2024-RFI-KF1.docx

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

CCS Bookstore Services

RFI No. 2024-RFI-KF1

RFI Issue Date October 1, 2024

Information Due Date October 18, 2024, at 4:00 PM Pacific Standard Time

RFI Coordinator

Debbie Key – Executive Assistant Email: Debbie.Key@ccs.spokane.edu

NOTE: This Request for Information (“RFI”) is intended solely for informational and planning purposes and DOES NOT constitute a solicitation. All information received may be reviewed and discussed, as appropriate, and may result in the advertisement of a formal and competitive Request for Proposal (“RFP”) for any or all the services included in the RFI.

9/27/2024 RFI No. 2024-RFXX-XXXX Page 2 of 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.4 RANGE OF SERVICES …………………………………………………………………...4

1.5 CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES…………………………………………6

1.6 EXPERIENCE……………………………………………………………………………...6

2.3 RESPONSE CONTENT…………………………………………………………….….7

2.4 RESPONSE SUBMISSION……………………………………………………………….7

2.5 EVALUATION PROCEDURES…………………………………………………….…….8

2.6 CONTRACT DURATION………………………………………………………………...8

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

Introduction / Overview The Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS/District) is seeking responses from prospective, qualified companies or organizations to provide information on college store services they can provide for managing campus bookstore operations at designated on-campus locations and/or in a virtual environment, including sales of educational materials, food and beverages, and college logo merchandise, etc.

1.2 Background

Community Colleges of Spokane is one of thirty public community and technical college districts in the state of Washington. CCS serves six counties and approximately 30,000 students in Eastern Washington at two main campuses, as well as at six centers located throughout the district. Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community Colleges, the two accredited colleges of the district confer associate degrees, limited bachelor’s degrees, certificates, and high school diplomas. Spokane Community and Spokane Falls Community College, the two main campuses, are located in Spokane, Washington, a community of about 233,000 residents and part of a metropolitan area of over 587,000. The District is governed by a five-member Board of Trustees appointed by the governor. By statute, the Board of Trustees has full control of District operations, except as otherwise provided by law.

The District currently contracts with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC for the management of the two bookstores on the main campuses. This service includes physical textbooks, course materials, digital textbooks and student help with digital access when needed, supplies, logo apparel, and snacks. The two bookstore locations are as follows: Spokane Community College (SCC) with a bookstore that occupies 7,937 square feet, and Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) with a bookstore that occupies 8,608 square feet. Adjusted gross sales for the period Dec 2022-Oct 2023 were $1,160,211 at SCC and $462,882 at SFCC. These figures include textbook sales and sales of snack foods, computer products, clothing/gifts, and school supplies. The agency fiscal year is July 1 through June 30, with the academic year running on the calendar system.

1.3 Scope of Work

CCS/District is committed to providing all students an excellent education that transforms their lives and expands their opportunities. Therefore, CCS is requesting information from qualified and experienced college bookstore/textbook vendors to provide professional assistance and guidance to provide and manage bookstores on two campuses: Spokane Community College (SCC) and Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC). Vendor qualifications include expertise and knowledge of the requirements of all Federal and Washington State laws as they pertain to textbook lists to be provided to students/interested parties. The objective of requesting information from qualified providers is to determine which vendor(s) can offer the highest quality of service at the most reasonable cost for our students.

1.4 Range of Services

Provide CCS with the following information, the services of which you may provide all as a comprehensive solution, or your vendor capabilities may only cover one solution (for example as a snack-only campus provider):

a. Provide a list of all publishers with which you have agreements.

b. How are faculty informed of access to specific materials or ISBNs?

c. Describe your financial stability and longevity in the industry and your commission structure.

Course Materials (e.g., textbooks and other educational materials).

d. Explain your process for ensuring books or other educational materials are available on the first day of classes, regardless of students’ financial aid standing, including possible physical copies.

e. Describe your experience supporting and providing professional/technical courses.

f. Technical textbooks and supplemental materials such as lab manuals, software access codes, and multimedia resources that may be required for professional/technical courses.

g. Describe how do you assist faculty with customizations, such as creating custom course packs (print or digital) or offering print-on-demand services? What options are available for classes with limited book selections or unique subjects?

h. Do you limit or restrict college staff from using educational materials that exist outside of your catalog? If so, please describe the restrictions or limitations.

i. Do you limit or restrict college employees from using open education resources (OER) or the opportunity distribute specialty packets to students. If so, please describe the restrictions or limitations.

j. Do you offer textbook rentals? If yes, please describe your program.

k. What support do you provide to faculty/college employees in the selection of their course materials?

l. Do you provide physical textbooks if requested?

m. Describe your buyback options/program for students at the end of the academic term, and the availability of used books.

n. Describe your policy for returns or refunds of unused materials.

o. Describe your shipping policies regarding delivery times, costs, and tracking options. How do you ensure timely delivery of textbooks and other materials.

Price

p. Describe your pricing policies and structures. For example, how is your program priced—by individual textbook or as a flat fee per quarter or annually for all necessary textbooks? What are the online ordering fees? How do you handle high-cost programs: are they priced separately or included in the overall fee? If pricing is per textbook, can you accommodate textbook payment voucher programs? What options do you offer for financial aid integration or payment plans? How do refunds work for students who drop out or unenroll if paying a flat quarterly or annual fee? Do you offer a subscription model for purchasing all books for a quarter or academic year, and can students opt out if their coursework doesn’t fit this model?

Supplies

q. For the full college store option, how do you decide which food, supplies, equipment, and merchandise are offered in the physical bookstore? How do you ensure these items meet student needs and maintain quality? Specifically, what is included in the full-service offering for:

i. Food

ii. Hot and cold drinks

iii. Snacks

iv. College merchandise (e.g., key chains, hats, gloves, notebooks, pens/pencils with the college logo, technology like cell phone chargers, headphones, batteries, calculators)

v. School supplies

How do you handle orders for college-branded merchandise? Describe the process for ordering low supplies or introducing new items.

Customer Service

r. How do you provide customer service for students who encounter issues with required access codes for instructional materials? What resources are available to help students with these codes, and what are your response times and hours of operation? How are access codes delivered to students? If using District employees, how do you determine their working hours, and what options are available for on-site college staff? What scholarships are offered to students, and what employee discounts are available?

Software

s. What are your training and onboarding processes for college store staff to ensure smooth implementation and effective use of your services and systems? Describe your POS system and its reliability and simplicity. What IT support is available for system issues? Does your system support applying financial aid awards to online orders?

Data

t. How will you provide the textbook data feed to meet federal and state reporting requirements for textbook costs by course? Can you offer data analytics or reporting tools to track textbook usage and costs, including data files with adoption details (ISBNs, quarters, classes, sections) and pricing information (new, used, electronic, etc.)? Outline the time and resources needed to integrate textbook information into our Learning Management System and the technical requirements for this integration. What are your data security measures and compliance with data privacy regulations for handling sensitive student information in digital transactions? Describe your disaster recovery and contingency plans to address risks like system outages, data breaches, or supply chain disruptions and ensure service continuity.

1.5 Contact for questions and inquiries

All questions relating to this RFI should be addressed by email to Debbie Key, Executive Assistant to the CFO, Debbie.Key@ccs.spokane.edu by not later than October 18, 2024. Any questions, which in the opinion of CCS, warrant a written reply or RFI addendum will be furnished to all parties receiving this RFI. CCS will not respond to questions received after the deadline listed on the estimated schedule.

1.6 Experience

a. Must have experience with institutions of higher education.

b. Must be familiar with textbook compliance as promulgated in the Federal Student Aid Handbook regarding textbook information that must be provided to students, specifically as described in DCL GEN-08-12 and GEN-10-09.

The RFI Coordinator is the sole point of contact for this procurement. All communication with CCS regarding this RFI shall be directed, in writing through email to the RFI Coordinator named below.

2.2 Schedule of Events

Issue Request for Information October 1, 2024 Deadline for Responses October 18, 2024

Note: CCS reserves the right to deviate from this Schedule of Events at any time and without notice.

2.3 Response Content

Background Summary and Experience The summary provided should include administrative information including the name of the respondent, their phone number, email address, and any other pertinent contact information. The summary should also include a brief recitation of the respondent’s qualifications and ability and willingness to meet, if not exceed, CCS’ requirements.

Respondents should also describe their experience with similar work of this type and scale and any experience gained from working with other state or corporate/governmental entities of comparable size and diversity.

Approach and Methodologies Respondents should provide the approach and methodology that it will use to provide the services and/or services as detailed in the scope of work. Best practices garnered from previous experience with a similar scope should also be included.

2.4 Response Submission

Respondents interested in providing information requested by this RFI must submit responses containing the information specified no later than the deadline stated in Section 2.2. The response package must be submitted electronically at the respondent’s expense to the RFI coordinator’s email address provided in Section 2.1 of this RFI.

Attachments to email shall be in Microsoft Word format or PDF. Zipped files cannot be received by CCS and cannot be used for submission of responses. CCS does not assume responsibility for problems with the respondent’s email. If CCS’ email is not working, appropriate allowances will be made.

Reponses may not be transmitted using facsimile transmission (Fax).

Respondents should allow sufficient time to ensure timely receipt of the submission by the RFI Coordinator. Late responses may be accepted at the discretion of CCS. All proposals and accompanying documentation received will be the property of CCS and will not be returned.

2.5 Evaluation Procedures

The criteria listed below will be used to evaluate the information provided:

· Introductory Letter indicating an expression of interest in providing these services.

· Provide an overview of your company and corporate structure, resources, certifications, and licensing.

· Describe client based and range of services for higher education customers.

· Sufficient detail to determine firms’ financial strength and stability.

· Experience and qualifications of the team that would collaborate with CCS

· Comprehensiveness of services and responses to questions in this RFI.

· Fee structure

· Provide three references from higher education customers within the past three (3) years.

· Interviews or a presentation may be requested.

2.6 Contract Duration

From this RFI, CCS intends to identify one or multiple service providers. CCS will conduct a separate evaluation process and determine if the services under this RFI can be provided more effectively by a particular vendor. The decision by CCS is final.

The period of performance of any contract resulting from this RFI will be three (3) years tentatively scheduled to begin on or about December 1, 2025, and to end on December 31, 2028. Amendments extending the period of performance, if any, shall be at the sole discretion of CCS. CCS reserves the right to award additional contracts from this RFI during the above stated term.

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