Mission
To procure the required product or service from the supplier who can best meet the function, quality, schedule, and service needs of the community college, at the most competitive cost.
What is the Function of the Purchasing Department ?
Everything from books to dump trucks is bought through the Purchasing department. The office's objective is to provide faculty and staff with the equipment, products, and services needed to effectively conduct the business of the College at the best possible price—all while keeping the interests of the students, campus, and community at large in mind.
In order to accomplish this task, we utilize contract awards bid by this department for many of our recurring needs. Although a number of these contracts are targeted for Small and Minority Business, we have found through our experience that these same vendors can be highly competitive in the larger market, especially where "value added" is a concern. It is customary for this department to extend such contract awards to the other Community Colleges, the 4-year State Universities, UConn, and those private colleges who are members of the Connecticut Colleges Purchasing Group. Although these colleges and universities are not required to utilize these contracts, many of our current contract vendors have told us that these colleges and universities are contracting them and utilizing their services and purchasing their products based on these contract awards.
Smaller, non-recurrent purchases are processed through the purchasing department, but we rely heavily on the ordering departments to identify vendors who can provide the products or services within the necessary time frames and budgetary constraints. We encourage the individual departments to be aware of vendors who can provide these services, and purchasing will direct literature and telephone inquiries to these departments. Sales representatives are encouraged to call on these departments to offer new products and/or services.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
- A fully authorized requisition is required PRIOR to the purchase of goods and services, and
- A fully executed service agreement is required before any contractor is allowed to BEGIN performance of any service.
- The purchasing department requires a minimum one-week lead time to procure goods and a minimum 4-week lead time to procure contracted services on your behalf. Additional lead time, which can be substantial, may also be required when bidding and/or Attorney General authorization thresholds are exceeded. As purchase requisitions are processed by the Purchasing Department in the order in which they are received, it is important for you to plan accordingly.
- Complete purchasing policies and procedures are included in the College’s Employee Manual.