How To Procure Goods And Services

Upon receipt of the account number, the PI/PD may begin to expend grant funds in keeping with the approved budget. Procurement activities (purchases of services, equipment, materials, and supplies, etc.) are conducted using the following:

On-line Procurement Forms. The process of procurement is performed using the Financial Accounting System. The PI/PD must receive training in order to be given access to the module. Once trained, the PI/PD or his/her designee may enter requisitions. Once a requisition is approved, Procurement Services staff will review the requisition for completeness and create a Purchase Order.

A PI/PD may not authorize a vendor to begin work before a Purchase Order has been issued.

No vendor should begin work until the vendor has received an official Purchase Order from the University. The Purchase Order authorizes the work and binds the University to pay the vendor upon completion of the work. Requisitions are to be used to purchase equipment, materials, supplies, printing, and consultant services. Requestors are required to provide Procurement Services with a written quote (via email or fax) for every requisition to document the vendor’s price, product availability, shipping date, etc.

Confirming Requisitions:  Those requisitions submitted after the goods or services have already been received are unauthorized purchases and will not be approved.

On-line Purchases of Supplies: The University currently uses the on-line services of Office Max for the purchase of office supplies. While we are expected to use this vendor to purchase general office supplies, certain items may with the approval of the procurement manager be purchased from other vendors.

Printing: The Xerox Copy Center provides printing services for the campus. If the Center is unable to perform or complete the job, a suitable vendor will be selected. All purchases estimated to cost over $5,000 must be competitively bid. Details may be found in the attached Procurement Policy and Procedures Manual.

Equipment purchases must be carried out using the Financial Reporting system. Except in extreme emergencies, Purchasing Cards may not be used for this purpose.  All equipment purchases must be tagged by the Asset Management staff. The policy of Asset Management is attached.