Learning Management System (LMS)

1 Muskegon Community College Request For Proposal Learning Management System SECTION I: Summary A. Request for Proposal Muskegon Community College is requesting proposals for a Software as a Service (SaaS) based modern Learning Management System (LMS). A modern LMS must be student centric with student success as a primary driver. A plan for training and migration from our current LMS (Blackboard Learn 9.1) is required. Other considerations include data privacy and protection, ADA accessibility, 3rd party integrations, full integration with Ellucian Colleague SaaS, academic honesty options, and financial considerations. Proposals must be delivered via email by Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 4:00 pm EST. Proposals received after the specified time will not be considered. Questions and proposals should be submitted to: Mike Council, Purchasing Manager mike.council@muskegoncc.edu NOTICE: Prospective bidders who have received

this document from a source other than the Office of Financial Services should immediately contact the Office and provide their name and mailing address in order to ensure that amendments to the Request for Proposal or other communications are sent to them. Any prospective bidder who fails to provide the Office with this information assumes complete responsibility in the event that they do not receive communications from the Office of Financial Services prior to the closing date. mailto:mike.council@muskegoncc.edu 2 B. Background on Muskegon Community College: Muskegon Community College or (“MCC” or “College”) is a public community college, a political subdivision of the State of Michigan, with annual total student enrollment of approximately 5,000 students. The College has an annual operating budget (General Fund) of $41.9 million and employs approximately 225 regular full and part time staff as well as a significant number of adjunct faculty and student assistants. The College offers over 80 degree and certificate programs. The College's main campus, located on a 111-acre campus in Muskegon, includes the Hendrik Meijer Library & Information Technology Center, the Bartels-Rode Gymnasium, the Frauenthal Foundation Art Center with the Overbrook Theater and Art Gallery, the Stevenson Center for Higher Education, the Science Center, the Health and Wellness Center, and the Art and Music Building. MCC also operates extension centers in Ottawa and Newaygo Counties, as well as the Sturrus Technology Center in downtown Muskegon. SECTION II: Scope Muskegon Community College (MCC) is requesting proposals for a modern Learning Management System (LMS) to replace the current LMS Blackboard Learn 9.1. A modern LMS must be student centric with student success as a primary driver. A plan for training and migration from our current LMS (Blackboard Learn 9.1) is required. Other considerations include data privacy and protection, ADA accessibility, 3rd party integrations, full integration with Ellucian Colleague SaaS, academic honesty options, and financial considerations. Proposals will be selected primarily based on MCC student & faculty feedback and ability to fully integrate with the existing student information system. Research and testing by faculty and students prior to this RFP has indicated a preference for Blackboard Ultra and Canvas. Secondary considerations will be available features, competitive price, ability to integrate with standard 3rd party tools, vendor reputation with similar clients, and ability to support. Scope of Services The purpose of this RFP is to establish a multi-year contract for a modern SaaS LMS. Our current LMS contract terminates August 2024. Go live for a new LMS would be our Summer term in 2024 starting in May. Prior to our May 2024 go live, the new LMS would need to be available for 9-12 months for integrations, configurations, testing, training, and course conversions. Payment on a new contract may start no earlier than July 2023. Please address the following items in your response: 1. Short description of how your LMS will focus on student success. 2. Contract term and pricing. 3. Plan and timeline to migrate from current LMS to new LMS by May 2024. 4. Pricing considerations for period of time prior to go live where LMS will need to be available. 5. Statement on ability for courses to convert from our current LMS Blackboard Learn 9.1. 6. Options for course conversion assistance. 7. Options for academic honesty services, such as plagiarism checking. 8. Options for integrating our existing Zoom environment as our provider for live classrooms. 9. Options for storage capacity. We are currently utilizing 3TB of space with needs to expand. 10. Statement on ability to integrate with Ellucian Colleague SaaS. 11. Statement on mobile device support. 12. Statement on ADA compliance. 3 13. Options for additional accessibility features. 14. Options for SMS notifications. 15. Statement on data ownership and ownership after contract end. 16. Statement on information security practices. 17. Statement on privacy. 18. Options for staff and faculty training on new LMS. 19. Options for testing or staging environments. 20. Options for data analytics. 21. Statement on data backup and disaster recovery. 22. Statement on customer service expectations. Who to call during outage, how are general tickets handled. 23. Statement on Service Level Agreements (SLAs). 24. Statement on ability for Single Sign On (SSO) authentication through Microsoft Azure. 25. Statement on ability to integrate with our 3rd party vendors. Here are our current providers: a) Achievements b) Barnes and Noble c) Simple Syllabus d) Cengage e) Class Climate f) Connect – McGraw Hill g) ExamSoft h) Google i) Office 365 j) Go Peer k) Higher Ed – McGraw Hill l) Link System m) Hypothesis n) McGraw Hill Connect 2 o) Zoom p) Hol Science q) Paragram r) Safe Assign s) SCORM t) Screencast u) Stukent v) Aleks w) DropBox x) YouTube 4 SECTION III: Proposal Format and Content A. MCC will accept proposals for a modern SaaS based Learning Management System until 4:00 p.m. Thursday, January 12, 2023. Proposals must be emailed to Mike Council, at: mike.council@muskegoncc.edu B. Proposals must adhere to the following format, both in content and sequence. Proposals should be succinct, yet provide adequate detail for objective analysis. By submitting a proposal, each firm/ organization certifies that it understands this RFP and has full knowledge of its scope. Each firm/ organization also certifies that it understands that it will be solely responsible for any and all costs relating to preparation of proposals, including any time involved with oral presentations. 1. Firm/Organization Name and Address, including local address, telephone number, name of contact person, and date of proposal. 2. Firm/Organization Statistics a) Size of firm/organization (e.g., gross receipts/revenues, number of employees, number of properties owned/operated, etc.) b) Number of years the firm/organization has been in business. 3. Client/Organization References — A minimum of three, but not more than six, shall be documented. 4. Total Price, including shipping or freight charges. 5. Other Terms & Conditions -- All proposals must specify warranty information. SECTION IV: Contacts, Timing, and Administrative Details A. Contacts MCC specifically instructs all interested firms/organizations to restrict all questions regarding this RFP to emailed communications forwarded to the above-named RFP Contact Person. All questions and concerns must be received no later than Thursday, January 5, 2023 at 4:00p.m. MCC shall have a reasonable amount of time in which to respond to all questions and concerns; however MCC reserves the right to decline to respond to any question. MCC may, in its sole discretion, respond in writing or by e-mail to written inquiries concerning this RFP, and may fax, e-mail, or mail via U.S. Postal Service its response to all parties recorded by MCC as having received a copy of this RFP. Only MCC responses that are made by formal written Addenda shall be binding. Any verbal responses or written interpretations or clarifications other than Addenda to this RFP shall be without legal effect. Any and all Addenda issued by MCC prior to the submittal deadline shall be and are hereby incorporated as a part of this RFP for all purposes. mailto:mike.council@muskegoncc.edu 5 B. Timing 1. Proposals must be submitted by 4:00 PM, EST, Thursday, January 12, 2023. 2. Award notification will be announced upon approval from the MCC Board of Trustees. This would be expected in late February, but this is not a guarantee. C. Administrative Details 1. The proposal must be signed and dated by a duly authorized firm/organization representative. 2. MCC considers all information and documentation requested to be submitted in response to this RFP to be of a non-confidential and non-proprietary nature and therefore shall be subject to public disclosure. Bidders are hereby notified that MCC strictly adheres to all statutes, court decisions, and the opinions of the Michigan Attorney General with respect to disclosure of public information. 3. MCC reserves the right to reject any and all offers, to waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received, and to request additional information from proposing firms. 4. MCC reserves the right to accept the proposal for services deemed to be in the best interests of MCC. The accepted proposal may not necessarily be the lowest bid. PART V – Information and Instructions A. Submission Requirements: The complete original proposal must be emailed and received by January 12, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. EST. B. Interview: A bidder may be required to make a presentation of their proposal. This will provide an opportunity to clarify or elaborate on the proposal, but will not, in any way provide an opportunity to change any proposed price or other material condition. If MCC chooses to entertain presentations, the College will schedule and notify the bidder(s) of the time and location of their presentation. C. Modifications: In order to more fully meet the needs of the College, Muskegon Community College reserves the right to request that the bidder modify the proposal D. Request for Additional Information: The bidder shall furnish such additional information as Muskegon Community College may require. E. Acceptance/Rejection/Modification to Proposals: Muskegon Community College reserves the right to negotiate modifications to proposals that it deems acceptable, reject any and all proposals, and waive minor irregularities in the procedures. F. Taxes: Muskegon Community College is exempt from Federal, State, and Local Taxes and will not be responsible for any such taxes in connection with the award under this RFP. 6 G. Evaluation/Award: The evaluation and award of this bid shall be a combination of factors including but not limited to price, warranty details, professional competence, references and the correlation of the proposal submitted to the needs of the College, and any other factors considered to be in the College’s best interest. The bid will be awarded to the most responsible, responsive bidder whose proposal, conforming to this solicitation, will be most advantageous to the College, price and other factors considered. H. Equal Employment Opportunity: It is the policy of Muskegon Community College to provide equal opportunities and not discriminate in enrollment, education, employment, public accommodations, activities or services on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, political persuasion, disability, height, weight, age, or other prohibitive matters. It is the policy of the College to patronize only those firms and vendors that demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunity within their own enterprises and abide by Federal and State laws. PART VI: Other Requirements In order to ensure a uniform review process and obtain the maximum degree of compatibility, it is required that the proposals be organized in the manner specified below. A. Title Page: The bidder should identify the RFP subject, the name of the firm/organization, local address, telephone number, name and title of contact person and date of submission. B. Table of Contents: Provide clear identification of the material by section and by page number. C. Firm/Organization History: Information related to the bidders qualifications and resources. a. Briefly describe your firm/organization’s history, number of employees and years in existence. b. Provide details of your firm/organizations financial status and stability. D. Qualifications and Experience of Staff E. References: List at least three (3) client references. (See page 6) F. Required Forms: Complete and sign all required forms (See page 7). (If applicable) 7 PART VII: List of References IMPORTANT: This form must be returned with the bid proposal form. 1. Name of Bidder_________________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________________________ Contact Person/Title____________________________________________________ E-mail Address________________________________________________________ Telephone Number_____________________________________________________ 2. Name of Company ______________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________ Contact Person/Title____________________________________________________ E-mail Address________________________________________________________ Telephone Number_____________________________________________________ 3. Name of Company_______________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________ Contact Person/Title____________________________________________________ E-mail Address________________________________________________________ Telephone Number_____________________________________________________ 8 MUSKEGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Learning Management System BIDDER’S CERTIFICATION I have carefully examined the Request for Proposal, Instructions, Terms and Conditions, Scope of Services, Bid forms and all other documents accompanying this proposal. I propose to furnish the services specified in the Request for Proposal at the prices or rates quoted in my proposal. I agree that my proposal will remain firm for a period of sixty (60) days in order to allow Muskegon Community College adequate time to evaluate the proposals. I certify that all information contained in this Request for Proposal is truthful to the best of my knowledge and belief. I further certify I am duly authorized to submit this proposal on behalf of the vendor/contractor and that the vendor/contractor is ready, willing and able to perform if awarded this bid/proposal. I further certify that this bid/proposal is made without prior understanding, agreement, connection, discussion or collusion with any other person, firm or corporation submitting a bid/proposal for the same commodity or service; no officer, employee or agent of Muskegon Community College or of any other bidder interested in bid/proposal; and the undersigned executed this bidder’s certification with full knowledge and understanding of the matters contained and was duly authorized to do so. Name of Vendor ________________________________________________________________ Signature _____________________________________________________________________ Name & Title ___________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address _________________________________________________________________ Telephone Number ______________________________________________________________ E-mail Address _________________________________________________________________ 20520974-2