H-8. Purchasing
Indiana University has centralized all university purchasing into the Office of Procurement Services and has divided their staff into teams of commodity specialists. When purchasing an item, the department will process a requisition in KFS for a purchase order. This will route to the appropriate team and commodity specialist based upon what items are being ordered. The Office of Procurement Services website contains contract information, contact lists, and policies.
The Office of Procurement Services holds signature authority for all purchases made for the university and maintains authority to bind the university financially to a vendor. Vendor contracts may not be signed by any campus department and must be passed through to the appropriate contract manager for approval.
All goods and services purchased for the university use must be purchased in accordance with University policy FIN-PUR-02 which states the following:
- Faculty and staff should use P-Cards and automatic purchase orders (APO) with non-contracted suppliers only when the goods or services are not available through an established contract.
- Purchasing staff will audit P-Card and APO transactions to determine compliance with the policy.
- Accounts Payable will also monitor requests for reimbursement on Disbursement Vouchers (DVs) for similar transactions where faculty or staff have used personal funds to secure goods or services and have sought reimbursement from the University.
- If a faculty or staff member is aware of problems with an established agreement, he or she should contact the purchasing department regarding the issue for resolution. Similarly, faculty and staff should contact the purchasing department to develop contracts that would help streamline the procurement process.
Review the Base Org Review Guidelines on the Accounting Services website for guidance regarding requisition initiation.
Certificates of Insurance
Because of liability concerns, it is imperative that the following procedures be followed when a department considers contracting with any vendor to do work on campus, or on behalf of the campus. The Purchasing department must be contacted before a department contracts someone to come on campus to work. Purchasing will solicit the vendor for a certificate of insurance. Upon receipt of the certificate of insurance by Purchasing, it will be submitted to the IU Risk Management department for approval.
IU Risk Management's primary concern is to ensure that all vendors performing work on any campus carry an adequate amount of insurance in the event of accidents involving campus employees or students, campus property, and even their own employees. If no insurance or insufficient insurance is carried by any vendor, an accident could easily result in Indiana University being sued or being left without coverage for injury or damaged property.
When an APO is prepared, Purchasing will notify the initiator when coverage is approved in order to complete the order. Purchasing will handle the details upon receipt of a purchase requisition. By strictly following the above procedures, the campus and University will not be put in jeopardy for liability concerns. The Purchasing department should be contacted to discuss any questions or situations prior to contracting services.
Delivery
Merchandise purchased through outside vendors will be delivered either directly to the requesting office or to the Service Building dock for subsequent delivery by Mail/Receiving personnel.