Website Redesign

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-CORPUS CHRISTI
PURCHASING DEPARTMENT
6300 OCEAN DRIVE
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 78412
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP Number:
TAMU-CC-RFP-26-0002
Website Redesign
PROPOSAL MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE:
2:00 p.m. Central Time 6/25/26
MAIL PROPOSAL TO: HAND DELIVER AND/OR
EXPRESS MAIL TO:
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
TAMU-CC-RFP-26-0002 TAMU-CC-RFP-26-0002
Purchasing Department Purchasing Building
6300 Ocean Drive Unit 5731 6300 Ocean Drive Room 115A
Corpus Christi TX 78412-5731 Corpus Christi TX 78412
Show RFP Number, Opening Date and Time on Return Envelope
NOTE: PROPOSAL must be time stamped at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Purchasing Department
before the hour and date specified for receipt of proposal.
Pursuant to the Provisions of Texas Government Code Title 10 Subtitle D Chapter 2156.121 - 2156.127, General Services
Act rules and regulations adopted there under, sealed proposals will be received until the date and time established for
receipt. After receipt, only the names of proposers will be made public. Prices and other proposal details will only be
divulged after the award, if one is made.
DATED: 5/21/2026
REFER INQUIRIES TO:
Will Hobart, Director
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Purchasing Department
361-825-3434
Email: will.hobart@tamucc.edu

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Page 2 of 34
Table of Contents
SECTION I. General 3
SECTION II. Statement of Work 4
SECTION III. Proposal Information 11
SECTION IV. General Terms and Conditions 17
SECTION V. Execution of Proposal 31
SECTION VI. Pricing and Delivery Schedule 32
SECTION VII. Respondent's Questionnaire 33
SECTION VIII. References 34
Attachment A:HUB Subcontracting Plan (HSP)
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SECTION I
GENERAL
1.1 SCOPE
The Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) seeks
proposals to host, maintain, and redesign its its public-facing websites The project scope
includes information architecture, a new visual design suite, content development, front-end
web development and implementation of a new CMS. The project likely will consist of
several phases of work. It is the intent of HRI and the University to award Phase 1, as
described in paragraph XXX, and at the sole discretion of HRI future phases may be included
in contract renewals.
No Guarantee of Volume. The State of Texas does not guarantee any specific
amount of compensation, volume, minimum, or maximum amount of services
under this solicitation and resulting contract.
1.2 CONTRACT TERM
Initial term limited to time as required to complete Phase 1, anticipated to be completed within
six (6) months from effective date of Contract. Under no circumstances, shall initial term exceed
twelve (12) months. An option to renew on annual basis for additional phases at the University's
discretion. Initial term with renewals shall not exceed five (5) years.
1.3 DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this RFP, the following definitions apply:
(a) Acceptable Quality Level - The level of performance of requested services below which the
contract will not be paid or damages may be assessed;
(b) Addendum - A modification of the specifications issued by TAMU-CC and distributed to
prospective Respondents prior to the opening of bids;
(c) Best and Final Offer (BAFO) - A formal request made to selected Respondents for revisions
to the originally submitted Proposal;
(d) Contract - The contract awarded as a result of this RFP and all exhibits thereto, this RFP,
any Addendum issued in conjunction with this RFP, the successful Respondent's Proposal,
any BAFO, and subsequent submission by Respondent, shall all be fully incorporated therein
as exhibits;
(e) Contractor - Respondent whose Proposal results in a contract with TAMU-CC; and
(f) TAMU-CC - Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
1.4 Important Notice - HUB Subcontracting Plan (HSP) Required: Pursuant to Texas
Administrative Code (TAC), Sections 111.13 and 111.14, TAMU-CC has determined that
subcontracting opportunities are probable for this RFP. Accordingly, a completed HUB
Subcontracting Plan (HSP) is required to be included with any proposal submitted in response
to this RFP. If you have any questions regarding these requirements, contact Mr. Ruben
Gonzalez, HUB Coordinator at (361) 825-5822.
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SECTION II
STATEMENT OF WORK
2.1 SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
Services shall include, but are not limited to, the requirements contained in this RFP. Services
set forth that contain the words "must" or "shall" are mandatory and must be provided as
specified with no alteration, modification, or exception. Services set forth that contain the
words "may" or "can" allow Respondents to offer alternatives to the manner in which the
services are provided.
2.2 ABOUT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY CORPUS CHRISTI
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has a rich history in the Coastal Bend region and has
more than 50,000 alumni in Texas and beyond. It became part of The Texas A&M University
System in 1989 and completed a downward expansion to offer freshmen and sophomore
classes in 1994. Enrollment has grown nearly every year since the expansion and the
University is poised for continued growth under a new leadership team.
In 2018, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi enrolled more than 12,000 students with approximately
20 percent at the graduate level. The University offers 43 undergraduate programs, 31 graduate
programs and nine terminal degrees including an MFA in fine arts. The University's programs
in communications, music, marine sciences and nursing are well-known and respected.
2.3 CONTEXT FOR THE WEBSITE REDESIGN
The Harte Research Institute's web sites comprise 10 different sites with more than 1,000
active pages and currently utilizes the Drupal and Decap content management platforms. The
web content management systems are hosted on cloud platforms by amaze.io.
HRI's Marketing and Communications Department maintains the web pages and holds
administrative rights over all pages. It is a patchwork of access for the sites as HRI managers
have full access to some sites, while others must go through the contracted maintenance
company for things as simple as changes in text.
HRI websites lack cohesion and consistency as some use different content management
systems and have different looks from the main HRI website. Some of the sites were built as
separate projects and when they were built there were not specific standards for new sites
under the HRI brand. It is not known when the last redesign of websites took place.
Over the last six months of 2025 and into 2026, a new web administrator is in place at HRI,
and the desire is to create a stronger, more cohesive web presence for HRI-affiliated sites.
HRI is seeking a vendor who can help establish workflows and make recommendations
regarding an optimal balance between a centralized and decentralized structure.
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HRI also seeks a vendor to modernize our web presence and create a more unified and user-
friendly brand across all our websites. Our main goal is to improve the overall user experience
for both internal and external clients to improve accessibility and offer a better way to gain
access to our science.
The new website must meet the needs and expectations of current employees, students
(prospective and current), donors, and the general public. We would like to find a balance
between a website that is a robust marketing and storytelling platform as well as an
information directory. The current site structures are difficult to navigate and need an overhaul
to improve content access points.
We believe the primary purpose of HRI-aligned sites are to engage donors, students,
faculty, and the broader public, guiding visitors from initial interest to a deeper
connection, and telling the story of HRI and its programs.
Audience priorities include:
* Donors, students, faculty, general public
Primary calls-to-action (CTAs)-request information, how to donate, etc.-should be
prominent, pervasive, and strategic.
Secondary CTAs should promote giving, participation in events, and continuing a relationship
with HRI, particularly for donors, alumni, students, and community members.
In addition, the redesign is an opportunity to build a strategic, lean site to address the ever-
changing digital marketing landscape.
2.4 PHASED ROLL OUT TO HELP FOCUS PROGRESS
HRI is committed to a phased rollout approach to help ensure our timeline objectives are met
within the predetermined guidelines. By identifying key interest points within areas of focus,
we hope to maintain a positive momentum forward without jeopardizing the overall timeline.
The two phases will consist of:
Phase 1 - These items are detailed in paragraph 2.6.
* Discovery
* Content Audit and Strategy
* Information Architecture
* Experience/Design
Phase 2 - These items are detailed in paragraph 2.7.
* CMS Implementation and Build-Out
* Web Development
* Content and Migration Work
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It will be at the discretion of the University to move into Phase 2 upon the successful
completion of Phase 1.
2.5 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
This project is a large-scale renewal of HRI's overall web presence. The goal is to redesign
HRI-aligned websites to be modern andcompelling and places the needs of our users first.
This will create a cohesive user experience for internal and external users, employ a logical,
easy-to-understand navigation scheme and feature content that supports HRI's messaging
strategy. Additional high-level goals include:
(a) Creating an Accessible Website. HRI is committed to facilitating access to its web
presence regardless of ability. The re-designed HRI websites should employ all principles
of design and recognized standards for content and technology to ensure they are usable
and accessible to everyone. The new website must meet Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 AA
standards for accessibility.
(b) Expressing Individuality and Institutional Cohesion. HRI has a long-standing
commitment to individuality, intellectual independence and academic freedom. The
redesigned HRI websites must allow departments and units to express their individuality
while simultaneously creating a cohesive brand and experience for visitors browsing the
sites. This goal applies not only to the site's visual design and layout, but the updated
websites should have the capability to simultaneously support the HRI's communication
objectives and the unique communication and marketing goals of the institute's multiple
programs and labs.
(c) Featuring Outstanding Visual and User Experience Design on the Web. The new
visual design of HRI-aligned websites need to be modern, beautiful, compelling,
accessible, mobile friendly and easily navigable. The visual design should also be highly
flexible and modular and reflect the University's and HRI's visual identity guidelines.
(d) Eliminating Digital Fragmentation. One key objective for rebuilding HRI sites is
eliminating digital fragmentation by building a platform for creating websites that
supports continuous improvement and sustained success.
(e) User/Manager accessibility and website dashboard. Create a dashboard of all HRI
websites that allows HRI administrators access to all sites. It currently is fragmented
between multiple content management systems and log ins. A goal is that each
individual would have access to specific content through their individual login, and have
full rights across all through your single login
(f) Update URLs for sites to start with harteresearch.org. Currently HRI-aligned sites
have different unique URLs, a goal is to have them all have the same URL to start with
extensions signifying their sites. HRI will continue to maintain all existing URLs, which
would then be directed to the new URLs.
(g) Same CMS for all websites. Currently HRI uses two different content management
systems (Drupal and Decap), and a goal is to put all the websites under one CMS for a
better and easier experience in updating and maintaining.
(h) Standardize look of HRI-aligned websites. Design headers and footers that look
similar among all HRI websites.
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The platform should enforce best practices related to accessibility, SEO optimization, accurate
analytics and needs to facilitate content sharing between websites. The template structure
should also be easy to use for web content editors to simplify the support, security and
technical maintenance of the sites.
The long-term goal is a consistent and unified web presence that offers a modern, best-in-class
user experience for HRI's digital constituents.
2.6 PHASE 1 - SCOPE OF WORK
To accomplish the Phase 1 project objectives outlined in paragraph 2.5, the Harte Research
Institute and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is requesting that the following
deliverables be included in the scope of work.
Discovery
* Meet with Marketing & Communications (MarCom) and IT to get a clear
understanding of project requirements, goals, and vision
* Meet with MarCom and key stakeholders to outline process, gather feedback, and
discuss appropriate resourcing for project success (include travel costs)
* Review necessary background information on our current websites, sub-
domains, evolving creative strategy, and competitive landscape
* Develop a master project schedule with timeframes, responsibilities and estimated costs
Content Audit and Strategy
* Understand our target audiences and their needs through research
* Audit existing content and analytics; identify whether it meets established goals or if
action is needed to support the overall content strategy
* Develop a roadmap for new content generation and who's responsible for creating and
managing it post-launch
* Identify old or orphaned content and make recommendations whether to retain or
migrate to new site
Information Architecture
* Establish new structure and hierarchy based on HRI's goals, audience priorities, and
content strategy
* Analyze and recommend labeling for top three levels of navigation with SEO and
usability in mind
* Consider and integrate unique content types, such as events, profiles, call-outs, and
news stories to influence template designs
* Give special consideration to presentation of academic colleges and programs-and
their respective landing pages
Experience/Design
* Design concepts must be mobile first, responsive within a modular design model
* Produce three homepage design concepts to establish direction of overall tone
* Provide designs for up to 8-10 additional page types/templates, including
programfinder, program/research landing page, internal page, news and events landing
page, event, profile, education page, and development, etc.
* Integrate multimedia options for video, photo galleries and social media
* Adhere to TAMU-CC's evolving brand guidelines
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2.7 PHASE 2 - SCOPE OF WORK
To accomplish the Phase 2 project objectives outlined in paragraph 2.5, Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi and HRI is requesting that the following deliverables be included in
the scope of work.
HRI-Aligned Website Addresses
Current addresses for HRI-aligned websites. A goal is to use these as extensions for new URL
or addresses that begin with harteresearch.org. Example, harteresearch.org/sportfishcenter. The
idea would be to house all under one URL and create seemless redirection.
* Harteresearch.org
* Sportfishcenter.org
* Gulfbase.org
* Bluevalue.org
* Geored.org
* Griidc.org
* Txoystertraining.org
* Texascoastreportcard.org
* Freshwaterinflow.org (static)
* Texasonegulf.org (static)
* Birdislands.org
CMS Implementation and Build-Out
* Build out website in its entirety, including all page designs/templates, content types,
etc. while working with MarCom and IT
* Accommodate and integrate third party applications, including SAML-based
authentication (e.g. Shibboleth or ADFS), TouchNet, etc.
* Outline and execute testing plan on all applicable platforms prior to launch (with
MarCom's help) and ensure all browser requirements are met
* Support SEO best practices/optimization through proper HTML structure, meta tags,
URL structure, and clean/content-first templates
* Implementation of Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics tracking code, including
configuration of GA segments, events and goals
* Optimize for increased multimedia and social media presence, including native video
players, native photo galleries, and templates that feature large/high resolution images
* Set up permission and workflow structure for select distributed authors/editors
* Assist with content migration effort (number of pages to be migrated is roughly 350)
Web Development
* Develop responsive front-end code (including HTML, CSS and JS) for the entire visual
design suite. Front-end code must meet Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 AA standards for
accessibility and work consistently across operating systems, browsers and devices.
The front-end code must be valid HTML5 markup, based on W3C standards.
* Deploy the site in a soft launch using hosting services provided and maintained by
the vendor, complete final testing, and resolve any errors or issues.
* Verify function of donation links currently on websites.
* Provide detailed documentation for HRI IT and MarCom
* Provide support and troubleshooting once site is fully deployed
* Provide estimate (hourly rate, minimum hourly requirements, etc.) and outline ongoing,
proactive support plan for front- and back-end web development, new or modified
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templates, etc.
* Develop workflow rules and define user roles to help govern content management and
compliance
* Include ongoing production and test server environment
2.8 ADDITIONAL REQUESTS
* Dedicated liaison/project manager and on-call Customer service to ensure a central point of
contact is available in real time during the project lifecycle to solve technical issues or requests.
* Ability to track website performance and search visibility for all HRI sites through Google
Analytics, SEO, and Tag Manager Services
2.9 POST-PROJECT SUPPORT
Provide ongoing post-project support to ensure continued assistance after project delivery, including
addressing issues and help maintain and optimize outcomes.
* Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantee percentage
The vendor should provide hosting and support services with a minimum uptime guarantee of
99.9% availability per calendar month, excluding scheduled maintenance. The vendor will define
monitoring methods, reporting frequency, and procedures for addressing service interruptions.
* Notification of Maintenance
The vendor shall provide notification of scheduled maintenance in accordance with a mutually
agreed-upon notification timeframe.
2.9 CONTENT AND MIGRATION WORK
HRI will collaborate with the selected vendor to:
* Explore content migration options in regard to vendor participation/cost versus
internal facilitation
* Discuss content creation and messaging options to optimize the effectiveness of our
overall message
2.10 PROJECT TIMELINE
Develop a preliminary timeline working under the assumption the project will initiate by
August 1, 2026 and the new homepage and top-level website for HRIxxxxxxx should launch
by September 1, 2026.
2.11 RATES
While the project will be billed in totality rather than by the hour, proper assessment of the
RFP requires a way of measuring each vendor based on like criteria. Vendors should submit a
maximum per-hour rate upon which the price of the project is based.
Any work that is unsatisfactory in quality will be returned for correction at no cost to the
University.
2.12 OUT OF SCOPE ITEMS
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Extensive discovery and market research, brand development and photography are
outside the scope of work.
2.13 ADDITIONAL SITE DEVELOPMENT
HRI currently has a page that manages internal information and documentation. This page is a
password accessible platform to host documents for various purposes. This would include the
following:
* Internal PDF forms for information management (HR, Procurement, etc.)
* Faculty and Staff documentation
* Business processes
* Service request forms
2.14 OWNERSHIP OF WORK
Ownership of web design, development code and all related intellectual property, will belong
exclusively to Harte Research Institute and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi unless
otherwise agreed upon.
2.15 SUBCONTRACTORS
Subcontractors providing services under the Contract shall meet the same requirements and level
of experience as required of Respondent. No subcontract under the Contract shall relieve
Respondent of responsibility for ensuring the requested services are provided. Respondents
planning to subcontract all or a portion of the work to be performed shall identify the proposed
subcontractors.
2.16 PERFORMANCE TRACKING
Harte Research Institute and TAMU-CC will monitor the performance of the Contract issued
under this RFP. All services under the contract shall be performed at an acceptable quality level
and in a manner consistent with acceptable industry standards, custom, and practice.
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