APPLICATION SERVICES

The State of South Carolina, through the State Fiscal Accountability Authority and on behalf of Piedmont Technical College (PTC), is procuring a comprehensive cloud-based Integrated Planning and Advising Service (IPAS) solution to improve student success outcomes. The solicitation seeks a vendor-hosted predictive analytics platform that must integrate with PTC's existing Ellucian Banner enterprise system and D2L learning management system. The system will support critical functions including student onboarding, career exploration, academic planning, course scheduling, appointment management, messaging, case management, and early alert interventions. Vendors must provide a single, unified system that enables faculty and staff to track student risk, monitor academic performance, and deliver targeted interventions throughout a student's academic journey. The procurement follows a two-phase evaluation process, with Phase I ranking proposals based on technical merit and Phase II involving live demonstrations of system functionality. Key submission deadlines include questions due by June 28, 2022 at 5:00 p.m., a non-mandatory pre-proposal conference on June 28, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. via virtual Microsoft Teams, and proposal submissions due by July 19, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. The contract term is one year with four one-year renewal options, creating a maximum five-year contract from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2027.

The solicitation does not explicitly mention specific set-aside designations or restrictions on respondent types. PTC currently uses College Scheduler for course registration and plans to retain DegreeWorks for degree auditing. The preferred system integration methods are Banner Business Process APIs or Ethos APIs, with SQL-based or batch export/import integrations acceptable if the vendor manages interface development. Contractors must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage, including $1 million general liability, $1 million auto liability, statutory workers' compensation, and $5 million cyber liability coverage. Strict data protection requirements mandate that all government and student information (protected under FERPA) must remain within the continental United States, with mandatory data encryption both in transit and at rest. While specific budget ranges are not disclosed in the documents, the pricing matrix (Attachment B) indicates a structured approach for capturing installation, training, conversion, and five years of ongoing service costs. The solicitation serves approximately 10-15 full administrative users, 300 light users (staff and faculty), and an estimated 6,500 to 7,000 credit students annually.