Emporia State University Sealed Solicitation
Title: RFP 004-23: Student Success Customer Relationship Management Software
Deadline: 11/22/2022 2:00 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Status: Deadline Expired
Solicitation Number: RFP 004-23
Description: ESU is issuing this RFP to obtain competitive responses from suppliers to provide a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for tracking and monitoring student success, per the specifications listed in this document.
Documents:
| Documents as of 10/19/2022 |
|---|
| RFP 004-23 Student Success CRM Software.pdf |
Addition 1
Posted: 11/9/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum
Overview: This addendum is in response to all questions submitted before the questions deadline.
Deadline: 11/16/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Addition 2
Posted: 11/9/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum
Deadline: 11/16/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Documents:
Addition 3
Posted: 11/15/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum 2
Overview: This addendum is to announce the change of the submission deadline. The new deadline is November 22, 2022 (2:00 pm CST).
Deadline: 11/22/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Documents:
Question 1
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Has ESU identified a budget for this initiative, and if so, is it possible to share?
Response: We have identified a budget for the Student Success CRM initiative. However, we cannot share the identified budget at this time. We can share that an initial vendor provided us with a quote of $120,000 for implementation and $70,000 to $85,000 annually thereafter. We will be evaluating what each vendor offers.
Question 2
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: What strategic challenges is ESU looking to address through this RFP? Is there specific goals ESU is looking to achieve? And in what time period?
Response: Emporia State University is in the process of implementing a strategic plan that prioritizes adapting to the needs of its students. To realize the potential of that goal, we must make a concerted effort to deliver proactive, data-informed student supports that are scalable across critical areas (i.e., first-year support, pathways through and between majors, advising, academic success, and financial services). Desired outcomes: 1. Create structured pathways to guide students into their academic studies through the first year and beyond. 2. Standardize advising technology and protocols to deliver data-informed, coordinated advising to all ESU students. 3. Strengthen financial aid through collaboration with other units and coordinated, proactive outreach to students. 4. Enable the use of actionable data in support of improved student outcomes and better coordinated student communications. 5. Establish proactive and automated alerts and triggers in specific academic courses and integrated in Canvas regarding student success. What we hope to achieve: ? Improve retention and graduation rates for all student populations. ? Improve university access and student persistence. ? Remove barriers that impede student progression. ? Increase enrollment, retention, and graduation.
Question 3
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: What are some challenges unique to ESU that you think proposing vendors should be aware of as they compose their responses?
Response: Not sure about unique challenges, but our student body is increasingly first-generation and loan averse. We are currently experiencing some challenges as we identify academic programs in which we will continue to invest and other programs that will be suspended. We have recently transitioned to all professional advisors for undergraduate students, and we are interested in requiring a first-year seminar. Currently, there are no faculty involved in this process, especially since we implemented the professional advisor model. As we do implement this software, faculty will increasingly be brought into the process.
Question 4
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Does ESU have a preferred “go live” date? When would ESU expect to begin realizing the benefits from the selected solution?
Response: Our current projection is to go live in June of 2023.
Question 5
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Did ESU evaluate solutions that could meet its requirements through vendor presentations leading up to the RFP release? If so, what types and names of solutions and vendors were evaluated?
Response: No – For the current project no demos or evaluations have taken place yet.
Question 6
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please provide the decision timeline for this RFP?
Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.
Question 7
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify if it would like its graduate student population included on the platform?
Response: We are open to including the graduate population on this platform.
Question 8
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify the term length of the awarded contract? On the cover page it lists a term of 4 years + 2 years + 2 years and on the pricing page it lists a term of 3 years + 1 year + 1 year?
Response: I believe we are looking to have an initial 4-year contract, with 2 options for renewal of 2 years in length.
Question 9
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify if it would like vendors to include academic planning functionality per section h on page 24?
Response: Academic planning functionality would be valuable but it is not a priority. We will continue to use Degree Works. We would like the CRM to integrate the Degree Works Student Educational Planner when it is implemented.
Question 10
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point 42 of Section III (Page Number – 20 of 32) Please confirm if you are open for a Hybrid Model with mix of U.S. based Consultants & India based Consultants where one of USA based Consultants will be the main point of contact?
Response: We want quality consultants who pay attention to detail, who value quality customer service and execute at that level, and do not continually put us on hold or refer us to a page in the “help manual”. We hope for consultants who can be available within 24 hours. If there is a service and assistance difference between your U.S. and India employees, we would need to understand the expectations and differences.
Question 11
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point 43 of Section III (Page Number 20 of 32) Are you open to the Consultants working within U.S. to travel for meetings/Trainings at Emporia State University office as required.
Response: We would be happy to conduct trainings at Emporia State University, if that is the question.
Question 12
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Are you currently storing data on premise (Local Server) or in the cloud? (If in the cloud which provider is being utilized?)
Response: Our LMS (Canvas), Recruitment software (TargetX), and housing system (StarRez) are in the cloud. Our SIS (Ellucian Banner), document management system (Onbase), and Degree Works are on premise.
Question 13
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section II – Statement of Work Do you also require data migration from your current system to new CRM? If yes, please advise on the volume (preferably Size) of data? Also, please suggest if data deduplication and data cleansing need to be done before migrating the data to the new CRM?
Response: We would most likely wish to migrate data; however, not knowing enough about any of the vendors yet or what they offer, we would like to reserve that decision for after we see the products and what they are capable of.
Question 14
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section II – Statement of Work. Do you have any requirements for setting up the various campaigns? If yes, the please suggest what kind of campaigns you require such as Email Campaigns, SMS campaigns, survey campaigns, social media campaigns, etc.?
Response: We will most likely have at least email and SMS campaigns; however, not knowing enough about any of the vendors yet or what they offer, we would like to reserve that decision for after we see the products and what they are capable of.
Question 15
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section IV – Specifications (Page Number 24 of 32) Please advise on the total number of users who will access the new CRM platform? Our understanding is that number of students will be 5324 (including Non-Graduates and Graduates) PLUS the university staff.
Response: Not all staff will have access to the system and not all faculty will utilize the system. It is yet to be determined whether the student body will be end users of the system; this will be determined by functionality available from vendor systems.
Question 16
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section IV – Specifications (Page Number 24 of 32) Can you please provide approximate users of Admin Staff (Support Staff accessing the Student Records) and Advisors (Students will require to access Advisors different to Admin Staff)?
Response: Without knowing what capabilities come with each role, we can only approximate. Admin Staff = 35+ Advisors = 20-25
Question 17
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point r of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 28 of 32) Are you looking to integrate with your current Document Management System? If yes, then please advise what documentation management application are you currently utilizing (such as SharePoint, Google workspace, etc.)?
Response: Yes – We use Onbase by Hyland.
Question 18
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point v of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 29 of 32) Post Implementation - Please suggest the level of support you would require such as 24 hours*7 days OR 24 hours*5 days OR 16 hours*5 Days OR 8 hours*5 days? Any specific business hours and preferred time zone you are looking for the support?
Response: We would prefer 24/7 support. However, we understand there may be tiers to choose from with different price tags. We will evaluate what each vendor offers.
Question 19
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point s of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 28 of 32) We understand the requirement of capturing Hornet Card events in the new CRM. Please confirm if Hornet card system would expose API to get the relevant student data in the new CRM.
Response: Our Housing System (StarRez) has the capacity to capture Hornet Card events (currently used for check-in and package pick-up in housing). Currently, our Hornet card system does not track events and therefore we do not have an API exposed. Card swipes are used by individual groups or departments and the data is siloed within that area.
Question 20
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section III – Statement of Work - Third Party Integrations Please outline any pertinent 3rd Party systems that need to be integrated with the new CRM. Also if possible, hosting details (On Premise or Cloud) and will they provide the APIs to new CRM to access the data?
Response: Canvas – hosted Ellucian Banner – on prem Ellucian Degree Works – on prem TargetX – hosted Onbase – on prem StarRez - hosted The potential for using APIs likely exists for all these systems, although it may take substantial work to get them configured & working.
Posted: 11/9/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum
Overview: This addendum is in response to all questions submitted before the questions deadline.
Deadline: 11/16/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Posted: 11/9/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum
Deadline: 11/16/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Documents:
Posted: 11/15/2022
Type of Addition: Addendum 2
Overview: This addendum is to announce the change of the submission deadline. The new deadline is November 22, 2022 (2:00 pm CST).
Deadline: 11/22/2022 2:00 PM
Solicitation #: RFP 004-23
Documents:
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Has ESU identified a budget for this initiative, and if so, is it possible to share?
Response: We have identified a budget for the Student Success CRM initiative. However, we cannot share the identified budget at this time. We can share that an initial vendor provided us with a quote of $120,000 for implementation and $70,000 to $85,000 annually thereafter. We will be evaluating what each vendor offers.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: What strategic challenges is ESU looking to address through this RFP? Is there specific goals ESU is looking to achieve? And in what time period?
Response: Emporia State University is in the process of implementing a strategic plan that prioritizes adapting to the needs of its students. To realize the potential of that goal, we must make a concerted effort to deliver proactive, data-informed student supports that are scalable across critical areas (i.e., first-year support, pathways through and between majors, advising, academic success, and financial services). Desired outcomes: 1. Create structured pathways to guide students into their academic studies through the first year and beyond. 2. Standardize advising technology and protocols to deliver data-informed, coordinated advising to all ESU students. 3. Strengthen financial aid through collaboration with other units and coordinated, proactive outreach to students. 4. Enable the use of actionable data in support of improved student outcomes and better coordinated student communications. 5. Establish proactive and automated alerts and triggers in specific academic courses and integrated in Canvas regarding student success. What we hope to achieve: ? Improve retention and graduation rates for all student populations. ? Improve university access and student persistence. ? Remove barriers that impede student progression. ? Increase enrollment, retention, and graduation.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: What are some challenges unique to ESU that you think proposing vendors should be aware of as they compose their responses?
Response: Not sure about unique challenges, but our student body is increasingly first-generation and loan averse. We are currently experiencing some challenges as we identify academic programs in which we will continue to invest and other programs that will be suspended. We have recently transitioned to all professional advisors for undergraduate students, and we are interested in requiring a first-year seminar. Currently, there are no faculty involved in this process, especially since we implemented the professional advisor model. As we do implement this software, faculty will increasingly be brought into the process.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Does ESU have a preferred “go live” date? When would ESU expect to begin realizing the benefits from the selected solution?
Response: Our current projection is to go live in June of 2023.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Did ESU evaluate solutions that could meet its requirements through vendor presentations leading up to the RFP release? If so, what types and names of solutions and vendors were evaluated?
Response: No – For the current project no demos or evaluations have taken place yet.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please provide the decision timeline for this RFP?
Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify if it would like its graduate student population included on the platform?
Response: We are open to including the graduate population on this platform.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify the term length of the awarded contract? On the cover page it lists a term of 4 years + 2 years + 2 years and on the pricing page it lists a term of 3 years + 1 year + 1 year?
Response: I believe we are looking to have an initial 4-year contract, with 2 options for renewal of 2 years in length.
Posted: 10/31/2022
Question: Can ESU please clarify if it would like vendors to include academic planning functionality per section h on page 24?
Response: Academic planning functionality would be valuable but it is not a priority. We will continue to use Degree Works. We would like the CRM to integrate the Degree Works Student Educational Planner when it is implemented.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point 42 of Section III (Page Number – 20 of 32) Please confirm if you are open for a Hybrid Model with mix of U.S. based Consultants & India based Consultants where one of USA based Consultants will be the main point of contact?
Response: We want quality consultants who pay attention to detail, who value quality customer service and execute at that level, and do not continually put us on hold or refer us to a page in the “help manual”. We hope for consultants who can be available within 24 hours. If there is a service and assistance difference between your U.S. and India employees, we would need to understand the expectations and differences.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point 43 of Section III (Page Number 20 of 32) Are you open to the Consultants working within U.S. to travel for meetings/Trainings at Emporia State University office as required.
Response: We would be happy to conduct trainings at Emporia State University, if that is the question.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Are you currently storing data on premise (Local Server) or in the cloud? (If in the cloud which provider is being utilized?)
Response: Our LMS (Canvas), Recruitment software (TargetX), and housing system (StarRez) are in the cloud. Our SIS (Ellucian Banner), document management system (Onbase), and Degree Works are on premise.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section II – Statement of Work Do you also require data migration from your current system to new CRM? If yes, please advise on the volume (preferably Size) of data? Also, please suggest if data deduplication and data cleansing need to be done before migrating the data to the new CRM?
Response: We would most likely wish to migrate data; however, not knowing enough about any of the vendors yet or what they offer, we would like to reserve that decision for after we see the products and what they are capable of.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section II – Statement of Work. Do you have any requirements for setting up the various campaigns? If yes, the please suggest what kind of campaigns you require such as Email Campaigns, SMS campaigns, survey campaigns, social media campaigns, etc.?
Response: We will most likely have at least email and SMS campaigns; however, not knowing enough about any of the vendors yet or what they offer, we would like to reserve that decision for after we see the products and what they are capable of.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section IV – Specifications (Page Number 24 of 32) Please advise on the total number of users who will access the new CRM platform? Our understanding is that number of students will be 5324 (including Non-Graduates and Graduates) PLUS the university staff.
Response: Not all staff will have access to the system and not all faculty will utilize the system. It is yet to be determined whether the student body will be end users of the system; this will be determined by functionality available from vendor systems.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section IV – Specifications (Page Number 24 of 32) Can you please provide approximate users of Admin Staff (Support Staff accessing the Student Records) and Advisors (Students will require to access Advisors different to Admin Staff)?
Response: Without knowing what capabilities come with each role, we can only approximate. Admin Staff = 35+ Advisors = 20-25
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point r of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 28 of 32) Are you looking to integrate with your current Document Management System? If yes, then please advise what documentation management application are you currently utilizing (such as SharePoint, Google workspace, etc.)?
Response: Yes – We use Onbase by Hyland.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point v of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 29 of 32) Post Implementation - Please suggest the level of support you would require such as 24 hours*7 days OR 24 hours*5 days OR 16 hours*5 Days OR 8 hours*5 days? Any specific business hours and preferred time zone you are looking for the support?
Response: We would prefer 24/7 support. However, we understand there may be tiers to choose from with different price tags. We will evaluate what each vendor offers.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Point s of Section III – Statement of Work (Page Number 28 of 32) We understand the requirement of capturing Hornet Card events in the new CRM. Please confirm if Hornet card system would expose API to get the relevant student data in the new CRM.
Response: Our Housing System (StarRez) has the capacity to capture Hornet Card events (currently used for check-in and package pick-up in housing). Currently, our Hornet card system does not track events and therefore we do not have an API exposed. Card swipes are used by individual groups or departments and the data is siloed within that area.
Posted: 11/2/2022
Question: Section III – Statement of Work - Third Party Integrations Please outline any pertinent 3rd Party systems that need to be integrated with the new CRM. Also if possible, hosting details (On Premise or Cloud) and will they provide the APIs to new CRM to access the data?
Response: Canvas – hosted Ellucian Banner – on prem Ellucian Degree Works – on prem TargetX – hosted Onbase – on prem StarRez - hosted The potential for using APIs likely exists for all these systems, although it may take substantial work to get them configured & working.