Purchasing Manual

Introduction

The purpose of this purchasing manual is to serve as a reference for those who, in their role as representatives of Hampshire College, purchase goods and services to be used in the pursuit of its mission. It contains a summary of the policies and procedures that have been developed to guide these actions.

The explicit goal of these policies are threefold: to ensure the health and safety of the College's faculty, staff, and students; to encourage behavior in this area that adheres to a high ethical standard; and to facilitate a method of obtaining goods and services that protects the financial interests of the College.

The role of the purchasing office

1. To assist offices/schools with purchasing goods and services. We provide a supporting role in identifying suppliers, providing assistance, and negotiating prices and quantities. We coordinate and negotiate bulk purchases through approved suppliers. The purchasing office maintains relationships with two buying groups: MHEC, the Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium, and E & I, Education and Institutional Cooperative Service, Inc. Links to the websites of these buying groups can be found here. For assistance with these websites or for advice on vendors with which the College has had experience, please contact the purchasing office.
2. To issue purchase orders. 
3. To manage certain contracts; for example, the contract with Ricoh for copier and duplication center services and the contract with Enterprise Fleet Services to provide vehicle leases.
4. To administer the purchasing card program: setting up new users, maintaining records of purchases, and auditing accounts for fraud. There is a manual dedicated to the policies governing the use of one's purchasing card. This manual can be found here.
5. To provide administrative support to offices with their use of the requisition module in Colleague. 

Purchasing office staff provide training to new employees on this module as well as ongoing support in its day-to-day use. Purchasing office staff produce a manual for new users with detailed instructions using the Colleague purchasing module. A copy of this training manual is presented to new users during their training session. It can also be requested via email to purchasing@hampshire.edu