Employees

Purchasing Items

Methods of Procurement

A) Purchase Orders

Purpose: To establish proper procedures for the generation of purchase orders and contracts processed through competitive solicitation procedures, determined by the value of the purchase.

Scope: This procedure applies to all purchasing personnel and any Lee College District departmental personnel that are directly or indirectly involved in any purchasing transaction.

Definition: Procurement documents are defined as those that are used to contract goods and/or services from a supplier/vendor or a number of suppliers/vendors.

Procedures: Purchase Orders are generated by the Purchasing Department through the automated PeopleSoft Financial System.

Regular Purchase Orders: This type of purchase order is issued according to the information provided in the online requisition issued by the requestor. At the conclusion of the pricing process, a purchase order is generated, printed, and signed by the authorized Buyer and/or the Purchasing Agent. Purchase orders are printed and the original is submitted to the supplier. All terms and conditions stated on the purchase order apply.

B) Credit Card Purchases

Purpose: To establish proper procedures for the use of College issued credit cards.

Scope: This procedure applies to all Lee College District personnel that are directly or indirectly involved in any credit card transaction.

Definition: Procurement of goods and/or services from a supplier/vendor with the use of a College issued credit card.

Procedures: Credit Cards are issued to Full-Time employees, as requested by their Dean or The President. Prior to issuing a card, every prospective cardholder will be required to obtain the necessary training to enter the required accounting data into the BMO Credit Card Online System and instruction on the proper use of the card. After the training is complete, the employee, the supervisor and Dean will sign the Cardholder Agreement Form (Adobe .pdf) as shown here link. This form describes the terms and conditions for all employees using a College credit card.

All use of a College issued credit card must have prior approval by the departmental Dean and the Purchasing Agent. The approval is obtained and documented via the College email system.

Justification Terminology

Sole source-This may exist when there is only one known source of supply available. An example would be: water and gas companies. Others include companies who market products that have a copyright, trademark or patent. Lee College District recognizes that there may be instances when proprietary or sole source purchases must be made, but such purchases must be appropriately justified. The justification for such purchases must be in writing and must be based upon a need for some feature of characteristic (specification) that is unique to the requested product or service that cannot be provided by any other product or service. The written justification (Adobe .pdf), signed by the requestor or other authorized individual, must be forwarded to the Purchasing Department and must contain the following elements:

1. Identification of the unique feature(s) or character(s)/specification(s) of the request product that will serve as the basis for the proprietary/sole justification.
2. An explanation of the need for the unique specifications. This explanation must address the critical importance of the unique specifications to the intended use of the product or service.
3. A reason stating why a competitor’s product is not satisfactory. This section must relate to the explanation of need for the unique specifications and should serve to support a finding that the stated need cannot be met with competing products. Sufficient detail must be included to show that the marketplace has been canvassed to locate acceptable competitive products.
4. A memo from the requisitioning department stating that the product or service is exclusively sold by the vendor and cannot be purchased from any others. The written justification is not a justification to purchase. The law does not require that the decision to purchase products and services be justified. It is a justification of the need for something that is unique about the product or service that precludes competition. It is important to note that the price of a product is not acceptable justification for a proprietary purchase. If there are two or more products that are acceptable, preserving the competitive bidding environment will help ensure that Lee College District receives the best price. The proprietary purchase procedure is a valuable tool that should be used whenever appropriate. If a proprietary purchase is justified, the request should be processed accordingly, rather than by soliciting “competitive” bids and then attempting to disqualify bids received on other products. Because purchasing files are subject to the Texas Public Information Act, the use of proprietary/sole source purchase procedure is an overt act that must withstand critical scrutiny. Justifications must be objective and must avoid statements that cannot be substantiated. The justification cannot be that competing products are not satisfactory. Statements regarding product quality that may be subjective should not be used. It is recognized that many purchases are based upon extensive investigative work done by the end-user before submitting the purchase request and that there are good reasons why one product will work and another may not. Remember, however, that the proprietary/sole source purchase procedure is an exception to competitive bidding requirements to be used whenever appropriate. It is not a mechanism for avoiding such requirements.

Conflict of Interest: The purchase of goods and/or services from Lee College District employees and/or businesses owned directly by Lee College District employees are not allowed. Any such transactions represent a conflict of interest. The College does not enter into purchasing contracts with students, faculty, staff, or members of faculty, or staff’s immediate families. Acquisitions from a business in which an employee has financial interest are prohibited.

Note: An Lee College District employee should not directly or indirectly accept for themselves, or for another, any gift, favor, or item (tangible or intangible) that provides a personal benefit from a person, or firm that does business, or seeks to do business with the college.

Cancellation/Modification of Purchase Orders: A purchase order confirms the existence of a contract between Lee College District and the vendor. Consequently, it cannot be modified or canceled unilaterally. Any request to modify or cancel an order must be directed to the Purchasing Department. If it becomes necessary to make any change in the original purchase order, the requesting department should contact Purchasing Department immediately to discuss situation. Generally a vendor will agree to a request for cancellation if the item(s) has not been shipped. The department may be held responsible for any material shipped by a vendor or for the other costs incurred before cancellation.

Occasionally, the payment of a restocking charge may be required.

Return of Merchandise: Merchandise to be returned to suppliers or manufacturers for adjustment or credit should be coordinated with the Purchasing Department and Shipping & Receiving. The actual return of the merchandise is the responsibility of Shipping & Receiving and the requesting department. It is the requesting departments responsibility to notify Shipping & Receiving of any changes. The vendor is under no obligation to accept a return of items shipped according to the purchase order. The only exception is if the item is damaged, and only if the damage is reported within three business days. Agreement from the vendor to accept a return is not automatic, and a restocking charge may be incurred. These charges will be charged to the requesting department.

C) Contracts

Services: Contracts for services will be awarded by the Purchasing Department from an authorized requisition and/or applicable supporting documents. Services include, but are not limited to construction, renovations, maintenance, housekeeping services, operational activities, or software licensing agreements. All service contracts in excess of $10,000 shall require approval by the Board of Regents. A Board Action Item must be prepared by the requesting department through the office of the President, Dean of Financial Services and the Dean of their area before the deadline to submit Board Agenda items. The Board of Regents will review the Administration’s recommendation prior to approval at monthly Board meeting. A copy of the Board Action Item shall be provided to Purchasing for the contract file.

Consultant Agreements: - (contract services of individuals)
Contracts for consulting services shall be issued prior to services rendered and submitted to the Purchasing Department for approval. In selecting a Consultant, the responsible budget head shall base the choice on demonstrated competence, knowledge, qualifications, and on the reasonableness of the proposed fee. All contracts shall specify the nature of the service, dollar amount, and any special payment requirements. An authorization for payment will be issued by the requestor upon satisfactory completion of the work. The requestor shall contact the Purchasing Department to communicate any changes and/or problems during the process of completing the project. Payment issues should be directed to the Accounts Payable Department. The Purchasing Agent signs all Consultant Agreements. Shown here link.

Construction Contracts: All solicitations and construction contracts must be submitted to Facilities Department for review prior to work being performed. All construction contracts will be awarded after completion of the competitive solicitation process. All terms and conditions in the contract shall comply with the terms and conditions of the competitive solicitation. The most common methods of procuring construction services are:

• Competitive Bidding
• Design-Build
• Construction Manager at Risk
• Competitive Sealed Proposals
• Job Order Contracting

A contract for, Construction Services shall be issued upon approval of bid award by the Board of Regents. The Contract shall specify all terms and conditions as stated in the bid award. Except to the extent prohibited by other law and to the extent consistent with this sub-chapter, a school district may use competitive bidding to select a contractor to perform construction, rehabilitation, alteration or repair services for a facility.
“A school district shall award a competitively bid contract at the bid amount to the bidder offering the best value to the district according to the selection criteria established by the district.” The selection criteria may include the factors in section 44.031 of the Texas Education Code.

Grant Purchases: Follow processing of requisition procedures. Deadlines to procure goods and services will be determined by specific grant provisions. Purchases are restricted by grant conditions (i.e., Carl Perkins Grant, purchase equipment for student only, and not administrative applications). Grant administrators shall communicate to Special Projects Accountant prior to submitting a purchase request to the Purchasing Department. Federal grants follow Circular 110a linkfor Procurement requirements.

Note: Please allow ample time to encumber grant purchases. Do not wait until last minute.

Multi-Year contracts approved by the Board will be subject to an administrative annual review. Upon favorable review, said contract may be renewed based on supplier/vendor performance, per criteria established in the competitive solicitation, availability of funds and input from the requesting department.

Addendum to contracts: Any changes shall be processed through a document known as an “addendum”. This document specifies: reason for the change, requested by (name), date of request and dollar amount, if applicable. The addendum will be generated through a memorandum and/or a requisition issued by the requestor and approved by the Budget Authority of the requesting area. The request shall specify in detail the changes to be integrated into the contract document and upon review, the addendum will be issued by the Purchasing Department, signed by the Purchasing Agent and by supplier/vendor. The addendum document will be attached to the original contract and a copy issued to Accounts Payable and the requesting department.

Legal Review: All contracts over $25,000 may be subject to legal review by Lee College District General Counsel prior to approval by the Board of Regents.