Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. 1. Commodity or commodities to be purchased (make, model, description): uConnect Virtual Career Center 2. Explanation of the need to be fulfilled by this item(s), how is it unique from all other options, and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of the department: The Mississippi State University Career Center serves thousands of students and alumni representing all majors and degree levels. The Career Center is a centralized, comprehensive unit providing a diverse range of services to connect job seekers to employers and vice versa. uConnect is a career management and marketing platform that will help the Career Center leverage the resources, tools, and services they already have into one, online environment that enhances access and drives engagement. uConnect's powerful platform will help more efficiently engage faculty, attract employers, and collaborate with other departments on campus. uConnect would enable the Career Center to provide all current and prospective students, alumni, and families with 24/7/365 highly scalable, self-guided career exploration experiences including up-to-date career data and resources, which is a limitation of the current operating structure. The platform would enhance the student experience by creating an updated career services hub, combining existing resources, such as Symplicity CSM and LinkedIn Learning, into a convenient source for information at any point in their career journey. Faculty and staff who support students would also have access to this resource, allowing them to integrate career readiness into their interactions with students in a meaningful way. This would aggregate career resources, events, and opportunities from across campus, and easily curate them for students based on industry, major, or identity. As such, uConnect is not simply ‘another tool,’ but rather functions as an integrative framework to engage stakeholders (prospective students, enrolled students, faculty, staff, employers, etc.) by creating an institutional hub for career content that markets services, curates resources, and personalizes direct-to-student communications university-wide.
