OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT VICE CHANCELLOR -
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES PURCHASING DIVISION
November 13, 1997
ALL AT UCSD
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