VCCS-WIDE-25-69091_Scholarship Award Management_Addendum 1.pdf

ADDENDUM NO. 1 TO ALL OFFERORS:

Reference: RFP # VCCS-WIDE-25-69091 Scholarship Award Management Software

Date: August 14, 2024

Commodity: 20811 – Application Software, Microcomputer 20880 – Software, Microcomputer (Not Otherwise Classified)

Issuing Agency: Virginia Community College System (VCCS)

Proposal Due: August 29, 2024 at 2:30 PM local time

The VCCS Procurement Office received several questions from potential offerors in reference to RFP # VCCS-WIDE-

25-69091 – Scholarship Award Management Software. Questions and responses below are hereby incorporated into the RFP.

Questions and Answers:

1. NOTE TO OFFERORS:

Offerors seeking to add, delete, or modify any Terms or Conditions shall include such addition, deletion, or modification at the time of RFP Proposal submission. If an Offeror includes any other terms and conditions in its proposal, the VCCS reserves the right to accept or reject any such terms and conditions, to modify them through the negotiation process, and/or to consider those in the evaluation scoring of the proposals. At NO TIME after submission of the initial RFP response will the VCCS agree to additional modifications, additions, or deletions of any General, Special, or IT Terms and Conditions.

Include this full document in your proposal.

2. When do you expect to publish responses to vendor questions?

Answer: This document contains all vendor questions received by the deadline. Some questions have been combined do to asking the same or similar questions.

3. Is it VCCS’ desire for each college to essentially have its own solution and be responsible for managing its own scholarship applications, data, and awards, or is the intent to have this be centrally managed at the System Office with assistance from the colleges?

Answer: Integrations with existing systems would be managed by System Office, but each college will manage their own instance of the software.

4. Could you tell us more about the process for “Recommendation Requests”? Who is submitting these?

Who is involved in responding?

Answer: Depending on the donor, a scholarship may require a letter of recommendation. The recommendation would be requested by the student, and typically submitted by a professor, advisor, or counselor.

5. Could you tell us more about the process for “Thank You Requests”? Who is submitting these? Who is involved in responding?

Answer: As part of the post-acceptance process for current scholarships, the student will review and accept a scholarship then submit a Thank You Letter. The foundation reviews/approves the Thank

You Letters, then the Financial Aid Office (FAO) posts the funds to SIS. If the Thank You is not approved, FAO sets it back to drafted and emails the student the steps to update and submit again.

6. How frequently would VCCS expect updates to be required to the overall “flow” of the process?

Answer: Since scholarship cycles are started each year, it would be beneficial to review and update the flow, if needed, before starting the new cycles.

7. Is VCCS using PeopleSoft Financial Aid?

Answer: Yes.

8. Many requirements refer to a “cloud service provider”. Is VCCS open to considering an on-premises solution that is natively integrated within your PeopleSoft system?

Answer: If the system allowed for easy integration, student interactions, and processing then an on-premises solution may be considered.

9. Would it be beneficial to the student user experience if this solution appeared to be part of your existing student system rather than a separate system?

Answer: It would be beneficial but is not a requirement of this solicitation.

10. Will all users applying for a scholarship have access to your existing PeopleSoft student system?

Answer: Not at all colleges. Some applicants may not have enrolled yet (e.g. High School Grads), and therefore would not be set up in SIS at the time they apply for scholarships.

11. Does your PeopleSoft system currently allow guest access using a guest portal or something similar?

Answer: Guest sign-ins are not allowed in our PeopleSoft system.

12. Is Scholarship data, including custom questions, already stored in a system in use today? If so, can you explain?

Answer: Yes, questions are a part of the system. The colleges can change and add questions as needed.

13. Do you collect data during this process that would benefit from having data available from your Student System?

Answer: Yes. There are several data elements that come out of SIS and are imported in to shorten the student application as well as provide the most up to date information from their student profiles.

14. Please list all required system integrations or ones that you are looking for (e.g., portals, chatbots, automation tools, internal or external systems)?

Answer: Integration with PeopleSoft is required.

15. For flexible workflow requirements, would you expect this to be configured by scholarship type or ad hoc by individual form? Or both?

Answer: These configurations need to be flexible as it will depend on the college or foundation processing the scholarship.

16. Could you provide some examples of how scoring is done for a scholarship award?

Answer: Scoring is done using a rubric. Most scholarships use the same rubric, but there may be a different rubric depending on the scholarship. Most criteria include requirements, GPA, and graduation date.

17. How frequently does the logic behind the ranking and scoring process change?

Answer: Rubrics are reviewed annually, but rarely changed.

18. Do you have an estimated number of scholarships per year that are expected to be managed within the system?

Answer: The number of scholarships per year that are expected to be managed in the system will vary depending on the college, and the number of colleges that utilize any awarded contract.

19. How many internal staff users will access the system for more than 40 hours/month?

Answer: This number is unknown.

20. How many internal staff will access the system for less than 40 hours/month?

21. How many external users will access the system per month concurrently?

22. Will this project require data migration from existing systems/sources? What format is the historical data in (.csv, excel, etc.)?

Answer: Yes. The data would be stored in .csv and excel formats.

23. Is there a timeline to transition into the new system?

Answer: There is currently no timeline in place to transition to the new system.

24. Is there a budget defined for this project (implementation and license fee)?

Answer: There is no defined budget.

25. Does Attachment 6 need to be completed, or is it just for reference?

Answer: Attachment 6 of the RFP is our Cloud Policy. Nothing in this attachment needs to be completed, but it will be included as part of the Terms and Conditions of any awarded contract.

26. Is the submission of a D&B report mandatory? Can the vendor submit a 2022 report?

Answer: The Duns and Bradstreet report is mandatory if D&B issues such reports on your company.

The report must be the most recent version available.

27. Which Student Information Systems (SIS) are currently operational at your institution, for example, Banner, PeopleSoft, or Jenzabar?

Answer: PeopleSoft

28. What specific custom fields and questions do you anticipate needing within the scholarship management software to accommodate unique institutional requirements? For instance, are there particular data attributes like student demographic details, academic criteria, or funding source stipulations that must be configurable? How should these fields interact with existing data points for reporting and decision-making processes?

Answer: Each institution will require the ability to create custom questions as needed. The unique, custom fields anticipated include, but is not limited to: ID, Last Name, Middle Name, First Name, Birthdate, Age, Campus, Address, City, State, Zip Code, Email Address, Degree, Academic Plan, Academic Program, Admit Term, Admit Type, Cum GPA, Completed Units, and Enrollment Level.

29. What are the specific types of documents that students will need to upload through the scholarship management system, such as transcripts, recommendation letters, or financial aid forms?

Answer: Each scholarship will set its own requirements/needs, but shall include transcripts, recommendation letters, tax documents, and other documents to show eligibility.

30. Are there particular security protocols or compliance standards, like encryption or data retention policies, that student uploads must adhere to?

Answer: All information processed and stored needs to adhere to SOC II standards.

31. How do your integrations impact the workflow or data exchange process within your institution?

Answer: There is no impact that the colleges are aware of. Data is automatically uploaded nightly to the server.

32. What specific roles and privileges need to be established within the scholarship management system for VCCS users? Could you also detail the permissions for roles with elevated privileges, such as the ability to modify award criteria, access sensitive student data, or approve large scholarship disbursements?

Answer: Roles at a minimum should include Administrators – with full access, student access, committee access, and IT access. Permission roles will need to be adjustable by administrators due to differences in processing at the different colleges.

33. Is Single Sign-On (SSO) a required feature for the scholarship management system, and if so, which specific identity providers, such as Google, Microsoft Azure AD, or Shibboleth, need to be supported?

Are there specific security protocols or compliance standards associated with SSO integration that we should prepare for?

Answer: SSO is not a requirement but would be beneficial. If the system features SSO, then it should work with Google at a minimum.

34. What specific reports and analytics are critical for your scholarship management process? Could you detail examples of essential reports, such as scholarship distribution analytics, applicant demographic studies, or financial disbursement tracking? How do you plan to utilize these insights in strategic decision making or operational adjustments within your institution?

Answer: The data that is entered should be accessible in a default or custom report. Reports need to show applicant progress since application abandonment is a big issue. By studying these reports, the colleges can retool applications and their marketing language to the students.

35. What are your specific requirements for archiving closed scholarship records, including the required duration for data retention? Moreover, are there particular formats or access levels that need to be maintained during the archival period for compliance or audit purposes?

Answer: A student’s scholarship information is required to be kept for 5 years after graduation or withdrawal. Administrators should be able to access all data.

36. Could you specify the desired level of automation for ‘Thank you’ communications within the scholarship management system? For instance, are automatic triggers based on scholarship award status required, or do you need manual oversight capabilities for personalized messaging adjustments?

Answer: The colleges would like to have the ability to send emails to students informing them of offered scholarships, reminders to submit applications, post-acceptance questions and other documents. There would also need to be the ability to send emails to the review committee members informing them of assigned reviews.

37. What specific risk management processes do you expect the vendor to implement to mitigate risks related to data breaches or system failures? Are there any particular standards or protocols that, such as regular security audits or real-time threat detection mechanisms, that you require to be in place?

Answer: A SOC 2 is required when student identifying information is being stored.

38. Are there specific multilingual features or localizations required for the scholarship management software to accommodate the diversity of your student body? If so, which languages or regional settings should be supported, and are there particular cultural considerations or accessibility guidelines that need to be integrated?

Answer: The awarded system should be able to support Spanish students.

39. How do you wish to monitor and report on the system’s performance metrics? Are there specific key performance indicators (KPIs) such as system uptime, response times, or user engagement metrics that are critical to your operations? Do you require real-time monitoring tools or periodic performance reviews?

Answer: The KPIs the colleges would like to monitor include, but is not limited to, current applications, the total number of awards, total number of scholarship funds to award, remaining funds, and current active scholarships.

40. Can you provide clarification on the Small Business Plan evaluation criteria?

Answer: The Small Business Plan is covered in the Vendor Manual in Chapter 2.1 Policy, section b & c.

41. Across all programs that would be managed via the platform, what volume of applications do you receive annually?

Answer: The volume of applications across all colleges is not available.

42. How many programs do you offer annually? How many scholarships do you award annually?

Answer: The number of scholarships and programs varies by college. Totals across all colleges are not available currently.

43. What is the annual funding that you disburse via these awards?

Answer: The exact number is not available.

44. What is your current solution?

Answer: The colleges currently use a mix of Blackbaud, AwardSpring, and Foundant.

45. What is the date when you need to have a new solution in place?

Answer: There is currently no deadline for the new solution to be in place

46. What is the date when you anticipate starting to take in new applications?

Answer: There is no set date for this.

47. Do you need to validate data against external sources (e.g. employment validation, citizenship, etc.)?

Answer: Data will be validated with uploaded documents. No other external sources will be required.

48. Will one vendor be selected or multiple vendors for institutions to choose from?

Answer: The solicitation is written to allow multiple awards; however, the final decision on the number of awards is at the discretion of the evaluation committee.

49. Are all institutions using PeopleSoft as their SIS? Or does each institution have their own SIS?

Answer: All colleges are using the same PeopleSoft SIS.

50. Does each college have its own application?

Answer: Each college currently has its own application for Scholarship Award Management software.

51. Is there a desire for all institutions to use a common application?

Answer: There are currently no plans for an enterprise-wide solution.

52. In the Specific Services section 1, item B-b, can you please define “matching question”?

Answer: In this instance, “matching question” refers to questions asked to a student to determine if they match the criteria for a particular scholarship.

53. Will the scholarship management system need to provide text messaging to students?

Answer: Texting is not a requirement.

54. Do any of the institutions in the system have a contract with their scholarship platform vendor expiring in the next six-twelve months?

Answer: There are no current contracts in place for this software.

55. If each VCCS entity can determine whether to use a given vendor at its option, how do we propose pricing campus-by-campus? Our pricing may vary based on each location’s specific needs. The main considerations are:

a. # of unique opportunities/funds by location

b. Whether integration to a Student Information System is desired

Answer: To alleviate some of the issues with pricing, the enrollment numbers for each college and system wide are available at www.vccs.edu/statistics. You can include pricing for SIS integration and without SIS integration as separate line items, or you may assume one or the other. Any assumptions made when giving pricing are required to be notated on the pricing schedule.

56. II.1.A.c: is it safe to assume that each individual campus will want its own unique site, separately branded and managed from any other VCCS member?

Answer: Each college will want its own separately branded site. Some colleges have multiple campuses that will have access to the same college branded site.

57. V.B.1.B.5: if we provide 3 years of financial statements, will these be marked as confidential and proprietary and not shared with external 3rd parties/competitors (sharing amongst VCCS members is fine)?

Answer: Please list your financial statements on Attachment 3 – Proprietary and Confidential Information Form. Items listed will be redacted and not included in any public information or FOIA request.

58. VIII, VIII & IX: for these General, Special, and IT Terms and Conditions, can we propose changes as part of our response, and require inclusion of our own Terms and Conditions in addition to these General, Special, and IT Terms and Conditions on a case-by-case basis?

Answer: Redlines to our Terms and Conditions are allowed. If you wish to include your Terms and Conditions, please include your agreement form as part of your proposal.

http://www.vccs.edu/statistics

59. Attachment 1: Vendor Data Sheet – When asked to provide Project $ Value, are you looking for the initial set-up/implementation fees, or are you asking for the total amount invested in a subscription year across all fees for that customer?

Answer: Please provide the total cost of the project from the initial setup, implementation, and the first year of subscription fees.

60. What is the intent to award timeline?

Answer: There is no established timeline for intent to award.

61. How are scholarships reviewed and awarded?

Answer: Applications are reviewed by a review group, using a rubric. Once the reviews are completed, the student with the highest overall score is selected to receive the scholarship.

62. What’s the implementation timeline?

Answer: There is currently no established implementation timeline for this project.

63. Do students SSO into each institution separately or into the VCCS system?

Answer: The student’s SSO signs them into the VCCS system.

64. What role do the System Office and Shared Services Center play in the scholarship review and awarding process?

Answer: The review and awarding process is handled by an evaluation committee comprised of college and system office staff. The Shared Services Center ensures procurement compliance and facilitates any award negotiations.

65. What are the pain points around your current solution?

Answer: Since colleges currently use different solutions, the current pain points mentioned by the committee include being unable to edit data in the scholarship system once cycle management is performed, and students wanting to apply for scholarships while not yet registered for classes.

Very truly yours, Aubrey Wilcher, VCO

Interim Strategic Sourcing Supervisor, Technology

Note: A signed acknowledgment of this addendum must be attached to your proposal. Signature on this addendum does not substitute for your signature on the original proposal document. The original proposal document must be signed.

Signed Acknowledgment

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Signature

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