RFP 115-6181 Website Redesign.pdf

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Pitt Community College

Request for Proposal #: 115-6181

Website Redesign

Date of Issue: August 13, 2026

Proposal Opening Date: August 31, 2026

At 2:00 PM ET

Direct all inquiries concerning this RFP to:

Jane Alligood

Director of Purchasing & Contracts

Email: jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu

Phone: 252-493-7641 mailto:jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu

Ver: 11/2025

Request for Proposal #

115-6181

For internal State agency processing, including tabulation of proposals, provide your company’s eVP (Electronic Vendor Portal) Number. Pursuant to G.S. 132-1.10(b) this identification number shall not be released to the public.

This page will be removed and shredded, or otherwise kept confidential, before the procurement file is made available for public inspection.

This page shall be filled out and returned with your proposal.

Failure to do so may subject your proposal to rejection.

Vendor Name

Vendor eVP#

Note: For a contract to be awarded to you, your company (you) must be a North Carolina registered Vendor in good standing. You must enter the Vendor number assigned through eVP (Electronic Vendor Portal). If you do not have a Vendor number, register at https://evp.nc.gov/SignIn.

Electronic responses ONLY will be accepted for this solicitation.

https://evp.nc.gov/SignIn

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Refer ALL Inquiries to: Jane Alligood Director of Purchasing & Contracts jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu 252-493-7641

Request for Proposal #: 115-6181 Proposals will be publicly opened: August 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET

Using Agency: Pitt Community College Commodity No. and Description: 811121 Internet Services Requisition No.: N/A

EXECUTION

In compliance with this Request for Proposals (RFP), and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned Vendor offers and agrees to furnish and deliver any or all items upon which prices are bid, at the prices set opposite each item within the time specified herein.

By executing this proposal, the undersigned Vendor understands that false certification is a Class I felony and certifies that:

this proposal is submitted competitively and without collusion (G.S. 143-54), none of its officers, directors, or owners of an unincorporated business entity has been convicted of any violations of Chapter 78A of the General Statutes, the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (G.S. 143-59.2), and it is not an ineligible Vendor as set forth in G.S. 143-59.1.

Furthermore, by executing this proposal, the undersigned certifies to the best of Vendor’s knowledge and belief, that:

it and its principals are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal or State department or agency.

As required by G.S. 143-48.5, the undersigned Vendor certifies that it, and each of its sub-Contractors for any Contract awarded as a result of this RFP, complies with the requirements of Article 2 of Chapter 64 of the NC General Statutes, including the requirement for each employer with more than 25 employees in North Carolina to verify the work authorization of its employees through the federal E-Verify system.

As required by Executive Order 24 (2017), the undersigned vendor certifies will comply with all Federal and State requirements concerning fair employment and that it does not and will not discriminate, harass, or retaliate against any employee in connection with performance of any Contract arising from this solicitation.

G.S. 133-32 and Executive Order 24 (2009) prohibit the offer to, or acceptance by, any State Employee associated with the preparing plans, specifications, estimates for public contracts; or awarding or administering public contracts; or inspecting or supervising delivery of the public contract of any gift from anyone with a contract with PCC, or from any person seeking to do business with PCC. By execution of this response to the RFP, the undersigned certifies, for Vendor’s entire organization and its employees or agents, that Vendor is not aware that any such gift has been offered, accepted, or promised by any employees of your organization.

By executing this proposal, Vendor certifies that it has read and agreed to the INSTRUCTION TO VENDORS and the NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS incorporated herein. These documents can be accessed from the ATTACHMENTS page within this document.

Pitt Community College mailto:jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu

Pitt Community College RFP 115-6181 Vendor: __________________________________________

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Failure to execute/sign proposal prior to submittal shall render proposal invalid and it SHALL BE REJECTED. Late proposals shall not be accepted.

COMPLETE/FORMAL NAME OF VENDOR:

STREET ADDRESS: P.O. BOX: ZIP:

CITY & STATE & ZIP: TELEPHONE

NUMBER:

TOLL FREE TEL. NO:

PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE (SEE INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS ITEM #21):

PRINT NAME & TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING ON BEHALF OF VENDOR:

VENDOR’S AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE*: DATE: EMAIL:

VALIDITY PERIOD

Offer shall be valid for at least sixty 60 days from date of bid opening, unless otherwise stated here: ______ days, or if extended by mutual agreement of the parties in writing. Any withdrawal of this offer shall be made in writing, effective upon receipt by the agency issuing this RFP.

ACCEPTANCE OF PROPOSAL

If your proposal is accepted, all provisions of this RFP, along with the written results of any negotiations, shall constitute the written agreement between the parties (“Contract”). The NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS are incorporated herein and shall apply. Depending upon the Goods or Services being offered, other terms and conditions may apply, as mutually agreed.

FOR STATE USE ONLY: Offer accepted and Contract awarded this________ day of __________________, 20____, as indicated on the attached certification, by _______________________________________________________.

(Authorized Representative of Pitt Community College)

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Contents

1.0 PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

1.1 THE PCC DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

1.3 CONTRACT TERM

2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

2.1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENT

2.2 E-PROCUREMENT FEE

2.3 NOTICE TO VENDORS REGARDING RFP TERMS AND CONDITIONS

2.4 RFP SCHEDULE

2.5 PROPOSAL QUESTIONS

2.6 PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL

2.7 PROPOSAL CONTENTS

2.8 ALTERNATE PROPOSALS

3.0 METHOD OF AWARD AND PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

3.1 METHOD OF AWARD

3.2 CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITED COMMUNICATIONS DURING EVALUATION

3.3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

3.4 EVALUATION CRITERIA

3.5 PERFORMANCE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

3.6 INTERPRETATION OF TERMS AND PHRASES

4.0 REQUIREMENTS

4.1 PRICING

4.2 FINANCIAL STABILITY

4.3 VENDOR EXPERIENCE

4.4 REFERENCES

4.5 PERSONNEL

4.6 VENDOR’S REPRESENTATIONS

4.7 AGENCY INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS MODIFICATION

4.8 VENDOR REGISTRATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE

4.9 VENDOR REGISTRATION AND SOLICITATION NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

5.0 SPECIFICATIONS AND SCOPE OF WORK

5.1 GENERAL

5.2 SPECIFICATIONS

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5.3 TASKS/DELIVERABLES

5.4 PROJECT ORGANIZATION

5.5 TECHNICAL APPROACH

6.0 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

6.1 CONTRACT MANAGER AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

6.2 INVOICES

6.3 POST AWARD BUSINESS REVIEW MEETINGS

6.4 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

6.5 PERIODIC WEEKLY STATUS REPORTS

6.6 ACCEPTANCE OF WORK

6.7 TRANSITION ASSISTANCE

6.8 DISPUTE RESOLUTION

6.9 CONTRACT CHANGES

7.0 ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT A: PRICING

ATTACHMENT B: INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS

ATTACHMENT C: NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

ATTACHMENT D: CUSTOMER REFERENCE FORM

ATTACHMENT E: LOCATION OF WORKERS UTILIZED BY VENDOR

ATTACHMENT F: CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

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1.0 PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

Pitt Community College ("the College" or "PCC") is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide the strategy, research, user-experience design, content planning, development, migration, implementation, training, and ongoing support necessary to redesign the College's public website and create an integrated employee-facing intranet.

The public website is one of PCC's most visible and consequential communications platforms. It serves as the College's primary digital front door for prospective students, current students, employees, employers, donors, alumni, partners, and the broader community. PCC is seeking more than a website developer; the College seeks a strategic higher-education partner that can unite research, audience strategy, compelling storytelling, accessible design, reliable technology, and measurable performance to help each user find the right path and act with confidence.

1.1 THE PCC DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

The redesigned website and intranet should reflect and advance the PCC Experience: Seen. Supported. Equipped.

supporting One College. Every Student. Every Day.

The digital experience should help visitors quickly recognize that PCC understands who they are, what they need, and where they hope to go. Audience pathways, plain language, imagery, search, and navigation should make users feel recognized rather than routed through an internal organizational chart.

The website should make the path clear and reduce friction. There should be no wrong digital door at PCC; users should be guided to next steps, resources, people, programs, and services without unnecessary complexity or handoffs.

Every major pathway should help users leave the site better prepared to act, whether that action is applying, registering, requesting information, finding a program, connecting with a service, partnering with the College, making a gift, or accessing employee resources.

1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The redesigned website and intranet should support the following objectives:

• Increase prospective-student engagement and strengthen pathways from awareness to inquiry, application, registration, and enrollment.

• Present PCC's academic, workforce, continuing-education, and student-support opportunities in clear, compelling, and easily searchable ways.

• Create an audience-centered experience that helps users quickly find information, understand next steps, and complete important tasks.

• Strengthen PCC's brand and institutional storytelling by communicating the College's impact, value, people, programs, and role in regional economic development.

• Improve accessibility, mobile usability, search performance, page speed, analytics, and content quality.

• Establish a sustainable content-management and governance model that PCC staff can maintain effectively after launch.

• Provide an employee-facing intranet that moves internal content out of the public website and gives employees a clear, organized, and secure source for institutional information and resources.

• Define measurable indicators of success and establish a baseline and post-launch reporting framework for continuous improvement.

The intent of this solicitation is to award an Agency Specific Contract.

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1.3 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 one (1) year and will expire upon the anniversary date of the effective date unless otherwise stated in the Notice of Award, or unless terminated earlier.

PCC retains the option to extend the Agreement for four (4) additional one (1) year periods for the recurring costs as listed in Attachment A: Pricing, under the same terms and conditions, at its sole discretion.

Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of this RFP and any addenda issued hereto.

2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION

2.1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENT

This RFP is comprised of the base RFP document, any attachments, and any addenda released before Contract award, which are incorporated herein by reference.

2.2 E-PROCUREMENT FEE

ATTENTION: This is NOT an E-Procurement solicitation. Paragraph entitled ELECTRONIC PROCUREMENT subsections

(d) and (e) of the North Carolina General Contract Terms and Conditions, do not apply to this solicitation.

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

2.3 NOTICE TO VENDORS REGARDING RFP TERMS AND CONDITIONS

It shall be the Vendor’s responsibility to read the Instructions to Vendors, the North Carolina General Terms and Conditions, all relevant exhibits and attachments, and any other components made a part of this RFP and comply with all requirements and specifications herein. Vendors are also responsible for obtaining and complying with all Addenda and other changes that may be issued in connection with this RFP.

If Vendors have questions or issues regarding any component of this RFP, those must be submitted as questions in accordance with the instructions in the PROPOSAL QUESTIONS Section. If PCC determines that any changes will be made as a result of the questions asked, then such decisions will be communicated in the form of an RFP addendum.

PCC may also elect to leave open the possibility for later negotiation of specific provisions of the Contract that have been addressed during the question-and-answer period, prior to contract award.

Other than through the process of negotiation under 01 NCAC 05B.0503, PCC rejects and will not be required to evaluate or consider any additional or modified terms and conditions submitted with Vendor’s proposal or otherwise.

This applies to any language appearing in or attached to the document as part of the Vendor’s proposal that purports to vary any terms and conditions or Vendors’ instructions herein or to render the proposal non-binding or subject to further negotiation. Vendor’s proposal shall constitute a firm offer that shall be held open for the period required herein (“Validity Period” above).

PCC may exercise its discretion to consider Vendor proposed modifications. By execution and delivery of this RFP Response, the Vendor agrees that any additional or modified terms and conditions, whether submitted purposely or inadvertently, shall have no force or effect, and will be disregarded unless expressly agreed upon through negotiation and incorporated by way of a Best and Final Offer (BAFO). Noncompliance with, or any attempt to alter or delete, this paragraph shall constitute sufficient grounds to reject Vendor’s proposal as nonresponsive.

http://eprocurement.nc.gov/

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2.4 RFP SCHEDULE

The table below shows the intended schedule for this RFP. PCC will make every effort to adhere to this schedule.

Event Responsibility Date and Time Issue RFP PCC August 13, 2026 Submit Written Questions Vendor August 19, 2026 no later than 5:00 PM Provide Response(s) to Questions PCC August 24, 2026 no later than 5:00 PM Deadline to Submit Proposals / Bid Opening Vendor August 31, 2026 @ 2:00 PM ET Tentative Contract Award PCC September 28, 2026

2.5 PROPOSAL QUESTIONS

Upon review of the RFP documents, Vendors may have questions to clarify or interpret the RFP in order to submit the best proposal possible. To accommodate the Proposal Questions process, Vendors shall submit any such questions by the “Submit Written Questions” date and time provided in the RFP SCHEDULE Section above, unless modified by Addendum.

Written questions shall be emailed to jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu by the date and time specified above. Vendors should enter “RFP # 115-6181: Questions” as the subject for the email. Question submittals should include a reference to the applicable RFP section and be submitted in the format shown below:

Reference Vendor Question

RFP Section, Page Number Vendor question …?

Questions received prior to the submission deadline date, PCC’s response, and any additional terms deemed necessary by PCC will be posted in the form of an addendum to the electronic Vendor Portal (eVP), https://evp.nc.gov, and shall become an Addendum to this RFP. No information, instruction or advice provided orally or informally by any State personnel, whether made in response to a question or otherwise in connection with this RFP, shall be considered authoritative or binding. Vendors shall rely only on written material contained in the RFP and an addendum to this RFP.

2.6 PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an absolute requirement. Late bids, regardless of cause, will not be opened or considered, and will be automatically disqualified from further consideration. Vendor shall bear the sole risk of late submission due to unintended or unanticipated delay. It is the Vendor’s sole responsibility to ensure its proposal has been received as described in this RFP by the specified time and date of opening. The time and date of receipt will be marked on each proposal when received. Any proposal or portion thereof received after the proposal deadline will be rejected.

If applicable to this RFP and using eVP, all proposal responses shall be submitted electronically via the electronic Vendor Portal (eVP). Additional information can be found at the eVP updates for Vendors link:

https://eprocurement.nc.gov/news-events/evp-updates-vendors.

If confidential and proprietary information is included in the proposal, also submit one (1) signed, REDACTED copy of the proposal. Such information may include trade secrets defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-152 and other information exempted from the Public Records Act pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §132- 1.2. Vendor may designate information, Products, Services or appropriate portions of its response as confidential, consistent with and to the extent permitted under the statutes and rules set forth above. By so redacting any page, or portion of a page, the Vendor warrants that it has formed a good faith opinion, having received such necessary or proper review by counsel and other knowledgeable advisors, that the portions determined to be confidential and proprietary and redacted as such, meet mailto:jralligood610@my.pittcc.edu https://evp.nc.gov/ https://eprocurement.nc.gov/news-events/evp-updates-vendors

Ver: 11/2025 8 the requirements of the Rules and Statutes set forth above. However, under no circumstances shall price information be designated as confidential.

If the Vendor does not provide a redacted version of the proposal with its proposal submission, the Department may release an unredacted version if a record request is received.

Failure to submit a proposal in strict accordance with these instructions shall constitute sufficient cause to reject a Vendor’s proposal(s). Vendors are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to upload proposals.

Critical updated information may be included in Addenda to this RFP. It is important that all Vendors responding to this RFP periodically check the State’s eVP website for any Addenda that may be issued prior to the bid opening date. All Vendors shall be deemed to have read and understood all information in this RFP and all Addenda thereto.

2.7 PROPOSAL CONTENTS

Vendors shall populate all attachments of this RFP that require the Vendor to provide information and include an authorized signature where requested. Failure to provide all required items, or Vendor’s submission of incomplete items, may result in PCC rejecting Vendor’s proposal, in PCC’s sole discretion.

Vendor RFP responses shall include the following items and attachments, which shall be arranged in the following order:

a) Cover Letter, which must contain the following: (i) a statement that confirms that the proposer has read the RFP in its entirety, including all links, and all Addenda released in conjunction with the RFP, (ii) a statement that the Vendor agrees to perform in accordance with the scope of work, requirements, and specifications contained herein; and (iii) Vendor’s agreement to comply with all instructions, terms and conditions, and attachments.

b) Title Page: Include the company name, address, phone number and authorized representative along with the Proposal Number.

c) Completed and signed version of all EXECUTION PAGES, along with the body of the RFP.

d) Signed receipt pages of any addenda released in conjunction with this RFP, if required to be returned.

e) Vendor’s Proposal addressing all Specifications of this RFP. At a minimum, the proposal shall demonstrate the Vendor’s understanding of PCC’s objectives outlined in section 5.0, Specifications and Scope of Work, and describe how the proposed solution will meet or exceed each requirement.

f) Completed 6.1 CONTRACT MANAGER AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

g) Completed version of ATTACHMENT A: PRICING

h) Completed version of ATTACHMENT B: INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS

i) Completed version of ATTACHMENT C: NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

j) Completed version of ATTACHMENT D: CUSTOMER REFERENCE FORM

k) Completed version of ATTACHMENT E: LOCATION OF WORKERS UTILIZED BY VENDOR

l) Completed and signed version of ATTACHMENT F: CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

2.8 ALTERNATE PROPOSALS

Unless provided otherwise in this RFP, Vendor may submit alternate proposals for comparable Goods, various methods or levels of Service(s), or that propose different options. Alternate proposals must specifically identify the RFP requirements and advantage(s) addressed by the alternate proposal. Any alternate proposal, in addition to the marking described above, must be clearly marked with the legend: “Alternate Proposal #___ [for ‘name of Vendor’]”. Each

Ver: 11/2025 9 proposal must be for a specific set of Goods and Services and must include specific pricing. If a Vendor chooses to respond with various offerings, each must be offered with a separate price and be contained in a separate proposal document. Each proposal must be complete and independent of other proposals offered.

3.0 METHOD OF AWARD AND PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

3.1 METHOD OF AWARD

North Carolina G.S. 143-52 provides a general list of criteria the State shall use to award contracts, as supplemented by the additional criteria herein. The Goods or Services being procured shall dictate the application and order of criteria; however, all award decisions shall be in PCC’s best interest. All qualified proposals will be evaluated, and awards will be made to the Vendor(s) meeting the specific RFP Specifications and achieving the highest and best final evaluation, based on the criteria described below.

While the intent of this RFP is to award a Contract(s) to a single Vendor, PCC reserves the right to make separate awards to different Vendors for one or more line items, to not award one or more line items or to cancel this RFP in its entirety without awarding a Contract, if it is considered to be most advantageous to PCC to do so.

PCC reserves the right to waive any minor informality or technicality in proposals received.

3.2 CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITED COMMUNICATIONS DURING EVALUATION

While this RFP is under evaluation, the responding Vendor, including any subcontractors and suppliers, is prohibited from engaging in conversations intended to influence the outcome of the evaluation. See Paragraph 29 of the Instructions to Vendors entitled COMMUNICTIONS BY VENDORS.

Each Vendor submitting a proposal to this RFP, including its employees, agents, subcontractors, suppliers, subsidiaries and affiliates, is prohibited from having any communications with any person inside or outside the using agency; issuing agency; other government agency office or body (including the procurement lead named above, any department secretary, agency head, members of the General Assembly and Governor’s office); or private entity, if the communication refers to the content of Vendor’s proposal or qualifications, the content of another Vendor’s proposal, another Vendor’s qualifications or ability to perform a resulting contract, and/or the transmittal of any other communication of information that could be reasonably considered to have the effect of directly or indirectly influencing the evaluation of proposals, the award of a contract, or both.

Any Vendor not in compliance with this provision shall be disqualified from evaluation and award. A Vendor’s proposal may be disqualified if its subcontractor and/or supplier engage in any of the foregoing communications during the time that the procurement is active (i.e., the issuance date of the procurement until the date of contract award or cancellation of the procurement). Only those discussions, communications or transmittals of information authorized or initiated by the issuing agency for this RFP or inquiries directed to the procurement lead named in this RFP regarding requirements of the RFP (prior to proposal submission) or the status of the award (after submission) are excepted from this provision.

3.3 PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Only responsive submissions will be evaluated.

PCC will conduct a One-Step evaluation of Proposals:

Proposals will be received according to the method stated in the Proposal Submittal Section above.

All proposals must be received by the issuing agency not later than the date and time specified in the RFP SCHEDULE Section above, unless modified by Addendum. Vendors are cautioned that this is a request for offers, not an offer

Ver: 11/2025 10 or request to contract, and PCC reserves the unqualified right to reject any and all offers at any time if such rejection is deemed to be in the best interest of PCC.

At the date and time provided in the RFP SCHEDULE Section above, unless modified by Addendum, the proposal from each responding Vendor will be opened publicly and all offers (except those that have been previously withdrawn, or voided bids) will be tabulated. The tabulation shall be made public at the time it is created. When negotiations after receipt of bids are authorized pursuant to G.S. 143-49 and 01 NCAC 05B.0503, only the names of offerors and the Goods and Services offered shall be tabulated at the time of opening. If negotiation is anticipated, cost and price shall become available for public inspection at the time of the award. Interested parties are cautioned that these costs and their components are subject to further evaluation for completeness and correctness and therefore may not be an exact indicator of a Vendor’s pricing position.

At their option, the evaluators may request oral presentations or discussions with any or all Vendors for clarification or to amplify the materials presented in any part of the proposal. Vendors are cautioned, however, that the evaluators are not required to request presentations or other clarification—and often do not. Therefore, all proposals should be complete and reflect the most favorable terms available from the Vendor.

Upon completion of the evaluation process, PCC will make award(s) based on the evaluation and post the award(s) to the State’s eVP website under the RFP number for this solicitation. Award of a Contract to one Vendor does not mean that the other proposals lacked merit, but that, all factors considered, the selected proposal was deemed most advantageous and represented the best value to PCC.

PCC reserves the right to negotiate with one or more vendors, or to reject all original offers and negotiate with one or more sources of supply that may be capable of satisfying the requirement, and in either case to require Vendor to submit a Best and Final Offer (BAFO) based on discussions and negotiations with PCC.

3.4 EVALUATION CRITERIA

In addition to the general criteria in G.S. 143-52 which may or may not be relevant to this RFP, all qualified proposals will be evaluated, and award made based on considering the following criteria, to result in an award most advantageous to PCC:

Technical (90 Maximum Points)

Criterion What is Evaluated Maximum Points

Strategic Understanding, Audience Strategy and User Experience

Understanding of PCC's vision, audiences, and institutional context; ability to translate the PCC Digital Experience into intuitive user journeys; information architecture; enrollment and conversion thinking;

program pathways; current-student support;

employer/economic-development pathway; and usability across desktop and mobile experiences.

Accessibility Approach Depth and credibility of WCAG 2.1 Level AA implementation or above; default-accessible templates and components; accessibility testing;

remediation process; multimedia accessibility;

document guidance; and training for content contributors.

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Technical Approach, CMS, Security & Maintainability

Ease of use for non-technical authors; WordPress implementation or justified alternative; role-based workflow; approval and reversion; platform architecture; performance; security; SEO; analytics;

integrations; intranet approach; documentation; and long-term sustainability.

Content Strategy, Migration & Governance

Soundness of the content audit, cleaning, rewriting, prioritization, migration, redirect strategy, internal-content transition, program-page strategy, governance model, ownership plan, and post-launch content maintenance approach.

Experience, Team, References & Work Samples

Relevant work, especially higher-education and community-college, public-sector, enrollment-marketing, accessibility, WordPress, and content-governance projects; quality of references; credentials and relevant experience of named team members;

and strength of comparable work samples or case studies.

Project Management, Timeline, Training and Support

Aggressive but realistic schedule within the 12-month ceiling; project-management approach; staffing continuity; decision points; risk management; training plan; knowledge transfer; launch support; and post-launch optimization approach.

Price (10 Maximum Points)

What is Evaluated Maximum Points

Itemized cost breakdown; completeness of pricing; reasonableness of assumptions; one-time and recurring costs; total cost of ownership; and value delivered. Lowest price does not automatically win.

3.5 PERFORMANCE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

Vendor shall complete ATTACHMENT E: LOCATION OF WORKERS UTILIZED BY VENDOR. In addition to any other evaluation criteria identified in this RFP, PCC may also consider, for purposes of evaluating proposed or actual contract performance outside of the United States, how that performance may affect the following factors to ensure that any award will be in the best interest of PCC:

a) Total cost to PCC

b) Level of quality provided by the Vendor

c) Process and performance capability across multiple jurisdictions

d) Protection of PCC’s information and intellectual property

e) Availability of pertinent skills

f) Ability to understand PCC’s business requirements and internal operational culture

g) Particular risk factors such as the security of PCC’s information technology

h) Relations with citizens and employees

i) Contract enforcement jurisdictional issues

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3.6 INTERPRETATION OF TERMS AND PHRASES

This RFP serves two functions: (1) to advise potential Vendors of the parameters of the solution being sought by PCC;

and (2) to provide (together with other specified documents) the terms of the Contract resulting from this procurement. The use of phrases such as “shall,” “must,” and “requirements” are intended to create enforceable contract conditions. In determining whether proposals should be evaluated or rejected, PCC will take into consideration the degree to which Vendors have proposed or failed to propose solutions that will satisfy PCC’s needs as described in the RFP. Except as specifically stated in the RFP, no one requirement shall automatically disqualify a Vendor from consideration. However, failure to comply with any single requirement may result in PCC exercising its discretion to reject a proposal in its entirety.

4.0 REQUIREMENTS

This Section lists the requirements related to this RFP. By submitting a proposal, the Vendor agrees to meet all stated requirements in this Section as well as any other specifications, requirements, and terms and conditions stated in this RFP. If a Vendor is unclear about a requirement or specification, or believes a change to a requirement would allow for PCC to receive a better proposal, the Vendor is urged to submit these items in the form of a question during the question-and-answer period in accordance with the Proposal Questions Section above.

4.1 PRICING

Proposal price shall constitute the total cost to PCC for complete performance in accordance with the requirements and specifications herein, including all applicable charges for handling, transportation, administrative and other similar fees. Complete ATTACHMENT A: PRICING FORM and include in Vendor’s proposal. The pricing provided in ATTACHMENT A, or resulting from any negotiations, is incorporated herein and shall become part of any resulting Contract.

4.2 FINANCIAL STABILITY

As a condition of contract award, the Vendor must certify that it has the financial capacity to perform and to continue to perform its obligations under the Contract; that Vendor has no constructive or actual knowledge of an actual or potential legal proceeding being brought against Vendor that could materially adversely affect performance of this Contract; and that entering into this Contract is not prohibited by any contract, or order by any court of competent jurisdiction.

Each Vendor shall certify it is financially stable by completing ATTACHMENT G: CERTIFICATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION. PCC is requiring this certification to minimize potential issues from contracting with a Vendor that is financially unstable. From the date of the Certification to the expiration of the Contract, the Vendor shall notify PCC within thirty (30) days of any occurrence or condition that materially alters the truth of any statement made in this Certification. The Contract Manager may require annual recertification of the Vendor’s financial stability.

4.3 VENDOR EXPERIENCE

In its Proposal, Vendor shall demonstrate experience with public and/or private sector clients with similar or greater size and complexity to PCC. Vendor shall provide information as to the qualifications and experience of all executive, managerial, legal, and professional personnel to be assigned to this project, including resumes citing experience with similar projects and the responsibilities to be assigned to each person.

4.4 REFERENCES

Vendor shall provide at least three (3) references (one minimum from education), using ATTACHMENT E: CUSTOMER REFERENCE FORM, for which it has provided Services of similar size and scope to those proposed herein. PCC may contact these users to determine whether the Services provided are substantially similar in scope to those proposed

Ver: 11/2025 13 herein and whether Vendor’s performance has been satisfactory. The information obtained may be considered in the evaluation of the Proposal.

4.5 PERSONNEL

Vendor warrants that qualified personnel shall provide Services under this Contract in a professional manner.

“Professional manner” means that the personnel performing the Services will possess the skill and competence consistent with the prevailing business standards in the industry. Vendor will serve as the prime contractor under this Contract and shall be responsible for the performance and payment of all subcontractor(s) that may be approved by PCC. Names of any third-party Vendors or subcontractors of Vendor may appear for purposes of convenience in Contract documents; and shall not limit Vendor’s obligations hereunder. Vendor will retain executive representation for functional and technical expertise as needed in order to incorporate any work by third party subcontractor(s).

Should the Vendor’s proposal result in an award, the Vendor shall be required to agree that it will not substitute key personnel assigned to the performance of the Contract without prior written approval by the Contract Lead. Vendor shall further agree that it will notify the Contract Lead of any desired substitution, including the name(s) and references of Vendor’s recommended substitute personnel. PCC will approve or disapprove the requested substitution in a timely manner. PCC may, in its sole discretion, terminate the Services of any person providing Services under this Contract.

Upon such termination, PCC may request acceptable substitute personnel or terminate the contract Services provided by such personnel.

4.6 VENDOR’S REPRESENTATIONS

If Vendor’s Proposal results in an award, Vendor agrees that it will not enter any agreement with a third party that may abridge any rights of PCC under the Contract. If any Services, deliverables, functions, or responsibilities not specifically described in this solicitation are required for Vendor’s proper performance, provision and delivery of the Service and deliverables under a resulting Contract, or are an inherent part of or necessary sub-task included within such Service, they will be deemed to be implied by and included within the scope of the Contract to the same extent and in the same manner as if specifically described in the Contract. Unless otherwise expressly provided herein, Vendor will furnish all of its own necessary management, supervision, labor, facilities, furniture, computer and telecommunications equipment, software, supplies and materials necessary for the Vendor to provide and deliver the Services and/or other Deliverables.

4.7 AGENCY INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS MODIFICATION

Vendor shall maintain Cyber Liability Insurance throughout the contract term, including coverage for network security/privacy liability, breach response costs, regulatory defense (where insurable), cyber extortion/ransomware, data recovery, and third-party liability arising from unauthorized access or disclosure of information. Proof of coverage shall be provided upon request. Failure to maintain coverage may constitute a material breach of contract.

A. Default Insurance Coverage from the General Terms and Conditions applicable to this Solicitation:

☐ Small Purchases

☒ Contract value in excess of the Small Purchase threshold, but up to $1,000,000.00

☐ Contract value in excess of $1,000,000.00

Ver: 11/2025 14

4.8 VENDOR REGISTRATION WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Vendors do not have to be registered with the NC Secretary of State to submit an offer; however, in order to receive an award/contract with PCC, they must be registered. Registration can be completed at the following website:

https://www.sosnc.gov/Guides/lauching_a_business.

4.9 VENDOR REGISTRATION AND SOLICITATION NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

The NC electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) allows Vendors to electronically register with the State to receive electronic notification of current procurement opportunities for goods and Services available at the following website:

https://evp.nc.gov.

This RFP is available electronically on the electronic Vendor Portal (eVP) at the following website: https://evp.nc.gov.

5.0 SPECIFICATIONS AND SCOPE OF WORK

5.1 GENERAL

Pitt Community College ("PCC" or "the College") is seeking proposals from qualified firms to redesign, rebuild, and migrate its public website and to develop an employee-facing intranet or internal content solution. The work should be guided by the PCC Digital Experience and should strengthen the College's ability to recruit and enroll students, support current students and employees, engage employers and community partners, communicate institutional impact, and provide clear next steps for every major audience.

Pitt Community College will select the most qualified vendor to provide:

• Discovery, analytics review, and current-state assessment of the existing website, including strengths, risks, content quality, navigation, accessibility, SEO, performance, and user pain points

• Audience strategy, information architecture, sitemap recommendations, user journeys, content strategy, design, development, implementation, and launch services

• A cost-effective, efficient, secure, and easily managed web environment that supports accessibility, usability, performance, search, analytics, and long-term maintainability

• A redesigned website that complies with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards and targets WCAG

2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance or higher

• Configuration and installation of the new website and all accepted components in the agreed-upon PCC technical environment

• Implementation of any approved hardware, software, plugins, integrations, forms, search tools, analytics tools, or other components required to support and maintain the website and intranet

• Documentation of the Vendor's information security program, hosting or server assumptions, security controls, regulatory compliance, third-party risk management, backup and recovery approach, and administrative access model

• Knowledge transfer, training, documentation, and governance recommendations that enable PCC staff to maintain the website and intranet effectively after launch

• Post-launch support and ongoing maintenance options that augment support PCC staff members will provide, including recommended service levels, response times, update practices, and continuous-improvement reporting

Note: If the Vendor proposes a website, intranet, plugin, software, template, design system, image, code library, or other component that includes licensing, copyright, subscription, hosting, or renewal requirements, those requirements must be clearly identified in the proposal and pricing. Pitt Community College will retain ownership of https://www.sosnc.gov/Guides/lauching_a_business

Ver: 11/2025 15 its content, data, website structure, and custom work product to the fullest extent allowed under the resulting Contract and will maintain the site internally with PCC staff, with Vendor support as contracted.

5.2 SPECIFICATIONS

The specific items and any specifications that the Procurement Entity is seeking are listed below. Items offered by the Vendor must meet or exceed the listed Specifications to be considered for award.

Design and User Experience

a. The website should be designed as a user-centered digital experience that reflects the PCC Experience and helps visitors feel seen, supported, and equipped.

b. The website should feature a consistent, flexible design system with modular page templates, reusable content blocks, clear calls to action, and accessible components that PCC can sustain after launch.

c. The website should incorporate current web design and user-experience best practices and be designed to support the needs of diverse audiences including:

• Prospective students

• Current students

• Parents and families

• Faculty and staff

• Community members and stakeholders

• Employers, workforce partners, and economic-development partners

• Donors, alumni, and friends of the College

• Prospective employees and applicants

d. The Vendor should describe how the design will provide audience-specific navigation, content, user pathways, and calls to action without requiring users to understand PCC's internal structure.

e. The website should utilize responsive, adaptive, and mobile-first design to provide a consistent and high-quality experience across devices, screen sizes, browsers, and network conditions.

f. The website should serve as a strategic marketing, recruitment, student-support, workforce-engagement, and reputation-building tool that supports enrollment and highlights institutional strengths.

g. Program pages, admissions pathways, financial-aid information, workforce training options, student services, and contact points should be structured so users can quickly understand eligibility, cost, next steps, deadlines, support services, and whom to contact.

h. The design should incorporate authentic PCC storytelling, including student outcomes, faculty and staff expertise, workforce impact, donor and partner engagement, and the College's role in the region.

ADA Compliance

a. The website should conform to ADA compliance standards as outlined in federal guidelines. PCC is targeting

WCAG 2.1 Level AA or above as the desired level of accessibility compliance, including accessible templates, components, navigation, forms, documents, multimedia, and content authoring practices.

b. The Vendor should outline how accessibility will be designed, tested, remediated, documented, and maintained over time, including manual and automated testing procedures, auditing tools, training, and guidance for content contributors.

Ver: 11/2025 16

Platform and Technology

a. The design should integrate seamlessly with PCC's current platform, WordPress, unless the Vendor clearly identifies and justifies an alternative approach that better serves PCC's accessibility, security, support, ownership, staffing, and long-term maintenance requirements.

b. The proposed platform should support long-term scalability, security, performance, search, integrations, content governance, analytics, and future programs, services, and content.

Content Management and Best Practices

a. The website should utilize an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) that allows authorized non-technical College staff to create, edit, review, approve, publish, archive, and manage web content with appropriate permissions.

b. Content should be editable through web-based forms, tools, templates, and reusable components without programming knowledge.

c. The system should support a content-governance workflow that allows pages to be drafted, reviewed, approved, published, archived, and updated on a defined schedule.

d. The workflow should allow configurable permissions and approval levels, enabling different access levels for contributors, editors, approvers, administrators, and intranet users.

e. The Vendor should describe best practices for content organization, plain-language writing, governance, content ownership, review cycles, retirement of outdated pages, and long-term content maintenance.

f. The Vendor should recommend strategies for improving or restructuring the current website content architecture, including navigation, taxonomy, program information, student-service information, search, and the separation of internal-facing content from public-facing pages.

g. Vendors should describe their strategy for migrating content from the existing Pitt Community College website to the new platform, including methods for inventorying, organizing, cleaning, rewriting, prioritizing, redirecting, and validating content during the transition. The migration strategy should identify assumptions, exclusions, roles for PCC staff, quality-control checkpoints, and treatment of documents, forms, media, and outdated pages.

Functionality and Performance

a. The website should be optimized for fast loading speeds, Strong Web Vitals, and reliable performance across devices and network conditions.

b. The website must function reliably across major web browsers and current supported operating systems, with documented browser and device testing before launch.

c. The website should support advanced search capabilities, including filtering, extended search features, program and service discovery, and user-friendly results that reduce dead ends.

d. The website should allow the embedding and display of accessible multimedia content, including captioned videos, images, stories, virtual tours, social media, and other digital media.

e. The Vendor should explain how the website will support search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, structured content, metadata, redirects, and discoverability across traditional search engines and AI-powered search experiences.

f. The website should support integration with web analytics tools to monitor traffic, engagement, conversion pathways, search behavior, accessibility, content performance, and overall site performance. Vendors should describe how analytics platforms such as Google Analytics or similar tools will be implemented, how baseline metrics will be established, and how reporting insights may be used to improve user experience, enrollment pathways, content strategy, and continuous improvement after launch.

Ver: 11/2025 17

g. The website should include clear and consistent calls to action for applying, requesting information, finding programs, registering, contacting PCC, giving, partnering with the College, and accessing current-student and employee resources.

h. The Vendor should describe recommended integrations, forms, data flows, and handoff points needed to support enrollment, student service, marketing, workforce engagement, Foundation communications, and internal communications.

i. The Vendor should provide a redirect, broken-link, and launch quality-assurance strategy to preserve search performance and reduce user frustration during and after migration.

Security, Privacy, and Data Protection Requirements Vendor shall:

a. Use secure development and operational practices.

b. Maintain current security patches and updates.

c. Protect administrative access from unauthorized use.

d. Encrypt sensitive information in transit and at rest.

e. Maintain backup, monitoring, and incident-response capabilities appropriate to the services provided.

f. Cooperate with PCC security reviews and notify PCC of material changes affecting security, availability, or compliance.

g. Ensure all PCC data remains the property of the College.

h. Upon contract termination or expiration, return all College data in a mutually agreed-upon format and securely destroy any remaining copies unless retention is required by law.

i. Maintain documented business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities sufficient to restore services and

PCC data following outages, disasters, or cybersecurity incidents.

Suggested Sites

The table below provides examples of websites that exemplify specific qualities Pitt Community College hopes to see in its newly redesigned website.

School Name URL Notes

Carteret Community College www.carteret.edu/ Homepage audience orientation, “At a glance” content, “I’m most interested in” pathways, and menu approach.

Lenoir Community College https://www.lenoircc.edu/

Homepage search visibility and concise program pages with program details, information, and contact points.

Beaufort Community College https://www.beaufortccc.edu/ Interactive elements, motion, and clean design; useful as inspiration for engagement without sacrificing accessibility or performance.

Cape Fear Community College www.cfcc.edu/ https://cfcc.edu/admissions/admi ssions-steps/

Homepage video treatment with text overlay and an admissions pathway that serves different student types.

http://www.carteret.edu/ https://www.lenoircc.edu/ https://www.beaufortccc.edu/…