Online Proctoring Solution Question & Answers Addendum #1

Mississippi State University
Request for Proposals (RFP) MSU2026047
Online Proctoring Solution
ISSUE DATE: February 23, 2026
ISSUING AGENCY: Office of Procurement Services
Mississippi State University
405 Garrard Road East
Starkville, MS 39759
Sealed Proposals, subject to the conditions made a part hereof, will be received March 23, 2026
at 2:00 PM in the MSU Office of Procurement Services, same address above, for furnishing
services and potentially, optional services as described herein.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Indicate firm name, and RFP number on the front of each sealed
proposal envelope or package.
All inquiries concerning this RFP should be directed to:
Jay Rester
Office of Procurement and Contracts, (Same address above)
jrester@procurement.msstate.edu
662-325-2550
Any addendum associated with this RFP will be posted at
http://www.procurement.msstate.edu/procurement/bids/index.php located under RFP
MSU2026047. It is the respondent's responsibility to assure that all addenda have been
reviewed and if applicable, signed and returned.
1. UNIVERSITY OVERVIEW
Mississippi State University (MSU) is a comprehensive land grant university of 21,500+
students and approximately 5,000 faculty and staff. The main campus is located adjacent to the
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community of Starkville in northeast Mississippi, with a remote campus located in Meridian
with an enrollment of around 700 students. Additionally, the university operates several remote
agricultural experiment stations and has an Extension office located in each of the eighty-two
Mississippi counties.
Additional information about MSU can be found at our website www.msstate.edu.
2. INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSAL ON RFP
Mississippi State University solicits proposals from qualified companies for an online
proctoring solution for the 2025 Academic year. It is estimated that there will be a total of
100,000 exams given to up to 10,000 students during this time frame. Our goal is to evaluate
online proctoring solutions to assure that MSU will have a proctoring solution that is state-of-
the-art in terms of assuring the highest level of academic integrity at a reasonable cost. The
university wants to ensure the academic integrity of online and hybrid assessments matches
those offered in a traditional classroom setting.
MSU seeks a secure and flexible online proctoring solution for use during online examinations
to ensure that student identity is verified, that students have complied with testing requirements,
and the solution monitors and reports testing irregularities.
The University seeks a cost effective, convenient, and customizable solution. The online
proctoring service should have the capability of an automated or live authentication solution,
and live proctored exam sessions with trained and certified proctors. The service should allow
the flexibility for faculty to select the level of online test security and to customize the test
environment to meet desired exam specifications.
The proctoring solution has to be one that students and faculty can understand and use easily. It
must be a solution that faculty have faith in as having a very high probability of detecting
academic dishonesty during the examination process. MSU incorporates synchronous and
asynchronous learning via the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). The proctoring
solution must be compatible with Canvas as the LMS Platform. It must allow all exams in a
course to be set in the same time frame on the same day, and it must be cost-effective.
Preference is given to solutions that automate evaluation of student behaviors to identify
cheating, rather than using live proctors.
The term of the initial contract shall be one year from date of contract execution or through one
complete academic year. With the consent of the contractor, MSU reserves the right to extend
or renew the contract for three (3) additional one year terms, or parts thereof.
This solution should:
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* Work with our existing Learning Management System (Canvas) and provide secure
planning, tracking and reporting of online exams,
* Respondent's product will be a comprehensive Proctoring management system,
* To meet the critical implementation and conversion timeline components,
* Must provide a secure authentication method for students, faculty and staff by utilizing
single sign-on (CAS, Shibboleth, or SAML) Please specify which one,
* Identify and describe in detail any additional hardware required for students and/or
faculty to use the solution,
* Support a variety of client operating systems, the supported client operating systems for
both faculty, student, and administrative usage,
* Support embedded objects and media as part of the exam proctoring process,
* Block copy-paste options,
* Freeze the screen of the candidate's device, thus blocking students from accessing other
applications or switching windows while taking a test,
* Have the ability to whitelist sites that are allowed during an exam,
* Utilize video streaming and desktop sharing,
* Have the ability to record sessions (video, audio),
* Have the ability to store recorded sessions, the system policies around recorded exam
sessions including retention of recordings and who beyond the student and the instructor
would have access,
* Be able to accommodate the student's limited connectivity,
* Be able to notify administrators if suspicious activity is identified,
* Be able to provide for multiple proctored exams to occur simultaneously,
* Provide identify verification of the student.
* Detect, prevent, and report the use of AI-assisted tools (including but not limited to
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and other generative AI services) during
examination sessions through browser monitoring, application detection, and behavioral
analysis.
* Implement technical controls to prevent students from accessing or using artificial
intelligence tools, large language models, or AI-powered assistance services during
assessments
* 24/7/365 availability of help materials and technical support available to students and
faculty before, during, and after tests.
* Proctors and technical support staff should be fluent in English and reside within the
United States.
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3. SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUIRED
* Technical Requirements
Platform/System - should support a minimum of:
* Vendor must provide in detail; how does the system receive and provide information to
Canvas LMS used by the University.
* Provide information on the data elements that the University will need to provide as a
part of the interface/data feed.
* Provide a list of all the testing publishers/ vendors for which your product is compatible,
such as McGraw Hill, Pearson, etc.
* Clearly articulate any and all hardware, software, Wi-Fi, internet, and other related
requirements or offerings or specific restrictions.
* Outline all proctoring options you offer, such as live and/or automated proctoring,
lockdown browser, automated or manual review, etc.
* Outline all security features, including tester identification and incident report protocol.
AI detection and prevention capabilities, including monitoring for AI service
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usage, detection of AI-generated content patterns, and blocking of AI tool access
through browser extensions, web applications, or API calls.
* Describe cheating prevention measures such as browser/application suppression, double
monitor identification, etc.
* Describe how your product/company addresses issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion
and common issues associated with facial recognition software.
* Describe how your solution is designed to reduce anxiety for users while being
monitored.
* Describe your administrator interface and reporting options for admins, faculty, and
student users.
* How does your solution restrict the student being assessed to only the LMS website
during the assessment event?
How does your system prevent students from accessing test banks on websites such
asChegg, Coursehero, Quizlet, etc...
* How does your system detect and prevent the use of AI tools and services (such as
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, browser-based AI assistants, and AI
browser extensions) during proctored exams?
* Describe your system's capability to identify AI-generated responses or AI-assisted
behavior during exam sessions.
* How does your solution block or detect AI chatbot interfaces, API calls to AI
services, and browser-integrated AI features?
* How does your system detect and report if a student is using another device such as a
cell phone or tablet outside the view of the webcam?
* Does your system provide technology that will automatically remove illicit test content
from third party websites before student's take an assessment? Please describe:
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* Does your system provide the ability for the instructor to allow the student to access
specific websites/URLs during the exam?
Please outline the process to submit and retrieve test information.
Detail all costs associated with the purchase and usage of your product, including but
not limited to implementation costs, annual fee, timing of payments (i.e. monthly, units
paid in advance, etc.), minimum purchase, cost structure (i.e. cost per student, cost per
test, cost per testing hour), etc.
Describe any limitations to support or schedule high demand/peak time for Mid-terms
and final exams.
Describe maintenance and support options, including patching, minor and major fixes and
when additional fees and costs are required for additional development.
Describe support models including the options to contact support and Service Level
Agreements.
Does the solution have the ability to create a video log of the student's exam session and
how soon will the video be available for review by the instructor?
Describe the retention period that would allow instructors or admins to reproduce
evidence of incidents of academic integrity during or after the course is completed.
Describe how your system makes it easy for the instructor to find evidence of potential
alleged dishonesty.
Identify any client software that needs to be installed as well the process to fully
uninstall it
Describe how the session is terminated for the end user when the proctor session is
complete and how can they validate that the recording and access to the webcam has also
terminated successfully.
Describe your system's ability to detect/record audio as well as to detect specific
keywords or phrases the student may be using to gain assistance from a mobile device or
digital assistant.
Describe how your system identifies potential AI usage during exams, including detection
of copy-paste behavior from AI tools, pattern recognition of AI-generated responses,
monitoring of unusual typing patterns consistent with AI assistance, and identification of
browser-based AI tool activity.
Describe how your system could detect that an incident or violation of academic integrity
is about to take place, but then potentially prevent the violation from happening.
Does your system provide 24/7 on-demand proctoring services or will students be
required to schedule their exam time with a proctor?
How does your system secure faculty exam content?
What proctoring options are available to an instructor and how do they manage those
options? Can the instructor set custom guidelines for the student and proctor for each
exam?
* Describe in detail your 24 x 7 technical support to faculty, administration and students.
* Can you provide metrics that show the effectiveness of your support team including
response times and customer satisfaction surveys?
* What is the escalation process for more complex support issues?
* Provide applicable certifications such as SOC2 documentation.
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* System must be secure and meet all local, state and federal data security standards.
* Provide a statement stating whether your company is compliant with FERPA, GLBA,
NACH and Red Flag Regulation requirements.
* Provide a completed Higher Education Cloud Vendor Assessment Tool (HECVAT) (lite
version available at: https://www.ren-isac.net/public-resources/hecvat.html).
* Does the system support two-factor authentication? If so, describe solution options.
* System interfaces are compliant with WCAG 2.0 AA and provide VPAT if available.
* GDRP and Privacy Compliance
* Users
Currently MSU provides authorization via username and password (including two factor
authentication) to online courses.
1. The service will affectively separate authentication i.e. validating that the individual
using the login is the person who is tied to the authorization. Vendors should
disclose what system they use to determine or maintain authorization of an
individual's login in a manner that ensures that all data is FERPA compliant and is
compliant with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
Vendors should identify if this service is provided as:
* Software-only
* Software as a Service (SaaS)
* Hosted
* Hybrid
Response should include descriptions of:
* How identity administration and provisioning will integrate with the
universities existing password and credential management
* How it manages group and role management
* How it provides authorization reporting
2. Vendor must provide information on levels or types of authentication and security
available for use with online exams as well as the availability of live proctors.
3. Vendor must outline how authentication and security levels can be selected or
customized per class or exam by the faculty member.
c) Reporting/Forms, Custom Fields, Files
* Reporting and analytics should be available for review.
* The bidder should explain in detail the reporting function of the system.
* Capability to isolate monitoring/reporting by multiple factors for
individualized monitoring as well as aggregating and summarizing
monitoring activities.
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* Functions
Secure and flexible online proctoring solution for use during online examinations to ensure
that student identity is verified, that students have complied with testing requirements, and
the solution monitors and reports testing irregularities.
* System Maintenance and Support
1. Provide a detailed process flow for how MSU would resolve a performance related
issue/incident (i.e. slow response) related to the solution. Include levels of escalation
and indicate third party entities being engaged (ISO or Hosting facilities). Also
provide average response times.
2. The proposed solution will keep up with new releases of browsers (mobile, PC, or
Mac), operating systems.
3. The proposed solution securely removes temporary files, cookies, etc. in local
workstations at the end of each session.
4. Describe in detail the standard technical support Service Level Agreement for the
proposed solution.
5. Describe in detail your commitment to regularly update AI detection capabilities as
new AI tools and services emerge in the market.
6. Describe in detail, your annual release schedule and any planned enhancements
associated for the proposed solution.
7. Describe the various technical support provided for the service, including the
following: a) days and hours of operation (using Central Time zone)
8. Methods of interaction (phone, fax, email, web-enabled knowledgebase, etc.)
a. any limits in the use of a service program
b. service/support standards. Include the Vendor's service/support level
agreements(s) and mission statement
c. identification of the individuals, who will act as contacts for the University
INQUIRIES ABOUT RFP
Prospective respondents may make written inquiries concerning this request for proposal to
obtain clarification of requirements. Questions should be submitted either via a Word
document or plainly typed in the email itself. Responses to these inquiries may be made by
addendum to the Request for Proposal (RFP). Please send your inquiries to Jay Rester via
electronic mail at jrester@procurement.msstate.edu.
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All inquiries should be marked "URGENT INQUIRY. MSU RFP MSU2026047"
4. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
a) Issuing Office
This RFP is issued by the following office:
Office of Procurement Services
Mississippi State University
405 Garrard Road East
Starkville, MS 39759
b) Schedule of Critical Dates
The following dates are for planning purposes only unless otherwise stated in this RFP
progress towards their completion is at the sole discretion of the university.
RFP Posted February 23, 2026
Questions from Vendors Due March 5, 2026
MSU Q&A Response Due March 10, 2026
Proposal Submission Deadline - 2:00 p.m. March 23, 2026
Award Date (Estimated) April 23, 2026
Contract Effective Date (Estimated) May 23, 2026
5. PROPOSAL CONTENTS
This is a two-step RFP process. The technical proposals and the cost proposals are to be
submitted in separate sealed envelopes. Indicate firm name, RFP# and word "Technical
Proposal" on the front of the sealed technical proposal envelope or package. Indicate the firm
name, RFP# and the word "Cost Proposal" on the front of the sealed proposal envelope or
package.
At a minimum, the following items should be included in the contents of the Technical
Proposal:
* Cover letter, indicating the scope of the proposal. The letter should include an overview
of the services being offered. The letter should include a statement of exceptions to any
of the terms and conditions outlined in this RFP. (Cover letter should be no more than 3
pages in length.)
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* Corporate Structure and Credentials
Number of years of experience
o
Staffing levels and support proposed
o
Examples of similar previous work.
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* Operations and Ability To Perform
Provide operation plan. This should include, but not be limited to,
o
acknowledgement and agreement with all requirements as well as explanations,
where applicable, of the intended plan to achieve the requirements.
Describe how services will be provided to MSU.
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* Describe what differentiates your company and product from your competitors?
* Provide 3 to 5 references, including contact information for similar sized colleges or
universities using the proposed solution.
* Provide details of any past or pending litigation, or claims filed, against your firm that
may affect your performance under a contract.
At a minimum, the following items should be included in the contents of the Cost Proposal:
* Fees for initial purchase of software/items/service (including all preparation,
installation, rollout, training and first year maintenance and support)
* Annual Maintenance Costs after initial purchase.
6. DISCUSSIONS/EVALUATION CRITERIA/AWARD PROCESS
MSU reserves the right to conduct discussions with any or all respondents, or to make an award
of a contract without such discussions based only on evaluation of the written proposals. MSU
reserves the right to contact and interview anyone connected with any past or present projects
with which the respondent has been associated. MSU likewise reserves the right to designate a
review committee to evaluate the proposals according to the criteria set forth under this section.
MSU may make a written determination showing the basis upon which the award was made
and such determination shall be included in the procurement file.
MSU reserves the right to award this contract in whole or in part depending on what is in the
best interest of MSU with MSU being the sole judge thereof.
The evaluation factors set forth in this section are described as follows:
* The Vendor's ability to deliver an application meeting the overall objective and
functions described in the RFP
* Competitive fees
* Availability and access technical support
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* Vendor's experience with similar systems
* Compliance with applicable State and Federal laws and regulations
* The committee may invite finalists for interviews and/or presentations
Failure to attend a requested interview presentation before the committee may result in a
proposal not being considered.
Upon award of contract(s), successful respondent(s) will be asked to provide a transition plan
and timeline and obtain MSU's input and concurrence before moving forward.
Proposals will be scored based on the following weights (100 points total):
* Corporate Structure/Years of Experience/References - 20 pts
* Operation Plan/Ease of Use/Services Offered - 40 pts
* Fees - 40 pts.
7. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Responses Submitted Electronically in Bully Buy:
Technical Proposal: Proposal must be submitted in PDF format and state "Technical
Proposal" in the title of the document. This document must be separate from the cost
proposal or the response may be considered non-responsive.
Cost Proposal: Cost proposal must be submitted in PDF format and state "Cost Proposal"
in the title of the document. This document must be separate from the technical proposal or
the response may be considered non-responsive.
Responses Submitted Physically:
Proposals shall be submitted in two packages (envelopes or boxes) as set forth in Section 8.
Please make sure that the RFP number is clearly visible on the outside of the package.
Technical Proposal - One (1) original and one (1) electronic copy (of the complete
technical proposal in one pdf file on a flash drive) of parts 7(b)(i) (Cover Letter), 7(b)(ii)
(Corporate Structure and Credentials), and 7(b)(iii) (Operations and Ability to Perform)
should be sealed in a package with "Technical Proposal" in the lower left hand corner. Each
submitted package should be a complete copy. The original shall be marked on the first
page "Original".
Cost Proposal - One (1) original and one (1) electronic copy (of the complete cost proposal
in one pdf file on a flash drive). Should be sealed in a package with "Cost Proposal" in the
lower left-hand corner. Each submitted package should be a complete copy. The original
shall be marked on the first page "Original".
The proposal package must be received on or before 2:00 p.m. on March 23, 2026. It is the
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