Skip to content

Purchasing

Policies and procedures

Refer to UW Procurement Services for university-wide practices for purchasing:

Determine whether the goods or services you wish to purchase are available on a UW Contracts, Washington statewide contracts, or other contracts. If planning to make a catalog purchase, log onto ARIBA for a list of registered vendors, or visit the UW Contracts page for a list of active contracts with suppliers. After determining how you plan on purchasing your goods or services, review the ARIBA Quick Reference Guide to determine the appropriate order method.

Goods and supplies

UW Surplus is an excellent resource for inexpensive furniture, office, and tech supplies that have been purchased by other departments. It is open to UW departments Monday through Friday, from 12:30-3:30 p.m. and accepts UW budget numbers.

UW eProcurement/Ariba has contracted rates to purchase new supplies (Office Depot), furniture, and tech items (CDW-G). However, the purchase of departmental Apple products must be done through the University Book Store, which gives a discounted rate when using a UW budget number.

If your items are not available through these resources, UW establishes departmental Amazon Business accounts or a ProCard can be used.

NOTE: Purchasing requests for staff of the Executive Office and its sub-units can also be sent to Stephanie So. Please include item details (item number when possible)  and quantity.

ProCard

Most small-dollar amount (e.g., less than $3,500) services and supplies from vendors who are not available through eProcurement can be purchased using a Procard. UW Procurement cards MUST NOT be used to pay travel expenses and all purchases must follow UW Procurement Card guidelines.

Cardholders must complete a ProCard Transaction Log (xlsx) at the end of each month (there will be email prompts):

  • Attach all original receipts, and forward it to The Executive Office Shared Services for reconciliation.
  • A business purpose must be provided for each transaction that address:  WHO made the purchase; WHAT was purchased; WHERE (from which vendor) was the purchase made; WHEN was the purchase made; and WHY was the purchase made.
  • If a receipt was not obtained or is missing, the cardholder must complete a Perjury Statement (pdf) for that purchase and attach it to the transaction log.

Requests for new ProCards must be approved by Kim Dinh prior to submitting an online card application to Procurement Card Services.

Requesting reimbursement

To request a reimbursement, complete an Out-of-Pocket (Non-Travel) Reimbursement Request Form and forward it to Executive Office Shared Services.

  • Original receipts must be attached to the request.
  • If a receipt was not obtained or is missing, the cardholder must complete a Perjury Statement (pdf) for that purchase and submit it with the other receipts.
  • A business purpose must be provided for each transaction sufficient to answer the following questions:  WHO made the purchase; WHAT was purchased; WHERE (from which vendor) was the purchase made; WHEN was the purchase made; and WHY was the purchase made.

Food, catering, and meals

Food (beverages, refreshments, meals etc.) must be purchased using the appropriate type of funding. Please refer to the Allowable Funding Food Purchase Matrix (pdf) matrix for guidance.

To purchase food on a budget that does not have pre-approval for food/beverage purchases, the staff member organizing the meeting, training session, or other ceremony/event must complete a UW Food Approval Form and forward it to Kim Dinh for approval prior to making the food/beverage purchase.

Food purchased for working meetings should only be an option when scheduling a meeting during normal work hours is difficult and only possible during meal times.

Building maintenance

UW Facilities Services provides building maintenance and custodial services for all UW units. An FS work request only needs a budget number for unit specific work that is not necessary to the building’s integrity.

Please use this matrix to find the appropriate action:

Issue Action
General Space (hallways, elevators, staircase) repairs and custodial services Contact Kristen Erickson, building coordinator
Unit space (offices, unit’s common areas, unit’s conference room, etc.) Submit the online FS work request
Executive Office maintenance Contact Kristen Erickson, building coordinator with request
Key orders Contact Kristen Erickson, building coordinator
Gerberding exterior doors Contact Kristen Erickson, building coordinator
Suite specific access Unit designee will contact CAAMS

Additional questions about building repairs and other needs can be directed to Executive Office Shared Services team.

Paying for services

  • Vendor payments under $10,000 which are not recurring do not require a purchase order and are processed via Non-PO Invoicing in ARIBA.
  • A vendor who is to be paid via Non-PO Invoicing must be registered as a UW supplier  before payment can be processed.
  • All purchases must conform to eProcurement policies and procedures.
  • Requests to use the Non-PO Invoice tool require prior authorization from Kim Dinh.
  • The original vendor invoice must be scanned and attached to the non-PO invoice.
  • A business purpose should be provided for each transaction sufficient to answer the following questions:  WHO made the purchase; WHAT was purchased; WHERE (from which vendor) was the purchase made; WHEN was the purchase made; and WHY was the purchase made.

Paying UW guests

  • Paying UW guests requires advanced counsel from the Exec Shared Services team. Please reach out for more information.

Shipping

  • The Executive Office maintains accounts with UPS for use when overnight shipping is necessary for Executive Office business.  These accounts enable us to order shipments online via the UPS website.
  • Online shipping allows for shipping fees to be charged directly to a UW ProCard, thereby eliminating paper billing and time-consuming payment processing.  In addition, online shipping provides clearer, more accurate documentation of our shipping expenses for monthly reconciliation purposes.
  • ProCard holders may set up an account with UPS using your ProCard number.  If you are not a ProCard holder and would like to ship an item via UPS, please contact Executive Office Shared Services.

Object Codes