The vendor required to provide grant management system for include:
- Functional requirements
1. Pre-award and application management
• Online application portal: a secure, user-friendly portal for applicants, that allows collaborators, for all stages of grant lifecycle that supports two distinct application processes and multi-stage application processes.
• Portal supports scheduled application periods.
• Form management: customizable, dynamic online forms with auto-save and data validation and maximum word counts, conditional logic, and help texts.
• Eligibility checks: automated screening for mandatory eligibility criteria.
• Budget submission: capability for applicants to create and submit detailed project budgets.
• Impact metric submission: capability for applicants to create and submit detailed impact metrics.
• Document management: secure upload and storage for supporting documents.
• Application tracking: real-time status tracking for both administrative and applicants including drafts.
• Communication management: system allows automated emails to appear to come from the individual’s email address and enables replies to be received in that inbox.
• Deadline reminders: system supports automated reminder emails when application deadlines are approaching or have passed.
2. Review and evaluation
• Online reviewer portal: a secure, user-friendly portal for applicants that provides all assigned reviews, and only assigned reviews, in one portal.
• Reviewer management: ability to assign internal and external reviewers, manage conflicts of interest, create and manage subcommittees, assign applications to reviewers (including randomized assignment options) with anonymous or redacted options, and track reviewer progress.
• Ability to attach staff summaries or notes to review assignments.
• Reviewer tracking: real-time tracking for reviewer assignment status.
• Scoring and evaluation: customizable scoring rubrics, weighted criteria, ranked voting, and a platform for reviewers to enter scores and comments.
• Grant modifications: ability for grant modifications and amendments to be requested and approved within the platform.
• Workflow automation: automated routing of applications through multi-stage review and approval process.
3. Post-award and monitoring and compliance
• Grantee portal: a secure portal for award recipients to view un-editable application answers to submit reports and manage their grant.
• Progress reporting: system supports asynchronous reporting schedules.
• Impact reporting: tools for tracking grantee generated goals to actual impact.
• Financial management: tracking budget to actual expenditures and facilitating financial reconciliation. Note: disbursal management is not required.
• Grant closeout: standardized process and forms for final reporting, financial reconciliation, and archival.
- Technical and service requirements
1. System architecture and security
• Deployment model: SaaS
• Integration: ability to integrate with existing SSO for user login
• Grant cycle refresh: ability to refresh or reset the system for new grant cycles without vendor intervention, or to reuse existing forms for new cycles in a way that preserves historic records when form changes are made.
• Ability for internal checklists (i.e., steps for processing newly submitted application or steps for updating for new cycle).
• Custom branding: ability to apply university-specific branding elements, including logos, color palettes, typography, and terminology, across the user interface and public-facing components.
2. Project implementation and support
• Implementation plan: vendor must provide a detailed project plan, configuration, data migration, testing, and go live.
• Micro grants must be operational by September 15 and major grants must be operational by October 1.
• Data migration: vendor has process for migrating historical grant data from legacy systems.
• Training: requirements for comprehensive training for various user roles (administrators, committee members, grantees, reviewers).
• Ongoing support and maintenance: vendor provide ongoing, easily accessible technical support.
3. Reporting and analytics
• Reporting tools: built-in tools for generating standard and custom reports) e.g., status reports, financial summaries, demographic data).
• Dashboards: dashboards providing real-time visibility into key performance indicators.
• Impact measurement: tools to track and report on outcomes and impact against defined objectives.
- Contract Period/Term: 5 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 20, 2026
