MASSASOIT BID #2015-12 DATA COLLECTION AND INTEGRATION MASSASOIT COMMUNITY COLLEGE One Massasoit Boulevard Brockton, MA 02302 Overview Massasoit Community College requests proposals from qualified vendors to develop a data management system to provide integration between the data systems of the Department of Higher Education, the Division of Career Services/Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the individual community college information systems, and other data sources. This project is expected to begin on September 1, 2015 and conclude on September 30, 2018. Proposals will be due before 2:00pm on Wednesday, August 12, 2015. Background Massasoit Community College is an accredited, public two-year institution serving cities and towns in southeastern Massachusetts. The 100-acre main campus is located in Brockton. The Canton campus is a multilevel facility set on 18 acres, and the Middleboro Center is located in a former elementary school in downtown Middleboro. The College offers over 50 associate degree and certificate programs, as well as adult basic education/GED programs, education and training for business and industry and noncredit community service programs. Massasoit Community College is the lead applicant of a consortium comprising all fifteen colleges in the Massachusetts community college system, which was awarded a $20 million Department of Labor TAACCCT Round 4 grant. Five million dollars of the total award is targeted to the Department of Labor priority to “Improve Statewide Data Integration and Use.” Goals are to: • • •
build the capacity of community colleges to report employment and completion data by program of study give TAA-eligible workers and other prospective students access to information to decide whether a career field and related educational programs are a good fit for their personal goals give colleges the agility to design, launch, and evaluate programs based on real-time labor market information, workforce needs, and employer input .enable colleges and career centers to share access to client/student information to better advise prospective students
In summary, from a student’s perspective, the completion of this project will allow them to match their interests with opportunities in the marketplace. If a student is considering a programming job, they could see the opportunities in the marketplace and then would be provided an academic roadmap (courses and community colleges) on how to receive the credentials needed for the role. This system will also provide tracking of students along this path to reduce barriers and improve retention and graduation. From the colleges’ perspective, this project will allow higher education institutions to design programs that meet high-demand workforce needs. The colleges will be able to assess the success and completion rates of students moving through the programs, and their placement/employment rates upon completion. The colleges and career centers will be able to collaborate in communicating with clients/potential students, and promoting their success.
Description of Proposed Project
As part of a DOL TAACCCT Round 1-funded project and springing from the ongoing commitment of the MA Department of Higher Education (DHE) and the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) to promote education, employment, and economic growth in the Commonwealth, in 2014 the community colleges and Division of Career Services (DCS) embarked upon an initiative to develop a data sharing system. To test the feasibility of the approach and the technology, this initiative culminated in a Proof of Concept project involving two of the community colleges and their respective career center partners. In addition, through the TAACCCT 4 grant and EOLWD funding, all community colleges and career centers in MA and their respective agencies have access to Help Wanted Online (HWOL) real time labor market information service. The colleges have a common student data system for reporting to the DHE in place, known as HEIRS. Through the Round 1 and Round 4 TAACCCT grants, the DHE and EOWLD’s unemployment system have a data sharing agreement in place. All of these offices/agencies, plus the individual colleges and career centers, will be partners on this project. To build upon this work, and in line with the Supplemental award from Department of Labor/TAACCCT Round 4 grant, Massasoit Community College is looking for a vendor with whom we can collaborate to improve statewide data collection, integration, and use. The selected vendor will be expected to work closely with DCS, DHE, and other partners to gather requirements and to understand the capabilities of, and integration opportunities with, the MOSES system, HEIRS, labor market information, and community college data systems. As detailed on the Department of Labor TAACCCT Round 4 Solicitation for Grant Applications SGADFA-PY-13-10, the system to be developed should be able to track both credit and non-credit courses and industry-recognized credentials that students may earn. The vendor will need to collaborate with the colleges, DCS, EOWLD, and other agencies to develop and adopt standard definitions for a common set of reporting elements for those students enrolled in non-credit and adult education courses that align with those elements collected for students enrolled in credit-bearing courses. The selected contractor must have a full understanding of, and commitment to policies for complying with, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) requirements, such as policies for accessing student education records when connected with audit or evaluation of Federal or State programs and enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements of those programs, standard practices or agreements for disclosing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) through written agreements, and other PII and records management practices. The resulting data system will allow the colleges and career centers to partner with employers, industry, and the workforce system to supplement data currently available through state agencies that administer TAA for Workers and WIA programs and state UC agencies by enhancing or adding standard occupational codes for employment outcomes. The resulting data system will also allow the colleges and workforce system to partner with employers and industry to capture and incorporate company or industry data that identifies the credentials on which they have been most likely to hire as well as how individuals with specific credentials are performing in their companies. Connection to community college data systems is an important component of this project. Different ERP systems are used at the schools, including Banner, Jenzibar, and PeopleSoft. Proposals should not assume that local IT organizations will have unlimited bandwidth towards this project and thus should include plans on integrating with all local IT environments. There are many approaches to this project, from creating one integrated database to an architecture that incorporates a service-oriented architecture design which minimize changes to existing systems. Vendors should provide the approach that they feel is best warranted given the consortium’s needs. Phases may include:
Research existing models, national, state, and local, to ascertain work already being done in this sphere Design labor market model Propose application architecture to enable this work Design, develop, and deploy, revise and redeploy, labor data exchange services and application to pilot campuses. This application will allow colleges to identify targeted industries around which they can build programs to train students for high-growth occupations, and will inform students about employment opportunities and workforce needs in their region. Design, develop, deploy, revise and redeploy a shared case management services to colleges and career centers. This application will give career center case workers and college advisors the capacity to collaborate, sharing oversight of the student’s progress, and jointly identifying and addressing barriers to success. Design, develop, deploy, revise and redeploy, a targeted matriculation application to colleges. This application will incorporate real-time search of occupations and educational opportunities to guide job seekers and suggest colleges that offer relevant programs, and will allow educational institutions to track student progress as individuals move throughout the system. Train college and career center users at all phases.
Proposals should include resumes of potential project managers that would oversee this engagement. Preference will be given to vendors who can provide a project manager with PMI or PMP certification. Other important proposal elements will be: 1. Project Management Plan that specifies: a. Clear Scope and SMART Architecture (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, TimeBased) b. Work Breakdown Structure matched to Resources and Capabilities of teams c. Cost Management d. Quality – What will that look like e. Process Improvement – What if architecture is flawed? Who and how will they be fixed? f. Communication between Stakeholders g. Risk Management – how to handle that 2. Deliverables – What will define success 3. Change Requests – how will this be handled (resources, capabilities needed) 4. Monitoring/Controlling Work Process – how will defects be fixed, changes made, etc.
Intellectual Property Proposers should be aware of the following restrictions regarding intellectual property rights associated with the TAACCCT funding: To ensure that the Federal investment of these funds has as broad an impact as possible and to encourage innovation in the development of new learning materials, as a condition of the receipt of a TAACCCT grant, the grantee will be required to license to the public all work (except for computer software source code, discussed below) created with the support of the grant under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. Work that must be licensed under the CC BY includes both new content created with the grant funds and modifications made to pre-existing, grantee-owned content using grant funds. This license allows subsequent users to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the copyrighted Work and requires such users to attribute the Work in the manner specified by the grantee. Notice of the license shall be affixed to the Work. For general information on
CC BY, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Instructions for marking your work with CC BY can be found at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking_your_work_with_a_CC_license. Questions about CC BY as it applies to specific TAACCCT grant applications should be submitted to DOL to the Grants Management Specialist specified in Section VII. Only work that is developed by the grantee with the grant funds is required to be licensed under the CC BY license. Pre-existing copyrighted materials licensed to, or purchased by the grantee from third parties, including modifications of such materials, remains subject to the intellectual property rights the grantee receives under the terms of the particular license or purchase. In addition, works created by the grantee without grant funds do not fall under the CC BY license requirement. The purpose of the CC BY licensing requirement is to ensure that materials developed with funds provided by these grants result in work that can be freely reused and improved by others. When purchasing or licensing consumable or reusable materials, grantees are expected to respect all applicable Federal laws and regulations, including those pertaining to the copyright and accessibility provisions of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. Further, the Department requires that all computer software source code developed or created with TAACCCT funds will be released under an intellectual property license that allows others to use and build upon them. Specifically, the grantee will release all new source code developed or created with TAACCCT grant funds under an open license acceptable to either the Free Software Foundation and/or the Open Source Initiative. Separate from the CC BY license to the public, the Federal Government reserves a paidup, nonexclusive and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use for Federal purposes: the copyright in all products developed under the grant, including a purchases ownership under an award (including, but not limited to, curricula, training models, technical assistance products, and any related materials). Such uses include, but are not limited to, the right to modify and distribute such products worldwide by any means, electronically or otherwise. The grantee may not use Federal funds to pay any royalty or license fee for use of a copyrighted work, or the cost of acquiring by purchase a copyright in a work, where the Department has a license or rights of free use in such work. If revenues are generated through selling products developed with grant funds, including intellectual property, these revenues are program income. Program income is added to the grant and must be expended for allowable grant activities. If applicable, the following needs to be on all products developed in whole or in part with grant funds, “This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.”
Period of Performance Start Date: Approximately September 1, 2015 End Date: September 30, 2018 Funding Available While the total amount allocated for this project is $5 million, $2 million of that amount has been reserved for subcontracts to support the participation of the community colleges, DHE, and DCS. Those subcontracts will be awarded and managed by Massasoit Community College as lead institution. Bids from vendors should not exceed $3 million.
RFP General Conditions Schedule of RFP Events Action: RFP is issued Questions Due Responses to Questions Issued RFP Responses Due/Public Bid Opening Notification of Award Fully Executed Agreement
Due Date / Time (EST) July 22, 2015 4:00 PM, Wednesday, July 29, 2015 August 6, 2015 2:00 PM, Wednesday, August 12, 2015 August 28, 2015 September 1, 2015
Letter of Intent to Apply and Proposer Questions All questions and requests for clarification must be submitted via email to Kathleen Kirby, Statewide Project Director, at
[email protected]. Emailed questions should contain a request for a read receipt to ensure delivery. Massasoit Community College reserves the right to determine, at its sole discretion, the appropriate and adequate responses to comments, questions, and requests for clarification. Questions must be received before 4:00 pm on Wednesday, July 29, 2015. To ensure that you receive any addenda issued, all potential bidders should provide contact information to the purchasing office at
[email protected] Questions will not be answered to individual responders. If the College feels that the RFP is unclear and that a response to questions is necessary, an addendum to this RFP will be issued to all potential bidders. Proposal Submission Responders must submit one original complete proposal (proposal plus Appendix) plus three (3) copies. Faxed or emailed bids will not be accepted. Proposals must be in a sealed envelope, plainly marked “Bid 2015-12 DATA INTEGRATION, and mailed or delivered to the Purchasing Office, Room A114, Admin Bldg., One Massasoit Blvd, Brockton, MA 02302. Bids must be received before 2:30 pm on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 when Bid Form contents will be publicly opened and given to the review committee. In the event that the College is closed due to weather emergency or other unforeseen events, proposals will be opened at 11:00am on the following business day. Proposals will be received until that day and time. Massasoit Community College reserves the right to waive any informality in the proposals, reject any or all proposals, select a single item from any proposal, or accept the proposal deemed to be in the best interest of the College.
Proposal Requirements In order to be deemed responsive, proposals must include all categories listed below. RFP narrative and cost proposal responses may not exceed 30 pages, excluding Appendix. While the project is a multi-year commitment, reimbursements will be made solely based on actual expenditures, and itemized lists of reimbursement charges must accompany all invoices. Contractual arrangements will be on an annual basis dependent upon continued funding from the USDOL. Contract may be canceled with 30 day advance notice based on funding availability and responder performance.
1) Massasoit Community College Bid Form Respondents who do not include this completed form in their proposals will be considered nonresponsive. 2) Proposal Narrative A. Organizational and Technical Capacity Age, stability, incorporation status, staffing, and experience of proposing organization; Technical Capacity: Education and experience of lead staff. Hardware, software, and technical systems needed are in place. Provide a single point of contact that has experience in leading similar technology initiatives. Identify and explain sufficient personnel that will work within the specified time constraints and to maintain necessary performance levels. Please also identify any planned use of subcontractors or independent contractors. Identify who within the firm will have prime responsibility and final authority for the work. Identify individuals providing services on the project and (in the Attachments) provide resumes of the named staff, which include information on the individual’s particular skills related to this project, education, experience, significant accomplishments and any other pertinent information. Identify and provide a description and qualifications of any subcontractors to be used. B. Demonstrated success with similar projects: successful experience in designing, developing, and deploying similar data integration systems. Include a description of at least three (3) similar projects successfully completed, including the scope of responsibility of the firm and/or each subcontractor on each described project. Completion of similar projects within budget and on time. Provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of three (3) references with direct experience with the respondent’s services. Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with working in higher education settings and with higher education data systems. Experience in working with state workforce agencies and their data systems. Demonstrated ability to work with and protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Familiarity with and experience with real time labor market information databases. C. Workplan Timeline with activities and milestones, broken down by year. Demonstrated ability to work with multiple partners, maintain lines of communication, respond to requests for information, and report frequently and clearly.
o
The selected provider will be required to maintain up to date project plans for the duration of the contract. The project work plan is expected to be revised throughout the life of the project. Status reports must be submitted on a monthly basis to the GPSTEM Statewide Project Director. Selected contractor will be expected to provide in-person updates to the GPSTEM Steering Committee no more than quarterly and no less than annually. Lead staff will be expected to participate as part of a Data Integration team, along with representatives from the colleges and employment systems. Quality, detail, and professionalism of submission, and its responsiveness to the RFP will be taken into consideration.
3. Budget and budget narrative (Contractor should budget for travel to partner colleges.) Split by year (September 1 – September 30, 2015 for Year 1; October 1, 2015-September 30, 2016 for Year 2; October 1, 2016- September 30, 2017 for year 3; October 1, 2017September 30, 2018 for Year 4). At a minimum, the following categories must be identified: • Staffing, listed by position (use of graduate assistants listed separately) • Daily/hourly rates for consultants, associates or subcontractors • Fringe benefits • Travel • Supplies/materials • Indirect Costs The cost proposals will be evaluated based on reasonableness of cost associated with the proposed plan. Proposals will not be judged solely on the basis of lowest cost; however, reasonableness of cost will be an important factor. 4. Assurances The proposal will include assurances from the evaluator that they will follow Massasoit Community College policies and procedures, consortium member requirements, USDOL requirements, applicable laws, institutional review board (IRB) policies and procedures, and confidentiality requirements. 5. Appendix – Supplemental Information Include resumes of key staff plus optional materials that illustrate or expand on the respondent’s experience, including examples of reports for similar projects, newsletters, press releases, or other related materials useful for evaluation of the response.
Final Selection A Proposal Evaluation Team, appropriate to the scope and nature of the RFP, will evaluate each Technical Proposal that appears responsive to the RFP. The College reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to request respondent clarification of a Technical Proposal or to conduct clarification discussions with any or all respondents. Any such clarification or discussion shall be limited to specific sections of the proposal identified by the College. The subject respondent shall put any resulting clarification in writing as may be required by the College. The respondent with the apparent best-evaluated proposal must sign and return a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form, W-9, and Commonwealth Terms and Conditions pursuant to this
RFP no later than seven business days after notification of award. If the respondent fails to provide the signed Standard Contract Form by the date specified, the College may determine that the respondent is non-responsive to the terms of this RFP and reject the proposal. If the College determines that the apparent best-evaluated proposal is non-responsive and rejects the proposal, the remaining responsive Proposals will be reviewed to determine the new apparent best-evaluated proposal.
Nondiscrimination Massasoit Community College does not discriminate in admission by race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation, status as a protected veteran, or any characteristic against which discrimination is prohibited by applicable law, and operates on a nondiscriminatory basis throughout the institution. This policy is in accordance with State law and with Federal law, including Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Hold Harmless Each party shall be responsible for its negligent acts or omissions and the negligent acts or omissions of its employees, officers, or directors, to the extent allowed by law.
Non-collusion Respondents certify that submitted cost proposals are arrived at independently and without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other contractor, vendor, or potential vendor. Respondents further certify that cost proposals are made without previous understanding, agreement, or connection with any person, firm or corporation making a proposal for the same item(s) and is in all respects fair, without outside control, collusion, fraud, or otherwise illegal action. Respondents agree that no member of the firm’s ownership, management or staff has a vested interest in any aspect or department of Massasoit Community College. Any or all proposals will be rejected if there is reason to believe that collusion exists between proposers, and respondents understand that any misstatement in this affidavit is and shall be treated as fraudulent concealment of the true facts relating to submission of cost proposals under this RFP.
Debarment Respondents certify, to the best of their knowledge and belief, that the firm and its principals: a. are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal or state department or agency; b. have not within a three (3) year period preceding this Contract been convicted of, or had a civil c. judgment rendered against them from commission of fraud, or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining or attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, State or Local) transaction or grant under a public transaction; violation of Federal or State antitrust statutes or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification, or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property; are not presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a government entity (Federal, State, or Local) with commission of any of the offenses listed in section b. above; and d. have not within a three (3) year period preceding this Contract had one or more public transactions (Federal, State, or Local) terminated for cause or default.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Bids must be submitted before 2:30pm on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, at which time they will be publicly opened and read in the Purchasing Office, Room A114, Administration Building, One Massasoit Blvd, Brockton, MA 02302. Bids submitted after this time will not be considered. Bids should be clearly marked as Bid 2015-12 DATA COLLECTION AND INTEGRATION and mailed or delivered to Ronda Hurlburt, Massasoit Community College, Purchasing Office, One Massasoit Blvd., Brockton, MA 02302
BID FORM-THIS FORM MUST BE SIGNED AND INCLUDED WITH YOUR BID
Firm Name _____________________________________________
Street _________________________________________________
City/State/Zip ___________________________________________
Signed By: ____________________________________________
______________________________________________________ (Please Print Name and Title)
Telephone ______________________Email_______________________
Return all materials in a sealed envelope marked :
BIDS – DO NOT OPEN – BID 2015-12 DATA COLLECTION AND INTEGRATION Massasoit Community College Administration Bldg., Purchasing Office One Massasoit Boulevard Brockton, MA 02302-3996 Attn: Ronda Hurlburt Faxed Bids will not be accepted. Please include the following items with your response: SIGNED BID FORM STANDARD CONTRACT FORM TAX COMPLIANCE FORM COMMONWEALTH TERMS AND CONDITIONS MASSACHUSETTS W-9 FORM CONTRACTOR AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY LISTING If, at the time of the scheduled bid opening, the College is closed due to unforeseeable events such as fire, snow, ice, wind, or building evacuation, the bid opening will be postponed until 11:00am on the next normal business day. Bids will be accepted until that date and time. Massasoit Community Colleges reserved the right to reject any and all bids, to omit an item or items, and to waive technicalities, irregularities, and omissions, if in the opinion of the College they are insubstantial and to do so will serve the best interests of the College. Executive Order 11246 All vendors must comply with all state and federal requirements for equal opportunity in accordance with the non-discrimination clause contained in Section 202, Executive Order 11246, as amended by Executive Order 11375, relative to equal opportunity. It is understood that Massasoit Community College is a state institution and derives its operating funds from annual appropriations by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Multiple year contracts are subject to annual appropriation of funds. The Agreement, if awarded, shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Massachusetts. Vendors and their employees are expected to abide by the College’s alcohol and drug policy. Copies of this policy may be obtained through the Human Resources Department. For information regarding the policy of fire arms on campus, Vendor should refer to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 269, Section 10 J. Non-Discrimination in Employment: The Contractor shall not discriminate against any qualified employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, genetic information maternity leave, military service, marital status or disability. The Contractor agrees to comply with applicable federal and state statutes, rules and regulations prohibiting discrimination in employment, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151B and all administrative and executive orders, where applicable.
Massasoit Community College is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, genetic information, gender identity or sexual orientation in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable statutes and college policies. The College prohibits sexual harassment, including sexual violence. Inquiries or complaints concerning discrimination, harassment, retaliation or sexual violence shall be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, Yolanda Dennis, Office of Institutional Diversity, 508-588-9100 X1309, Brockton Campus, Administration Building, Room 229,
[email protected], or the College’s Affirmative Action Officer, Donna R. Boissel, Human Resources, 508-588-9100, X1505, Brockton Campus, Administration Building, Room 233,
[email protected], the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission or the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
