Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Montana University System (MUS) is composed of sixteen public universities and colleges, enrolling more the 44,000 students each semester. The MUS is governed by a seven-member board of regents appointed by the governor. The Commissioner of Higher Education serves as the chief executive officer and works centrally with system staff in the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education located in Helena, Montana. The MUS is home to a diverse set of campuses with a wide range of size and mission, including ten two-year colleges, three regional comprehensive universities, one special designation science and technology university, and two flagship doctoral universities. The MUS recently launched the Quality Assurance Initiative (QAI), a project that aims to create shared definitions of the value of higher education among Montana stakeholders and communities and to develop shared policy commitments that support and advance the value of higher education for Montanans and the state. The initiative seeks to align data infrastructure, strategic priorities, and system policy to clearly promote three value concerns: quality improvement, student success, and equitable attainment. As part of the QAI, the MUS seeks a firm to develop, implement, and conduct basic analysis of a non-partisan “Higher Education Survey” of Montana residents regarding their perceptions of higher education. The survey should capture representative viewpoints of a broad spectrum of Montanans and allow for valid analysis of perspectives across both geographic and socioeconomic subgroups. The goals of the survey are to: 1. create a reliable snapshot to inform QAI leadership, the Montana Board of Regents, and other higher education stakeholders of Montanans’ perceptions on key topics that speak to the three value concerns of the initiative; and, 2. develop a valid baseline of public perception and a rigorous survey instrument, so that Montana’s higher education system can measure changes in these perceptions over time. As the survey is key to the success of the QAI, offers will only be considered from offerors with experience developing, implementing, and analyzing similar regional, state, or national surveys.
