due dates

3. Provides custom fields, adding labels to tasks to sort, filter and auto reporting

4. Provides templates for projects and standardize best practices

5. Automate routine tasks with rules and workflows to increase efficiency

6. Provides reporting dashboards

7. Provides resource management by planning accurate timelines, adjust workloads, and tracking of strategies

8. Collaboration tools that allow assigning roles, create project briefs, and manages communication with teams

9. Provides a budget management tool

10. Create Strategic Plans that connect to institutional learning outcomes and program outcomes, assessment

11. Maps objectives to assessment outcomes and objectives

12. Generate insights reports showing outcome progress for outcomes aligned to strategic goals, and tactic update progress.

13. Provides administrator view of strategic plan progress and export options

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4.1 BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1. Describe the ability to access appropriate application resource areas through a system hierarchy established within Microsoft active directory. Describe the support for maintaining access / security groups for this system and how to manage users.

2. Describe how your platform ensures data security and what measures are in place to protect sensitive information.

3. Explain how your software accommodates various assessment types and the process for creating and administering these assessments.

4. Provide details on how your course evaluation forms can be customized and what options are available for institutions.

5. Describe the reporting and analytics features available in your software, including examples of data visualization. The solution must include robust reporting and data analytics tools that support real-time visualization and tracking of assessment and course evaluation data.

Vendors should provide examples of customizable dashboards and reporting tools that accommodate various user roles and historical data tracking.

6. Outline your approach to compliance with educational standards and how your software supports regulatory requirements (e.g., FERPA and Personally Identifiable Information).

7. Explain the integration process with existing LMS platforms (specifically Blackboard Ultra) and provide examples of successful integrations with other institutions.

8. Detail your training programs and support options for users, including availability and formats (e.g., online, in-person). Vendors should provide a detailed training and support plan, including initial and ongoing training for faculty and administrative users. Support levels should be specified, with 24/7 technical support options available to ensure continuous system functionality and user satisfaction.

9. Describe your data storage solutions, including backup protocols and retrieval processes for assessment and evaluation data. Please provide a description and diagram of the data architecture including documentation of data workflows. Describe data retention processes.

10. Explain how your software handles automated notifications and reminders for both faculty and students.

11. Provide information on your collaborative assessment features, including peer review functionalities and how they facilitate faculty engagement.

12. Vendors must provide documented examples of successful integrations with Blackboard Ultra, specifying data exchange types, integration methods, and supported workflows. The system should facilitate data exchange such as real-time student enrollment syncing, alignment of evaluations with course sections and instructors, export of evaluation results for institutional analysis, and automated notifications based on Blackboard schedules. Vendors should outline their integration approach and explain how it supports academic workflows such as academic quality assurance and faculty reviews across departments.

4.2 ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT/TRANSITION PLAN

Provide information including but not limited to project timeline with pre- and post-implementation tasks and understanding of the needs and objectives.

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5 COST OF VENDOR’S OFFER

5.1 OFFER COSTS

The Vendor must list, itemize, and describe any applicable offer costs in ATTACHMENT D: COST

FORM.

The Vendor must list and describe any applicable offer costs which may include the following:

a) Software License fees or costs

b) Base system software

c) Customization required or proposed addressing specification

d) Additional modules or utilities required or proposed addressing specifications

e) 3rd party software, if any, required for the operation of the system

f) Technical and user documentation

g) Installation/conversion/integration/transition costs (includes data migration)

h) Training including training materials

i) Maintenance costs, to include, per year

j) Existing software upgrade/integration/training (if applicable)

k) New functionality compared to prior available functionality in the market

l) Technical support/customer service, per year

m) Other costs

n) Technical support for the technical staff

o) The costs for customization shall be detailed on an attached sheet of paper by item and cost for each base system modification.

p) The consulting and other value-added service hourly rates or costs shall be listed separately by type of service. Travel and lodging expenses, if any, must be thoroughly described; and are limited by the State’s Terms and Conditions.

5.2 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The payment schedule should be tied to key project milestones, including implementation, completion of training, and go-live dates. This milestone-based payment structure ensures accountability and aligns vendor payments with project progress, supporting a structured approach to project deliverables.

The Vendor shall propose its itemized payment schedule based on the content of its offer. All payments must be based upon acceptance of one or more Deliverables.

6 EVALUATION

6.1 SOURCE SELECTION

A trade-off/ranking method of source selection will be utilized in this procurement to allow WTCC to award this RFP to the Vendor providing the Best Value and recognizing that Best Value may result in award other than the lowest price or highest technically qualified offer. By using this method, the overall ranking may be adjusted up or down when considered with or traded-off against other non-price factors.

a) Evaluation Process Explanation. State Agency employees will review all offers. All offers will be initially classified as being responsive or non-responsive. If an offer is found non-responsive, it will not be considered further. All responsive offers will be evaluated based on stated evaluation criteria. Any references in an answer to another location in the RFP materials or Offer shall have specific page numbers and sections stated in the reference.

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b) To be eligible for consideration, Vendor’s offer must substantially conform to the intent of all specifications. Compliance with the intent of all specifications will be determined by the State.

Offers that do not meet the full intent of all specifications listed in this RFP may be deemed deficient. Further, a serious deficiency in the offer to anyone (1) factor may be grounds for rejection regardless of overall score.

c) The evaluation committee may request clarifications, an interview with or presentation from any or all Vendors as allowed by 9 NCAC 06B.0307. However, the State may refuse to accept, in full or partially, the response to a clarification request given by any Vendor. Vendors are cautioned that the evaluators are not required to request clarifications; therefore, all offers should be complete and reflect the most favorable terms. Vendors should be prepared to send qualified personnel to Raleigh, North Carolina, to discuss technical and contractual aspects of the offer.

d) Vendors are advised that the State is not obligated to ask for, or accept after the closing date for receipt of offer, data that is essential for a complete and thorough evaluation of the offer.

6.2 EVALUATION CRITERIA

Evaluation shall include best value, as the term is defined in N.C.G.S. § 143-135.9(a)(1), compliance with information technology project management policies as defined by N.C.G.S. §143B-1340, compliance with information technology security standards and policies, substantial conformity with the specifications, and other conditions set forth in the solicitation. The following Evaluation Criteria are listed in Order of Importance.

Evaluation Criteria

Total Points Available-

1. Technical Response to the RFP that includes:

Detailed description of required services outlined in RFP Sections 3.0, 4.0,

4.1 and 4.2 and how well the Vendor’s offer conforms with the solicitation.

2. Qualifications and experience of the proposed key personnel as evidenced by relevant experience references [Ref. Attachment G]

3. Cost: Includes service costs, other costs, necessary fees or direct costs, financial stability to implement and maintain the proposed service [Reference Attachment D-Cost Form] in accordance with RFP Section 5.1.

4. Account Management/Transition Plan: including but not limited to project timeline with pre- and post-implementation tasks and understanding of the needs and objectives. [Ref RFP Section 3.6]

6.3 BEST AND FINAL OFFERS (BAFO)

The State may establish a competitive range based upon evaluations of offers, and request BAFOs from the Vendor(s) within this range; e.g. “Finalist Vendor(s)”. If negotiations or subsequent offers are solicited, the Vendor(s) shall provide BAFO(s) in response. Failure to deliver a BAFO when requested shall disqualify the non-responsive Vendor from further consideration. The State will evaluate

May 10 2024

BAFO(s), oral presentations, and product demonstrations as part of the Vendors’ respective offers to determine the final rankings.

6.4 POSSESSION AND REVIEW

During the evaluation period and prior to award, possession of the bids and accompanying information is limited to personnel of the issuing agency, and to the committee responsible for participating in the evaluation. Vendors who attempt to gain this privileged information, or to influence the evaluation process (i.e. assist in evaluation) will be in violation of purchasing rules and their offer will not be further evaluated or considered.

After award of contract the complete bid file will be available to any interested persons with the exception of trade secrets, test information or similar proprietary information as provided by statute and rule. Any proprietary or confidential information, which conforms to exclusions from public records as provided by N.C.G.S. §132-1.2 must be clearly marked as such in the offer when submitted.

7 VENDOR INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

7.1 GENERAL CONDITIONS OF OFFER

7.1.1 VENDOR RESPONSIBILITY

It shall be the Vendor’s responsibility to read this entire document, review all enclosures and attachments, and comply with all specifications, requirements and the State’s intent as specified herein. If a Vendor discovers an inconsistency, error or omission in this solicitation, the Vendor should request a clarification from the State’s contact person.

The Vendor will be responsible for investigating and recommending the most effective and efficient solution. Consideration shall be given to the stability of the proposed configuration and the future direction of technology, confirming to the best of its ability that the recommended approach is not short lived. Several approaches may exist for hardware configurations, other products and any software. The Vendor must provide a justification for their proposed hardware, product and software solution(s) along with costs thereof. Vendors are encouraged to present explanations of benefits and merits of their proposed solutions together with any accompanying Services, maintenance, warranties, value added Services or other criteria identified herein.

7.1.2 RIGHTS RESERVED

While the State has every intention to award a contract as a result of this RFP, issuance of the RFP in no way constitutes a commitment by the State of North Carolina, or the procuring Agency, to award a contract. Upon determining that any of the following would be in its best interests, the State may:

a) waive any formality;

b) amend the solicitation;

c) cancel or terminate this RFP;

d) reject any or all offers received in response to this RFP;

e) waive any undesirable, inconsequential, or inconsistent provisions of this RFP;

f) if the response to this solicitation demonstrate a lack of competition, negotiate directly with one or more Vendors;

g) not award, or if awarded, terminate any contract if the State determines adequate State funds are not available; or

h) if all offers are found non-responsive, determine whether Waiver of Competition criteria may be satisfied, and if so, negotiate with one or more known sources of supply.

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7.1.3 SOLICITATION AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS

Any and all amendments or revisions to this document shall be made by written addendum from the Agency Procurement Office. If either a unit price or extended price is obviously in error and the other is obviously correct, the incorrect price will be disregarded.

7.1.4 ORAL EXPLANATIONS

The State will not be bound by oral explanations or instructions given at any time during the bidding process or after award. Vendor contact regarding this RFP with anyone other than the State’s contact person may be grounds for rejection of said Vendor’s offer. Agency contact regarding this RFP with any Vendor may be grounds for cancellation of this RFP.

7.1.5 E-PROCUREMENT

This is an E-Procurement solicitation. See ATTACHMENT B, paragraph #38 of the attached North Carolina Department of Information Technology Terms and Conditions.

The Terms and Conditions made part of this solicitation contain language necessary for the implementation of North Carolina’s statewide E-Procurement initiative. It is the Vendor’s responsibility to read these terms and conditions carefully and to consider them in preparing the offer. By signature, the Vendor acknowledges acceptance of all terms and conditions including those related to E- Procurement.

a) General information on the E-Procurement service can be found at http://eprocurement.nc.gov/

b) Within two days after notification of award of a contract, the Vendor must register in NC E- Procurement @ Your Service at the following website:

http://eprocurement.nc.gov/Vendor.html

c) As of the RFP submittal date, the Vendor must be current on all E-Procurement fees. If the Vendor is not current on all E-Procurement fees, the State may disqualify the Vendor from participation in this RFP.

7.1.6 ELECTRONIC VENDOR PORTAL (EVP)

The State has implemented the electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) that allow the public to retrieve award notices and information on the Internet at https://evp.nc.gov. https://www.ips.state.nc.us/ips/ Results may be found by searching by Solicitation Number or agency name. This information may not be available for several weeks dependent upon the complexity of the acquisition and the length of time to complete the evaluation process.

7.1.7 PROTEST PROCEDURES

Protests of awards exceeding $25,000 in value must be submitted to the issuing Agency at the address given on the first page of this document. Protests must be received in the purchasing agency’s office within fifteen (15) calendar days from the date of this RFP award and provide specific reasons and any supporting documentation for the protest. All protests are governed by Title 9, Department of Information Technology (formerly Office of Information Technology Services), Subchapter 06B Sections .1101 - .1121.

7.2 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VENDOR

7.2.1 SITE VISIT OR PRE-OFFER CONFERENCE

RESERVED.

7.2.2 QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE RFP

All inquiries regarding the solicitation specifications or requirements are to be addressed to the contact person listed on Page One of this solicitation via the Ariba Sourcing Tool’s message board.

http://eprocurement.nc.gov/ http://eprocurement.nc.gov/Vendor.html https://evp.nc.gov/ https://www.ips.state.nc.us/ips/

May 10 2024

Vendor contact regarding this Solicitation with anyone other than the contact person listed on Page One of this Solicitation may be grounds for rejection of said Vendor’s offer.

Written questions concerning this Solicitation will be received until May 27, 2025 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

They must be submitted to the…