C. Purchasing
Purchases are to be made subject to the provisions
of the Illinois Procurement Code using the bid amounts prescribed in the State
Procurement Code and the Procurement Rules of the Chief Procurement Officer for
Public Institutions of Higher Education. Biddable transactions will be
advertised in the Higher Education Procurement Bulletin and will be awarded on
the basis of competitive selection procedures. When deemed to be in the best
interest of the University, it will be SIU's practice to buy on a competitive
basis for transactions that are less than the State-required bid amount (
1. Contracts -- General
a. The State Procurement Officers of Southern
2. Prior approval by the Board of Trustees is
required before the commitment of funds can be made for requisitions for fixed
improvements projects or annual needs by subdivision of work for renovation,
repair, and maintenance activities where the entire project cost or annual need
by subdivision of work is $250,000 or more. The fiscal officers will obtain
appropriate internal approvals on the requisitions in accordance with
University policy. The Board of Trustees shall approve the project, the budget,
and major changes to the budget, defined as changes of 20 percent. The Board
shall receive the bids and award all contracts (
3. Requisitions-Purchasing of Goods and Services, Approval and Reporting Requirements
a. Policy Statement -- General: The Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University has delegated to each Purchasing Officer, through appropriate administrative channels, the authority to purchase goods and services. All purchases are made in accordance with Higher Education Procurement Rules approved by the Board, the Procurement Policy Board, the Chief Procurement Officer of Higher Education, and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, and filed with the Secretary of State.
b. Prior Approval Required: Prior approval is required by the Board, or any two of the three members of the Executive Committee, before the commitment of funds can be made in the following cases:
1) For requisitions involving the commitment of
$100,000 or more. This requirement also includes requisitions requesting
multiple deliveries over a period of time. Additional prior approval of a
supplemental requisition will be required if the amount of the supplement is in
excess of 20% of the amount originally approved (
2) For requisitions involving the commitment of $50,000 to $99,999 when such action is deemed appropriate by the President after that officer's review of such requisitions. Fiscal officers will first obtain appropriate internal approvals on such requisitions in accordance with University policy. Each requisition will be forwarded with a letter of justification to the Purchasing Officer for review. A letter of justification shall state the need, the source and availability of funds, the methods of procurement, and a recommendation for purchase award. Should the source of funds be identified as a service department, the documentation must include the title of the actual account to ultimately be charged and the appropriate individuals responsible for administering the account. Letters and attached requisitions will be forwarded from the Purchasing Officers for presentation to the Chancellor for transmittal to the Office of the President where it is reviewed and forwarded to members of the Executive Committee with a recommendation for appropriate action.
c. Prior Approval Not Required: Authorization by the Board of Trustees and/or the Executive Committee for expenditure of funds is not required prior to the commitment of funds in the following instances:
1. for requisitions involving a commitment of less than $100,000, provided that the President's approval is obtained for commitments of $50,000 or more;
2. for requisitions involving expenditures of a routine nature necessary for normal and usual operation of the University, where there is only one source of supply or in actual practice no price selection is possible; such instances include, but are not limited to
(a) postal charges purchased from the Postmaster
and locked in the postage meter machine;
(b) postage stamps, post cards, and bulk mailing;
(c) utilities (electrical energy, city water, and sewage charges, natural gas,
and telephone charges) (3/13/03) (d) freight, express, and interstate moving
expenses;
(e) annual renewals for rental of various physical facilities;
(f) annual renewal insurance premiums in years subsequent to the year in which
the original insurance was contracted.
(g) subscriptions to journals and periodicals;
(h) books and bound periodicals;
(i) professional and technical services;
(j) credit card encumbrances for usual and customary auto- motive service
station charges. Repair work other than the minor or emergency type must have
previous approval of Transportation Service.
(k) annual rental of equipment in years subsequent to the year in which the
original requisition was approved for installation, such as data processing
equipment, photo- static copiers, accounting machines, and similar items;
(l) annual maintenance contracts provided by a manufacturer or its agent for
the equipment made by them (3/13/03).
(m) payments for items from specific single-item appropriations, such as CDB
lease rental payment, retirement contributions, and fire protection, but
excluding capital items;
(n) in emergencies involving public health, public safety, or where immediate
expenditure is necessary for repairs to University property in order to protect
against further loss of or damage to University property, to prevent or
minimize serious disruption in University services, or to insure the integrity
of University records;
(o) where the goods or services are procured from another governmental agency;
(p) purchases of and contracts for office equipment and associated supplies
when such contracts provide for prices that are equal to or lower than Federal
General Services Administration contracts and when such contracts or pricing
result in economical advantage to the University.
3. for requisitions involving commodities and stock equipment for internal distribution through normal procedures of established storeroom and service units and resale necessary for normal and usual operation of the University, where there are various sources of supply. This category will include, but is not limited to, commodities and stock equipment for the following operations:
(a)
In the case of purchases which fall within the above-mentioned exceptions, neither the approval of the Executive Committee nor the Board of Trustees is required, but the appropriate internal approvals in accordance with University policy are required.
The various offices and departments of the University shall communicate their requirements for commitments to the appropriate office by means of a requisition. When properly approved, the document constitutes authority for making commitments according to the procedures described in these regulations.
4. Monthly Reporting Procedure
a. The Purchasing Offices of SIUC and SIUE shall prepare an information report monthly, summarizing all purchase orders and contracts against University funds for the period and shall submit such reports to the President and the Board of Trustees.
b. The report of Southern Illinois University
Carbondale shall consist of two parts: one for SIUC excluding the
c. Each part of each report shall be divided into three sections:
1) a section entitled "Detailed Report of Speaking and Performing Fees, Consultants, and Architectural and Engineering Fees" that provides:
(a) a summarization of those orders under $20,000
which shows the total of the number of orders with an aggregate dollar total
(3/13/03);
(b) a list of all orders of $20,000 or more containing information on order
number, type of funds, vendor, brief description, and amount (3/13/03).
2) a section on all other "Purchase Orders and Contracts" under $100,000 that provides:
(a) a summarization of those orders under the
state required bid amount which shows the total of the number of orders with an
aggregate dollar total (3/13/03);
(b) a list of all orders between the state required bid amount and $100,000
containing information on order number, type of funds, vendor, brief
description and amount (3/13/03).
3) a section on all orders of $100,000 or more containing information on order number, type of funds, brief description, amount, a list of bidders with amount of their bids, the number of vendors invited to bid and declining, information on Executive Committee or President's approval, and the basis of award if other than low bid meeting specifications (3/13/03).
5. Authorization of purchases by Illinois Public Higher Education Consortium (IPHEC) on behalf of the Board of Trustees of SIU is approved as follows:
a. IPHEC is authorized, as agent and on behalf of the Board, to prepare specifications, advertise, receive, open, tabulate and evaluate competitive bids for such commodities, equipment, and services as may from time to time be designated by the University Purchasing Officers of Southern Illinois University. In all such activities, IPHEC shall identify the Board of Trustees as its principal.
b. IPHEC shall report to the Board all of IPHEC's activities as such agent, its evaluation of the bids received, and its recommendations for award of contracts. Bids shall be accepted or rejected and contracts shall be awarded by and in the name of the Board of Trustees in accordance with procedures heretofore or hereafter established by the Board.
c. All advertising, receiving, opening, recording,
and tabulating of bids by IPHEC and the award of any contract shall be in
accordance with the Higher Education Procurement Rules and in accordance with
the provisions of the laws of the State of
6. Guidelines for Procurements Exempt from the Higher Education Procurement Rules.
Occasionally it is convenient or necessary to vend a privilege or property to the larger community. Examples include the food service franchise within a student union, concessions or broadcasting rights for sports or entertainment events, and automatic vending services. Sales of a privilege or property do not involve the expenditure of University funds. Nevertheless, such sales do represent the bartering of a University asset in return for cash, services or goods, and most of the same principles should be applied.
a. Principles
1) The opportunity to submit a bid should be
offered to any qualified supplier. Minor transactions may be offered on the
basis of telephone bids or communicated in electronically transmitted form.
When in the best interest of the University, transactions over the legal bid
limit should be subject to formal competitive selection procedures (
2) The structure of the competitive selection
process must be such as to assure bidders that the award was based on objective
judgment of known criteria applied to a defined set of facts. It is not
sufficient that the award is subjectively impartial; it must also be perceived
as impartial. The President will promulgate Guidelines to ensure that such
privileges are awarded competitively and impartially (
b. Standards
Use of the following standards will aid in producing the perception that privileges are awarded competitively and impartially.
1) Bid specifications should set forth clearly the extent of services or quality of goods to be provided and the form and time of payment of any cash.
2) Bid specifications should state clearly the criterion or criteria for award, and no award shall be made which is materially influenced by any other factor.
3) When technical competence as opposed to unique artistic or professional talent is all that is necessary to performance, a minimum standard of competence shall be clearly described and required as a condition or qualification for consideration of a bidder's proposal. To the extent fiscal stability of the supplier bears upon the performance expected, a minimum prerequisite should also be used. The capacity to furnish a performance bond will usually satisfy the latter concern. The important concern is to avoid subjective comparisons of technical or fiscal ability as a criterion for award whenever such comparisons can be avoided.
4) Consultants should be used as necessary to achieve the clarity and quantifiability required by the preceding principles, to the end that awards may be on demonstrably objective bases so far as is possible. Where subjective judgments cannot be avoided they should be made on the basis of recommendations of disinterested experts on the subject.
5) All submittals by bidders shall be received at
a specified location via electronic transmission or in sealed packages or
envelopes clearly labeled as a bid on a particular proposed transaction, and
publicly opened (except proposals), read or described or otherwise made public.
Only materials so received shall be considered in making an award. No material
omission, pertinent to a criterion for award, may be waived, unless determined
by the State Purchasing Officer (SPO) to be in the best interest of the
University. No other communication by a bidder on the subject of the bid shall
be received or considered if known, except requests for clarification of
specifications prior to the bid opening; response to such requests may only be
made by an amendment to specifications distributed to all potential bidders or
in mandatory pre-bid meeting where all bidders must be present. Further
clarification or documentation or other proof of representations in bid
documents in hand are the only communications which may be received from a
bidder after the bid opening (
c. Procedures
1) The office desiring to lease or lease purchase tangible personal property or vend a privilege or property of the University in return for cash, services, or goods shall utilize the same procedure as is mandated for procurement from University funds. A Requisition describing the functions required or stating the privilege or asset to be vended and the desired return shall be approved in the usual manner and submitted to the Purchasing Officer.
2) The dollar limit above which Board of Trustees approval of a lease or lease purchase of tangible personal property is required is determined by the cost over the whole prospective period of a lease or renewals provided for therein, and approval shall be obtained before making any promise of payment or commitment of funds whatsoever.
3) The Purchasing Officer will handle a tangible personal property lease or lease purchase or the procurement of the services or goods in the same manner as other procurements so far as possible.
4) The Higher Education Procurement Rules will govern either directly, by inversion, or by analogy, to the extent feasible.
(