CBA. PURCHASING OPERATING POLICY

The purpose of this Operating Policy is to define the policies and procedures regarding purchasing of goods and services for the college and the scope of the purchasing department, its functions and the policies and procedures under which the department operates.

South Plains College is required to make all purchases within the laws and guidelines established by the State of Texas. This includes the Texas Education Code, Attorney General Opinions, Texas Local Government Code, Texas Government Code and Texas Uniform Commercial Code and established SPC Board Policies. These policies will apply to all purchases of goods and services.

It is the responsibility of the Vice President for Administration and Finance to coordinate the purchasing process. It is the responsibility of the Division Deans, Controller, Dean of Students, Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Student Affairs to approve purchases within their areas of responsibility in strict conformity of their approved budgets.

To provide at the time and place needed, in the proper quantity and of the proper quality, all goods and services required for operation of South Plains College in compliance with established laws and guidelines.

Employees of South Plains College will be held to the highest of ethics in the procurement of goods and services. They shall not accept or receive gifts or gratuities, other than those of "Di Minimus" value as defined by the state, from representatives of companies or directly from the company. This pertains to supplies, equipment, and construction for the College. The employees may not promise or obligate future awards or compensation based upon gifts, gratuities, rebates or discounts given. The College District does not enter into purchasing contracts with students, faculty, staff, or members of faculty or staff immediate families. An acquisition from a business in which an employee has financial interest is prohibited, unless full disclosure of the background and facts are presented in writing to the President.

The purchase order is the sole authority to obligate the College's funds. South Plains College will not assume responsibility for the payment of purchases other than those made according to purchasing procedures.

The end user should communicate to the purchasing office the goods or services needed. This is done through the development of a detailed description of the product or service that is required. The specification must be simple, clear, accurate, competitive and flexible. If the specification does not allow for competition, then the specification is considered proprietary. This could also require the product or service to be purchased from a sole source vendor. Any vendor participating in the actual writing of the specification may not participate in the bid process. (See DM - 940, Attorney General’s Opinions.)

A proprietary or sole source purchase is justified only when an equivalent product or service is not available. When the specification limits consideration to one manufacturer, one product or one service provider, and the amount of the purchase is over $5,000, a written justification should be provided (attachment). The justification should include an explanation of the need for the proprietary specification and the reason competing products and vendors are not satisfactory. This document should be signed by the end user and forwarded to the purchasing office.

The purchasing office can assist in specification development and locating of vendors.

There are several methods of purchasing goods and services. The method is determined by the dollar amount and type of purchase. Most purchases will be competitively bid. If the purchase should be proprietary, sole source or an emergency purchase, this should be documented and forwarded to the purchasing department. All construction contracts will be handled by the President’s office.

All item(s) will be requested through the electronic Distributed Purchasing System (DPS) requisition process. The following procedures have been established for requisitioning of items:

1. The author of the requisition will determine item(s) needed and specifications, if necessary, for item(s). If specification and/or procurement assistance is needed contact the Purchasing Office. Enter the purchase requisition with all information required by the system and individual lines for each item(s) requested. This should include part/model/catalog number(s) and additional specifications for each item(s) and a contact name and phone number of the vendor. Submit the purchase requisition in the DPS system.

2. Purchasing will receive requisition, review line items in purchase requisition, and when required, contact multiple vendors to determine the best value. If a better value can be obtained from an alternate vendor the requisition author will be contacted by e-mail to make changes to the purchase requisition. At this time new vendor information will be entered and the requisition will be forwarded for remaining approvals

The current approval process is as follows

1. Author
2. Purchasing Director
3. Approver 1
4. Approver 2, etc.
5. VP for Finance and Administration
6. Purchasing Office

3. Approvers will review item(s) on the purchase requisition. If approved, the purchase requisition automatically advances to the next approval level. If rejected, the requisition can be returned to the author at any of these levels.

After final approval the Purchasing office will convert the requisition to a purchase order, print purchase order and place the order with the vendor (if requested). Purchase orders will be processed as requested in the requisition message box: (these options are found in the DPS training materials). The purchase order and all supporting documentation will be held in the purchasing office to await delivery of item(s).

1. All requisitions under $5,000 do not have to be bid unless they are computer related.

2. All computer related items should be purchased through Qualified Information Systems Vendors established by the State of Texas. This list can be found on the General Services Commission web site. Three (3) informal bids should be obtained for items over $2,000.

3. Requisitions over $5,000 should have quotes from three (3) or more vendors and tabulated on the Informal Bid Sheet (attachment). This should be forwarded to the Purchasing Office for audit purposes.

4. All items over $10,000 must be acquired through the competitive purchase process. Specifications should be provided to the purchasing office for preparation and opening of bid documents.

5. All construction contracts will be administered through the President’s Office.

Sequential, split or component purchases to alleviate the bidding process are expressly prohibited.

Supporting documentation must be submitted to the purchasing office before your request for reimbursement or prepayment can be forwarded to the Business Office for check processing. A Request for Reimbursement (attachment) or Request for Pre-Payment (attachment) must be completed and accompany all supporting documentation.

An emergency purchase is a purchase made without following normal purchasing procedures in order to obtain goods or services to meet an urgent and unexpected requirement where health and public safety or the conservation of public resources is at risk. A situation where the safety of students or where business could not be conducted at all would be considered an emergency situation and could required emergency purchases. All emergencies must be justified with a memo submitted to the purchasing office for audit purposes.

South Plains College has established a procedure to follow when needing to purchase items on this basis:

1. Enter purchase requisition for item(s) needed with cost estimate
2. Give vendor the requisition number
3. When item(s) are received, go into purchase requisition and complete with correct costs and quantities. Forward delivery form/packing list, etc. to purchasing office.
4. Submit through approvals with emergency purchase justification.
5. Purchasing will contact vendor with PO number and process paperwork through normal procedures.

South Plains College is a member of several purchasing cooperatives. These can be used for purchasing many of the items used on a regular basis. Information on these cooperatives will be disseminated at the first of each fiscal year.

More information on purchasing procedures can be found in the manual published by the Purchasing Office.

All item(s) are to be delivered to individual departments unless the item(s) need to be added to the fixed asset inventory. Inventory items will be received by designated Physical Plant personnel and then delivered to the appropriate department.

Upon receipt of the item(s):

1. The department should review item(s) to determine if packing slip/delivery form matches item(s) received, sign and date packing slip/delivery ticket forward to the purchasing office. If there is no packing slip/delivery form, complete, sign, date and forward a Receiving Report (Attachment) to the purchasing office. This process will eliminate the need to send invoices to departments for approval.

2. Purchasing will match the delivery forms with the purchase order and place the PO in a pending file for invoice.

All invoices will be mailed to South Plains College, 1401 S College, Levelland, Texas, 79336. Invoices should not be mailed to the department making the purchase.

South Plains College does not maintain an official vendor list. If you need to locate a vendor for the item(s) requested, contact the purchasing office.

Vendors are selected for their capability to serve the needs of the college in the most economical and efficient manner possible. Past performance and cooperation and safety records are important factors. Vendors must comply with the Equal Opportunity Act (Executive Order 11246 as Amended) since it is the policy of the college to promote equal employment opportunity through an affirmative action program. Also, corporations contracting with the college shall certify that their franchise taxes are current. If a corporation is exempt or is an out-of-state corporation not subject to Texas franchise tax, it shall so certify in a written statement.

The college is committed to the principles of affirmative action and shall endeavor to apply their principles in its purchasing by fostering greater participation by minorities, the disadvantaged and women-owned business in its procurement activity.

Departmental chairpersons, instructors, coordinators, directors or deans will abide by the following requirements in making the necessary arrangements for bids, quotations and contracted services and will comply with federal and state requirements as outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations, 34, Subpart P, Sections 74.160-74.166.

1. No bids are necessary (unless it is a part of a bid list) for the purchase of equipment, supplies or contracted services costing less than $1,000, unless they are computer-related. However, quotations shall be taken from two (2) or more vendors for all items costing more than $2,000 and less than $5,000.       
2. Informal bids in the form of signed quotations should be received for the purchase of equipment, supplies or contracted services costing more than - $5,000 and less than $10,000 from at least three (3) vendors before a decision to purchase is made.
3. All items of equipment and supplies (aggregate cost) costing $10,000 or more and all contracted services costing $25,000 or more are subject to the formal competitive purchase process. Legal notices will be placed in a local paper at least two (2) weeks prior to bid openings. Bids will be opened and read aloud at a designated location.  In accordance with existing state statutes, bids representing the best value to the College will be taken in all cases.
4. In according with existing statutes, items purchased through the Texas Building and Procurement Commission and other local government purchasing cooperatives are not subject to the competitive purchasing process.
5. The college may contract with consultants under the following conditions:

a. The college will not use or pay any consultant if the services to be rendered can be provided by college employees.
b. The college will not retain, contact with, or incur any obligation to pay any consultant more than $200 in any one day or $10,000 in total without prior approval of the Board of Regents.

The President of the college has delegated the responsibility of soliciting formal competitive bids estimated to be in excess of $25,000 to the Vice President for Finance and Administration. Results of these bids are made available to the various departments for requisition to purchase.

Vendors are responsible for the accuracy of their quoted prices. Quoted prices shall reflect all conditions of bid specifications. In the event of a discrepancy between a unit price and its extension, the unit price will govern. Quotations may be amended or withdrawn by the bidder up to the bid opening date and time.

It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure that their quotation/bids are received no later than the appointed hour of the bid opening date as specified on the request for bid. Late quotations will not be considered and will not be opened. Fax bids or late mail-ins will not be accepted.

Price quotations are given to the college in confidence and shall not be revealed to any other vendor or unauthorized person before bid due date.

All forms of lease, lease purchase or rental agreements for the procurement of goods or services must be signed on behalf of the college by the President.

Certain items of equipment are covered by service contracts in order to assure continuing efficient operations. Forms required by service companies must be signed by the President of the college and forwarded to the company with a purchase order.