Efficiencies: Purchasing Team Updates

What’s New

• Procurement Card Limits Increased from $2,500 to $5,000

  The use of the Procurement Card (P-Card) streamlines the purchasing process. It also provides savings to the campus as a portion of the funds spent on the card is returned to us through rebates. Therefore, the college will be raising the maximum permitted limit for cards from $2,500 to $5,000.

  With this change, all eligible purchases $5,000 and under should be made using the P-Card. Note: In accordance with the Office of State Comptroller Guidelines, all eligible purchases under $500 must be purchased on the P-Card.

  How to Request an Increase

  Since not all departments may have a need, cardholders desiring to increase their per-transaction limit must request their department chair/supervisor send an email request to Nancy Bennett ([email protected]) to request an increase.

  Learn More About Procurement Cards

• New Approval Thresholds for All Purchases over $5,000

  The college has established approval thresholds for purchase requisitions based on the value of the total purchase. These changes are outlined below.

  Dollar Threshold	Minimum Approval Required
  $0 – $5,000	Department Chair/Director*
  $5,000.01 – $10,000	Department Chair/Director, Dean**
  $10,000.01 – $49,999.99	Department Chair/Director, Dean, Vice President
  >$50,000	Department Chair/Director, Dean, Vice President, and Vice President for Administration and Finance.

  *Or other designated departmental personnel.
  **For departments in areas not reporting to deans, the respective Vice President must sign in lieu of the dean.

  A new fillable Purchase Requisition has already been updated to reflect these changes. As a reminder, the newest versions of our forms can be found on the A&F Forms Directory. Please use the updated requisition for all purchases after January 1, 2020 to ensure that necessary approvals are obtained. If your department has older versions of the Purchase Requisition, please discontinue their use.

  Departments directly entering requisitions in FMS will receive additional instructions from the purchasing department outlining procedures to comply with the new process.

  Go to the A&F Forms Directory

  Download a Purchase Requisition

  Learn More About Purchase Requisitions

• RFP, IFB, & Contract Approval Requirements

  All bid requests (RFPs and IFBs) as well as contracts submitted for review will need to be accompanied by a signed requisition demonstrating that funding has been secured. This ensures that funds are available to support a procurement.

  Requisitions for bids (RFPs and IFBs), where no vendor is known, can be submitted without the vendor name and should include a “not to exceed” amount for the value. Upon award, this information will be implemented into the requisition by the Purchasing Department.

  Contracts EXEMPT from the requisition requirement include:

  • Affiliation Agreements
  • Inter-institutional Agreements with no financial terms
  • Transfer Articulation Agreements
  • Revenue Contracts

  Note: A signed requisition is still required even for contracts with no cost. In this case, the requisition still provides documentation that approval has been obtained.

• Additional Changes

  In addition to the above initiatives outlines above, the Purchasing Department is currently working on the following:

  • Updating information on the purchasing website
  • Updating P-Card guidelines
  • Developing new content on how to complete and how to review Purchase Requisitions
  • Reviewing the P-Card Certification Process

  We will be announcing new training opportunities and additional tools to assist the campus in learning more about our new purchasing procedures as they are finalized.