The School of Professional Studies is seeking to completely redesign and rebuild sps.cuny.edu. The new website design should focus on a simple user experience, branding consistency, user journey integration and content strategy support to help CUNY SPS increase enrollment. CUNY seeks a digital agency that possesses experience in higher education, with demonstrated technical and digital strategy expertise to research, design, and build a robust website while meeting current web usability and accessibility standards.
Interested respondents are encouraged to review in detail the attached solicitation document and if the minimum qualifications are met, to submit a proposal in accordance with the submission requirements as detailed within.
Any procurement resulting from this advertisement shall be subject to New York State Appendix A, CUNY Purchase Order Terms and Conditions, and/or a standard CUNY Agreement.
The Procurement Lobbying Act (PLA) Applies to this Solicitation.
The restricted period began with the publication of this ad.
Compliance Procurement Lobbying Act
Required Forms: Vendor shall complete, sign and submit the following
forms if they are selected:
1. Offerer's Affirmation of Understanding of and Agreement pursuant to State Finance Law 139-j(3) and 139-j(6)(b)
2. Offerer's Disclosure of Prior Non-Responsibility Determinations and Certification of Compliance with State Finance Law 139-j and 139-k .
Contact with CUNY:
Under the requirements to the PLA, all communications regarding advertised projects are to be channeled through the Designated Contact.
Communication with respect to this procurement initiated by or on behalf of an interested vendor through others than the Designated Contact may constitute an impermissible contact under NYS law and could result in disqualification of that vendor.
Rules and regulations and more information on this law, please visit:
http://www.ogs.ny.gov/aboutogs/regulations/advisoryCouncil/Faq.htm (Advisory Council FAQs)
http://www.jcope.ny.gov/law/lob/lobbying2.html (New York State Lobbying Act)
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Set Aside: No
Total MWBE Participation Goals: 30%
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Contracting Goal: 6%
Due date:05/02/2025 1:00 PM
EST- via email
Contract term: 18 momths
County(ies): Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond
Business entities awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years:
N/A
Background
The School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) is seeking to redesign and rebuild its website, sps.cuny.edu, to enhance user experience, branding consistency, and content strategy support aimed at increasing enrollment. CUNY SPS has a mission to provide accessible online education for adult learners and has seen significant growth in enrollment over the past few years. The agency aims to partner with a digital agency experienced in higher education to ensure the new website meets usability and accessibility standards.
Work Details
The contractor will be responsible for:
1. Project Planning: Develop and maintain an implementation plan, conduct kickoff meetings, and provide weekly status reports.
2. Discovery: Conduct stakeholder interviews, audit existing analytics data, and perform user research.
3. User Stories: Develop user stories based on research findings.
4. Wireframes and Design: Create wireframes for various page types, develop design templates, and ensure accessibility compliance.
5. Technical Development & Integration: Build the website on WordPress, implement mobile-responsive design, develop custom functionalities, and ensure security measures are in place.
6. Content Integration & SEO Optimization: Conduct content audits, migrate legacy data while preserving SEO value, optimize metadata, and implement a 301 redirect strategy.
7. System Deployment and Configuration: Provision necessary systems resources and complete application configurations.
8. System Integration: Develop API integrations as required.
9. Custom Reports: Maintain custom reports developed for the project.
10. Testing: Assist in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and log defects for remediation.
11. Training Materials: Develop training materials for the new CMS.
12. Training Sessions: Conduct training sessions for end-users.
13. Production Deployment: Ensure system readiness before launch.
14. Post Production Warranty: Address any defects reported within 90 days post-launch.
Period of Performance
The contract is expected to be completed within 18 months from the date of approval by the Attorney General and the New York State or New York City Comptroller.
Place of Performance
All services must be performed within the continental United States, with all data stored domestically.
Bidder Requirements
Proposers must have at least five years of experience in building websites using open-source content management systems. They should have completed projects for at least three higher education institutions' primary public websites operational for a minimum of one year and be responsible for all aspects of ITIL Development and Service Lifecycles.
