RFP: Digital Credentialing Solutions (e.g., e-Transcripts) MHEC-RFP-10052020

RFP: DIGITAL CREDENTIALING SOLUTIONS (e.g., e-Transcripts) MHEC-RFP-10052020
The Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) is seeking innovative and cost-effective digital credentialing solutions to establish a contract or contracts to facilitate the transfer of student information between various institutions in the MHEC region. Such solutions include the same information as a traditional transcript but also include information about non-classroom learning experiences and credentials earned via industrial training, field work, military service, volunteer experiences, and more. This information is exchanged between high schools (public and private) and colleges and universities (public and private non-profit), between participating postsecondary institutions, state agencies, and, perhaps in the future, beyond the educational environment to include employers, professional associations, and more. Some schools and organizations already offer such comprehensive learner records (CLR), and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) recognizes CLRs as the future of student record keeping. As more states and schools adopt the use of such records, students whose schools do not engage in such practices will be increasingly at a disadvantage as they seek to use their postsecondary credentials to improve their opportunities in the economy.

MHEC has an expiring contract for an e-Transcript Initiative (ETI) with Parchment (MHEC-01272014). The ETI services contract offers a mechanism to facilitate the transfer of student information in a consistent format between MHEC member states’ public and private high schools to MHEC member states’ public and private non-profit colleges and universities. The ETI contract facilitates the transfer of student information among all participating MHEC postsecondary institutions. The ETI contract (MHEC-01272014) fulfills the public sector acquisition requirements of a competitive sourcing event following the model procurement code for state and local governments. As part of the contract lifecycle ending in January 2021, MHEC is issuing an RFP for digital credentialing solutions in an open market competitive solicitation.

The intent of this solicitation is to enter a master agreement with a framework to allow the contract holder(s) to (a) provide Digital Credentialing Solutions (e.g. e-Transcripts) to states, institutions, and students and (b) allow contract holder(s) to write orders which allow institutions to acquire products and services through a defined fulfillment channel, a negotiated enterprise license agreement, and a starting point for price.

All responses to this RFP must be received no later than October 27, 2020, 10 A.M. CT.