Procurement Services' Policy Manual
Vision
To be the premier procurement organization within higher education.
Mission
Through strategic sourcing, contract management and innovative solutions, Procurement Services, in collaboration with the rest of the Controller's Group, strives to further the mission and goals of the University by facilitating the procurement process, mitigating risk and maximizing value in each transaction.
Core Values
In alignment with the core values of the University: integrity, accountability, teamwork, leadership in excellence and leadership in mission; Procurement Services also places an emphasis on exceptional customer service, responsible stewardship and impeccable professionalism.
Services
Procurement Services delivers procurement tools, policies,
standards and procedures needed to accomplish the Mission
of the University while establishing strategic alliances,
promoting community relations and minority business development
programs and promoting ethics in purchasing. More information
is available at http://buy.nd.edu.
Sourcing and Bidding: Procurement Services provides
University departments with sourcing (the identification
of sources of supply for a particular product or service)
and bidding services. In addition, Procurement Services
sets policies and procedures on bidding requirements for
the University. The policies comply with legal, statutory
and federal purchasing regulations or guidelines. Procurement
Services will assist departments in identifying potential
suppliers and obtaining bids. For large and/or complicated
transactions, a request for proposal (RFP) will be sent
to potential vendors to ensure the appropriate specifications
or scope of work, price, and contract terms are present.
Procurement Systems: This functional unit has
the responsibility for managing the " buyND" e-Procurement
system which provides electronic requisitioning, catalog
management, order transmission, receiving, ERP integration,
and vendor web enablement. In addition, this unit is responsible
for other Internet procurement tools, data analysis, and
department web site support.
Quality Assurance, Compliance and Planning: Procurement
Services will assist colleges/departments by verifying that
contract terms are followed, pricing/payment terms are correct
and goods/services are received properly. In addition, this
unit provides the business planning and management of purchasing
including targeting commodities for aggregation, reporting
supplier performance, and monitoring spending patterns.
Training, Marketing and Communications: Procurement
Services utilizes several avenues to inform campus constituents
about new services, strategic contracts and training. These
include the Irish Buyer
newsletter, buyND webpage, campus email communications,
training sessions, informational meetings and postings on
www.buy.nd.edu .
Vendor Relations: The University of Notre Dame
encourages and supports doing business with minority, women,
veterans, disadvantaged, and small businesses. In accordance
with this policy, Procurement Services is committed to developing
a program that ensures these vendors can participate in
the competitive process to the extent possible. The program
includes actively searching for these businesses, providing
seminars/training on how to do business with Notre Dame,
as well as the creation and maintenance of a database of
participating vendors. This would include the generation
of reports to be shared with principal investigators, grant
offices, community relations and executive leadership to
help promote participation It will also assist in meeting
federal compliance requirements as applicable.
Code of Ethics
Individuals purchasing goods and services on behalf of
Notre Dame shall conduct business in a manner that is consistent
with both the Mission of the University and Procurement
Services, as well as the Catholic principles on which the
University was founded. Purchasing activities shall be conducted
in a professional manner and all qualified vendors should
be given an equal opportunity to compete for University
business.
Procurement decisions should be made with integrity and
objectivity, free from any personal bias or benefit. In
addition, employees of Procurement Services as well as those
faculty and staff purchasing goods and services as permitted
under these policies shall conduct themselves in accordance
with the Code of Ethics established by the National Association
of Educational Buyers.
The following practices, which might gain a short-term
advantage, will damage Notre Dame's reputation and should
not be used.
- Giving fictitious information regarding a competitor
to extract similar terms from the supplier.
- Requesting bids without the intent to purchase.
- Letting one supplier see another supplier's proposal.
- Obtaining concessions by promising future orders, knowing
such orders are unlikely or will never occur.
- Obtaining a sophisticated proposal from a supplier that
took time and resources to prepare without intending to
purchase from that supplier.
- Revealing a supplier's prices to another supplier and
inviting that supplier to beat them. "Bid shopping" is
highly unethical, gaining a one-time advantage at the
expense of doing lasting harm to the reputation of the
person and organization doing it. Procurement Services
does not disclose price information to unsuccessful bidders.
Bidders should feel assured that all aspects of a bid
have been held in confidence.
Conflict of
Interest Policy
All University employees are to adhere to the University's
Conflict of Interest Policy maintained
by Audit & Advisory Services.
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