Purchasing assists in procuring equipment, materials, supplies and services; and monitors college expenditures for compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.
Purchasing is committed to meeting the needs of the College and its departments and to making sure that state and federal laws and College regulations are followed. Laws regarding the use of public funds are very specific, so it is important that College procedures be carefully followed.
To request new vendor/A numbers, departments must submit to Purchasing a completed IRS Form W-9, along with vendor contact information (an email address must be provided).
This policy is intended to be neither all-inclusive nor to address every situation which may arise. Questions about specific situations not addressed in this policy and/or policy clarifications should be addressed to Purchasing at 256 549 8483.
This policy is applicable to expenditures of State funds. Questions and policy requirements related to meals where federal or other sponsored funds will be expended should be directed to Grants Management at (256) 439-6835.
Sodexo (cafeteria) should be given first preference for purchases of food, meals, and refreshments. Contact Sodexo at Linda.Griffin@sodexo.com for quotes.
Except for meals and refreshments incidental to business meetings, the State Examiner’s office considers food and beverages for employees to be personal in nature and therefore unallowable costs.
When the meal is incidental it is expected that the group will continue through the agenda with little or no interruption. Box lunches, refreshments, or similar inexpensive meals may be provided for the sake of continuity. Note: Simply planning a meeting at mealtime does not make the meal integral to the meeting. If employees leave their normal business activities to go to a restaurant for a meal, the presumption will be the primary purpose was to eat rather than conduct business, even if business was discussed, and these meals are unallowable. Meals held prior to or subsequent to a business function/meeting are unallowable.
From an IRS perspective, for meals to qualify as a business expense, they must be ordinary and necessary and must directly be related to or associated with the College’s mission. In addition, a College employee must be present at the meal/event. Because the State Examiner’s office and the IRS imposes strict documentation requirements on such expenditures, departments must be able to provide the following documentation on food/meal expenses:
Alabama Community College System policy mandates that there be public competition for purchases involving $50,000 or more. Therefore, competitive, sealed bids are required if the item needed is not already covered on an existing College contract. Because of the competitive bid requirement, this process can take 20 or more days to complete; therefore advanced planning is required for such purchases. The process may take significantly longer if user review of bids is delayed.
Purchases involving $50,000 or more cannot be divided into smaller purchases in an effort to circumvent the Alabama Competitive Bid Law. For example, multiple copies of the same item should be grouped into one requisition.
A purchase order is a binding contract between the College and the vendor. It cannot be modified or cancelled unilaterally. When changes in purchase orders (change orders) are required due to price changes or other necessary modifications, the request must be in writing to Purchasing (purchasing@gadsdenstate.edu). The request should include an explanation of the requested change and must be signed by the budget manager and in some instances must be signed by the appropriate Dean.
All purchase orders require a quotation (or quote). Quotes must be appended in Self Service Banner (SSB) Document Management (BDM). A quote is provided by the supplier (either in writing or via a designated website) to the department. The quote must include: price (in some instances price before discount or mark-up may be required), a description of the goods or services, and if applicable, a state, local, or national contract number.
Contracting for professional services such as consultants, license agreements, speakers, pianist, requires use of a Service Contract. Contact Melissa Wilson at mwilson@gadsdenstate.edu, for questions regarding service contracts.
Sometimes an item is available from only one source. It might be something such as a specific part, or equipment manufactured by only one manufacturer. When you wish to make such an acquisition, you must complete a Request for Sole Source Justification Form, and route it for approval.