RFP No 6444 - Workforce_and_Continuing_Ed_Mgmt. System.docx

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

No. 6444

Workforce Development and Continuing Education Management System

Proposals Due:

Friday, August 1, 2025, at 2:00 p.m.

Submit Proposal To:

costellod@macomb.edu bids@macomb.edu

Macomb Community College Purchasing Department 14500 Twelve Mile Road Warren, MI 48088-3896 (Mailing Address)

Request for Proposal No. 6444 Released, July 14, 2025

Dennis Costello Purchasing Director

(586) 445-7308 RFP No. 6444 July 14, 2025

Workforce Development & Continuing Education Management System costellod@macomb.edu

PROJECT OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND

Project Overview

This document presents functional requirements for the project known as Macomb Community College Workforce and Continuing Education Student Information System to be implemented by Macomb Community College on an annual contract.

Macomb Community College is issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a student information system for our Workforce Development and Continuing Education course and program offerings. The proposed solution should allow users to create courses, course sections, programs, transcript grades and credentials earned, and produce certificates of completion. It should allow users to easily find, register and pay or be invoiced for courses using multiple payment sources including cash, charge, financial aid, corporate, and/or sponsored billing. Users should have access to self-service capabilities to search, register, pay for classes and review transcripts. Instructors should be able to mark attendance, grade, and print rosters from the system. Corporate clients should have similar access to register employees in batch or individually into Macomb’s courses/programs. Additionally, corporations need to be able to be invoiced and pay for employees’ classes. The system should have comprehensive reporting capabilities to provide data and analytics on programs, courses, students, and company performance, including financial transactions, add/drop history, go-no-go decision making and more.

The system will need to interface with the college’s student information system, Colleague running a Unidata database. Proposals for on-premises solutions are acceptable, but cloud based are preferred and contain a higher weighting when evaluating the solutions.

The project’s requirements are more fully described in Section 4 and on the accompanying Bid Response Criteria List Form (Excel file).

Background Information

Located in Southeastern Michigan, Macomb Community College (MCC) is the largest community college in Michigan providing more than 30,000 students with innovative learning experiences that create pathways in personal advancement and drive economic vitality. MCC has been fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1970. MCC offers pre-college programs, continuing and professional education programs, customized workforce training and many cultural and community service programs.

Macomb Community College makes its academic programs available throughout the year by operating on a calendar that includes fall and winter semesters and abbreviated spring and summer terms. Courses are offered 7 days a week throughout the year during the day, late afternoon, and evening hours. In addition to the academic programs, Macomb offers workforce development training and continuing education opportunities for individuals who want to grow personally and professionally, or corporations interested in developing contract training to educate their employees.

Instruction for over 1,600 workforce and continuing education courses is delivered in 41 buildings on multiple campuses and several satellite sites throughout Macomb County.

Contract training is company specific courses which are not open to all students. We must be able to bill per student enrollment, flat costs, or a combination of both. Macomb has approximately 400 corporate partnerships.

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS AND CONDITIONS

Intent

It is the intent of Macomb Community College through this Request for Proposal and contract conditions contained herein, to establish to the greatest extent possible, complete clarity regarding the requirements of both parties to the Agreement resulting from the Request for Proposal. Providers (Vendors) with relevant experience and the ability to provide the necessary services in a timely fashion are encouraged to apply.

Specifications for the proposal are listed herein. All proposals must be for material, labor and services that meet or exceed all specifications described. Proposals for services that deviate from these specifications may be considered invalid.

Schedule of Events

Proposal Clarifications

Clarifications will be accepted until the cut-off period and should be in written form only and include vendor name, contact name, phone number, e-mail address and reference to the line and Section/Subsection number(s) being addressed. Responses to clarifications will be shared with all organizations invited to submit a proposal. MCC will not be bound by any oral responses.

E-mail questions to:

Dennis Costello, Purchasing Director Macomb Community College costellod@macomb.edu and bids@macomb.edu

Deadline for Proposals

Proposals will be received by the college’s Purchasing Department costellod@macomb.edu and bids@macomb.edu, until 2 P.M. on Friday, August 1, 2025.

Submission must include the Vendor’s full response including all attachments, product services and specifications, and required Vendor documentation. Electronic submission must be Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Word format.

Requirements for Signing Proposal

Each Vendor, by making a proposal, represents that this document has been read and is fully understood.

The proposal must be signed by an individual authorized to legally bind the person, partnership, company, or corporation submitting the proposal.

All signatures must have the name typed directly below the line of the signature.

Proposal Response Format

Proposals must follow the format designated in Section 3. Proposals not complying with this format may be considered non-responsive and may be removed from consideration on this basis.

Confidential Information

The information contained in the proposals may be subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.

Right to Request Additional Information

MCC reserves the right to request any additional information, which might be deemed necessary after the completion of this document.

Proposal Preparation Costs

The Vendor is responsible for all costs incurred by the Vendor or his/her subcontractors in responding to this request for proposal.

Standard Forms and Contracts

Any forms and contracts the Vendor proposes to include as part of any agreement resulting from this proposal between the Vendor and MCC must be submitted as part of the proposal. Any forms and contracts not submitted as part of the proposal and subsequently presented for inclusion may be rejected. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, the following types of forms: subcontractor, franchise, warranty agreements, maintenance contracts, and support agreements.

Selection Criteria

Vendors will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:

Compliance with Specifications A. Submission deadline compliance B. Ability to meet the schedule of events outlined in section 2.2 C. Completeness of information supplied D. Adherence to the required proposal format E. Demonstration of an understanding of the project and the solution needed

Experience A. Success with similar projects B. Experience with similar tools and applications C. Pertinent experience, qualifications, certifications and past performance of proposed personnel that will be directly involved in providing services, including Subcontractors D. Experience in similar college environments E. Ability to provide timely problem resolution and telephone support F. Ability to provide training and comprehensive documentation G. Documented success working with higher education institutions H. -Other-

Proposal Price and Value A. Alignment of response to the College’s need B. Labor rates and other charges or expenses C. Value of the proposal to MCC D. Cost E. Continuing costs F. Reference checks

Selection Process

A. MCC staff will evaluate, rate and select the winning Vendor based on the written information provided in the proposal along with an evaluation of -other pertinent requirements- provided to MCC.

B. Vendors may be required to participate in a presentation and interview process where MCC representatives will further inquire about the firm’s qualifications and experience. Vendors may also be asked to provide a brief overview of their company, key personnel and how they would approach providing services.

C. If MCC is unable to successfully negotiate and execute a contract for services with the company offering the highest ranked proposal, MCC reserves the right to interview the second-ranked proposal.

Federal or State Sales, Excise or Use Taxes

Vendors shall include all applicable taxes, (Federal, State, and Local) in the proposal price. Macomb Community College is exempt from State Sales Tax.

Right of Refusal

Macomb Community College reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, either in whole or in part, or to waive any informalities or irregularities therein that are in the best interest of MCC.

Turnkey Solution

The proposal price will be the total dollar amount of all services, material, equipment, and labor described herein inclusive of warranties and shipping FOB Macomb Community College. The proposal amount is to be held firm for at least ninety days from the proposal opening date scheduled for Friday, August 1, 2025.

All prices quoted must include all services and -other- i.e....software necessary to make the system specified fully operational for the intent, function, and purposes stated herein.

Proposal to Become Part of Agreement

This RFP, Vendor’s response, and any subsequent written communications, along with any formal signed agreement will become part of the contract documentation governing performance of this project. Where conflicts exist, the later dated document will govern.

Confidential Information

The information contained in the vendor’s proposal that is company confidential must be clearly identified in the proposal itself. Macomb Community College will be free to use all information in the vendor’s proposal for the owner’s purposes.

PROPOSAL RESPONSE FORMAT

Introduction

To facilitate the analysis of responses to this RFP, vendors are required to prepare their proposals in accordance with the instructions outlined in this section.

Proposals shall be prepared as simply as possible and provide a straightforward, concise description of the vendor’s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the RFP. EMPHASIS SHOULD BE PLACED ON ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, AND CLARITY OF CONTENT. All parts, pages, figures, and tables should be numbered and labeled clearly. The proposal should be organized as follows:

Instructions relative to each part of the response to this RFP are defined in the remainder of this section.

Executive Summary (Section 1)

This part of the response to the RFP should be limited to a brief narrative not to exceed two (2) pages, describing the proposed solution. The summary should contain as little technical jargon as possible and should be oriented toward non-technical personnel. The Executive Summary should not include cost quotations.

Company Background (Section 2)

Vendors must provide information about their company so that Macomb Community College can evaluate the vendor’s stability and ability to support the commitments set forth in response to the RFP. The Vendor should outline the company’s background including a brief description (e.g., history, present status, future plans, company size, etc.). This section should also include a brief description of the company’s experience performing services like those described herein and the type of work in which the vendor specializes.

Vendor may be required to submit audited financial information for the two (2) most recently completed fiscal years, which includes income statements, balance sheets and statement of cash flows.

Privately held companies wishing to maintain confidential financial information must provide information detailing the company’s long-term stability.

Proposed Solution Summary (Section 3)

Describe how vendor will address all the requirements included in Section 4 – Scope of Work. Include descriptions of the approach, any proposed hardware and software applications, sample designs, and prototypes that describe your recommended solution.

Also, identify and provide resumes of personnel to be directly involved with providing the products and/or services that are proposed herein, including:

1. Project Manager. List all relevant experience and qualifications of vendor supplied staff member to coordinate and assist in the installation, testing and implementation of the proposed solution.

2. Lead Technical Support personnel. List all relevant experience and qualifications of support personnel who will provide technical services to MCC.

3. Other personnel. List all relevant experience and qualifications of other personnel within your company that might be expected to provide services to MCC.

4. Subcontractors. List all the relevant experience and qualifications of any known subcontractors that might be expected to provide services to MCC in partnership with your company.

Also provide a list of any pre-existing conditions required of Macomb Community College to begin work on the project, and a list of decisions that will need to be made by the College before the project can begin. Describe any requirements for housing Vendor staff during the project at Macomb Community College.

Implementation Plan (Section 4)

Provide a general work breakdown structure with a timeline and each milestone and decision point identified.

The implementation plan should also include the overall project organization structure with key vendors and client staff identified.

Describe requisite training, including training for the project team and training for end-users that are part of the recommended solution. Specify where and when the training will be provided during the implementation process. If training can be offered at either Macomb Community College or the vendor’s site, specify the requirements for the on-site training and any cost variations for each option.

It is imperative to Macomb Community College that the training team is knowledgeable about financial accounting, registration, and configuration of the system for various business scenarios and the best end user experience.

Implementation Support and Maintenance (Section 5)

The vendor must give a detailed description of the level and extent of all the support to be provided during and after the implementation. Show any costs associated with this support in Section 8, Cost Quotations.

Please include information about how system issues are reported, the average ticket response times when reporting system issues, how you process and communicate break/fix and resolved issues, and how third-party interfacing systems are monitored to make sure they are up and running.

In addition, please share with us your regulatory and compliance framework(s), how Macomb’s data is protected and stored at rest and in flight, who will own the data if we no longer partner with you as a vendor, how would you purge the data after the contract ends, your backup procedure/timeline for our data, how often you conduct risk management assessments (i.e. vulnerability scanning/pen tests), who will have access to the stored data, and which access management policies are in place to ensure safe access.

License and Maintenance Agreements (Section 6)

Sample license and maintenance agreements should be provided in this part of the vendor’s response for all components of the recommended solution (i.e., hardware, software, operating system, database, etc.).

Bid Response Criteria List Form (Excel file) (Section 7)

Categories and criteria are detailed in the Bid Response Criteria List form (Excel file). Use this form to respond to each item in the worksheet. Include the Bid Response Criteria List form (Excel file) with your proposal response.

Cost Quotations (Section 8)

Complete the Bid Response Form: Base Bid Pricing in section 4.2 and include as Section 8 of the vendor’s response. The vendor’s cost quotation must include all costs (e.g., license fees, modifications, training, travel and per diem, installation, documentation, discounts, etc.). In the event the product or service is provided at no additional cost, the item should be noted as “no charge” or words to that effect.

The vendor must provide price guarantee until 90 days after Friday, August 1, 2025: proposal due date.

If the entire project cannot be quoted at a fixed price, describe the portions of the project that can be delivered at a fixed price. Include a description of all deliverables. Include a description of each item or service that will not be part of a fixed cost. Show the item/service, the cost/rate and the unit (for example, Training at $100 per day). If there are continuing/annual costs for any item, indicate that also. It is the College’s intent to establish known costs before a final contract is completed. For all variable priced items, describe how costs will be constrained and managed.

List of Clients and References (Section 9)

Vendors must provide a list of all clients, including any community colleges, which are similar in size and complexity to Macomb Community College and describe the scope of the project implemented. Include a brief description of the scope of your engagement with each referenced client, and a contact person with appropriate contact information.

Include the client list of those with:

1. Colleague by Ellucian student information system

2. similar contracted education partnerships (Macomb has approximately 400 partnerships) Comment by Syms, Deirdre: I recommend being more direct in this statement. Instead of saying "Please share Colleague by Ellucian clients ... ". I would say: "Include in the client list those with the Ellucian Colleague SIS or similar contracted .... "

3. third-party billing arrangements (Macomb has hundreds of third-party billing arrangements)

4. a financial aid module

5. integration with Salesforce or similar CRM

SCOPE OF WORK AND BID RESPONSE FORMS

Macomb Community College seeks qualified bids for a comprehensive student information system for our Workforce Development and Continuing Education (WCE) course and program offerings. The proposed solution must include:

1) The ability for users to create courses, course sections, and programs. Macomb defines programs as a series of courses which lead to a WCE certificate of completion.

2) The ability for users to create course sections with costs or no costs and allow students/staff to register and/or drop from the class.

3) The ability for users to create or run reports, before or after classes is active for registration, to validate course, section, and program data including enrollment data, class tuition and fees discounts, meeting dates/times, instructors assigned, etc.

4) The ability for college staff to register students individually or in batch in course section(s), process payments/refunds for enrollment in the course section(s) and drop/withdraw from the course sections.

5) The ability for students to register in course section(s), pay for enrollment in the course section(s), and drop/withdraw from the course section(s). Please explain how this may change if the student is sponsored by their employer and the employer is paying for tuition and fees.

6) The ability to establish discount criteria to discount student populations (consortium/memberships, promotions when registering for program classes all at once, senior age discounts, etc.

7) The ability for corporations to register their employees individually or in batch in course section(s), pay for enrollment in the course section(s) individually or in batch via purchase orders, and drop/withdraw from the course section(s). Contract training requirements to bill per student enrollment, flat costs, or a combination of both.

8) The ability to create or run detailed or summarized reports to verify registration activity, billing activity, payment activity, account balances, and invoice balances for students and corporations.

9) The ability to handle multiple payment methods or funding sources. For example: paying partial balance with cash and the remaining with a charge card, multiple payers for third party/company billing and financial aid sources or a combination of all.

10) The ability to define and display Macomb’s terms and conditions policy so that end users can accept the policy when registering. User ID, time and date of transaction must be logged and visible by staff.

11) A financial aid module which can allow us to award aid to students who qualify for various sources of aid/grants based on their WCE program of study for class costs, bookstore purchases and refunding excess funds. System must be able to track awarding in various methods (naming convention and/or account number), monitor/enforce eligibility requirements, disburse funds at any time by priority of award.

12) The ability to cancel course sections, refund students registered regardless of payment method and notify students about the cancellation.

13) The ability for faculty to view their class roster, mark attendance, and grade course sections.

14) The ability to integrate with Colleague by Ellucian to bring in the student’s registration activities, grades, instructor information for HR, meeting dates/times for conflict checking, room scheduling and reporting of the integrated data to be used to ensure the activity integrated to Colleague.

15) The ability to integrate with our bookstore vendor, Textbook Brokers via FA Link Comment by Syms, Deirdre: Consider editing the wording on item 15, to the following: "The ability to integrate with the College's bookstore vendor, currently Textbook Brokers Via FA Link." Comment by Syms, Deirdre: For item 18, consider adding the name(s) of document imaging software that are currently in use at the college. That info might help the vendor more quickly discern whether they already know how to integrate or believe they have the programming staff that can make it happen.

16) The ability to integrate with a learning management system, for example: Ed2Go or Canvas.

17) The ability to integrate with our payment plan vendor, Nelnet.

18) The ability to integrate with our document imaging vendor, Perceptive Content by Hyland.

19) A public facing website configured with Macomb branding to promote our courses/programs.

20) A student/staff/employer self-service portal which will allow folks to easily search for, register and pay for their classes individually or in batch.

Finally, we seek a vendor to plan and implement their solution, transfer settings from our current system to the new system, train users in all roles, and support the use of the system in a meaningful way over the term of the contract.

4.2 Base Bid Pricing

Bid Response Forms

Use the Bid Response Criteria List Form to respond to the specific requirements associated with the general requirements listed in section 4 (Scope of Work).

GENERAL CONDITIONS

The topics in this section will inform potential vendors of typical language to be included in a contract resulting from this RFP.

Vendor as Independent Contractor

This is not an Agreement of partnership or employment of Vendor or any of Vendor's employees by MCC. Vendor is an independent Vendor for all purposes under this Agreement.

Conflict of Interest/Disclosure

No company or corporation in which an employee of the College has a direct or indirect interest shall transact business with the College unless such interest is disclosed to the Purchasing Department prior to entering into any contract or agreement with the College. Further, the employee shall not take part in the negotiations for our approval of such contract or agreement.

Use of Qualified and Experienced Personnel

Vendor agrees, at all times, to maintain an adequate staff of experienced and qualified employees for efficient performance under this Agreement. Vendor agrees that, at all times, the employees of Vendor furnishing or performing any services shall do so in a professional, work-person-like, and dignified manner.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Vendor shall be an equal opportunity employer and shall conform to all Affirmative Action and other applicable requirements; accordingly, Vendor shall neither discriminate nor permit discrimination in its operations or employment practices against any person or group of persons on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or sex in any manner prohibited by law.

Compliance with Rules and Regulations

Vendor agrees that all persons working for or on behalf of Vendor whose duties bring them upon MCC's premises shall obey the rules and regulations that are established by MCC and shall comply with the reasonable directions of MCC's officers. MCC may, at any time, require the removal and replacement of any of Vendor's employees for good cause.

In the event of such a removal, the Vendor shall, within fifteen (15) days, fill this representative vacancy. Regardless of whom the Vendor has designated as the representative, the Vendor organization remains the ultimate responsible party for performing the tasks and responsibilities presented in this Agreement.

Site Damage

Vendor shall be responsible for the acts of its employees and agents while on MCC's premises. Accordingly, Vendor agrees to take all necessary measures to prevent injury and loss to persons or property located on MCC's premises. Vendor shall be responsible for all damages to persons or property caused by Vendor or any of its agents or employees. Vendor shall promptly repair to the specifications of MCC, any damage that it, or its employees or agents, may cause to MCC's premises or equipment; on Vendor's failure to do so, MCC may repair such damage, and Vendor shall reimburse MCC promptly for the cost of repair.

In the Event of an Accident

Vendor agrees that, in the event of an accident of any kind, Vendor will immediately notify MCC's Police Department (586-445-7135) and thereafter, if requested, furnish a full written report of such accident.

Non-interference with Institution Operations

College's operations must continue uninterrupted throughout the completion of the work contemplated herein. Certain portions of the work must be performed and completed in such an order as directed by MCC's representative as to permit the orderly operation of MCC's activities. Vendor shall review the work to assure that operations will not impede the utilization of the facilities or to all field work and installation or upgrade of all related equipment, the awarded Vendor will visit and inspect the project premises in order to confirm the conditions under which the Work for this project is to be performed, and determine the availability of facilities for access, delivery, transportation and storage.

Copyright Indemnity

The awarded Vendor shall indemnify and hold MCC harmless from any claim that a product or accessory or its use, infringes on another person or company’s patent, copyright, trade secret or other property right.

Submitting Disputes to Arbitration

Any dispute arising out of the performance of a contract between the parties may be submitted to arbitration only upon written consent of both parties.

Survival Clause

The terms, conditions, representations, and warranties contained in this Agreement shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

Governing Law

This Agreement, and all matters or issues collateral to it, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of the State of Michigan.

Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements or understandings, written or oral, prior to signing of a contract.

Assignment

This Agreement or any part thereof shall not be assigned or subcontracted by Vendor without the prior written permission of MCC; any attempt to do so without said prior permission shall be void and of no effect.

Employment of Other Vendors, Specialists or Experts

Vendor will not employ or otherwise incur an obligation to pay other vendors, specialists, or experts for services in connection with this Agreement without the prior written approval of MCC.

Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose

The College has presented detailed technical specifications of the particular purpose for which the network and technology is intended. The College has provided detailed descriptions and criteria of how the system can be defined to accomplish a particular purpose. The College has also defined the exact procedures and techniques to be employed in testing whether the system has achieved the defined performance of this particular purpose. Given this advanced preparation concerning, and documentation about the College’s particular purpose, the Vendor at the time this Agreement is in force has (1) reason and opportunity to know the particular purpose for which products are required, and (2) that the College is relying on the Vendor’s experience and knowledge of these products to provide those which are most suitable and appropriate. Therefore, the Vendor warrants that the system is fit for the purpose for which it is intended as described in this document.

Final Acceptance of the System

The /services proposed shall be defined to be finally accepted by the College after the installation and successful completion of the following performance examinations: system hardware and software examination and performance, software acceptance and documentation. The College and its consultants shall be the sole judge of whether all conditions for final acceptance criteria have been met.

Non-Collusion Covenant

The Vendor hereby represents and agrees that it has in no way entered into any contingent fee arrangement with any firm or person concerning the obtaining of this Agreement. In addition, the Vendor agrees that a duly authorized Vendor representative will sign a non-collusion affidavit, in a form acceptable to the College that the Vendor firm has received from college no incentive or special payments, or considerations not related to the provision of automation systems and services described in this Agreement.

Vendor Not an Agent of Institution

A. Macomb Community College retains all rights of approval and discretion with respect to the projects and undertakings contemplated by this Agreement. Vendor, its officers, employees, and agents shall not have any power to bind or commit MCC to any decision.

Bid Response Criteria List Form

Please complete the mandatory Bid Response Criteria List Form spreadsheet which includes individual criteria.

DECLARATION: The undersigned agrees to the provisions of RFP documents and hereby affix authorized signature(s):

Signature(s): ___________________________________________________________

Title(s): ____________________________________________________________________________

Company Name: ________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

City: _________________________ State: _____________ Zip Code: _____________

Telephone Number: _____________________________________________________

E-mail address: _________________________________________________________

Print Name of Signature(s): ________________________________________________

Date: _________________________________________________________________

IT IS MANDATORY OF ALL CONTRACTORS TO RETURN

THIS SHEET FULLY COMPLETED WITH THEIR PROPOSAL.

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