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Purchasing

How to Purchase

Purchasing rule of thumb: Always do the paperwork first.

With very few exceptions the purchase of goods and services on behalf of the University requires that a purchase order be done prior to the purchase being made unless you are using a University Purchasing Card. The purchase order or purchase order number is to be given to the vendor so that number can be referenced on the invoice.

Purchases of more than $5000 should be made by obtaining competitive quotes. Purchasing can assist you with that process.

Basic Purchasing Procedures

  1. Department identifies need
  2. Vendor and best pricing is found (Purchasing is happy to help with this)
  3. Initiator places requisition for a purchase order.
  4. Purchasing creates purchase order and places order with vendor or returns purchase order to department for them to give the vendor the PO number.
  5. Vendor delivers goods or services.
  6. Department accepts merchandise or service in PORC.
  7. Vendor submits invoice referencing purchase order.
  8. Accounts payable pays vendor
Office Supplies

We have contract pricing with Staples Advantage. Items may be ordered on the Staples Advantage website using the requisition process. The tax exemption will apply once you add your items to the cart.

Paper

Cases of paper can be purchased from the Mailroom (delivery available). OR, departments can order cases from Staples Advantage.

Technology

Technology purchase requests should be discussed with the Help Desk in IT who will provide direction.  Our standard vendor for computer hardware is Dell Marketing and IT will assist with getting quotes for items that are needed.  If your needs involve the purchase of items outside our standards, the Help Desk will work to help identify the best place for those purchases.  Nonstandard items must go through an extensive approval process and will only be approved/supported if the hardware or software items are essential to the fulfillment of a department's role and mission.  After the specifications are developed, they may refer you to Purchasing for quotes based on those specifications.  The resulting quotes will require a requisition to be done using the technology object codes.  When the order is placed with the vendor, Purchasing will place a work order with the Help Desk so that they can work with the department for delivery and installation of the product.

Software purchases should be discussed with the Help Desk before committing to any purchase to make sure that there is not an alternative that is already part of our Enterprise Licensing.  Note that Adobe software licensing is available by request from the Help Desk.

Technology purchases are not allowed on the purchasing card.

Services

Shipping

UPS is our urgent shipping provider of choice. We participate in a consortium contract that provides discounted rates well below what any other service offers. Please contact Purchasing for instructions on creating a user account so you can create your own shipping documents.

Please note that this account can be used when shipping through our mailroom but also at UPS store locations as long as our account number is on the shipping documents. 

Students may also take advantage of these rates by shipping their packages through the mailroom. 

Shredding

We currently have a shredding program in place with RW Lone Star Security.  They come to campus every eight weeks to perform secure, onsite shredding and will issue a certificate of destruction the same day.  

Please contact Purchasing for more information about joining the program.

Furniture

University departments wishing to purchase office furniture should consult with Purchasing to make sure that the furniture is suitable for commercial use in the area it will be placed. We will be happy to suggest vendors that not only have proper furniture, but have pricing available based on our consortium contracts.

If you need space planning assistance, both of our preferred furniture dealers have people that can assist you with such planning.

All classroom furniture purchases should be requested through the Provost's office for funding and to ensure that standards are met for this furniture type.

Printing

Business Cards

Business cards are ordered through ComarkDirect. The website link goes to the site where you are to input the information for your business cards. Once you have completed filling in the form and have submitted, you will receive an email confirmation. Please proof this information carefully and if it is correct, have your initiator process a requisition to ComarkDirect. After the requisition is approved, we will turn it into a purchase order and release the order to production.

Contact Purchasing for the user ID and password and instructions for the website.

Standard Letterhead and Envelopes

Standard letterhead and envelopes can be obtained in the Mailroom.

Departmental Letterhead and Envelopes & Specialized Printing 

The Office of Marketing and Communications can assist you with obtaining quotes and selecting vendors for the production of departmental letterhead and envelopes as well as flyers, invitations, posters and other specialized printing needs. Upon approval of a quote, a requisition should be done to the selected vendor for the purpose of creating a purchase order. The purchase order number should be given to the vendor prior to release of the order for delivery.

Office Signage and Name Badges

Our preferred vendor is The Mulholland Company. You will need to create a requisition and include a line item for each type of name badge/sign that you need. The description should specify the item, size and color. Please note that magnetic name badges will be the type of name badge ordered unless otherwise directed.

Please contact Purchasing for item and pricing details.

Travel

Rental Car Information

Enterprise and National

Please contact Purchasing for details on our rental car discounts.

Contract Purchasing

All purchases requiring a signed contract must go through a review process through the Purchasing department and must be signed ONLY by those employees authorized to sign via Board Authority (through the Vice President of Finance and Administration).

Contracts will be reviewed for terms and conditions that might be contrary to University policies for governing authority, liability acceptance, and various other terms that might be unfavorable to the University. If the purchase or lease for goods or services is of a complicated nature it may be forwarded for further legal review.

Any items of concern that are found will be forwarded to the requesting department to address with their vendor. Once an agreement has been arrived at that meets our policies, the contract will be forwarded for the appropriate signature. After the appropriate signature has been obtained, the signed original will be forward to the vendor and a copy sent to Purchasing.

The contract will be logged into the Purchasing contract database and a file created and maintained in Purchasing. Any amendments to the contract must be forwarded to Purchasing so that the contract file is complete.

Any contract signed must be tied to a purchase order or a blanket purchase order for payments that are to be made within the current fiscal year. Multi-year contracts must be encumbered by a new purchase order or blanket purchase order at the beginning of each fiscal year so that funds can properly be encumbered for these contractual agreements.

Contract Signature Authority

After contracts have been reviewed by Legal Counsel and/or Purchasing, contracts may only be signed by individuals at the Cabinet Level.  Any agreements for goods and services that exceed 12 months must be signed by the Vice President of Finance and Administration or the President. 

Self-Service Budget to Actuals Transition

The Finance and Administration Division is happy to announce the availability of a new and improved way to look at your budget. The Budget to Actuals module is now active in the Self-Service portal and will replace the Budget Selection and Budget Summary links in WebAdvisor. This new module comes with several new features which will be helpful in your ability to access your budget status and to do budget analysis, budget planning, and budget reporting. Please note that this new module will replace Ramlink Budget Reports. 

Those new features include: 

  1. The ability to look at budgetary status as a dashboard that shows your spending compared to your budget availability for the fiscal year.
  2. The ability to view up to five fiscal years of history for your budget (both as a total and by individual object code).
  3. The ability to import current and past budget information into an Excel Spreadsheet.

This module is available through the Ramlink/Self-Service link by clicking on the Financial Management / Budget to Actuals Tile.  If you do not see this tile when you click on the Self-Service link, please contact Debbie Cavitt and she will work with IT to make sure you gain access.

If you have any questions about the new system and the information you see, please contact Debbie Cavitt.