Missouri University of Science and Technology, Procurement

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Rolla Campus Procurement
G5C Campus Support Facility
1201 N. State St.
Rolla, Missouri 65409
Phone:(573) 341-4266
Fax: (573) 341-4048
procure@mst.edu

Purchasing Guidlines

Guidelines for Procurement of Goods and Services

Introduction
Methods of Procurement
Purchase Limits/Requirements
Authorization to Make a Purchase-Purchase Order
Authorized Signature
Bid Limits
Sole Source Purchases
Bid Process
Request for Proposal Process
Bids/Proposals Posting
List of Contracts/Agreements Available to Missouri S&T Campus Departments
Services
Software Acquisition Guidelines
Certificate of Insurance
Internal Loan Program for Departmental Purchase
Purchases from Minority/Woman Owned Businesses
Tax Exempt Letter
Conflict of Interest Policy

Sole Source Justification Form

Introduction

Campus Procurement assists departments in acquiring goods and services:

That meet user needs
At best value
With minimal use of University resources
Through a process that meets the University's ethical, legal, and fiduciary responsibilities.

Campus departments may make purchases with a university issued purchasing card, purchase order, or bookstore requisition. In limited circumstances, purchases may also be made by an individual and reimbursement requested on a non-po voucher.

A Quick Reference Guide to help determine the appropriate method of payment is available on-line APPO.pdf

Purchasing Card
Cardholders may use a university issued purchasing card to make university purchases of $5,000 or less. Purchases must comply with the University of Missouri Purchasing Card Policy Manual.

Bookstore Requisition

Purchases from the Missouri S&T Bookstore for amounts up to $1000.00 may be made using a bookstore requisition. An exception to this is computers with VPA pricing which are available at the bookstore. Bookstore requisitions may be used for these computers for any amount less than $5,000. Bookstore requisition forms are available through Printing Services. All bookstore requisitions must be signed by someone authorized on the dept id(s) listed. Campus Departments are encouraged to use the Purchasing Card for purchases instead of bookstore requisitions when possible.

Purchase Order

Purchase orders should be used for items on university contracts which are available in PeopleSoft eProcurement Show Me Shop, purchases for amounts over $5,000 or purchases not made on a university issued purchasing card or bookstore requisition.

The purchase order which is issued by Campus Procurement is the legal document committing the university to the purchase. Orders placed prior to or without the purchase order issued by Procurement may be the responsibility of the person placing the order. See Authorization to Make a Purchase – Purchase Order below for additional information.

To request a purchase order, a requisition must be entered and approved in PeopleSoft. With the implementation of eProcurement in early 2008, there are two (2) types of orders.

Catalog orders are created by a user selecting items which are university contract from the Show Me Shop within PeopleSoft eProcurement. Only items which are on contract are included in the Show Me Shop. An automatic process to budget check requisitions, create purchase orders, and issue the orders is run five (5) times each day. The orders are sent directly to the supplier without review or processing by Procurement staff. Receiving is not required for catalog orders. Payment is currently made using a University check. Beginning in early 2008 payment will be automatically made by a purchasing card which is overseen on a system level and which does not require any action on by the campus department.

Orders for items or services which are not included in the Show Me Shop are processed manually by Campus Procurement staff. These are called non-catalog orders. The originating department must include on each requisition chart field string information, quantity, unit of measure, item description, estimated cost, delivery address, and suggested supplier. Requisitions entered and approved by campus departments go through an overnight budget checking process. Requisitions which pass budget checking are available for processing into a purchase order by Campus Procurement Services. Most purchase orders are issued to the supplier within 2 business days of receipt by Campus Procurement Services. Exceptions which may cause a delay include items or services which require a request for bids/proposals, requisitions with incomplete information, services requiring a certificate of insurance meeting the university's requirements, and/or sole source purchases. Non-catalog orders require the campus department to enter a receiver signifying the item(s) or service(s) has been received and payment should be made. The supplier must provide an invoice. Once there is a 3 way match between the purchase order, receiver, and invoice, payment is made by University check.

Purchase orders should be issued by Campus Procurement Services prior to a good or service being provided by a supplier.

In limited circumstances, purchases for $100 or less may be made by an individual and reimbursement requested on a non-po voucher. This process replaces petty cash which was discontinued on December 31, 2004.

It is highly preferred that purchases which were previously made with personal funds be made instead by using either a university-issued purchasing card or a university-issued student purchasing card.

Should there be a need to make small dollar ($100 or less) purchases from personal funds for items such as office supplies, research supplies, etc., reimbursement should be requested within 60 days on a non-PO voucher. Please include the University business purpose for the purchase within the comments entered on the non-PO voucher with the original receipt(s) attached. No cash reimbursements will be made. Small dollar personal funds purchases will be reimbursed for employees by direct deposit to the employee's bank account and reimbursements for non-employees will be made by check.

The University purchasing card remains the preferred method of procurement/payment for all items costing less than $5,000.

Please contact Missouri S&T Accounting at extension 4189 if you have questions.

Purchase Limits/Requirements

Less than $5,000- Bids are not required. The purchasing card is the preferred method of procurement / payment for items except as limited by the purchasing card program policies.

Between $5,000 and $10,000- Procurement determines whether it is in the University's best interest to request bids. The campus department must enter a requisition and a purchase order will be issued.

Exceeds $10,000- Bids / Proposals are required unless the item is already on contract or Procurement approves the purchase as a sole source. The campus department must enter a requisition and a purchase order will be issued.

Authorization to Make a Purchase - Purchase Order

The University of Missouri System Purchasing Policy Manual states: Any employee who commits the University to a purchase, sale, lease, or other arrangements without proper authorization may be personally liable for the transaction.

Purchases on a purchase order must be processed through Campus Procurement and must be reviewed and authorized by someone delegated the authority to make a purchase for the campus such as a Buyer or Manager of Campus Procurement. Purchases made prior to review and authorization by an authorized buyer may make the person committing the purchase personally liable.

Purchases made without proper authorization may require the department to provide additional information explaining why the purchase was made without prior authorization. If Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services determines that the purchase does not meet university emergency purchase policies, the person making the purchase may be personally responsible. A purchase order will not be created until all requested information has been provided, evaluated and approved by Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services. The payment process will not begin until a purchase order has been issued

Authorized Signature

Agreements for items or services purchased on a purchase order or with the purchasing card which require a signature must be submitted to Missouri S&T Campus Procurement for review and signature prior to the purchase being made. The agreement will be reviewed and sent to the General Counsel's Office in Columbia for review and approval if necessary. After the General Counsel's Office has reviewed the agreement, the agreement will be signed by the Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services, Director of Business Services, and/or Manager of Campus Procurement Services.

Unauthorized individuals signing contracts may be personally liable for the total amount of the contract as well as any damages or liability arising from the contract.

Examples of agreements that require review, approval, and an authorized signature include software license agreements, software maintenance agreements, copy machine maintenance agreements, equipment rental agreements, and a vendor's terms and conditions if a signature is required.

Requisition/Purchase Order Process

An official purchase order authorizes a supplier to provide materials and services to Missouri S&T and to invoice Missouri S&T for such items. The purchase order is a legal document. All acquisitions not made with the purchasing card or bookstore requisitions should be made with a Missouri S&T purchase order issued by Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services.

Purchase orders result from requisitions created and approved by campus departments. These requisitions are created and approved within PeopleSoft. The originating department must include on each requisition chart field string information, quantity, unit of measure, item description, estimated cost, delivery address, and suggested supplier. Requisitions with complete information and which do not require requests for bids or proposals are typically converted to purchase orders within two (2) business days or less after passing budget checking. As a norm, these purchase orders will be faxed if a fax number for the vendor is available.

Purchase orders should be issued by Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services prior to a good or service being provided by a supplier.

Bid Limits

University policy requires bid requests or request for proposals when the cost of an acquisition is $10,000 or more. Exceptions to this are purchases approved as a sole source purchase or items already on contract. These bid requests and request for proposals for acquisitions for Missouri S&T are issued by Missouri S&T Campus Procurement. For acquisitions between $5,000 and $10,000,Missouri S&T may request bids depending on the market for the materials and the opportunity for minority business enterprise participation. Campus Procurement determines whether it is in the best interest to request bids for purchases between $5,000 and $10,000. Any contract resulting from solicitation of bids or proposals that exceed $500,000 requires additional approval.

Requests for bids or proposals are posted on the Bid Listing web site. Requests for Bids/Proposals are available for downloading by the campus department and/or potential respondents at http://procurement.mst.edu/bids.html.

Purchases may not be split into multiple purchases to circumvent the bid requirements.

Sole Source Purchases

A sole source purchase is when an item or service is only available from one source. If a product is available from multiple distributors, it is not considered to be a sole source.

Requests for approval as a sole source purchase must meet the following guidelines:

A statement must indicate that in the professional opinion of the certifying individual:
- This is the only product that can be used to accomplish the task necessary in an appropriate manner, and must list specific reasons why this is the case, and
- This product is available only from the source indicated, there is no other distribution network
The statement must be made by a competent expert in the field in which the product will be used.
A written quotation is recommended and may be required from the vendor.

The Sole Source Justification Form must be completed and submitted to Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services for approval prior to a purchase order being issued.

Any sole source contract that exceeds $500,000 requires additional approval.

Bid Process

A requisition containing a description of the items and item technical specifications or requirements is typically the starting point for the Request for Bid (RFB) process. If the specifications are lengthy, the requisition may contain a general description of the item(s) to be bid and the detailed specification information can be sent as an attachment to an email to the appropriate buyer or procure@mst.edu. The email with the specifications should reference the requisition number.

Specifications, in general, should be broad enough to foster competition in bidding and still meet the needs of the department. A brand, catalog number, or model number may be called out for each item but will typically be followed by the words "or approved equal" in the bid request documents. Companies submitting bids may bid on brands and models other than those listed but should in that case, also furnish descriptive literature that will allow the requesting department to evaluate the items to determine whether or not Missouri S&T can approve them as equal.

A list of potential bidders is prepared by Campus Procurement with suggestions from the requesting department. Bid requests are then prepared and transmitted to each of those potential bidders on the list. A copy of the bid request document or a notification of the bid posting on the internet is sent to the requesting department at the same time as the bid requests are transmitted to the potential bidders. Requesting departments should review these copies and immediately report any errors to Campus Procurement so that corrective action can be taken. Bid due dates are established when the bid request is prepared and that information is included in the bid request documents. The number of working days involved from the date the bid is transmitted to potential bidders until bid due date is normally 10 working days but the nature and complexity of such bids may necessitate up to 20 working days or more. Five (5) day fax bids may be requested if the need is urgent. After bid requests are issued, and prior to due date, any inquires received by the requesting departments from potential bidders should immediately be referred to Campus Procurement.

At the bid due date and time, Procurement staff open the bids received, check the calculations shown by the bidders, review the bids for obvious potential problems, tabulate the bids in ascending order and mail the bids along with the tabulation sheet to the requesting department. It is the requesting department's responsibility to review the bids in an effort to identify the lowest bid meeting the bid request specifications. A bid award must be made to the bidder submitting the lowest price meeting specifications. Requesting departments indicate their recommendations for bid awards on the bid summary sheet that accompanies the bids and sends all bids and the bid summary sheet back to Campus Procurement. In situations in which the requesting department recommends an award be made to a bidder that has not submitted the lowest bid, the department must provide detailed reasons on the bid summary sheet or attachment why the lower bid(s) does not meet the specifications of the bid request document. Usually, the sooner the bids are returned to Campus Procurement, the fewer problems encountered in awarding bids due to changing prices, changing product lines, etc. Therefore it is desirable that evaluations and recommendations be made and returned to Campus Procurement within approximately 7 working days whenever practical. Campus Procurement professional buying staff reviews the department's recommendations and if in agreement, the requisition is converted into a purchase order to award the bid. If there is not immediate agreement and/or it is judged that the proposed award could be successfully challenged in a formal protest, the buyer will contact personnel in the requesting department for clarification or further information.

Requesting departments are encouraged to contact Campus Procurement if problems are encountered with orders resulting from bids such as late delivery or proposed substitutions of brands and models.

Request for Proposal Process

Requests for proposals (RFP), unlike bid requests, are used when there are various factors, in addition to cost, that will be evaluated when awarding a contract. With bid requests, the needed specifications are typically known and we are looking for a supplier who can meet those specifications at the lowest cost. With requests for proposals, we are typically looking for suppliers to propose various configurations of equipment or programs to meet our basic requirements. The initiation and processing of requests for proposals is similar to that of bid requests with the exception of the evaluation.

During the preparation of the request for proposal the evaluation criteria are established as a result of discussions with Campus Procurement buying staff and an evaluation committee selected by the requesting department. At least 50% of the evaluation must be based on price. The prices provided by respondents are pulled out of the response and are tabulated by Campus Procurement. The evaluation committee evaluates the remaining section of the proposal and awards points for the categories other than financials (cost). Once the other category points have been awarded, Campus Procurement buying staff and representatives from the requesting department will review the points awarded for financials (cost) and will calculate the respondent with the most points. The respondent with the most points and meeting mandatory requirements will be awarded the contract.

Because of the subjectivity involved in making awards based on proposals, vendor protests are more likely to occur. This campus has primarily used bid requests for acquisitions, but there have been special circumstances where requests for proposals are appropriate. Campus department personnel are encouraged to talk with Campus Procurement buying staff if they feel the request for proposal format may be appropriate for their specific acquisition.

Bids/Proposals Posting

List of Contracts/Agreements available to Missouri S&T Campus Departments

A current listing of contracts available to Missouri S&T campus departments is available at http://procurement.mst.edu/contracts/contractdetails/contacts.html

Items or services for which a contract has already been implemented do not require bidding.

Services

Professional services require a contract - Contact Missouri S&T Business Services for information. Do not pay on a Purchasing Card.

Examples of professional services are consultant, photographer, or architect.

Software Acquisition Guidelines

The Software Acquisition Committee has identified a procedure to be followed in the acquisition of software. Detailed information about these guidelines are available on the web at http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/fa/management/procurement/policy/604.shtml

Certificate of Insurance

Any vendor providing a service on University property must provide a current certificate of insurance meeting the University's requirements, including listing the Curators of the University of Missouri as an additional insured. Providers of some additional services such as transportation of University students, faculty, or staff must also provide a certificate of insurance. The certificate of insurance must be on file in Missouri S&T Campus Procurement prior to the service being provided.

Campus departments can contact Missouri S&T Campus Procurement at extension 4266 to ask if a current certificate of insurance is on file for the vendor providing the service. If a certificate of insurance is not currently on file, the requesting department and Missouri S&T Campus Procurement will work together to get a certificate of insurance.

If a service is provided before Missouri S&T Campus Procurement is notified or payment is made on the Purchasing Card, the campus department who requested the service is responsible for getting a certificate of insurance and forwarding it to Missouri S&T Campus Procurement. Requisitions for work already done by a company who has not provided a current certificate of insurance will be held until the campus department who requested the work has provided the necessary certificate. No payment can be made until the certificate of insurance is on file and the requisition has been approved.

Most companies do not charge an additional fee to list the Curator's of the University of Missouri as an additional insured. However, campus departments should be aware that occasionally a vendor will charge a fee in order to meet this requirement. The campus department requesting the service must pay any charge associated to this requirement.

Listed below are links to listing of the university's requirements for specific functions. Please contact Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services for assistance in determining which list of requirements are applicable to your project.

University requirements:

Requirements for Service Provider

Requirements for Supplies Provider

Requirements for Transportation / Charter Services

General Insurance Requirements (Low Risk)

General Insurance Requirements (Medium Risk)

General Insurance Requirements (High Risk)

Requirements for Hazardous Waste Disposal Contractor / Hauler

Requirements for Lesee Insurance

Internal Loan Program for Departmental Purchases

An internal loan program has been established by the University's Investment and Banking Office and is available to campus departments for use on purchases of $5,000 or more. The program can represent a considerable savings over vendor lease/purchase rates and can allow a purchase to be made with payments spread over fiscal years. Please contact Campus Procurement for current rate.

The period of time for repayment is not to exceed the estimated useful life of the equipment being purchased (generally 3-5 years). Once established, the loan payments will be automatically charged each month to the designated chartfield.

Contact Missouri S&T Campus Procurement Services at 4266 if you would like further information on this program. Upon request, Campus Procurement will run amortization reports for determining monthly payments.

Purchases from Minority/Woman Owned Businesses

Purchases from Minority and/or Woman Owned businesses are encouraged. Additional information may be found at http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/fa/management/minbusdev/.

Tax Exempt Letter

A copy of the University of Missouri's tax exemption letter is available on the web at http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/fa/management/travel/tr108.htm.

Conflict of interest policy

A conflict of interest may occur if the faculty or staff member making or influencing a purchasing decision may be seen as benefiting personally from the decision. For example, making a purchase from a company in which the individual or a family member has an interest.

Please refer to The University of Missouri, Business Policy Manual, Section 102.

Faculty / staff members are required to notify supervisors in writing of reasonably foreseen potential conflicts and to file a Potential Conflict of Interest Form with the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services prior to procurement of the goods or services.