Request for Proposals for Consulting Services
Plan for Instructional Technology
January 10, 1997

Section 1 - Introduction

1.1 Introduction

This document is a request for proposals (RFP) to help Portland Community College (PCC) develop a plan for instructional technology. Between January and June 1997, the college will develop a five-year strategic plan which looks at a new and emerging program of instructional technology. This program will focus and align elements of instructional computing, administrative computing, distance education, audiovisual and library services. The plan will:

This request describes the role of the consultant in this planning process. Consultants are invited to describe previous experiences with similar projects and how they might address the needs of this college. Consultants should read the entire request before taking any action; it could be very misleading to review only limited sections of the document. It is imperative that consultants understand the complete context of the goals for the instructional technology plan and the manner in which the proposals should be developed.

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1.2 Issuing Office

Responses to this RFP must be directed to the following office:

Portland Community College
Purchasing Office
Attention: Mr. Roger Cardinal
Capital Center Room 1513
18624 NW Walker Road
Portland, Oregon 97006

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1.3 Description of Portland Community College:

PCC is a two-year college with three comprehensive campuses, three centers and a number of satellite locations. It offers programs in a metropolitan area covering 1,500 square miles. The annual unduplicated headcount is 90,000 students. Approximately 3,000 faculty, staff, and administrators are employed by the college. The curriculum includes professional technical programs, community education, academic transfer courses, and classes in basic skills. The college has an open admissions policy. Credits from other institutions may be accepted toward degree requirements. PCC has grown substantially over the past decade and expects continued growth in enrollment over the next five years.

The PCC Foundation was established in 1982 as a nonprofit corporation to solicit private support for the college. The Foundation is linked with PCC through the development office, which provides staff support for fund raising efforts.

PCC has an annual budget of over $100,000,000 from a variety of sources. The funding is derived primarily from property tax support, state reimbursement, tuition, grants, and contracts.

Although PCC addresses the needs of a well-defined district, the college is increasing its relationship with those who are beyond the metropolitan area. For example, PCC participates in electronic links among regional libraries. Approximately one million people live in the greater Portland area. Appendix A includes a map of current campus locations.

The college is governed by a locally elected Board of Directors. The president is appointed by the Board of Directors. There are two vice presidents and three executive deans. Each of the college's major campuses is led by an executive dean.

A copy of the college's mission, vision and goals is included in Appendix A.

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1.4 Instructional Technology at Portland Community College

In 1991 the college hired the consulting firm of Gillespie, Folkner and Associates, Inc., to help plan for college computing. That led to a major upgrade for the college's administrative computing system and the wide area network. By 1997, Information Technology Services has become a department of thirty-eight employees (FTE) providing administrative, networking and telephone services. Through 1995 most of the funds for instructional computing services were used to buy microcomputers. Support for faculty and student use of computers was limited.

In July 1996, the college instituted a technology fee ($1 per credit hour) to hire additional technical support staff and student lab monitors. An Instructional Computing Facilitator was hired to advise campuses on how best to help faculty and students incorporate technology into the teaching/learning process. The management of the instructional technology program is the responsibility of each campus dean with some services a nd functions provided by central college-wide services. Coordination of the instructional technology programs for faculty development and support services exists through the Instructional Computing Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee reports to both the Vice President of Educational Services and the Technology Planning Committee. The latter has served as a "super committee" to guide the growth of computing at the college and has subcommittees for networking, administrative computing, instructional computing and the Internet.

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1.5 Instructional Technology Defined and Strategic Directions

Definition

The instructional technology program is an amalgam of human, financial and technical resources drawn from resources on campuses and within central college-wide services which focuses on the effective use of technology in instruction. "Technology" includes a wide variety of tools, from flip charts to multimedia but it centers today around the melding of media through computers. The "program" includes equipment, software, networks, training, support services. It includes the use of technology where it is the:

Purpose

The purpose of the instructional technology program is to use technology to accomplish one or more of the following:

Mission

The mission of the staff of the program is to present faculty and students with options for how they teach and learn and to guide the college in the most effective use of instructional technology resources.

Strategic directions

Strategic directions for instructional technology include:

  1. efficiency - the college is interested in maximizing the impact of limited resources

  2. effectiveness - efficiency must be balanced with the need to find ways to effectively promote the use of technology in the teaching/learning process

  3. standards - the college wants to acquire products which conform to industry standards and wants to use college-wide standards where possible.

  4. flexibility - because of the diversity of college goals and the communities served, the instructional technology program must allow for experimentation and situations where standards are waived

  5. manageable change - it is important for the college to have graceful transitions when adopting new technology

  6. rate of adoption - in 1991 the college elected to be a "close follower" rather than a "leader" in adopting new technology

  7. climate - in 1991 the college asked that the computing climate be "easy-to-use and create an incentive to learn and use the tools"

  8. budget priority - during the 1996-97 retrenchment caused by a public referendum to roll-back taxes, the college has stated that its "investment in technology will be maintained"

  9. remote access - in 1991 the college desired to provide remote access through a network 22 hours a day, seven days a week

  10. simplicity - in 1991 the college desired "easy-to-use computing and networking interfaces for a complex instructional institution"

  11. reliability - in 1991 the college desired "reliable computing and networking and software with 16-hour/weekday uninterrupted service"

  12. outreach new students - the college is committed to providing distance education and asynchronous learning opportunities

  13. partnerships - the college is interested in providing instructional technology through partnerships with business, industry and educational institutions

Goals

Revised December 30, 1996 by the Instructional Computing Advisory Committee

  1. Determine institutional information technology needs necessary to provide a comprehensive distance learning program, including curriculum, complete student support services, and learning resources.

  2. Define and identify the core instructional computing technology services which are to be provided to students at PCC as part of their registration and fees. Identify which elements of the college are charged with providing the services and at what level.

  3. Define and identify what core instructional computing technologies and services are to be provided to faculty at PCC. Identify which elements of the college are charged with providing the services and at what level.

  4. Inventory PCC faculty and student support services computing technology equipment, software, and site licenses on an annual basis to provide information about added technologies and the data needed for planning upgrades and new purchase decisions.

  5. Identify current technical support staff for faculty and student support services computing technologies and design a model which will provide a formula for providing service to rapidly expanding needs.

  6. Identify how faculty are currently becoming skilled in the use of instructional technology and develop a "fast-track" approach for:

  7. Interface with administrative computing on all matters regarding instructional computing impact (i.e., new systems, mainframes, networks, equipment upgrades, etc., so as to have instructional endorsement and cooperation in working with new systems.)

  8. Determine the impact of the use of instructional computing technology upon student learning, and identify which technologies and techniques are more effective.

  9. Identify what is currently being done by PCC faculty in the overall use of instructional computing technologies.

  10. Identify how curricula and teaching may need to be "redesigned" because of the use of instructional computing technology in the classroom. Also identify what staff development assistance is needed in this area.

  11. Develop strategies to project the trends in instructional technologies that might have an impact at PCC within the next five years (with emphasis on the next three years). Monitor changes in hardware, instructional software and other instructional technology innovations that could influence current purchases and decisions at the college.

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Section 2 - Current Instructional Technology Environment

2.1 Governance

Management for instructional computing/technology is distributed with some components managed at a campus or departmental level and others provided as a central service as the following list demonstrates.

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2.2 Funding

The college began charging a Technology Fee of $1 per credit hour in July 1996 and projects an income of $500,000 per year. The fee is being used to provide staff to help faculty and students use computers. The funds finance the following positions: Instructional Computing Facilitator, 5 support staff positions, and $70,000 for student lab assistants. It also provides $50,000 for faculty training and development.

Table 1 in Appendix B provides preliminary information on expenditures from the general fund supporting technology during 1995-96. In addition, the college has used capital construction budgets to provide equipment for new buildings. The college does not have a replacement schedule for equipment or money budgeted for replacements.

2.3 Student Access

A survey from the fall of 1995 is included in Appendix B. At that time the college had about 1,000 microcomputers available for students to use in approximately 20 labs. About half of the labs have at least some "open" hours meaning that students do not have to be enrolled in specific classes to use the labs. Most of the lab computers use a Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 operating system; several Macintosh labs exist.

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2.4 Faculty Desktop Access

The college has 363 full-time and 1,193 part-time faculty; most of the former have office computers.

2.5 Classrooms

Of the 387 classrooms in the college campuses/centers, twenty-four have dedicated computers and projection systems. Nineteen have "live" network connections although all are wired. Sixty-seven have TV/VCRs mounted in the room. The Learning Resource Centers deliver approximately 2,300 pieces of instructional technology equipment to classrooms each month.

2.6 Faculty Production

The college does not provide staff to produce materials for faculty. It is, on an experimental basis, hiring students to help faculty develop home pages. Through Instructional Improvement Grants, faculty can get release time or extra funds to develop curriculum materials. Each campus LRC has a small staff production lab with Macintosh and PC multimedia machines and scanners, video editing, etc. Sylvania has a multimedia lab and Rock Creek has a mini-classroom with six multimedia machines. Only limited production support is available at these facilities.

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2.7 Support Services - Students

Table 3 in Appendix B lists the number of staff available to help students in the various labs on the campuses (20.5 FTE). It also shows the number of hours of student lab monitors (13.36 FTE).

2.8 Support Services - Faculty

Within the system, there is one person whose primary function is support of faculty using computers in the curriculum. All other support staff are primarily linked to labs. The college is experimenting with using student consultants and early-adopter faculty to provide support.

2.9 Faculty Development

The college provides $ 50,000 to fund staff development projects awarded through a competitive process; the technology fee provides another $50,000. Departments have money for indistrict training; money for out-of-state travel averages less than $150 per full-time faculty. The college provides tuition waivers for PCC classes and reimburses staff for portions of classes taken at other institutions. Within the Portland area, there is a wide variety of technical training available.

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2.10 Internet/Intranet

All stations connected to the wide area network can, theoretically, connect to the Internet. Of the 11 open student labs in the district, eight have stations which can access the Internet. Faculty assigning work on the Intranet report student' s frustration finding free workstations. The college has provided many sessions introducing faculty to the Internet. During the current year, the emphasis is learning how to develop home pages. At the present time, the college typically uses about 35% of Internet capacity it buys from its supplier. The college does not provide off-campus access to SLIP or PPP accounts.

2.11 E-mail

The college provides e-mail accounts for all staff (Eudora on campus work-stations and Pine off-campus). Some computer instructional programs maintain e-mail accounts for students; others are encouraged to use free e-mail from vendors who sell advertising to support the accounts.

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2.12 Distance Ed

The college operates a television production and distribution facility utilizing ITFS, cable access on three district cable systems, satellite receive dishes at 5 campuses, and both receive and interactive video via Oregon EdNet. The college TelNet system features two video production classrooms at Sylvania, and one-way video/two-way audio classrooms at all campuses and centers as well as many business and government sites. An interactive video network will be implemented in 1997. On-line courses are offered on an Oregon Ed-Net conferencing system (using First Class conferencing platform) to over 1,000 students annually. Telecourse and teleclass enrollments comprise the rest of the 5,000+/annual enrollments for distance learning. There is increasing pressure from faculty to deliver Web based courses, but lack of clear responsibility for support for instructors and students is holding this back. (Distance Ed Dept, FTE = 13.74 )

2.13 Libraries/LRCs

The libraries are part of the Learning Resources Program and provide a traditional collection of materials and a virtual library collection supplemented by the coll ection of PORTALS, a regional library cooperative with services through the Internet. The LRCs provide student computer labs, access to the Internet, faculty multimedia labs and model electronic classrooms used by classes throughout the campuses as well a s audiovisual and instructional computing support. (FTE = 27.23)

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2.14 Audiovisual

Audiovisual services are part of the Learning Resources Program and provide delivery of equipment and programs to classes, viewing stations in the LRCs, a library of media , consulting on classroom/forum technical design, assistance with AV equipment purchasing. ( FTE= 7.43)

2.15 Instructional Computing Facilitator

This position is funded by a technology fee and was first filled in September 1996. It is a faculty position within the Learning Resources Program that focuses on coordinating instructional computing support services efforts throughout the college, advisi ng the administration on instructional computing issues, and providing faculty awareness and training for the effective use of technology in teaching. A job description for the position is included in Appendix C.

2.16 Administrative Computing: Instructional Technology Functions

Material from an RFP for Networking issued July 8, 1996, has been reproduced in Appendix D. The Information Technology Services' staff plays an active role in the Instructional Computing Advisory Committee and its subcommittee for support services. The department manages the college network, e-mail services and access to the Interne t. It provides critical support for faculty desktop applications and manages a help-desk database of calls which it refers to the campus technical support staff. It maintains the Banner administrative system which, in addition to providing financial and personnel information, provides student information. It also maintains the library system that runs on one of the college main-frame computers. It maintains a web server for both administrative and instructional functions. It provides standards for desk top and network equipment, provides some support for purchasing equipment and bids, and evaluates contracts for software and repair services. It has piloted a kiosk project for student services.

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2.17 Web Development

The college web master is responsible for publications. There is both an external (www.pcc.edu) and internal web server. A portion of the technology fee provides student support for faculty wanting to develop web pages. A small portion of faculty have a home page. There is no data on how rele vant the content is to instruction. There are about 10 servers within the district. Some of the departments with home pages related to instructional technology include Distance Education, Information Services, and Learning Resources.

2.18 Multimedia

In addition to staff labs for multimedia development and a series of faculty workshops/classes, the college offers credit classes on multimedia production.

2.19 Video Conferencing

The development of an interactive video network using compressed video co nnecting classrooms at the three campuses and two workforce training centers is scheduled for 1997. There is strong interest in video conferencing but efforts are hampered by immature industry standards and internal college coordination.

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2.20 Kiosks

Information Technology Services worked with student services to develop a basic kiosk for students wanting college and records information.

2.21 Imaging

Imaging projects in art and history are being explored.

2.22 Wide Area Network

The six primary campuses/centers are connected using leased T3 service. In addition, there are redundant T1 circuits that serve as backup links. The T3 lines support both data and voice traffic. As demands for network bandwidth increase, these links will be upgraded.

2.23 Related Planning Efforts

The college currently has planning efforts related to technology in Distance Education, Administrative Computing, Networking. There are institutional efforts on strategic planning (1995-96 focused on scanning and goal setting) and on assessment of outcomes in the instructional process.

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2.24 Organizational Partners and Memberships

The organizations most relevant to technology for the college are CAUSE, the League for Innovation in Community Colleges, the American Association of Higher Education Technology Project. The college subscribes to technology updates from the Gartner Group and is a member of a local library consortium that provides a virtual collection.

2.25 Patterns of Use -- Faculty

The college has little information about how many faculty are using technology and at what levels. There is a core who are enthusiastic and who are frequently asked to share expertise at regional conferences.

2.26 Patterns of Use -- Students

During November 1996, twenty-four hundred students were registered to use the open labs on the campuses and 6,046 used labs which do not require a special registration process. A preliminary study at one of the campus libraries showed that during a two-we ek period 32% of the users connected to Netscape, 29% used word processing and 39% used library indexes or fulltext databases. We have no data on the number of students using instructional packages or using home computers.

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Section 3 - Scope of Project

The Instructional Computing Advisory Committee and others from the college will work with the consultant to create this plan. If all planning falls on a continuum between work by employees at one end and total reliance on external experts at the other, PC C is opting for shared responsibility for this project. It is doing this to:

a) maximize institutional ownership of the plan and maximize collaboration within the institution

b) save money during a time of financial retrenchment

c) educate staff who will be responsible for implementing the plan

d) benefit from the expertise of a knowledgeable consultant in instructional technology

e) benefit from the consultant's fresh insights into institutional habits, procedures and priorities.

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3.1 College Tasks

Appendix F contains activities/timelines for the planning process. The college will assume responsibility for the following tasks related to developing a plan for instructional technology:

a) advertise project and solicit proposals from consultants

b) make arrangements for meetings

c) communicate planning process within the college

d) select college staff to work on the project

e) answer questions from prospective consultants

f) review proposals

g) select the consultant

h) define "instructional technology," its scope and stakeholders as used in this planning process

i) identify the purpose and mission of the instructional technology program

j) research and report on the current status of the program at the college

k) identify key ingredients of successful instructional technology programs by surveying the literature, listening to local experts, and visiting model programs

l) survey college community (faculty, students, support staff) on opinions about the instructional technology program

m) make a preliminary evaluation of the program

n) send the consultant preliminary reports on the college's instructional technology program

o) work with the consultant to evaluate the program

p) review and comment on the consultant's evaluation (both college understanding and independent judgment of consultant)

q) work with consultant to help identify recommendations for improving the program and help set priorities.

r) publish the report

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3.2 Consultant Tasks

Appendix F contains the activities/timelines for the planning process. The consultant(s) will be responsible for the following tasks:

a) review the request for consulting

b) ask clarifying questions

c) submit a proposal (see Appendix E for format)

d) review documents about the college and the technology program

e) recommend relevant literature and institutions with model programs the college may want to visit.

f) tour college technical facilities and interview relevant staff

g) at PCC, facilitate meeting to evaluate the instructional technology program

h) prepare a written evaluation report which both reports on the college's self- assessment and identifies independent insights of the consultant

i) at PCC, facilitate a meeting to review the written evaluation and clarify issues

j) write recommendations to improve the program

k) at PCC, facilitate a meeting to review the written recommendations

l) at PCC present an overview of the plan (definitions through recommendations) to an open forum

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Appendix B

Information on Instructional Technology

Table 1: Expenditures for Instructional Technology

Table 2: Campus Instructional Microcomputers

Table 3: Instructional Support, Labs, Users

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Appendix B

Table 1: Expenditures for Instructional Technology, 1995-96

Cascade
Rock Creek WCWTC Sylvania
Ed Services
 Total
Equipment
Audiovisual total
$758*
$2,707*
$40,450*
$7,971*
$65,982*
{in campus totals}
$117,868
Computers total
$281,149*
$61,304*
$362,460*
$309,581*
$486,624*
{in campus totals}
$1,501,118
Computers
General fund (7101 and 7121)
$77,094
n/a ?
$92,833
n/a
$199,497
$3,535
$372,959
Computers
Capital construction or other
$204,055
$61,304 ?
$269,627
$309,581 ?
$287,127
$1,131,694
Total Instructional Equipment
$281,907
$64,011
$402,910
$317,552
$552,606
n/a
$1,618,986
Other
Software 3012, 7113, 7130
$10,358
$182
$147
$192
$10,905
$21,783
AV supplies 3220
$21
$902
$21,134
$22,057
Computer supplies 3022
$41,601
$17,113
$25,012
$2,663
$108,813
$17,966
$213,168
Computer repair/maintenance
$70,000**
* Source: College inventory
Total
$1,945,995
** Source: Information Technology Services

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Appendix B

Table 2: Instructional Microcomputers, Spring 1996
Cascade Rock Creek Southeast WCWTC Sylvania Total
Labs/Classrooms/Library
226*
285*
85
106
501*
1,203
Faculty desks
64
51
3
6
160
284
Other - servers, etc.
9
18
-
-
13
40
Total
299
354
88
112
674
1,527

* Update December 1996

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Appendix B

Table 3: Instructional Support/Labs/Users 


Cascade
Rock Creek 
Sylvania 
LRC 
Total 





Student Lab support staff 

2* 


2 


14.5 


2 


20.5 






Faculty support 
see above 
see above 
see above 

1 


1 






Lab monitors 

1.92 


2.06 


7.88 


1.5 


13.36 






Open Labs 

2 


1 


2 


3 


8 






Closed Labs** 

8 


12 


20 


 


40 






Servers 

3 


5 


12 


7 


27 






Servers - Web 

2 


0 


1 


1 


4 






Registered users of open 
labs, November 1996 		

600 


 


1800 


 


2400 






Users of open labs not 
requiring registration, Nov 1996 		

 


1773 


 


4273 


 




* one currently vacant

** includes cluster of 4 computers to labs of over 20 microcomputers

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Copyright 1996, Portland Community College

An Affirmative Action, 

Equal Opportunity Institution


by  Lia Kidoguchi