2026 Community Scan RFP

Background
Harper College, located in Palatine, Illinois, serves 23 communities across the northwest suburbs and is part of the Illinois Community College System. The college aims to assess its effectiveness in fulfilling its mission and meeting community needs through a Community Scan. This initiative seeks to gather insights from residents and employers within District 512 to inform institutional strategy, enrollment planning, and community engagement efforts.

Work Details
The selected vendor will conduct a comprehensive survey research design targeting both residents and employers within District 512. The scope includes:

1. **Resident Survey Design**: Assess community awareness, perceptions, and expectations of Harper College. Proposals must detail sampling frames, sample sizes (aiming for a margin of error of ±4% at 95% confidence), stratification methods for demographic representation, data collection modes (e.g., online or telephone), response rate monitoring strategies, and weighting methodologies.

2. **Employer Survey Design**: Evaluate workforce needs and employer perceptions regarding Harper College's role in the labor market. Proposals must outline similar requirements as the resident survey but aim for a margin of error of ±5% at 95% confidence.

3. **Instrument Development**: Collaborate with Harper College stakeholders to develop survey instruments that retain approximately 75% of items from prior cycles while introducing new items reflecting current priorities.

4. **Equity and Inclusion**: Ensure inclusive data collection strategies that represent historically underrepresented populations.

5. **Data Quality Assurance**: Implement systematic quality assurance practices throughout the engagement with detailed documentation on data handling procedures.

Period of Performance
The project timeline includes contract execution in August 2026, with data collection commencing in December 2026 and concluding by February 26, 2027. Final deliverables are due by April 23, 2027.

Place of Performance
The contract will be performed primarily at Harper College's main campus in Palatine, Illinois, as well as other locations within District 512.

Bidder Requirements
Vendors must comply with the Business Enterprise Program (BEP) participation goal of 0% for MBEs and FBEs but are encouraged to utilize minority firms where practicable. Bidders must demonstrate good faith efforts to meet this goal if not achieved through self-performance or identified subcontractors.