UMCES Website Redesign and Migration

Background
The University of Maryland College Park is requesting proposals to migrate and optimize the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) website. UMCES is a leading environmental research and education institution that addresses pressing environmental challenges.

The goal is to create a modern, mobile-responsive website that effectively communicates with key audiences, maintaining UMCES branding while transitioning from the outdated Drupal 7 platform to a more user-friendly system like WordPress.

Work Details
The selected contractor will be responsible for: reviewing the current website, recommending an alternative platform and content management system (CMS), designing a wireframe for the new site, building functionality for search/directory/calendar features, developing modules for content migration, and setting up the final website.

Key functionalities required include:
- An intuitive CMS that allows easy updates without HTML knowledge;
- Responsive design for mobile and desktop;
- Social media shareability;
- A searchable directory of faculty;
- Calendar integration;
- Forms creation;
- Compliance with ADA standards.

The contractor will also perform search engine optimization, testing, quality assurance, analytics setup, and provide training for staff on using the CMS.

Period of Performance
The project is expected to begin in February 2025 with a proposed launch date in July 2025. The timeline includes four phases: Discovery (2 months), Design and Development (3 months), Training/Launch (1 month), followed by ongoing support for 12 months post-launch.

Place of Performance
The work will be performed at the University of Maryland College Park campus.