Portage College - Request for Proposal - Portage College - Student Information System RFP

Portage College is a public, board-governed institution operating in Alberta, Canada as a Comprehensive Community Institution under the authority of the Post-Secondary Learning Act. Supported by approximately 240 faculty and staff, Portage College currently serves approximately 1,400 full-time equivalent students and plans to increase its enrollment to 1,600 over the next three to five years. The College offers a diverse range of educational programs, including continuing education courses, ad-hoc training, and academic credentials from certificates to degrees. Instruction is delivered through multiple modalities, including online, in-person, and hybrid formats. Operating across seven campuses in Alberta. Portage College is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to invite qualified proponents to submit proposals for a new Student Information System (The System), and related migration and implementation services. Support for Portage College's current Thesis EMS student information system is being phased out by the vendor, prompting the need for a new solution. 1. INTENT & OVERVIEW Portage College invites qualified proponents to submit proposals for the implementation of a new Student Information System (The System). Proponents must demonstrate their capabilities and technical expertise, presenting a comprehensive solution with related services that align with the College’s strategic and operational needs. The proposed Student Information System must seamlessly integrate with the College's existing technological infrastructure to ensure efficient data flow and operational coherence. Mandatory integrations include the Unit4 ERP CR Financials system, Moodle Learning Management System, Alberta Post-Secondary Application System (APAS), MyTradeSecrets for application processing, MyCreds.ca for transcript management, and multiple payment processing platforms. The System must be fully compatible with the College’s Microsoft Office 365 environment to facilitate collaboration and communication. Potential integrations with other internal systems - such as StarRez for housing management, Class Climate for surveys and evaluations, and Classy.org for fundraising activities may also be required. 2. TARGET IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE Portage College requires the completion of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implementation and migration of essential data to support its core operational needs by December 31, 2025. Additional features and system enhancements may be implemented beyond this date. Proponents must submit a detailed implementation roadmap and project plan, clearly outlining key milestones, deliverables, and timelines to ensure a seamless and timely transition. The plan should specify any proposed phases of implementation, along with the roles, responsibilities, and skillsets of the Proponent’s personnel supporting the project. Additionally, it must detail the resources the College will need to provide, including required roles and capabilities for both the implementation and ongoing operations. A separate product roadmap must also be included, outlining the development path for the proposed system, including any future updates or features in progress. If any products or features are still under development and may not be commercially available by the specified dates, or if retirement of any proposed features is expected within the next 5 years, this must be explicitly indicated. 3. REQUIREMENTS The System should meet core functional requirements essential to the College's operations and key non-functional requirements related to performance, security, and scalability. Optional features are desirable and will be considered advantageous but not mandatory. Proponents must use the Excel Worksheet included in Schedule D of the RFP package to indicate compliance with detailed requirements, including any relevant support information as appropriate. Schedule G may be used as a cover page for any additional collateral being included. While Portage College welcomes proposals that address a portion or portions of the requirements outlined in this Request for Proposal, or that partially fulfill these requirements, the consideration of such proposals will be at the sole discretion of the College. Portage College reserves the right to determine if these proposals sufficiently meet the needs outlined in this Request for Proposal. 3.1 CORE REQUIREMENTS Section Requirement Areas A Program Management B Admissions & Enrollment C Retention D Timetable Management E Progress Management F Portals G Billing H Workflow Management I Integration J Reporting, Analytics, and Data Management K User Interface L Non-Functional A. Program Management The System’s program management features should enable the efficient creation and management of academic programs and courses, facilitate optimized course scheduling, provide easy student access to program structures and course catalogs, and automatically manage prerequisite and enrollment rules during registration. B. Admissions & Enrolment The System should help streamline the entire application and enrollment process by offering direct application submissions, real-time status updates, and automated notifications. It should support secure, self-service management of personal details, waitlist tracking, and third-party agent interactions, while integrating with services such as ApplyAlberta (APAS) and MyCreds.ca where required. C. Retention The System should offer a consolidated student profile, secure document management, personalized support tracking, accessibility-compliant features, and tools for academic advising. It should provide student engagement and risk identification capabilities, automated alerts for triggered interventions, and comprehensive tracking of student status and progress. D. Timetable Management The System should provide students with up-to-date access to timetables and curriculum information, enforce enrollment and prerequisite rules with the ability to override when authorized, and allow students to easily print both course outlines and timetables. E. Progress Management The System should facilitate comprehensive tracking of student progress along defined program pathways, enable rule-based personal interventions when learning goals are unmet, allow students to monitor their course progress and attendance, and provide functionality for program transfer planning and degree audits, including personalized recommendations and transfer advising as appropriate. F. Portals The System should provide a comprehensive self-service portal for students, staff, and student agents, allowing for independent management of applications, financials, contact details, course enrollment, academic advising, and campus services, while securely handling updates to personal information, access to academic records, and management of scholarships, grants, and awards, all in one unified interface with configurable access and security settings. G. Billing & Financial Support The System should enable administrators to manage student fees, reconcile payments, and set rules for follow-ups, while providing students with secure portals to access invoices, track accounts, make payments, and independently manage their financial transactions and details. Students should ideally be able to apply for awards and bursaries through the self-service interface, with automated eligibility matching and grant tracking for researchers and applicants. H. Workflow Management The System should enable administrators to implement workflows that match institutional policies and processes - including task assignment, integration with external services, and use of conditional logic. Features should ideally optimally automate student support functions through chatbots, case management and collaboration features and configurable review and approval workflows. An audit trail that logs actions taken and analytics to improve workflow performance are also required. I. Integration The System should be capable of easily integrating with internal and external systems including Moodle, ApplyAlberta, MyTradeSecrets, MyCreds.ca, and the Unit4 ERP CR system for financial and billing processes. Off-the-shelf-integration capabilities are preferred. J. Reporting, Analytics and Data Management The System should support convenient data analysis and reporting, and ideally predictive analytics for recruitment, enrollment, performance, and engagement. Data security, data quality measures, and the ability to securely export insights and report output to other systems are baseline requirements. K. User Interface The System should provide an intuitive, secure and customizable self-service interface that consolidates relevant data for users, supports collaborative workflows for administrators, and maintains branding and visual consistency across the platform. L. Non-Functional The System must support seamless operations in general, with high-availability and reliability, secure integration, flexible configuration, data portability, and full compliance with legal requirements as applicable. 3.2 OPTIONAL REQUIREMENTS - Download RFP Documents and related worksheets for details. M. Recruitment N. Alumni O. CRM P. Other Functions