Alfred University. Request for Proposal. Website Redesign

Transcription

1 Alfred University Request for Proposal Website Redesign Issued: May 9th, 2016 Responses Due: 8:00 a.m. on July 1st, 2016 Please Respond To: Sue Goetschius, Vice President University Relations Alfred University 1 Saxon Drive Alfred, NY Goetschius@alfred.edu OR Gary Roberts, Director Information Technology Services Alfred University 1 Saxon Drive Alfred NY Roberts@alfred.edu

2 About Alfred University Founded in 1836, Alfred University is the oldest coeducational institution in New York and the second oldest coeducational institution in the nation. It is a selective, nonsectarian university comprised of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Professional Studies, the School of Art & Design, the Inamori School of Engineering and the Graduate School. Alfred University is located in Alfred, NY, a village in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains about an hour west of Corning, an hour and a half south of Rochester and two hours from Buffalo. It consists of about 1,800 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduate students from 31 states and 20 countries attending full-time on the Alfred campus. There are an additional 118 part-time graduate students on the AU campus, and 189 part-time graduate students enrolled in the downstate program located in New York City. Alfred University includes a 232-acre campus with more than 50 academic and residential buildings, plus another 400 acres of nearby recreational land. The AU Saxons compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports and two IHSA sports. Introduction and Background Alfred University has initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to identify a vendor qualified to plan, execute and deliver the redesign of Alfred University s website, to be an engaging and timely platform for advancing the University s online communications and marketing strategies. Alfred University seeks a firm that has demonstrated experience in managing website projects and expertise with best practices, especially in higher education, so that the resulting web presence for Alfred University is current, rich, graphically pleasing, responsive to the information needs of the community (including prospective students and families, alumni and donors, external constituents, faculty and staff and current students); and innovative in design and presentation. The delivered design must render flawlessly on an array of devices including laptops, tablets and especially on mobile devices. The delivered design must be compliant with ADA priority 1 and 2 guidelines. The current website was launched in While, at the time, it was an improvement over the previous sites, the site no longer aligns with best design practices and use of large format images and rich media. On the interior pages, content is out of date due to difficulty of using our current CMS, Adobe Contribute. Prospective students and families report that they have difficulty finding what they re looking for. Due to the lack of built-in features provided by Adobe Contribute, we have had to develop work-arounds. We have created and maintain an in-house ColdFusion/SQL Server based CMS that allows the marketing divisions to readily update content on the top layer of almost all external facing University websites. Editable content includes text, images, and limited layout features. All proposed designs need to work with these server-side technologies. As we move forward, we envision implementing a SINGLE, new, vendor-supported content management system that will be utilized by marketing/content-mangers on all University webpages. Independent of our switch to a new CMS, any designs must work harmoniously with our chosen server-side technologies, ColdFusion 10 and 11, MS SQL

3 Server 2014 Enterprise with Always On Availability Group running, and IIS 8.5 on a Windows Server 2012 R2. The website is Alfred s primary marketing and communications tool for prospective students, parents and donors. The site must provide easily found, up-to-date content to our external audiences. We are asking for prospective design firms to provide an additional estimate (separate line item) for content migration and deployment that includes streamlining/editing textheavy pages that need to be optimized for web and mobile-device presentation. Scope of Work The purpose of this request is to obtain design and consulting services for a redesigned website (and includes all academic units and sub-domains). The project includes navigation, design of templates, recommendation on CMS and training for content managers and the web team. The prospective firm should be well-versed in current SEO best-practices and incorporating a search engine optimized design schema. The design firm should have all required licenses and software for development. Alfred University will provide a sandbox environment for testing purposes, only. The design consultant will utilize this development environment to ensure that any proposed designs work with our existing technologies. Alfred University will provide access to all necessary college spaces and resources and facilitate any needed communications with the user community. Specific requests: Design of main pages for external audiences Templates for implementation in a CMS for major subgroup pages Templates for implementation in a CMS for typical internal pages Provide CSS All designs must be mobile responsive using technologies such as Bootstrap 3.x and HTML 5 Works closely with our Client Web Team to ensure that all designs are compatible with existing technologies (ColdFusion 10 and 11, MS SQL Server 2014, and IIS 8.5) and are sustainable over time. In addition to being compatible with ColdFusion 10, we would also like the design to work with our externally-hosted alumni site, which employs ASPX Design and code elements compatible with current practices in Search Engine Optimization Integration with social media, including (but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) Ability to incorporate large-format images, video and audio Support for MS SQL Server Database integration Ability to restrict access to pages or sections/documents and files of the website based on authentication/authorization from AD/LDAP or RADIUS Photos/image management Reusable data input once, use many places

4 Compatibility with our Google-based search functionality Full website documentation For each phase of the project, design, programming and deployment, Alfred University s expectations are as follows: DESIGN 2-3 design concepts for the website 2-3 rounds of revisions to the selected direction CSS The Client Web Team will test all design concepts on an array of platforms, browsers, and hardware Final designs based on feedback from the Marketing and Client Web Team Layered image files and all other related artwork files Complete style guide PROGRAMMING/TESTING/REVIEW Site must be usable to the general public, including visitors with older systems, browsers including IE 11, Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Mac, PC, tablets and mobile devices Code should comply with existing web standards, as well as such future standards than can be foreseen Post 40 coded pages including the front page prior to complete development to a staging area for review by client team. The Marketing and Client Web Team will choose the 40 pages. Ongoing consultation during the review period with the Client Web Team to ensure compatibility with existing systems Refine code based on feedback from initial review Deliver final site files Provide a style guide with all technical documentation DEPLOYMENT AND CONTENT MIGRATION The Client Web Team will handle this portion of the project (unless we accept the design firm s bid for this separate line item) The design firm will train Client Web Team on deployment of templates. The design firm will be available to answer any questions and remediate any issues that arise during deployment phase. Current Usage The website receives ~ 2,800 unique visitors per day. The homepage currently attempts to serve all external audiences. The website is currently being accessed by a wide variety of devices, desktop, laptop, tablet (Apple ipad, MS Windows

5 RT, Amazon Kindle, Google Nexus) and mobile devices (ipod, iphone, Samsung, Motorola, LG). Current Environment The site consists of ~2000 pages. The underlying website technologies include ColdFusion 10 and 11, MS SQL Server 2014 Enterprise with Always On Availability Group running, and IIS 8.5 on a Windows Server 2012 R2. The main (upper level) channel pages are maintained with a customized Web content management system implemented by our University Web Team. The larger portions of our lower-level, relatively-static pages are maintained with Adobe Contribute 5.0. We are anticipating a move to a site-wide CMS system. Potential CMS systems include Hannon Hill Cascade Server, Terminal-Four WCMS and Paper Thin Commonspot. Security Requirements Page level security File security Document security LDAP login Levels of access for editors and managers work flow (ensure that website design is compatible with security and audit features in a new CMS) Document and photo library sharing and security Detailed Issues and Questions Please answer the following specific questions regarding your proposal: What approach would you take to implement this task? Please provide a general, step-by-step description of how you would handle our needs. Have you done this kind of work before in a higher education environment? Please provide samples and references. What tools would you use to gather data from users? Describe the training and documentation that will be provided. Describe any technical support that could be provided on an on-going basis. How is support obtained? Describe escalation procedures in the case of a severe or extended problem. What initial period of technical support might be provided with the initial engagement and what are the costs of technical support beyond the initial period?

6 How are changes to the project scope and timeline handled? How would you design templates so they further SEO? Timeline Alfred University reserves the right to modify this timeline at any time. Should the due date for proposals be changed, all prospective respondents shall be notified. RFP Released May 9th, 2016 Submittals Due July 1st, 2016 Notification of Decision September 1st, 2016, subject to change Initial meetings September to October 2016 Deliver Final Site Files March 15th, 2017 As a result of this Request for Proposal, Alfred University may do one of the following at its discretion: 1. Schedule on-site presentations 2. Award a contract based on this RFP 3. Award a contract based on a part or component of this RFP 4. Cancel or postpone the process

7 Submittals All proposals should include the following in the order listed: 1. Transmittal letter -- Include a brief introduction of the vendor or team of vendors making the proposal. Provide primary contact information including phone number and address. 2. Response -- The detailed response should address all aspects of the scope of work, all issues and questions raised in this RFP, a description of your approach to website design, details regarding your website project management process, a detailed timeline and itemization of required and optional costs, and one-to-two initial concepts for the home page(s). 3. Information package -- Any appropriate product literature including website references or brochures and other pre-printed informational materials or a detailed description of the vendor and any software and systems proposed. 4. References -- Provide references and contact information for other colleges and/or universities that have been served with similar engagements. All submittals must be delivered no later than the due date listed in the timeline above to: Sue Goetschius, Vice President University Relations Alfred University 1 Saxon Drive Alfred, NY Goetschius@alfred.edu OR Gary Roberts, Director Information Technology Services Alfred University 1 Saxon Drive Alfred NY Roberts@alfred.edu Electronic submittals are encouraged and will be accepted at: goetschius@alfred.edu or roberts@alfred.edu. If you are submitting any information you consider to be proprietary, you must clearly mark such information. Information so marked will not be considered public information.

8 Evaluation Criteria A team of technicians, administrators and staff from Alfred University will evaluate all proposals received. Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria: Completeness of the proposal Marketing and technology vision Compatibility with existing University systems Functionality Industry recognition and reputation Hard and soft costs of the proposal Questions and Amendments Should you have any questions regarding the material contained in this RFP, please contact Gary Roberts, Director of Information Technology Services or Sue Goetschius, Vice President, University Relations. Amendments will be issued to all respondents if a question is deemed to be of general interest or useful for clarification. Amendments may also be issued should new information arise that would affect this project. Terms and Conditions Award of contract Alfred University reserves the right to award a contract based on all or part of this RFP, or not to make any award, at its own discretion and for any reason. Discussions/Negotiations Alfred University reserves the right to conduct discussions with respondents, and to accept revisions of proposals, and to negotiate price changes at the sole discretion of the University. During this discussion period, Alfred University will not disclose any information regarding proposal submittals. Pre-award Presentations The University reserves the right to require presentations and/or demonstrations from any or all of the submitters in which they may be asked to provide additional information. Implementation Alfred University will own, have full access to and have the right to customize site code. All code, images, graphic elements, video and audio files and necessary templates will be turned over to Alfred University.