210087-CK Vendor Questions and Answers.docx

210087-CK

E-Text Solutions Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Q1. Can companies from outside the USA apply for this? Ex: India or Canada?

A1: The company can be from outside the US, but any data collected and stored must be kept within the US, see Mandatory Requirement 5.17: Data collected must stay within the United States.

Q2. Does the awarded vendor need to be able to come to UW-Stout for in person meetings?

A2: It may be preferred, but not required, for providing a smooth transition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel is discouraged so meetings that would typically be held in person may be held virtually until the pandemic subsides. The awarded bidder shall be able to attend in person meetings upon request.

Q3. Can the awarded vendor perform the tasks (related to the RFP) outside of the USA?

A3: The company can be from outside the US, but any data collected and stored must be kept within the US, see Mandatory Requirement 5.17: Data collected must stay within the United States.

Q4. Can the proposals be submitted via email?

A4: See section 2.3 Submitting the proposal

Q5. Will your e-Text provider be able to bid for the physical titles if the faculty opts for physical or the item is not available digitally?

A5: Physical titles are not currently being evaluated as a part of this RFP.

Q6. Regardless of which entity manages the adoption process, would we be able to use our adoption collection tool for all adoptions, and communicate the physical adoptions to a different vendor if necessary?

A6: The adoption process will continue to be managed by UW-Stout. It is very likely that an specific adoption management tool could be incorporated into our processes for this purpose.

Q7. Are there additional courseware titles that are not included in the title list provided?

A7: Likely. This list was compiled from a list of resources used in the fall 2019 term. The titles and courseware used may differ from term to term.

Q8. What is the current adoption platform and workflow?

A8: It is a process agreed upon between UW-Stout and the current contract holder. It does not include a specific “adoption platform”.

Q9. How are you currently handling faculty communication within the adoption process?

A9: Faculty communication is exclusively (excepting some helpdesk type correspondence) handled by the Instructional Resources Services, UW-Stout. Faculty provide adoption material to IRS and IRS coordinates this with the vendor. No direct communication between vendor and faculty regarding adoption is allowed.

Q10. In section 3.2 on the list of itemized fields that must appear on the invoice can you explain “List of who the content was prepared for”? This is not a typical invoice field that we as a content platform would have within our system. Are content providers including this type of data in their databases?

A10: This is referring to the list of individual students that are assigned digital in a given billing period.

Q11. Does UW-Stout have any contractual pricing relationships set up with any publishers?

A11: Yes.

Q12. Are there any publishers that are contracted directly by UW-Stout? If so, which publishers?

A12: Yes. UW-Stout reserves the right to enter into pricing agreements that provide advantage for UW-Stout students. A list of all vendors that UW-Stout has direct contracts with will be provided to the winning bidder during the contract execution.

Q13. Section 5.16: Vendor must provide a robust architecture for digital materials that provides responsive access to instructors and students for creating, editing and viewing 24-7 with the exception of occasional upgrade/maintenance. - Could you provide some more details about the expectations of this requirement? Is the expectation that students or professors can annotate and add their own notes on top of publisher’s content or could you provide some direct examples of what you're looking for?

A13: A robust architecture may include, but not be limited to, the opportunity for a student to highlight, annotate, define terms, have some form of social networking ability, provision of an app or any other means for a student to interact with content and enhance the learning experience. This is an opportunity for vendors to discuss the inherent features of their platform and how it supports learning.

Minimal downtime is essential.

Q14. Section 3.22 (Payment Terms): List of who the content was prepared for - Could you provide some additional detail as to what purpose this list would serve and what's expected?

A14: See Q10 above.

Q15. Content List tab from E-Text Cost Proposal - Are you looking for the national retail pricing in the "Digital List Cost" column?

A15: Yes, that is referring to national retail price of content before institutional discount is applied. Simply, it is the cost a customer not involved with our program would pay through the vendor’s site.

Q16. The contract would go live on January 22nd 2021, but when would UW Stout expect content to be provided? Is it for fall 2021? Is it sooner?

A16: Content must be provided for Summer term 2021 – Final date to be determined but it will be on or near May 17th, 2021.

Q17. Does UW Stout currently utilize Opt Out technology or do the students not need the ability to opt out?

A17: We do not currently use opt out technology. This program is paid for through a student approved fee to all students.

Q18. If we are able to propose our adoptions platform be used for collecting adoptions from faculty and communicating with them, would UW-Stout manage the adoptions process on our platform or would the expectation be that the digital vendor would manage the adoptions collection? Or, If there is a physical vendor, would they manage the adoptions process? We typically recommend all adoptions flow through one platform, since instructors may not be aware if a given title will be available for digital or physical distribution? If UW-Stout doesn’t have a clear preference on these process, can we propose one or more processes regarding physical and digital adoptions, and which entity manages the platform?

A18: We would be open to presentations on how this process could work and determine a course of action based on mutual agreement. Our desire is that a process that is efficient and transparent be used to manage the workflow. It does not require us to use the approach we currently operate under.