SUBJECT:

Increase of Departmental Purchasing Authority to $2500 and Special Message to Departmental Security Administrators (DSA's)

Effective December 1, 1997 the delegation of purchasing authority assigned
to campus departmental buyers will increase from $500 to $2500. The
increase in authority is in compliance with University of California policy
and allows authorized departmental buyers to purchase goods and services
through appropriate procurement methods for amounts not exceeding $2500,
including tax, freight and additional charges.

The delegation of departmental purchasing authority is subject to important
restrictions and limitations which can be viewed at:
http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/services/pursvcs/restrict.htm .
A critical inclusion on the list of restrictions is "equipment" which is
defined as being non-expendable, tangible personal property which has a
cost of $500.00 or more, is free standing and has a normal life expectancy
of more than one year. Items defined as "equipment" cannot be purchased
under departmental purchasing authority and must be purchased by processing
a high value purchase requisition.

Departmental Business Officers, Departmental Buyers, and DSA's will need to
consider the impact of this change on their individual departmental
business systems. While the campus-wide effective date for this change is
December 1, campus departmental buyers should confer with their Business
Office to ensure that appropriate internal controls are in place before
integrating the higher level into their procurement practices.

Two modifications must be made in IFIS to accommodate this change:

   Purchase Order class "L" which is associated with low value purchase
   orders (departmental orders) will be changed from $500 to $2500 by
   the Campus Purchasing Office prior to the effective date of
   December 1.

   All 'PUR' approval templates for USERID's must be updated to reflect
   the increased authority. DSA's are responsible for editing the
   approval templates for USERID's within their organization prior to the
   effective date of December 1, 1997. DSA's and Department Business
   Officers can obtain step-by-step instructions for managing this
   one-time change at: http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/training/dsadeleg/

Many suppliers were informed about the increase and UCSD's purchasing
policy and practices through a recent mail campaign. This letter can be
accessed at: http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/vendors/suppltr.htm. If a vendor
is unable to access this site, advise them to contact Purchasing at
(619) 534-3084 for a copy of the document.

Departmental Buyers are encouraged to refer to campus-wide and UC supplier
agreements to identify existing sources for goods and services
http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/services/pursvcs/supplier.htm . We recommend
that the Campus Storehouse be utilized to purchase office, computer,
ergonomic, laboratory, furniture and chemical products
http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/mss/mssord.htm . UCSD's professional buying staff
is always available to provide assistance to departmental buyers to
identify and select suppliers regardless of the value of the order. Please
either visit Purchasing's directory of buyer contacts
http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/services/pursvcs/purcent.htm or call us at
extension 43084. We are here to help.

Questions regarding the increase of departmental purchasing authority
should be directed to dmulcahy@ucsd.edu, or call extension 42557. More
information about the increase of the delegation of purchasing authority is
available from our web site at: http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/pur/index.htm .
Questions regarding the payment of invoices should be directed to the
Invoice Information e:mail box at invoiceinfo@ucsd.edu.

Linda Collins Purchasing Manager lcollins@ucsd.edu