Directorate of Contracting, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Rm A1040c, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda MD 20814-4799

D -- STUDENT TRACKING, ADMISSION AND REGISTRATION SYSTEM (STARS) SOL MDA905-98-R-0020 DUE 082498 POC DAVID D. DENTON, CONTRACTING OFFICER, 301-295-3068;fax 301-295-1716 E-MAIL: contracting officer, DDENTON@USUHS.MIL. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences has a requirement for a Student Tracking, Admission and Registration System (STARS). The STARS should provide the University with an integrated computing environment designed to support the special needs of the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Nursing and the Graduate Program in Basic Medical Sciences and capable of accommodating changes in the computing environment over the years. STARS should be capable of providing a well-formed responsive process which can be adapted easily to new procedures and policies and provide for new data and reporting needs. Management information requirements for new reports should be available on an ad hoc basis in addition to using a standard report generation capability. Below are listed requirements that must be addressed by the vendor's bid for the core system. These requirements are considered mandatory in implementing STARS as defined in Section XX of this RFP. They define a system that will operate efficiently in the proposed computer environment while providing a high level of flexibility in meeting the University's current and future computing requirements. FLEXIBILITY: STARS must be designed with the recognition that the University will have ever-changing requirements. As such, it needs to utilize a relational Data Base Management system to perform administrative computing functions. Flexibility must be provided to meet external and internal requirements for management reports. This may be met by providing user-controlled sequence, frequency, and content specification for production reports, and by either providing a modern report/retrieval system for ad hoc report requests or the availability of an end-user report/retrieval facility associated with the data base product. STARS must be designed to minimize impact on the overall system arising from additions, changes, or deletions to the data base. The system should permit changes in data base structure without requiring recompilationof programs not directly impacted by the changes. BATCH AND ON-LINE PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT: The University intends to implement a distributed environment which provides the ability for the user community to take control and responsibility for their data. To accomplish this, the new system should provide the end-user with the ability to enter data in an on-line interactive mode. SYSTEM SECURITY: The system must provide system and application security controls to prevent unauthorized use of the data base, restrict access to the data base, maintain data base process controls, and log all data base transactions. In addition, the system should provide security to limit availability to application software screens, data elements, and the contents of data elements where appropriate. DATA/SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: STARS must use an integrated data base transcending functional areas. It must operate from a single element dictionary addressing the entire system, with common update and query capability. MODULARITY: Althoughthere are no plans at present to procure anything more than a system for admissions and registration functions, the program should be modular in design to accommodate the addition of subsequent modules and it must be able to expand to include new functions without major impact on the system. PROCESS CONTROLS: The system should provide the following process controls:(1) Comprehensive edit controls which, for example, prevent incomplete or incorrect data from being processed. (2) Programmatic control of the process flow to prevent information from being processed in the wrong sequence. (3) processing cycles completed in a logical, prescribed order. (3) Integrity of data entering the data base, safeguarded through editing criteria. SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION: Specific elements of documentation which must be available with the system include: (1) User and technical manuals-hard copy and on-line. (2) Data element dictionary (3) Operations Manual (4) "HELP" on-line text. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY: Operational efficiency needs to be satisfied from both a technical and functional viewpoint. Technical efficiencies can be achieved through modern development methodology and 4th generation programming techniques, and through the utilization of a well-defined applications specific data base management system. Functional efficiencies can be achieved by providing input capabilities directly from the University into the system. Errors in input must be capable of being corrected by the University. RELATIONAL DATA BASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The University requires a relational type data base. This section contains the requirements for the Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS) used control the primary storage for all software components. The vendor must recommend an RDBMS product or identify RDBMS products, which can be used in support of the vendor's software. Multi-Tasking. The RDBMS must permit simultaneous data base accesses, permitting simultaneous access to files and queuing update requests at the record or field level when field contention prevents simultaneous updates. In addition, it must permit concurrent processing of batch and on-line jobs accessing the same data files and data base. Logging, Restart, and Recovery. The RDBMS must provide restart capabilities, as well as data base access activity logging and back out. Performance and Activity Statistics. The RDBMS must support performance monitoring tools and activity statistics reporting features. Statistics should be available on data base access rates the update and query) by program, terminal, ID, and time of day. Administrative Tools. The RDBMS should include a powerful set of administrative tools to monitor utilization, trace data base access chains, optimize schema and sub- schema definitions, model, report areas/pages percent full, and to optimize file placement and layout. Relational Data Base Characteristics. The RDBMS should utilize the concept of user views whereby pseudo-schema are defined and stored for utilization by users without the users becoming involved in the actual schema and sub- schema structures of the data base. The system should provide a security system to control utilization of user views by user ID, account, and activity. Data Dictionary Facility. The system should include an active integrated data dictionary. This dictionary should be an integral component of the data access capabilities, including the definition of both data attributes and values. Data Import Facility. The system should include a data import facility which permits transferring data from other data files into the data base. Data Access. All data must be available for read and update, not only through the RDBMS, but also directly from COBOL and 4GL programs. End-User Query Facilities. The system must have end-user query facilities which permit easy access to the information in the data base. MICROCOMPUTER ACCESS AND MANIPULATION: Software tools must be available which provide decision support capabilities. These include the ability to select a subset and/or a summary date base from theproduction RDBMS; download this information to a PC; manipulate the information using the same (or similar) tools and commands as those used on the mainframe; and upload developed information to the server. CLIENT/SERVER AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) TECHNOLOGIES: The proposed software must run in a variety of client/server and GUI environments. Requests for RFP must be received in writing no later than 24 August 1998 and may be requested by FAX, 301-295-1716 or E-mail: ddenton@usuhs.mil. Posted 08/14/98 (W-SN237445). (0226)

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