STAC-STARTE Program: Enhancing California Community Colleges Cost-Saving Potential through Bulk Purchasing Programs
The STAC-STARTE program centralizes the ordering of online teaching, learning, and student support tools. The Systemwide Technology Access Collaborative (STAC) is a systemwide collaboration between the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the Foundation for California Community Colleges’ CollegeBuys program, and the California Virtual Campus initiative. The Systemwide Technology Access Resource Tools for Education (STARTE) is locally championed. Collectively, the program provides broader access to educational technology tools at an additional discounted price achieved through aggregate procurement during a specified buying window.
STAC-STARTE collaborates with the California Community College system to vet and approve suppliers to ensure their service offerings meet the system’s needs. Through the centralized purchase of services offered through STAC-STARTE, the system’s cost-saving potential is enhanced, regardless of whether individual or institutional purchases are large or small. As a result, campuses are able to benefit from institutional parity when it comes to pricing and service delivery on their campuses.
Over 1 million student licenses were delivered to 99 community colleges during the previous STAC-STARTE purchasing window for academic year 2022-23, realizing over $22M in cost savings for the California Community Colleges. The purchasing window for academic year 2023-24 services will be open in March – June 2023. The anticipated vendor resources that will be made available for purchase through STAC-STARTE include:
- Ally (Blackboard) – Online Content Accessibility & Alternate Media Formats
- Adobe (Creative Cloud Licenses) – Educational Support Software Solutions
- California Connects – Wireless Mobile Internet
- ConexED – Student Services Management Platform
- EesySoft – EdTech Adoption Platform
- Esri – Geographic Information System Software Solutions
- Labster – Virtual Science Labs Platform
- NameCoach – Name Pronunciation, Gender Identification & Virtual Commencement Platform
- NetTutor (Link-Systems) – Online Tutoring Services
- Proctorio – Online Proctoring Services
- Pronto – Online Student Engagement Platform
- Turnitin – Academic Integrity Platform
Upcoming Information Sessions:
Participating suppliers will host informational sessions and demonstrations during the purchasing window to highlight their products and services. Additionally, CollegeBuys and the California Virtual Campus will be hosting several sessions as designated office hours for those who have general questions regarding the ordering process and important programmatic deadlines.
For more information on STAC-STARTE sessions, please visit their website.
If you have questions about eligibility and participation, please contact CollegeBuys collegebuys@foundationccc.org.
