Learning Management System RFP

It was the summer of 1999. While much of the world was worrying about a potential Y2K Armageddon, a few members of Information Services had set up a server with an application they wanted to test with a few faculty. The app was Blackboard Learn, and when the summer was drawing to an end, they concluded the successful testing period and took the server offline. It was then that the calls started coming in: the faculty who had tested Blackboard liked it and had set up their fall courses in the system. They wanted it back. Thus began the Blackboard Learn era at the University of Richmond. 

In 2022, the Faculty Technology Committee (FTC) and Information Services conducted two LMS pilots with the top contenders: Blackboard Ultra and Instructure’s Canvas to see if faculty and students preferred either over our current system. For both pilots, several classes were taught through the systems for an entire semester, giving faculty and students the opportunity to see how courses worked. Feedback was gathered at the end of each term.

Now, Information Services is developing a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will allow LMS companies to explain how their systems would meet the University of Richmond’s specific needs. As part of the preparation for the RFP process, Information Services is conducting both a formal Needs Assessment and a Readiness Assessment with the support of Moran Technology Consultants. This fall, IS will administer a survey of faculty and students to gauge their needs and readiness to potentially move to a new LMS.

“The information we collect in the fall will help us build the RFP and ensure that faculty and students have the support they need if we move forward,” says Mark Nichols, assistant VP for telecom, media, and user services.