Purpose and Scope

For purposes of efficiency in administration and management, the responsibilities for the purchasing of supplies, services, and major repairs from outside vendors for all University departments have been centralized in the Finance-Purchasing Section.

The general responsibilities and functions of the Purchasing Section are as follows:

  1. To purchase supplies, materials, equipment, and services related thereto for the various departments of the University in such a manner that maximum value is obtained for every dollar spent, and to ensure that bona fide, qualified suppliers are given equal opportunity to participate in furnishing University requirements.
  2. To expedite the delivery of materials to meet the requirements of the using departments (when so requested by the department).
  3. Assist in resolving discrepancies in shipments not resolved by Property and Receiving
  4. To conduct all correspondence with suppliers relating to the following purchase order types: Request for Quote (RQ) and Sealed Bids (SB).
  5. To consolidate purchases wherever possible and thus obtain quantity discounts for such volume purchases.

 

Reference

Louisiana Revised Statutes, Executive Orders, and University Policies and Procedures

 

Responsible Area

All Departments

 

Procedures

General Conditions

The procedures set forth herein are applicable in all cases where the expenditure is from funds administered by the University regardless of whether the funds arise from state or federal appropriations, student fees, gifts, grants, endowments, research contracts or other funding sources.

University purchases and payments are to be approved and processed in accordance with this policy and procedure.

All purchases and their payments are requisitioned and are identified by Purchase Order, except where specifically identified in the policy and procedure.

Purchase Order (PO) is used to organize and segregate purchases and payments to facilitate the compliance with specific rules, laws, regulations, procedures, and conditions of purchases and payments for all non-personal services and financial aid student balance check/refund payments made by the University, and are processed through the Banner Finance System unless otherwise specified.

Special or unusual procurement problems should be brought to the attention of the Director of Purchasing.

Funds Availability

The Budget Unit Head is responsible for all line item deficits and budget unit account support cost deficits. Banner will generate and send to the Budget Unit Head a Line Item Deficit Notification e-mail when the expenditure category line item deficit occurs. “Banner” will also generate a Support Cost Deficit Notification e-mail when the support cost budgets are in a deficit. It is the Budget Unit Head’s responsibility to eliminate the line item deficit or Budget Unit support cost deficit and all spending must be suspended until an approved Budget Revision is posted.

NOTES: The Requester should never begin the requisition process if there is no money in the FOAP/Index or account code being charged. Budget availability can be accessed in Banner Finance FGIBAVL screen.

If you complete the requisition that is in NSF Suspense, the requisition will be disapproved, and the requisition will roll back into incomplete status. This will result in delays in processing your requisition.

Purchasing Basics (PDF)