M-14-26 Slate Consultant.pdf

Slate Consultant Bristol Community College

April 2026

Request for Proposal

M-14-26

Proposals Due April 24, 2026

777 Elsbree Street

Fall River, MA 02720 Phone: (508) 678-2811 Fax: (508) 730-3279

Issued April 10, 2026

February 2026

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Table of Contents

A. Procurement Purpose ……………………………………….. Page 3 B. Timeline ……………………………………………………. Page 3 C. About Bristol Community College ……………….………… Page 3 D. Inquiries …………………………………………..…………. Page 4 E. General Information …………………………….……….….. Page 4 F. Unforeseen Office Closure……………………………..……. Page 4 G. Confidentiality ………………………………………………. Page 5 H. Preparation Costs ……………………………………………. Page 5 I. General Processing and Selection Procedures ………………. Page 5 J. Scope of Services ……………………………………………. Pages 5 - 9 K. Evaluation Criteria ……………………………………………. Page 9 L. Bidder Information ……………………………………………. Pages 10 - 11 M. General Conditions and Notice to Bidders ……………………. Pages 11 - 13 N. Submission of Proposal …………………………….…………. Page 13 O. Timeline ………………………………………………………. Pages 13 - 14

Appendix A - Company Contact Information Appendix B - Non-Collusion Statement.

Appendix C - Tax Compliance Certification.

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A. Procurement Purpose Bristol Community College (hereinafter, Bristol or the College), an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, seeks a qualified and experienced consulting firm with deep, demonstrable experience in the Slate platform, specifically to conduct a comprehensive technical and process diagnostic of Bristol’s institutional instance.

If a vendor is part of a purchasing program under a State or National contract and is offering contract pricing, the contract number must be noted on the proposal for reference.

This RFP does not obligate Bristol to take any specific action. The College reserves the right to select the proposal that, in its judgment, best aligns with its needs, taking into account the vendor’s overall ability to effectively provide the requested services.

B. Timeline

Dates may be revised due to unforeseen circumstances. Every effort will be made to inform known bidders of changes to the timeline. Below is a tentative schedule of events for this project.

Date & Time Event Request for Proposal Issued April 10, 2026 RFP closing date 2:00 p.m. April 24, 2026 Proposal Review Process April 27, 2026 – May 8, 2026 College will award contract by May 13, 2026 Start Date June 1, 2026

Dates are subject to change and amendments will include any changes to the schedule prior to the RFP closing date.

C. About Bristol Community College Bristol Community College has core values rooted in student success and lifelong learning.

For more than 60 years, Bristol has served as a leading resource for education and workforce development in the region including locations in Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton.

The College offers a rich variety of degrees, certificate and training programs along with flexible online offerings that lead to an associate degree, a career-ready certificate or the ability to transfer to baccalaureate colleges throughout the state and country.

Bristol’s Business Solutions & Partnerships provides customized training for businesses and the community. The College also strives to put the needs of learners first with support services and career advancement opportunities that lead to student success by reducing barriers to educational access.

The College is one of the largest employers in the region and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment with a rich diversity of beliefs, cultures, languages, abilities and lifestyles. Bristol is a public community college accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). http://www.bristolcc.edu/.

http://www.bristolcc.edu/

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D. Inquiries Please refer requests for additional information or clarification of requirement to Philicia Pacheco at Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu with "M-14-26 Slate Consultant" on the subject line.

The College will notify all bidders of any substantive clarification provided in response to any inquiry. The College will extend the due date if such information significantly amends this solicitation or makes compliance with the original proposed due date impractical.

No questions other than via this method will be accepted. No response other than via this method will be binding upon Bristol Community College.

E. General Information Unless otherwise specified in this RFP, all communications, responses, and documentation must be in English, all measurements must be provided in feet, inches, and pounds and all price proposals or figures in U.S. currency. All times listed in this RFP are Eastern Standard Time. All responses must be submitted in accordance with the specific terms of this RFP.

Proposals must be available for acceptance for at least ninety (90) days after the proposal opening date unless otherwise noted in the proposal.

Vendors are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the College except as specified in this RFP and no other individual employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this

RFP.

Should a vendor find discrepancies in or omissions from the specifications, or shall be in doubt as to their meaning, the vendor should notify the College contact Philicia Pacheco at Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu with "M-14-26 Slate Consultant" on the subject line.

The College accepts no liability and will not provide any accommodation to bidders who submit a response based upon unsolicited and an out-of-date solicitation document.

The College retains the discretion to accept the proposal it determines to be in the best interest of both the College and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In making this decision, the College will consider which proposal most closely satisfies its requirements, with particular attention to the vendor’s demonstrated capability to deliver the requested services effectively.

F. Unforeseen Office Closure

If, at the time of the scheduled proposal deadline, the College is closed due to uncontrolled events such as fire, snow, ice, wind, building evacuation or pandemic, the proposal deadline will be postponed until 2:00 p.m. on the next normal business day. Proposals will be accepted until that date and time.

mailto:Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu%20

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G. Confidentiality The College reserves the right to review the content of vendor responses with internal or external persons for the purposes of vendor selection.

H. Preparation Costs

Bidders are responsible for all costs incurred in responding to the RFP (including demonstrations). Bristol will not reimburse any costs under any circumstances, even if the RFP is canceled, no contract is awarded, or the project proceeds through another process.

All documentation submitted with an RFP response becomes the property of Bristol.

I. General Processing and Selection Procedures The following procedures are generally used in the selection of a vendor to provide professional services:

1. An RFP package is available to interested parties. It is available on the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts’ website, www.commbuys.com.

2. A Selection Committee (the Committee) is formed to evaluate the RFP responses.

3. The Committee receives RFP responses.

4. The Committee reviews and evaluates the RFP responses based on the established selection criteria and a comparison of all RFP responses received. If necessary, the committee may request a meeting with one or more of the Bidders to clarify and/or expand on the response. In accordance with the requirements of the RFP, the College may negotiate terms, conditions and fees with the successful Bidder.

The committee selects the RFP response which, based on the ability to meet the criteria, appears to be the most advantageous selection for the College, and subsequently recommends contract award to the Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management.

5. The College reserves the right to reject all proposals or parts thereof, to waive any irregularities or informalities in the RFP procedures and to award the contract agreement in a manner best serving the interest of the College.

J. Scope of Services

Since Bristol’s Slate implementation in 2021, Bristol has made incremental enhancements but has not engaged in a holistic review of configuration, governance, system alignment, and operational readiness. As Bristol prepares for an upcoming Banner SaaS transition and broader ERP modernization, this Slate diagnostic is essential to ensuring system reliability, data integrity, and optimal functional performance.

The Service Provider will be required to deliver a full-system evaluation tailored specifically

6 | P a g e to Bristol’s Slate configuration with the ability to maximize an eight-week diagnostic window with minimal onboarding time. Their approach should integrate technical analysis with strategic enrollment expertise within a community college environment, addressing both the mechanics of Slate and its role within the larger student lifecycle at Bristol.

The engagement must include a post diagnostic, cross functional workshop designed to guide institutional decision-making related to governance, integrations, workflow design, and future system development.

Additionally, the firm must demonstrate familiarity with Bristol’s Slate instance and use case, including architecture, business processes, data structures, and previous institutional decisions; accurately diagnosing system issues without background ramp-up.

Specifically, the firm should provide the following diagnostic services:

Comprehensive technical analysis across integrations, automations, communications, workflows, permissions, reporting structures, and governance, specifically:

1. Comprehensive field and prompt review, ensuring adherence to best practices, consolidation of redundant elements, and migration to standardized Slate functionality. Resulting changes should be designed to strengthen downstream impact across reports, queries, and data models.

2. Evaluation of all active forms, events, and scheduler configurations, confirming appropriate logic, communications, and mappings; include process optimization to improve workflow efficiency, user experience, and data accuracy.

3. Technical review of communications, including campaigns, content blocks, Liquid markup, transactional emails, texts, and recommendation workflows. Configuration concerns should be identified and addressed.

4. Assessment of active rules for optimization, consolidation, and improved processing performance.

5. Deep analysis of period/round structure, application management, and applicant status page configuration, including imported application workflows. This is especially critical as Bristol prepares for Banner SaaS transition and continues movement toward Slate being the initial point of entry for all student types.

6. Review of materials and checklist configuration, identifying opportunities for consolidation, automation, simplification, and improved governance.

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7. Reader and workflow evaluation, including bin structure, dashboards, permissions, and opportunities for parallel workflows aligned to Bristol’s admissions and review processes.

8. Decision process evaluation, ensuring decision codes, reasons, letters, dynamic elements, and post decision workflows are optimized and aligned with best practices.

9. Reporting alignment review, clarifying configuration issues, resolving discrepancies, and identifying next steps toward streamlined reports and queries.

10. Integration and export evaluation, ensuring data sources, partner relationships, and automation follow best practices for consistent and reliable data loading.

11. Security audit, reviewing roles, realms, and population permissions with recommendations for current and future conditions.

Alignment and Timing with ERP Transition is critical for a high stakes system review, particularly one tied to compliance, enrollment strategy, and ERP transition. The firm must:

• Accurately diagnose system issues without background ramp-up

• Provide targeted and realistic recommendations

• Deliver an efficient engagement with minimal stakeholder burden

• Ensure alignment between Slate, Banner, and related systems

Data Privacy and Security

1. Service Provider must comply with all applicable laws related to data privacy and security

2. The Service Provider must thoroughly secure Customer Data and meet or exceed industry compliance Standards. Data Transfers must be encrypted. Security must be configurable to enable the college to manage and control individual and group access to the application.

3. The system shall use appropriate means to preserve and protect College data, including, without limitation, use of stable storage media, regular data back-ups and archiving, password protection of volumes, and data encryption.

4. Service Provider shall not access Bristol’s user accounts, or Customer Data, except during data center operations, response to service or technical issues, as required by the express terms of this Agreement, or at Bristol’s written request.

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5. Service Provider may not share Customer Data with its parent company, other affiliate, or any other third party without Bristol’s express written consent.

6. Prior to contract execution, Service Provider and Bristol must cooperate and hold a meeting to determine whether:

a. “Personal data,” as defined in Mass. Gen. Laws c. 66A, will be stored or used in the Service. If so, then Service Provider is a “holder” of “personal data”, as such terms are defined in M.G.L. c. 66A, solely to the extent that the obligations of a holder are applicable to Service Provider’s delivery of services under the Agreement. The college remains responsible for all other obligations of a holder set forth in M.G.L. c. 66A.

b. Any sensitive or personal information will be stored or used in the Service that is subject to any law, rule or regulation providing for specific compliance obligations (e.g., M.G.L. c. 93H and 201 CMR 17.00, HIPAA, FERPA, IRS Pub.

1075). If so, then Service Provider must document in the Agreement how the Service complies with such law.

If either of the above is true, then Service Provider and Bristol must review the Service specifications to determine whether the Service is appropriate for the level of sensitivity of the data to be stored or used in the Service, and how Bristol and Service Provider will comply with applicable laws. Service Provider and Bristol must document the results of this discussion and attach the document to the Agreement.

7. Service Provider shall provide a secure environment for Customer Data, and any hardware and software, including servers, network and data components provided by Service Provider as part of its performance under this Agreement, to protect, and prevent unauthorized access to and use or modification of, the Service and Customer Data.

8. Service Provider will encrypt personal and non-public Customer Data in transit and at rest.

9. Customer Data must be partitioned from other data in such a manner that access to it will not be impacted or forfeited due to e-discovery, search and seizure or other actions by third parties obtaining or attempting to obtain Service Provider’s records, information or data for reasons or activities that are not directly related to Bristol’s business.

10. In the event of any breach of the Service’s security that adversely affects Customer Data or Service Provider’s obligations with respect thereto, or any evidence that leads Service Provider to reasonably believe that such a breach is imminent, Service Provider shall

9 | P a g e immediately (and in no event more than twenty-four hours after discovering such breach) notify Bristol. Service Provider shall identify the affected Customer Data and inform Bristol of the actions it is taking or will take to reduce the risk of further loss to Bristol.

Service Provider shall provide Bristol the opportunity to participate in the investigation of the breach and to exercise control over reporting the unauthorized disclosure, to the extent permitted by law.

11. If personally identifiable information is compromised, Service Provider shall be responsible for providing breach notification to data owners in coordination with Bristol and the Commonwealth as required by M.G.L. ch. 93H or other applicable law or Commonwealth policy.

12. Service Provider shall indemnify, defend, and hold Bristol harmless from and afgainst any and all fines, criminal or civil penalties, judgments, damages and assessments, including reasonable expenses suffered by, accrued against, charged to or recoverable from the Commonwealth, on account of the failure of Service Provider to perform its obligations pursuant to this Section.

K. Evaluation Criteria

All responsive proposals will be evaluated by the RFP Review Committee. Evaluation will be based on the vendor’s ability to meet the College’s requirements. Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Criteria Weight Compliance with submission of required forms. Pass/Fail

Overall responsiveness to the requirements of the RFP and quality of product and services offered.

Up to 30 points

Experience with Slate fully meets or exceeds the College’s stated functional, technical, and operational needs as outlined in the RFP.

Up to 20 points

Expertise in diagnosing issues, implementing remediation strategies, and modernizing systems in a manner that aligns with the College’s requirements described in the RFP.

Up to 20 points

General reputation of the firm and installed base. Up to 10 points

Relevant experience in providing comparable services on projects of similar size and scope.

Up to 10 points

Total price including diagnostic services and cross-functional workshop.

Up to 10 points

Total Possible Points 100 points

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The College reserves the right to select the vendor it deems most appropriate for the project.

Further, the College reserves the right to waive stated requirements, negotiate further with vendors, discontinue the evaluation process, award based on the merits of a proposal and final demonstration, or choose not to award to any respondent.

L. Bidder Information

1. Bidders are cautioned to read the information contained in this RFP carefully and to submit a complete response to all requirements and questions in the order requested.

2. By submitting a proposal, the bidder acknowledges that they have read this RFP, understands it, and agrees to be bound by its requirements.

3. The bidder shall not use the College's name or any contract agreement information for advertising purposes without the written consent of Bristol.

4. Any responses that Bristol finds difficult to read will be rejected.

5. Any contract agreement resulting from the RFP responses will incorporate the terms and provisions of said documents.

6. Bristol reserves the right to request additional information from all Bidders.

7. Bristol reserves the right to negotiate any points of the contract agreement, including cost.

8. Any contract agreement awarded will be made by the College, based on evaluation of all responses, applying all criteria and oral interviews, if necessary, that is determined to be the best qualified.

9. From the issue date of this RFP until a bidder is selected and the selection is announced; bidders are to communicate via e-mail. For violation of this provision, Bristol shall reserve the right to reject the proposal of the offending bidder. All questions concerning this RFP must be submitted to the College contact Philicia Pacheco at Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu with "M-14-26 Slate Consultant" on the subject line.

No questions other than via this method will be accepted. No response other than via this method will be binding upon Bristol.

10. Amendments or withdrawals of proposals will be allowed only if the amendment or withdrawal is received before the proposal due date. No amendment or withdrawals will be permitted after the due date, except as authorized by this RFP.

11. All proposals and other material submitted will become the property of Bristol and may be returned at the College's option. Proprietary information, if included, must be

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12. Bristol will have the right to use any materials or ideas submitted in the proposal without compensation to the bidder.

13. All proposals will be open to the public after the contract has been awarded.

Proprietary information will remain confidential.

M. General Conditions and Notice to Bidders

1. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts or its agent, Bristol, will make payment for equipment or services after COMPLETE delivery to the satisfaction of the College.

2. The College retains the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, and to overlook technical flaws, irregularities, or omissions if it determines that doing so serves the best interests of the College.

3. The College is exempt from Federal Taxes and Massachusetts Sales Taxes. Prices quoted shall not include taxes.

4. No financial claim for any payment whatsoever shall be brought against the College for any contract delays.

5. All labor to be paid in accordance with Minimum Wage Rates and Health and

Welfare and Pension Fund contributors as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industries under the provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 149, Section 26 to 27D, inclusive as amended.

6. If the bidder has not been issued a Massachusetts Vendor Code Number, use the 9-character Federal Employee Identification number issued by the IRS if you employ two or more employees. Otherwise use your personal Social Security Number.

Purchase orders cannot be issued or payment made until this number is shown complete and correct.

The IRS Form W-8BEN-E form is also acceptable.

7. All proposals must be submitted electronically and must be in PDF format and clearly labeled with the bid number and name, prior to or by the specified date and time. The College will not be held responsible if any proposal is not so marked and is unintentionally not recorded as being received.

8. By submitting a proposal, the bidder certifies that it is made in good faith and without fraud, collusion, or any connection with another bidder. The bidder affirms that it is

12 | P a g e competing solely on its own behalf and is not acting under any obligation to an undisclosed person or firm.

The undersigned further declares that the individuals or entities named in the proposal are the only parties with a financial interest in it; that the proposal has not been prepared in collusion with any other person, firm, or corporation; and that no officer or agent of Bristol has any direct or indirect interest in this bid.

The bidder agrees that, if the proposal is accepted, they will enter into a contract with Bristol in accordance with the specifications and the terms and conditions outlined in this RFP.

9. The award of this proposal will be for Bristol only. Massachusetts state higher education institutions have the option to engage the competitively selected bidder for a similar service but through a separate and independent contract agreement. Bristol will have no responsibility for other agency agreements or payments.

10. Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer and Non-Discrimination: The following regulations (Federal and State) will be considered an integral part of the RFP specifications. Bristol is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, genetic information, gender identity or sexual orientation in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other applicable statutes and College policies. Bristol prohibits sexual harassment, including sexual violence. Inquiries or complaints regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and related statutes and regulations shall be directed to the College’s Affirmative Action Officer, at the number and address below. Inquiries or complaints concerning discrimination, harassment, retaliation or sexual violence shall be referred to the College’s Affirmative Action Officer and Title IX Coordinator, Associate Vice President, Human Resources, located in the Hudnall Administration Building, (774-357-2195), the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission or the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

It is understood and agreed that it shall be a material breach of any contract resulting from this bid for the respondent to engage in any practice which shall violate any provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151B, relative to discrimination in hiring, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age or ancestry, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

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11. All materials submitted in response to this RFP, including the proposal selected for award, will be treated as public records under the Massachusetts Public Records Law once the contract referenced herein has been executed. These records may be accessed through the College’s Public Records Request process at https://bristolcc.edu/about/publicrecordsrequest/..

Respondents should clearly mark any information they consider proprietary or confidential; however, such designation does not guarantee exemption from disclosure.

N. Submission of Proposal

Proposals entitled for consideration must be made in accordance with the following instructions:

1. The following information must be submitted on the attached forms.

• Company Contact Information Exhibit A

• Complete Non-Collusion Statement. Exhibit B

• Complete Tax Compliance Certification. Exhibit C

2. No faxed responses will be accepted.

3. Proposal must be delivered electronically via email in PDF format to:

Philicia Pacheco Director of Purchasing and Business Services

Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu

4. Proposals will be received until 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2026. The bid will be publicly opened and read forthwith in Room F103 in the Physical Plant Building.

5. Bristol will not accept proposals received after 2:00 p.m. standard eastern time on April 24, 2026.

O. Timeline

1. Proposals Due Return this proposal clearly marked with "M-14-26 Slate Consultant" in the subject line no later than 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2026, to Philicia Pacheco at Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu. The bid will be publicly opened and read forthwith in Room F103 in the Physical Plant Building.

2. Proposal Awarded

The contract will be awarded by Wednesday, May 6, 2026.

mailto:BusinessServices@Bristolcc.edu mailto:Philicia.Pacheco@Bristolcc.edu

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Bristol shall use this RFP and the successful response as the basis for the final contract agreement. The winning bidder will be required to sign a Commonwealth of Massachusetts standard contract.

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Appendix A

Company Contact Information

Please complete the following:

Company Name: ____________________________________________________________

Company Address: __________________________________________________________

City: ________________________ State: ___________ Zip Code: _______________

Phone Number: ________________________ Fax Number: ________________________

Authorized Signature: ________________________________________________________

Print Name: ___________________________ Title: _______________________________

Federal Employer ID Code (9 Digits): ___________________________________________

Purchase orders cannot be issued or payment made without the Federal Employer ID Code information.

W9 Form

Please provide a copy of your W9 form with your proposal.

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Appendix C

Non-Collusion Statement

The undersigned certifies under penalties of perjury that this Proposal or Proposal has been made and submitted in good faith and without collusion or fraud with any other person. As used in this certification, the word “person” shall mean any natural person, business, partnership, corporation, union, committee, club, or other organization, entity, or group of individuals.

Authorized Signature* Date

Printed Name of Person Signing Proposal*

Name of Business

*Must be signed in ink

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Appendix D

Tax Compliance Certification

Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 62C, Section 49A, I certify under the penalties of perjury that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I am in compliance with all laws of the Commonwealth relating to taxes, reporting of employees and contractors, and withholding and remitting child support.

Authorized Signature* Date

Printed Name of Person Signing Proposal*

Name of Business

*Must be signed in ink