IPAS SYSTEM

The Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL), serving Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper Counties in South Carolina, issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) 5400019988 for a cloud-based vendor-hosted Integrated Planning and Advising Services (IPAS) System. The procurement seeks a comprehensive student success and communication management system designed to improve student onboarding, academic planning, early intervention, and retention. Proposals were due electronically by August 3, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., with a non-mandatory pre-bid teleconference held on July 6, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. The solicitation required offerors to submit one electronic technical proposal, one electronic business proposal, and redacted copies of each document. Evaluation would occur in two phases, with the first phase assessing technical proposals, qualifications, experience, cost, and implementation plans, and the top three scoring offerors advancing to a second phase involving live product demonstrations. Mandatory requirements included security assessment questionnaires, FERPA compliance, data encryption standards, disaster recovery capabilities, and functional requirements across student onboarding, academic planning, appointment scheduling, messaging, case management, and predictive analytics.

The RFP did not specify any specific set-aside designations or restrictions on respondent organizations. Offerors were required to demonstrate active experience administering IPAS systems and provide three references from higher education institutions, preferably technical or community colleges. The College required integration with its existing Ellucian Colleague enterprise system and Blackboard learning management system. Vendors were expected to provide comprehensive pricing for software access, implementation services, system integration, training, travel expenses, and annual recurring maintenance and upgrade costs. The contract term was structured for one year with four potential one-year renewals, creating a maximum potential contract duration of five years (expiring September 14, 2025). While no specific funding amounts were disclosed, the solicitation indicated system access would include 10-15 full administrative users, 100-200 limited access users, and 25 chat users for an institution processing approximately 4,500 annual student applications with 3,345 unduplicated head count students. Ultimately, no offers were received, resulting in a no award statement being issued on August 5, 2020.