Administrative Services
Business Environment
Spelman's Business Environment
Centralized Procurement
The procurement of goods and services applies to all funds of the College. All funds are considered College funds and therefore the use of such funding must conform to the College’s policy which conforms to any and all applicable federal law and standards. Specifically, these procurement policies and procedures are in line with federal guidelines. The College will follow the same procurement procedures based on federal guidelines for all purchases, regardless of funding source. Additional terms & conditions and approvals may be imposed on the purchases funded by external sources. All requests must be authorized through Spel-Shop, the College’s electronic requisition system. Spel-Shop Requisitions will automatically route to departmental Approvers and then to Procurement for validation and approval.
Purchases Supported by College Policies
College policy supports the expenditures for any lawful item, goods, or services that support the implementation or enhancement of College programs. Purchases should be made using a Spel-Shop generated/approved purchase order from Procurement in the department of Administrative Services. To ensure the Department Chair’s or Budget Manager’s approval of purchases, all requests must be authorized through Spel-Shop which requires an electronic authorization to support acquisitions.
Procurement Services provides the College with an online Preferred Vendor List that has vendors who provide competitive pricing and exceptional customer service and streamlines the need to obtain quotes from various outside vendors. The Preferred Vendor List is not a sole sourced list, but one that offers several vendor choices for a specific commodity. It is the policy of the College to support equality and fairness with vendors regardless of classification (minority owned, corporation, women owned, etc.) or purchase value for goods/services.
All purchase requests are evaluated to determine the best business practice to be utilized for procurement of goods/services. This includes the use of lease vs purchase alternatives. The following factors are examples considered to determine the most cost-effective method of procurement: market value, lease rate, space planning, and in some cases technology refresh.
Methods of Procurement
In conformity with the Office of Management and Budget’s federal guidelines for procurement the College will utilize one of five methods for procurement of items purchased. The method of procurement utilized is based on the type of acquisition. All purchases should be shipped to the College campus.
The five methods of procurement are described below:
- Micro-Purchases
- Procurement by Small Purchases
- Procurement by Sealed Bid
- Procurement by Competitive Proposals
- Procurement by Non-Competitive Proposals