Request for Proposals (RFP) #201718-C

Request for Proposals (RFP #201718-C)

Request for Proposals (RFP) #201718-C

for:

Mastery Charter Schools

Talent Management System – Applicant Tracking

RFP ID: 201718-CPosted: February 26, 2018

Bidder’s Conference: March 2, 2018 at 11 AM ET (please RSVP by March 1 at 12 PM)

Deadline for Intent to Submit (optional): March 7, 2018 at 12 PM ET

Deadline for final submission of questions: March 9, 2018 at 12 PM ET

Submission Deadline: March 16, 2018 at 12 PM ET

Finalists Announced (tentative): March 23, 2018

Finalist Presentations (tentative): Week of April 2, 2018

Award Announced (tentative): Week of April 16, 2018

Questions may be submitted by email to:Tracey Geller at with RFP #201718-C Questions in the Subject line.

Questions will be answered within 2 business days via email with a return reply acknowledging receipt of the email requested. Questions and answers will be shared with all bidders.

ALL QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO THIS RFP MUST BE SUBMITTED BY: March 9, 2018 at 12 PM

This RFP is also available online at: .

Bidder’s Conference

There will be an optional opportunity for prospective Bidders to meet with Mastery Charter Schools staff via webinar for a Question and Answer session.

Date: March 2, 2018

Time: 11:00 AM

Participation at the Bidders Conference is not mandatory; however, if you are intending to participate please send an RSVP to Tracey Geller at with RFP #201718-C Bidders Conference RSVP in the Subject line. Please provide us names and titles of those attending by12:00 PM ET onMarch 1. After you RSVP, you will be provided with login information for the webinar.

Intent to Submit

Bidders who intend to submit a proposal should notify Mastery by emailing Tracey Gellerat with RFP #201718-C Intent to Submit in the Subject line by 12:00 PM onMarch 7, 2018 at 12 PM ET. The Intent to Submit is highly recommended but is non-binding and has no effect on the scoring of your proposal; its purpose is to help Mastery prepare for the review of proposals. Bidders may still submit a proposal even if they do not send an Intent to Submit.

Table of Contents

I.Introduction & Background

II.Project Description

III.Proposal Outline

IV.Rating and Scoring of Proposals

V.Requirements

A.Section 1: General System Requirements

B.Section 2: Talent Acquisition Requirements

VI.Use-Case Scenarios

A.Scenario 1 For Demo: Recruitment and Hiring Process

B.Scenario 2 For Reference: Position Control/Requisition Process

VII.Submission Instructions

VIII.Award Notice and Protests

IX.Termination of Contract

X.Proposal terms and conditions

Introduction& Background

Mastery Charter Schools opened its doors in 2001 as High Tech High, serving 100-9th graders on one campus. Over the past 16 years, Mastery has grown to become a non-profit network of 24 public charter schools located in both Philadelphia and Camden. Mastery serves 13,500 students in grades K-12.

Mastery currently employs approximately 1735 staff. Of the 1735, the approximate breakdown by geography and employee type is as follows:

1435 employees work in Philadelphia, 300 work in Camden
175 are part of Mastery’s Network Support Team, or NST (located in Philadelphia), and the remainder are based within schools
1485 employees are full-time and 250 part-time

Mastery receives approximately 10,000 applications from 4,500 unique candidates to fill approximately 500 positions year-round. Of the 500 positions filled, over 50% are teachers and approximately 20% are leaders.
Mission: Mastery’smission is that all students learn the academic and personal skills they need to be truly prepared for postsecondary success and able to pursue their dreams.

Core Values: Mastery’s values are infused in the everyday life of the organization - in the recruitment criteria for new staff, in staff evaluation and promotion decisions, in the organization’s growth strategy, and in the way staff interact with each other and the parents and students Mastery serves. Mastery’s core values are:

Student achievement – above all
We serve
The high road
Grit
Joy and humor
Straight talk
Continuous improvement
One team

Most of Mastery’s schools are turnarounds of struggling district schools (Philadelphia or Camden) and we purposefully seek to serve neighborhoods in the greatest need of quality schools. We tend to be located in and serve communities that have historically been, and continue to be, racially isolated and economically distraught. The student population for each turnaround remains the same as it was under district management, as we prioritize welcoming all children from the neighborhood in student recruitment and enrollment.

A national study on school turnaround models conducted by the Parthenon Group in 2014 found that Mastery has experienced the strongest growth in proficiency rates for students in reading and math from year one to year five in turnarounds than any other operator of multiple turnarounds in the country (Parthenon Group, February 2014). After turnaround we continue to operate those schools as the neighborhood public schools, making Mastery as close a proxy to urban public districts in the charter sector.

Today, Mastery is the nation’s largest operator of turnaround public schools. Incredible effort on the part of our teachers, leaders, students and families contribute to improve student learning through data-informed instruction and social-emotional support systems. Student achievement is our top priority with key decisions made around student needs. Using formative assessments, teachers work with students and develop individual plans to ensure academic development. Student achievement shapes our every action, and all involved are driven to help students reach their potential.

Project Description

As Mastery continues to grow each year, we need a more sophisticated set of data tools driving our Human Capital Management System. A broad range of research on talent in the education sector points to a need to harness human capital data to make talent management a proactive strategy for aligning talent to outcomes and that we cannot truly provide effective teachers in every classroom until we understand and use our human capital data in strategic ways.

Mastery currently uses a patchwork of different purchased and self-created systems to create what should be – but in practice is not – a seamless system of employee identification,performance based compensation-capable payroll systems, recruitment and retention data, performance management, and talent tracking systems. In addition, we have a separate system for linking student academic outcomes to teachers and school leaders that does not connect with other parts of our Talent Management System (TMS).

In addition to our current systems landscape lacking integration and overall alignment, some of our other challenges include:

Current core HRIS lacks value proposition (poor customer service, limited reporting, limited self-service)
Current applicant tracking and learning management systems lack desired functionality
Current systems are not user-friendly, resulting in workarounds and reliance on manual processes

Mastery intends to implement a new Talent Management System that will launch in phases and ultimately be able to provide all Mastery schools with a comprehensive set of web-based tools to manage the full life cycle in our Human Capital Management System.

Mastery’s first step is to select a new Core HR system by March 2018. Once selected, Mastery will begin the process to select a new Applicant Tracking System. Our key objectives for Talent Acquisition are as follows:

●Build and Maintain a Talent Pipeline to source quality applicants for current and future openings

●Build a talent acquisition brand

●Provide a world-class candidate experience

●Introduce efficiency in the recruiting process

●Provide robust analytics on sourcing and selection success criteria

Vision Statement

Our project team developed the following vision statement to guide our Talent Management System initiative:

The TMS Initiative will empower all Mastery team members to have access to the information they need to be engaged, joyful and invested members of the Mastery family. There will be transparency for applicants during their hiring process, and employees throughout their professional journey at Mastery. Performance, compensation, development and other HR and talent data will be complete, accurate and readily available to employees and their managers. This project will drive us toward a great teacher in every classroom - and ultimately, toward student achievement.

Proposal Outline

To simplify the review process and to facilitate maximum comparability, each proposal should include the following:

1)A 1-2-page cover letter to be signed and dated by an authorized agent of the bidder.

The cover letter should include:

The legal and authorized name of the Vendor submitting this bid
Federal Identification Number (FIN)
Contact information for the point of contact for the bid
Summary outlining the vendor’s understanding of the work and general information regarding the vendor

2)Table of Contents

3)Proposer Overview and Qualifications

Please include answers to the following questions:

For how many years has the system you are offering been released?
How many ATS clients do you have?
What is the average size (employee workforce) of your customers?
Describe recent experience with implementing an ATS solution for organizations of a similar industry and size to Mastery.
Describe your customer service-level agreement.
What are your practices for informing customers of new features and releases of your product?
How do you differentiate yourself from your competition?
Who are your product partners?
Are you in compliance with the registration and permit requirements to do business in Pennsylvania?
Please include three client references, preferably organizations similar in size and industry to Mastery. If possible, please indicate at least one reference based in Pennsylvania. These references must have worked directly with the Contractor, know firsthand the quality of the Contractor’s work, and be willing to provide a phone reference on your work if you are considered for a contract.

4) Implementation Information
Please include answers to the following questions:

How long is a typical product implementation?
Do you utilize professional services for any part of the implementation/system configuration process, or is it handled entirely in-house?
Describe the typical implementation project team.
Please list the full suite of additional services available.
Please describe the major phases within implementation.
Please include a sample implementation timeline with the responsible party listed next to each step.
What is your process for moving from implementation to customer maintenance?
How long does the implementation team stay with the client before transferring to customer service?

5)Cost of Services

Please estimate of all costs for product, implementation, and servicing/support. Please make sure the following are included:

License Fee:
Annual Maintenance:
Implementation costs:
Professional services costs:
Training costs:
Customization costs:
Interface/feed development costs:
Monthly hosting fees:
Monthly processing fees:
Monthly service fees:
Other monthly fees:
Other one-time fees:
All third-party costs:
The frequency and timing of the billing process

If the fee is proposed under a different methodology (e.g., a fixed price for all services) please provide a basis for the proposed fee.

6)Completed tables from the Requirements Section (General and ATS) with codes and comments, and narrative responses to the open-ended questions under each section.

Each vendor must submit 4 hard copies of the proposal in a sealed envelope. Please do not include any additional appendices or attachments.

Contractors must also submit an electronic copy of the entire RFP response, either via email to or on a USB drive. Please check the electronic version to ensure the file opens correctly prior to sending in your proposal.

Any responses received after the due date and time may not be reviewed or considered. Mastery is not responsible for any packages that are not physically received after the due date and time. We suggest that you track your delivery to ensure timely arrival or hand deliver and request a delivery receipt.

Rating and Scoring of Proposals

Your proposal may be evaluated and your offer accepted without any discussions, negotiations, or prior notice. Ordinarily, nonresponsive proposals will be rejected outright. Mastery Charter Schools may elect to conduct discussions, including the possibility of limited proposal revisions, but only for those proposals being considered as finalists for the award. Final selection will include a formal contracting process including the RFP response and any mutually agreed upon revisions as an Exhibit to the master agreement. Mastery Charter Schools may conduct negotiations, beginning with the highest ranked Respondent, or seek best and final offers. Please keep in mind that cost is one of multiple variables being considered in this RFP. Note that the Contractor is responsible for paying all its local, state, and federal taxes.

Mastery Charter Schools may reject a bid as nonresponsive if the prices bid are materially unbalanced. A bid is materially unbalanced when it is based on prices significantly less than cost for some work and prices which are significantly overstated in relation to cost for other work. If there is a reasonable doubt that the bid will result in the lowest overall cost to Mastery, even though it may be the low evaluated bid, or if it is so unbalanced, Mastery Charter Schools may reject the offer.

Mastery will perform an initial review of the proposals and assess the following (in this order):

Whether the system solution meets Mastery’s minimum requirements, as designated in the tables in Section V. (Requirements). Mastery may reach out to vendors with clarifying questions to determine whether minimum requirements are met. Vendors unable to meet Mastery’s minimum requirements will not be considered.
Vendor’s cost of services is competitive and within Mastery’s budget.
The extent to which the system solution meets Mastery’s other priority requirements, as designated in the tables in Section V. (Requirements).

Mastery will select 2-3 finalists to participate in an onsite demonstration day. Vendors invited onsite will be evaluated on demonstrations of requirements in Section V and the critical use-case scenario described in Section VI, as well as overall applicant experience. System solutions that are attractive, intuitive to navigate, and reduce clicks and redundancy will be viewed favorably. More information will be provided to finalists in order help facilitate demonstrations.

Requirements

Proposers should use the following as a key for responding to the requirement tables within this section of the RFP.

Y – Yes / Feature exists in the current standard version of the software, and vendor can demonstrate its functionality.
N – No / Requirement cannot be met. Feature is not available in the current standard version of the software, and there areno plans to develop the feature in the future.
Enter a specific date to indicate the timing of the rollout / Feature does not exist in the current standard version of the software, but it will be included in a future release. Please indicate the approximate timeframe for rollout.
C - Client Customization / Client customization is available; tools are provided for client at an additional cost.
V - Vendor Customization / Vendor customization is available; vendor would provide customization at an additional cost
T - Third Party / Third Party Feature is provided by a third party partnering arrangement. Indicate any preferred partner agreements.
O – Other / Code is not included above; please explain in comments section.

In Sections 1 and 2, please note that those line items marked as Minimum Requirements are non-negotiable for Mastery, and those marked as Priority Requirements are considered very important.

Section 1: General System Requirements

Open-ended questions

Provide an overview of your reporting tools and how they are integrated with your system.
Describe the ad-hoc report writer that is delivered with your product.
How does a user build reports within the system? What level of skill is required to build reports?
Describe the product’s back-end architecture. What is the back-end database that runs theapplication?
What technology was used to develop the back-end database?
Describe the scalability of the system. Provide any specific requirements for scalability on those dimensions that are deemed important.
Describe the backup methods and software employed. How frequently are backups taken? How far back can data be recovered?
What security practices and protocols are used to safeguard the system and data?
Describe the workflow capabilities provided by your product.
Which modules have workflow capabilities?
When was this workflow product developed? Was the product developed in-house or purchased?
Please describe the workflow setup including where custom programming is required. Do you supply any predefined workflow processes? How much flexibility does the client have in building workflows?
Can you have multiple levels of approvals for your workflow? Is there a limit to the number of levels?
Please describe your system’s integration capabilities with Outlook. More specifically:
Is the integration one-way or two-way? Please explain.
What elements sync?
Can a user schedule an Outlook calendar appointment from the application? Please describe.
Can a user view the Outlook calendar availability of others within the application? Please describe.

# / Category / Description / MinimumReqt / Priority Reqt / Vendor Code / Vendor Comments
1 / Data Architecture / Back-end data architecture is flexible and supports the addition of any number of user defined fields to any functional area. / Yes / Yes
2 / Data Architecture / User defined fields can be restricted to a specific set of values via picklist or built-in data validation. / Yes / Yes
3 / Data Architecture / User defined fields can support effective dating. / Yes
4 / Data Architecture / Default data model is published and documented. / Yes / Yes
5 / Data Architecture / Has audit tracking capability. Can track date and time of which user made what changes to which data fields. / Yes
6 / Data Access / Has full support for outbound data access. / Yes / Yes
7 / Data Access / Data access available via direct ODBC, or API connection, or via recurring scheduled flat file extracts in the UI. / Yes / Yes
8 / Data Access / All client data is directly accessible or extractable by Mastery at all times. Direct connections or extracts are not limited to default data model only and include any user defined fields. / Yes / Yes
9 / Data Import / Has full support for inbound data imports or uploads. / Yes / Yes
10 / Data Import / Data imports can be directly performed by users via UI or API. / Yes / Yes
11 / Data Import / Data imports can be performed to any portion of the data model, including user defined fields, and will not be limited to specific tables or data sets. / Yes
12 / Workflow / Application has fully integrated workflow in all modules. / Yes / Yes
13 / Workflow / Workflow approvals can be routed based on defined rules by role and hierarchy. / Yes / Yes
14 / Workflow / Workflow approvals can be routed based on conditional rules and transaction attributes. / Yes / Yes
15 / Workflow / Workflow approvals can be routed through an unlimited number of approval layers. / Yes / Yes
16 / Workflow / Workflow approvals can handle parallel routes requiring only one route to approve (“either/or” approval). / Yes / Yes
17 / Workflow / Workflow transactions and approvals are available for reporting in native reporting module. / Yes / Yes
18 / Workflow / Workflow transactions and approvals are available to direct data connections and/or data extract functionality. / Yes / Yes
19 / Permissions / Application uses role-based access control model. / Yes / Yes
20 / Permissions / Supports an unlimited number of permission sets. / Yes / Yes
21 / Permissions / Users may be assigned one or more roles/permission sets and will inherit permissions based on the union of their assignments. / Yes / Yes
24 / Security / Supports single sign-on and connects to Mastery Active Directory user accounts. / Yes
25 / Reporting / End-user data reporting tool with GUI that allows quick and easy access to real-time data. / Yes / Yes
26 / Reporting / Users can easily create reports with minimal specialized training and no prior SQL knowledge. / Yes / Yes
27 / Reporting / Reports can be configured to run on a predetermined schedule / Yes
28 / Reporting / Reports can be designed and then pushed out to consumers. / Yes
29 / Integration / Supports automated data integration with Mastery’s Core HR platform, and other upstream and downstream systems. / Yes / Yes
30 / Integration / Full integration between all software modules provided by vendor. / Yes / Yes
31 / Implementation / Solution providesseparate production and test environments for testing software updates and other risky changes. / Yes / Yes

Section 2: Talent Acquisition Requirements

Overview