REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Q00805 Student Portal and Systems Integration Services
1.0 Description
1.1 William Rainey Harper College is seeking information on how an interested party could
provide students a single place to access essential services, functions, and information of the
College.
1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for
information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a
promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the College
to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the College is not at this time seeking
proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the College
will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs
associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not
responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a
solicitation is released, it will be publicized in the Daily Herald and on the College Website
(http://goforward.harpercollege.edu/about/directory/accounting/bids.php). It is the
responsibility of potential offerors to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to
this requirement.
2.0 COLLEGE BACKGROUND
William Rainey Harper College is one of forty-nine (49) community colleges in the State of
Illinois that make up the Illinois Community College System. Harper College’s credit full-time
equivalent (FTE) including CE reimbursement enrollment for FY 14 was 21,116.30.
Harper is a comprehensive community college which offers transfer curriculum, occupational
training, adult enrichment classes, and a variety of other community services. The College offers
certificates and associate degrees in a wide range of program areas.
The College district is located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The 200-acre campus is
located in Palatine, with extension facilities at the Northeast Center in Prospect Heights and the
Harper Professional Center in Schaumburg. Further information about Harper College can be
found on its website.
3.0 Project Background
Harper College worked with a vendor to engage enrolled students on the use of the student
portal. The vendor summarized that today’s students view technology in more of a
holistic/monolithic manner and do not draw distinctions amongst different toolsets; the portal,
blackboard, and email. The new system will need to meet the needs and requirements of the next
generation of students by providing a tool that is easy to use, keeps them informed, pulls their
data together, and is all about them.
The key takeaways from the students:
1. Make it easy for me to find and use key services (no more than two clicks away)
2. Keep me informed (send me notifications)
3. Make it about me (make it even more so all about me)
4. Pull it all together (give me a single source of information: on my classes, from my
professor, about my grades, from Blackboard, and my college email)
4.0 Requested Information
Harper College would like to investigate ways to build and design a system (technical
architecture) that seamlessly brings the technology of the college together and combines the
features, functions, and information that our students want, need, and expect while utilizing our
existing software applications, future technologies, and supports integration with our current
student system (Banner).
The system needs to connect our mobile centric students to the information and resources they
need, when they need them, and in a professional but extremely personalized fashion. The ideal
system must effectively share information and increase student engagement at Harper College by
providing a common gateway to integration among varying technologies, services, and data
offered by the college.
The system needs to make it easy for students to sign-on, register for classes, access financial aid
information, pay their tuition, view their grades, transcripts and schedule, and receive
notifications (emails) from any device, including mobile. The system must allow for social
media, posting of educational material, uploading of student documents, audio-video publishing,
and future technology enhancements. The system will need to ensure all data is secured and
compliant with governmental regulations.
High Level Requirements:
1. Application Architecture where the student is put at the center of our business on unified
platform integrating all of the services, information, and applications that the student
needs to succeed
2. Single sign-on
3. Provide students ‘visual management’ of their experience.
4. Secure Database
5. Common user interface
6. Device Independent Mobile Platform
5.0 Responses
5.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper not to exceed five
(5) pages and should include the following:
1. If you have an application that meets our requirements, describe the application.
2. If the best approach is to design a program, provide a high level recommendation of the
best approach and your success in implementing a similar project.
3. Identity limitations to achieving our objectives
4. Provide key information/inputs the college should consider in determining our approach
of this endeavor.
5. Provide a realistic timeline identifying key milestones to plan, develop, implement and
execute your solution.
6. Identify at least three (3) customers where you have been successful in implementing a
similar solution.
5.2 Responses to this RFI are due no later than May 25, 2015, 2:00 p.m. CST. Please return
three (3) copies of your information in a sealed envelope marked (RFI Q00805).
Any information submitted to the College is subject to The Illinois Freedom of Information Act
(5 ILCS 140). Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY
MARKED. To aid the College, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that
all submissions become College property and will not be returned. This may be the only
opportunity to provide input into the development of any future RFP issued by the College for
this endeavor.
Responses should be sent to:
William Rainey Harper College
“Building A” - Room A217
1200 West Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL 60067
Attn: Jewell Jackson
6.0 Questions
Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to
purchasing@harpercollege.edu. The College does not guarantee that questions received after
May 17, 2015, 2:00 CST will be answered.
7.0 Summary
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide
Student Portal and Systems Integration Services. The information provided in the RFI is subject
to change and is not binding on the College. The College has not made a commitment to procure
any of the items discussed and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment
or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All
submissions become College property and will not be returned.
Attachments: Integrated Elements
Systems Details
Integrated Elements
Launch
SMART START
Tracking and
Support
Student
Success
Guidance & Support
Tracking and
Support
Tracking and Support
Personalized
Communications
Personalized
Communications
Data Warehouse & Analytics
We Continued to Listen…to our students
Make it Easy
- to get into college
- to register
- to pay
- to get help
Keep Me Informed
- of what is happening
right now
- of going off track
- of campus events
Make It About Me
- my schedule
- my academic plan
- my finances
- my grades
…and Pull it All Together
- portal, blackboard, email, scheduling
- student information system, My Plan
- on any device, from anywhere
- that I can customize
Coming: One Harper