Q&A for ISAC’s Electronic Transcript Services RFP B-49281

1. Has funding for this engagement already been appropriated at the State level? If State funding mechanisms have already been appropriated, over what period of time is the solution funded? If funding for this engagement has not already been appropriated, how does ISAC anticipate funding being secured?

This contract is contingent upon and subject to the availability of funds. The State, at its sole option, may terminate or suspend this contract, in whole or in part, without penalty or further payment being required, if (1) the Illinois General Assembly or the federal funding source fails to make an appropriation sufficient to pay such obligation, or if funds needed are insufficient for any reason (30 ILCS 500/20-60), (2) the Governor decreases the Agency’s funding by reserving some or all of the Agency’s appropriation(s) pursuant to power delegated to the Governor by the Illinois General Assembly, or (3) the Agency determines, in its sole discretion or as directed by the Office of the Governor, that a reduction is necessary or advisable based upon actual or projected budgetary considerations. Contractor will be notified in writing of the failure of appropriation or of a reduction or decrease.

2. Will the state pay the vendor directly for any and all school districts’ expenses so there is no cost to Illinois schools for sending current students’ transcripts electronically?

ISAC will pay the vendor directly for all services covered under this RFP. For services outside the scope of the RFP, the vendor would need to work with the school.

3. Will alumni requesters be responsible for the cost of requesting their credentials?

Alumni services are not covered under this RFP. It would be up to the high school to determine if they will cover any of the costs or if the cost will be incurred by the alumni.

4. May pricing for any additional services/solutions be included in this bid, or will the vendor be negotiating with each individual school once the award has been determined?

Only services within the scope of the RFP should be included within the vendor’s response.

5. Can vendors append additional information to the pricing page that describes our unique pricing methodology?

Vendors must follow the pricing instructions in Section Pricing of the RFP, which require that pricing be entered in the Items Tab of BidBuy and prohibit entering any cost or discount details in the “Alternate Description” field. Vendors may upload supplemental documentation if they wish to provide narrative explanation or methodology, as long as it does not conflict with or replace the required format.

6. Should any of the following pricing information be included in the response? Alumni transaction fee, third party transaction fee, print and handling fees?

Only costs within the scope of this RFP should be included. Alumni services are excluded. Print and handling fees as well as third party transaction fees should only be included if they are directly tied to transcript services required under this RFP.

7. Will payment for services be made annually upfront, or does the State require an alternative pay schedule?

Payment for services under this contract will be made on a quarterly basis. Vendors should structure their invoicing accordingly.

8. For which institutions in Illinois is this solicitation applicable? Public, private, charter, or all?

All Illinois high schools.

9. Does Illinois have a student information system (SIS) and/or data warehouse for all Illinois district transcript data, or does the state intend for individual districts’ SISs to connect with the vendor’s solution?

The State of Illinois does not have a student information system or data warehouse for district transcript data that all Illinois high schools use.

10. Does ISAC maintain Illinois-specific transcript development engagements with all the SIS vendors in the state?

No.

11. In the Line Items tab of BidBuy, we understand that bidders should enter a cost in the Unit Cost textbox and NOT in the Alternate Description textbox. However, do bidders also need to enter anything in the Discount %, Tax Rate, or Freight boxes/dropdowns? Please confirm if those items are mandatory, optional, or not applicable.

Those items are optional.

12. RFP C.1 states that a required document titled “References” must be submitted in the Required Attachments section of BidBuy. However, no such document appears in BidBuy or within the solicitation package. Could you clarify whether there is a specific reference form that bidders are expected to complete, or if the requirement is simply to upload a document containing customer references?

Vendors may use their own format to list references, provided the document includes the information required under Section F.3.7 — companies, institutions, or organizations served; dates of service; and scope of electronic transcript services provided. This can be part of the technical proposal document or uploaded separately.

13. Regarding references, please confirm whether ISAC is seeking a certain number of statewide partner references or if the vendor’s inclusion of district and/or institutional references alongside statewide references is acceptable.

Vendor should provide a list of any companies, institutions, and organizations to whom the vendor has provided comprehensive web-based electronic transcript information services, and the dates of services provided, as outlined in this RFP. Points will be awarded by taking into consideration the number of clients the vendor has provided these services to, the number of students/parents served at each client with these services, and the number of years that services were provided to the client.

14. What is the total number of high schools where ISAC plans to deploy this solution? Can we get a confirmed count?

ISAC will make services under this RFP available to all Illinois high schools. ISAC is not the state agency that has oversight over Illinois high schools; that agency is the Illinois State Board of Education.

15. How many students are expected to be covered under this project?

Per Section B2 of the RFP, based on past usage with prior vendors, the following is an estimate of the potential volume of comprehensive electronic transcript information identified in the RFP: Calendar Year annual: Calendar Year 2024 – 169,584. usage information is no guarantee of the amount of utilization of any services the selected vendor will provide.

16. Which Student Information Systems (SIS) are currently in use across the high schools? Can you please provide us the list of SIS.

No. We don’t have this information.

17. What integration methods are expected or supported (e.g., API, REST, SFTP, other standards)?

The vendor must be able to provide an already established comprehensive web-based electronic transcripts exchange platform that can be integrated for data uploads and downloads with high school Student Information Systems (SIS) that will allow Illinois high schools to electronically submit student transcripts to college and universities and other organizations with an e-mail address.

18. Does each high school have a dedicated technical team to support implementation and integration, or will this be handled centrally? If there are specific technical teams or outsource partners, I hope ISAC will provide us with the coordinate of the same for smooth implementation.

ISAC does not know the staff at each school who is involved with high school implementation of technical solutions.

19. Can the project be deployed and supported remotely, or is on-site implementation at each school required?

Yes, it can be deployed and supported remotely or on-site per the vendor’s response to the RFP.

20. Regarding the “print and mail” requirement: Are you expecting the vendor to provide the full printing and mailing service? Or is the expectation that the vendor enables schools to manage printing locally and then send transcripts to universities?

The vendor should provide print and mailing services.

21. What are the specific “technical requirements” that must be demonstrated during the demo session? Should we prepare only a dashboard demo, or can you give us what is expected to showcase.

For the demonstration we want to view the school experience, student experience, and information available to ISAC, as well as how ISAC will view and access this information. Please refer to F.5 of the RFP doc.

22. Are there any mandated standard technology frameworks that the proposed solution must adhere to?

The vendor must be able to provide an already established comprehensive web-based electronic transcripts exchange platform that can be integrated for data uploads and downloads with high school Student Information Systems (SIS) that will allow Illinois high schools to electronically submit student transcripts to college and universities and other organizations with an e-mail address. Vendor must also meet the security requirements in Section F.2 of the RFP..

23. For ongoing coordination, will the vendor interact with each school individually, or will ISAC provide centralized contacts/representatives for groups of schools?

The vendor will work directly with participating schools.

24. Since Parchment is the current solution provider, what are the key gaps or shortcomings you want the new provider to address? Specifically, what improvements or differences are you looking for in the new solution?

The needs for this procurement have been outlined in the RFP.

25. Which specific cloud platform does ISAC expect the solution to be deployed on?

ISAC does not have a specific cloud platform. The vendor must be able to provide an already established comprehensive web-based electronic transcripts exchange platform that can be integrated for data uploads and downloads with high school Student Information Systems (SIS) that will allow Illinois high schools to electronically submit student transcripts to college and universities and other organizations with an e-mail address. Vendor must also meet the security requirements in Section F.2 of the RFP.

26. Considering the short implementation timeline, does ISAC have any guidance or preferred approach for rolling out the solution across 500+ schools?

ISAC will collaborate with the vendor on an approach for rolling out the solution. Per Section F.3.8.3 of the RFP, the vendor should include any recommended implementation plan in their RFP response.

27. What pricing model does ISAC anticipate per user, per school, or per document?

ISAC has structured the BidBuy pricing line items as a comprehensive electronic transcript exchange platform service, with costs entered by contract year (Year 1 through Year 5) and renewal years 1 & 2. Vendors should therefore provide annual pricing for the platform service as set up in the Items Tab of BidBuy. Pricing should cover all required services within the scope of the RFP.