UPDATE – RCUH Financial Portal Down: Friday, November 15, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (HST) AND Saturday, November 16, 2024, 9:00 p.m. to Sunday, November 17, 2024, 5:00 a.m. (HST)

The RCUH Financial Portal will be down for system maintenance:

  • On Friday, November 15, 2024, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (HST)
  • From Saturday, November 16, 2024, 9:00 p.m. to Sunday, November 17, 2024, 5:00 a.m. (HST)

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

Payment Approval Deadline for 11/27/24 and Month End Processing for November 2024

The payment approval deadline for Wednesday, November 27, 2024 will be 2:00 p.m. RCUH Financial Portal payment transactions must be approved by 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 to be included in the daily check print and ePayment file.

Month-end processing will commence at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. Transactions approved after 2:00 p.m. on November 27 will not be included in project reports for the month of November. Project reports will be accessible in the RCUH Financial Portal, but report balances will only reflect transactions posted through November 27 until processing resumes on Monday, December 2, 2024.

RCUH Core Staff offices will be closed on Thursday, November 28 for Thanksgiving Day, and closed on Friday, November 29 pursuant to the Governor’s and UH President’s Executive Memorandums “Administrative Leave During the 2024 Holiday Season”. Please plan accordingly.

If you have any questions, please contact RCUH Accounting at [email protected].

2024 Awards Luncheon Results for Outstanding Employees of the Year

More than 120 individuals gathered at the UH Mānoa Campus Center Ballroom on November 1, 2024, to honor 21 outstanding RCUH employees. Attendees celebrated the achievements and dedication of all nominees, some of whom flew in that morning from Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island. RCUH wants to offer a special thanks to Hawaii News Now weather anchor Guy Hagi for emceeing the event, as well as the Selection Committee for taking the time to review 12 nominations across three categories. The Selection Committee was comprised of:

  • Ken Kawahara, RCUH Board of Director
  • Howard Lao, First Hawaiian Bank
  • Jody Shiroma, PBS Hawai‘i

These judges evaluated the written nominations and selected awardees based on their:

  • Initiative taken to develop the achievement or to advance the project.
  • Leadership and resourcefulness in implementing the achievement or to advance the project.
  • Impact of achievement on the project, professional field, and/or larger community.
  • Other information on the importance, significance, and/or quality of the achievement.

Without further ado, we are pleased to announce this year’s awardees:

RESEARCHER/PROJECT MANAGER CATEGORY
  • First Place: Kristen Harmon, Hawaii Wildlife Ecology Lab, UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources
  • Second Place: Ray Kahaunaele, Kaua ‘i Invasive Species Committee, UH Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit
  • Honorable Mentions:
    • Christine Tallamy Glazer, Soil Health, Environment, and Ecosystem Resilience Lab, UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources
PROJECT SUPPORT STAFF CATEGORY
  • First Place: Miku Lenentine, Center for Resilient Neighborhoods, Kapi‘olani Community College
  • Second Place: Kealakekua Meyer, GEAR UP and Kūlia ma Kapiʻolani, Kapiʻolani Community College
  • Honorable Mentions:
    • Sydney Carey, Curriculum Research & Development Group, UH Mānoa College of Education
    • Russell Sumitomo, Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology, Kapi‘olani Community College
TEAMS CATEGORY

Updates to RCUH Policies 2.206, 2.304

In an effort to increase awareness of updates to RCUH’s policies and procedures, Policies 2.206 Administration of UH ORS Subawards and 2.304 FFATA Reporting have been updated. This action was taken to align RCUH policies with updated UH Office of Research Services requirements. The updated policies are posted on the RCUH website and are available for immediate download.

Should you have any questions, please contact Erin H. Yoda via email at [email protected].

RCUH RFP No. CS2024-1, Response to Offeror Questions Received October 7-15, 2024

RCUH received multiple questions about RCUH RFP No. CS2024-1, “Design and Development of RCUH Website.” Below are RCUH’s responses.

Q: In Section 2.5-1, is RCUH referring to a commercial CMS product, a custom CMS, or an open-source CMS? Should we include a scope for CMS training in this proposal?

A: In terms of a CMS, RCUH is not restricting it to a certain type of CMS, however it should be user-friendly for staff to update and maintain. In terms of CMS training, a scope would be helpful, but not mandatory for the proposal. Pricing for CMS training should be included in the base proposal, per 3.1.5 (pg. 11 – see second bullet under Base Proposal).

Q: What specific SEO goals does RCUH want to achieve? For instance, improved rankings, increased traffic, higher conversion rates, etc.

A: In terms of SEO goals mentioned in Section 2.6, RCUH would like to:

  • Improve page loading speed
  • Increase organic traffic, engagement
  • Lower bounce rate

Q: Could the choice of CMS be a factor in reducing administrative overhead during the modernization process?

A: Yes, that could be a factor in your proposal.

Q: What specific requirements or guidelines does RCUH have in mind for ensuring that all images on the new site have appropriate alternative text to meet WCAG compliance?

A: Per Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, websites should provide text alternatives for any non-text content, such as images, and if non-text content is pure decoration, is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in a way that it can be ignored by assistive technology. RCUH would like to ensure all images have alternative text to be compliant with these guidelines and will discuss this process with the selected Offerer. RCUH will provide a collection of images with descriptions that the selected Offeror may choose from for the updated webpage.

Q: In the Document Library, permalinks should remain the same even when documents are updated or replaced. If we move forward with modernization, we should structure slugs and breadcrumbs on the page for improved navigation. Will these changes be acceptable for modification?

A: Yes.  We encourage other suggestions Offerers may have to improve navigation on the RCUH website.

Q: RCUH having defined routes at https://www.rcuh.com/news/ does not effectively represent information to the end user compared to https://www.rcuh.com/about. Should we address this issue?

Yes.

RCUH RFP No. CS2024-1, Response to Offeror Questions Received October 1-6, 2024

Two (2) questions were received October 1-6, 2024 about RCUH RFP No. CS2024-1, “Design and Development of RCUH Website.” Below are RCUH’s responses.

Q: [We do] not complete any design work until the agreement and deposit has been furnished and the project call has been completed. The project call is required to have an in depth discuss about the business vision, hyper define the demographic, as well as communicate the main pain point(s)/solution(s) for the project’s marketing message to be solidified.  Per the Request for Proposal item 3.1.2, bullet five “provide a rough sketch of the homepage” which is required for the bid to be accepted. Is there any flexibility with the Request for Proposal Section 3-Proposal Requirements?

A: The rough sketch of the homepage provides us a means to evaluate the Offeror’s creativity and responsiveness to our vision. It is required for acceptance of the proposal.

Q: After reviewing the RFP, I noticed it includes items that differ significantly from the current website. Are you able to share the budget range for this project? This will help ensure that (A) I have a realistic chance at the project and (B) it aligns with a budget that works for both of us.

A: The refreshed website should enhance the user’s experience with more features than currently available. We have a budget range of $15,000 to $25,000 for design and development. Offerors should present their best offer based on their understanding of our requirements.

RCUH 2025 Wall Calendar

It’s only October and we’re already anticipating the new year! Pre-orders for our popular wall calendar, 24 inches x 19 inches, are now being taken on a first come, first served basis. We’d appreciate having projects designate a coordinator who will consolidate orders. Please email [email protected] with the following information:

  • Coodinator’s name
  • Coordinator’s email address
  • Project name
  • Quantity

We are happy to mail calendars to the neighbor islands (please provide a mailing address) and will consolidate them as much as possible (10-12 calendars fit in a mailing tube). Due to increased postage costs, we are unable to distribute the calendar outside the state of Hawaiʻi.

All Oʻahu requestors must make arrangements for order pick up at RCUH’s offices at the East-West Center, Burns Hall.

We anticipate that the calendar will be ready for distribution in early December and will confirm the date via email. Should you have any questions, please contact RCUH Corporate Services via email, [email protected].

RCUH Issues RFP for RCUH Website

The Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi (RCUH) is soliciting proposals from Offerors who wish to be considered for the “Design and Development of RCUH Website.” A copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) No. CS2024-1 may be downloaded here.

Questions About the RFP
All questions about the RFP must be directed to Kaylee Hull at RCUH via email to [email protected]. Closing Date for Receipt of Offeror Questions is 4:00 PM (Hawaii Standard Time), October 15, 2024.

Responses to Questions About the RFP
All received questions and responses will be posted by 4:00 PM (Hawaii Standard Time), October 18, 2024 on the RCUH website, https://www.rcuh.com.

Closing Date for Receipt of Proposals
Completed proposals must be received via email to [email protected] no later than 4:00 PM (Hawaii Standard Time), November 15, 2024.  Offerors may be required to give an oral presentation (refer to Section 4.5 Oral Presentations) tentatively scheduled for the week of December 2, 2024.  It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure confirmation of proposal receipt prior to the Closing Date for Receipt of Proposals.  Proposals received after the time and date fixed for submittal will not be considered. 

2024 RCUH Financial Portal 2.0 – Announcement 6 – Town Hall September 25

The RCUH Financial Portal 2.0 was implemented on July 15, 2024. To hear from our users of the system, RCUH will be hosting a virtual Town Hall on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. HST via Zoom.  We would like to hear user feedback, questions, comments, and input on possible future enhancements to help us better meet our user needs. Please click on the link below to register for the virtual Town Hall:

Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. HST

Location: Zoom

RCUH Financial Portal 2.0 Town Hall Registration

If you have any questions or comments, please contact RCUH Accounting at [email protected].