Procurement Policies and Procedures
SU Procurement Policies
I. Introduction
The University of Maryland Procurement (USM) Policies and Procedures which were approved December 3, 1999, established that each institution of the USM shall develop institution specific policies and procedures consistent with the approved procurement methods and needs of the individual institutions. The President of Salisbury University (SU) has approved adoption and implementation of the following procurement policies for governance of procurements at SU.
II. Authority and Delegation
Pursuant to Chapter 515 of the Laws of 1999, Higher Education - University System of Maryland-Coordination, Governance and effective July 1, 1999, "except as provided in Section 11-203 (E) of the State Finance and Procurement Article," the President of SU delegates to the Procurement Officer overall procurement authority. The Procurement Officer shall execute this authority in accordance with the above referenced USM Procurement Policies and Procedures and this document. The President also authorizes the Procurement Officer to delegate, as appropriate, procurement authority to other individuals, departments, and schools within the University consistent with the requirements of the USM Procurement Policies and Procedures and this document. Notwithstanding any delegation, ultimate responsibility for procurement rests with the Procurement Officer.
Upon recommendation from the Procurement Officer, the President or President's designee may, from time to time, amend these policies and procedures in order that they may remain consistent with current best methods and business practices. Copies of these changes will be submitted to the University System of Maryland.
III. Procurement Methods
SU shall use the procurement methods, policies and procedures, noted in the University System of Maryland Procurement Policies and Procedures, approved by the Board of Regents on December 3, 1999 with provisions specific to SU as appropriate, set forth below:
Purchasing Card Procedures/Guidelines
In addition to the procedures set forth in the State of Maryland Corporate Purchasing Card Program, University personnel assigned a Purchasing Card will adhere to the following procedures/guide lines.
I. Department Requisition - Departments will submit requisition as an attachment to an email message. The message must be sent by the Budget Administrator or authorized designee. (Refer to Instructions and Procedures to Departments for Requisitioning Commodities/Supplies and Services.)
II. The single transaction dollar amount may not exceed $5,000.
III. Purchasing Card procurements will be in accordance with USM and SU Procurement Policies and Procedures (Simplified Procurements) equal to or less than $5,000.
IV. Purchasing Card transactions will be recorded in PeopleSoft. (Refer to instructions and procedures prepared by the University's Comptroller.)
V. All receiving will be through Support Services Department. (The exception will be for desktop delivery, and deliveries to the Bookstore and University Dining Services.)
VI. Support Services will provide courier service for the pick-up of local orders.
VII. Logs, receipts, and credit card statement will be forwarded to the Purchasing Office HH-222 at the end of each month after the buyer has reconciled log with the statement. For each transaction entered in the log, there should be a document from the vendor, such as an itemized sales slip, an itemized packing slip, an itemized cash register receipt, an itemized repair order, or an itemized invoice.
VIII. Each cardholder will be responsible for achieving 25% minority participation from state certified MBE's and 10% from State Certified Small Businesses.
1. Total dollar amount expended and number of transactions for the month.
2. Total dollar amount expended and number of transactions for supplies.
3. Total dollar amount expended and number of transactions for services.
4. A list that includes the name of MBE, the number of transactions, and the total dollar amount. Supplies and Services should be separated.
IV. Procurement Office and Accounts Payable office will be responsible for reviewing logs, receipts, and statements and for entering into the electronic filing system.
X. The University's Accounting Office will be responsible for reconciling with Comptroller of the Treasury report.
XI. All travel related requests should be referred to Financial Services (Accounts Payable Office).
XII. All requisitions referencing research department ID numbers (Program 02) should be referred to the Office of Sponsored Programs.
Procedures for Procurements Not in Excess of $100,000
- Procurements that do not exceed $5,000.
a. The preferred method is the State of Maryland Purchasing Card (Credit Card) based on dollar limits and Merchant Category Code Groups (MCCG) established by the State and assigned to individual cards by the University. (Refer to the University's Purchasing Card Procedures and Guidelines).
b. Procurements that cannot be made via the Purchasing Card will be made by either a purchase order or procurement contract.
c. Competition is preferred but not required.
2. Procurements greater than $5,000 but not in excess of $200,000.
a. Competition shall be sought to the extent practical considering such factors as the availability of vendors, dollar value of the procurement, cost of administering the procurement, time available to make the procurement including delivery time, and sound business judgement.
b. Buyers shall solicit quotations from a reasonable number of sources considering factors such as the following when deciding how many quotations will be solicited:
(1) Nature of the item or service to be purchased and whether it is highly competitive and readily available or if it is relatively non-competitive
(2) Information obtained from making recent purchases of the same or similar item(s)
(3) The urgency of the proposed purchase
(4) The dollar value of the proposed purchase
(5) Past experience concerning a specific vendor's pricing.
c. To the extent practicable, solicitations shall be published in a manner that best meets the needs of the solicitation. Examples of resources available for publishing a solicitation include but are not limited to:
(1) Bid Board
(2) Trade Journals
(3) Business Journals
(4) World Wide Web
d. Published, written and/or oral solicitation methods may be used. The solicitation method to be used will depend upon the following factors:
(1) Nature of the item or service to be purchased
(2) The availability of vendors
(3) Dollar value of the procurement
(4) Cost of administering the procurement
(5) Time available to make the procurement including delivery time
Procurements greater than $200,000
Procurements that are reasonably expected to exceed $200,000 require a formal, procurement process in accordance with the procurement methods set forth in the University System of Maryland, Procurement Policies and Procedures.
IV. Notification and Approval Requirements
A. Prior notification must be given to the USM Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance for the following:
1. All procurements exceeding $1M:
a. Competitive Sealed Bids
b. Competitive Sealed Proposals
c. Unsolicited Proposals
d. Contracts Established by other Institutions or Agencies
e. A/E Services2. Sole Source Procurements
a. Any Sole Source Procurement exceeding $200,000
b. Personal Service contracts exceeding $50,000B. Prior approval must be obtained in the following circumstances:
1. Prior approval from the USM Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance is required for any sole source procurement exceeding $500,000.
2. Prior approval from the USM Board of Regents is required for any procurement exceeding $5 million.
3. Prior approval from the Board of Public Works Approval is required for:
a. Capital improvement and service contracts exceeding $500,000.
b. Modifications to capital improvement and service contracts in excess of $500,000.
V. Contract Execution
A. The President has delegated contract signature authority to the Provost, the VP of Admin and Finance and the Procurement Director. These are the only positions that can contractually bind the University.
B. The University should be the final signatory in the execution of contract documents. Therefore, the contract shall first be signed by the appropriate representative(s) of the contractor with the authority to bind the firm to the terms of the contract after which Salisbury University's Procurement Officer or Vice President for Administration & Finance, or other duly authorized representative shall sign the contract documents.