Procurement Newsletter October 2024
UC Santa Barbara
Procurement NEWS | October 2024
Table of Contents
- Laboratory Glove Recycling Initiative
- How to order Microsoft Licenses
- Round 2: Procurement Trainings
- Taking Credit Card Payments: Merchant Accounts
- Equipment Management Office Hours
- NEW Department FlexCard Administrator Application
- IT Related Services and Software
Laboratory Glove Recycling Initiative
Over 3,000 lbs of plastic was diverted during a two-year pilot to recycle laboratory gloves. Now over 30 labs in 9 departments are participating in the program, and all labs are eligible and encouraged to participate. A list of participating groups can be found at the bottom of the CNSI Laboratory Glove Recycling Webpage. If your lab is interested in joining the program, contact Rachel Schoeppner, lab manager in Quantum Structures Facility and Confocal Microscope & Spectroscopy Facility, for more information.
How to order Microsoft Licenses
SHI (Software House International) is no longer providing Microsoft licenses to the UC. While SHI is still a UC contracted supplier for many other software licenses, Microsoft licenses will no longer be available in the SHI punch-out. Instead, Microsoft products should be purchased using the Dell PunchOut in Gateway.
Round 2: Procurement Trainings
In case you missed the first round, the Procurement Training Courses will begin again November 5, 2024. There is no particular order; please enroll when it works for you using the links below. Thank you to everyone who joined the last session!
| 1. | Purchasing Basics & the Public Contract Code – Reviewed are CA procurement law, UC purchasing policies such as bids, small business, conflict of interest, and data security. We also discuss signing documents and purchasing ethics as a public employee. |
| 2. | Vendoring Basics – Information on the process for adding a vendor, editing a vendor, who to contact when in need of assistance, what does and does not go into Gateway, and review of additional informational resources such as our website and vendor forms. |
| 3. | Conflict of Interest – This class reviews conflict of commitment, use of University resources, and transactions involving current and former UC employees and near relatives of UC employees. |
| 4. | Restricted Commodities & Customs – This course goes over the highlights of the UCSB Campus Restricted Commodity List, and the routing/approval requirements for Importing goods and Export Control. |
| 5. | Federal Purchasing + Form A review – We review the various procurement requirements in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB - Uniform Guidance) for federal contracts & grants. Includes overview of the Form A, and what constitutes a justifiable sole source and price reasonableness statement. |
| 6. | Purchase and Revenue Contracts – Sometimes a procurement transaction can be a simple Purchase Order, and sometimes you need a contract. We'll discuss what needs a contract, what to look out for in Click-to-Agree contracts, and problematic provisions for the University. |
| 7. | Independent Contractors & Contracting Out for Covered Services – Reviewed in this brief training are the California labor law (AB5) and UC labor policy (Article 5) governing hiring vendors in certain labor categories. |
Taking Credit Card Payments: Merchant Accounts
If your department is interested in working with a vendor that will process credit card transactions on behalf of the UC (i.e. income to your department), additional steps must be followed to ensure compliance for the safety of your customers. UCSB's BFS Merchant Services team works with departments to enable them to accept credit card payments for products and services.
These vendors, called “merchants”, are required to accept credit cards in a safe, secure manner that is in compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements for safeguarding cardholder account numbers and other sensitive data, as well as applicable University/UCOP policies.
Services that include the processing of credit cards must be executed by Procurement with a contract meeting the UC’s data security and PCI compliance requirements. Please submit the requisition on a Contract Request Form, and attach a completed IT Data Worksheet to the requisition.
More information on PCI compliance and credit card merchant policies can be found in the UCSB Credit Card Merchant Handbook.
Equipment Management Office Hours
We are excited to announce the launch of Equipment Management Office Hours. We host two 30-minute office hours each week for anyone to drop in, say hi, ask questions, and troubleshoot any issues. With the go-live of the new Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC) set for July 1, 2025, less than a year away, we will be available to assist in the transition. For more information about the Financial Management Modernization (FMM) Project, visit the FMM Project Website.
Equipment Management Office Hours began on Tuesday, September 3, and are scheduled for:
- Tuesdays 2:30 - 3:00 PM
- Thursdays 10:00 - 10:30 AM
This information is also posted on the Equipment Management website. As always, feel free to reach out with questions, concerns, or compliments.
NEW Department FlexCard Administrator Application
We are excited to announce the updated Department FlexCard Administrator application as part of our ongoing efforts to modernize the FlexCard program. The application now utilizes DocuSign, making the process more accessible and efficient for all users. You can find the updated form and detailed instructions on the BFS website.
We appreciate your feedback and encourage you to email flexcard@bfs.ucsb.edu with any questions, comments, or concerns.
IT Related Services and Software
If your requisition is for IT-related services, or for software, pause on that Submit button. Please ask yourself if the service will store, process, or transmit any UC institutional information, or student information?
To help ensure the UC's security risk is mitigated, please submit your requisition with an IT Data Worksheet and ensure Campus Purchasing is added to the requisition workflow.
Please use the Helpdesk for targeted topics:
Submit requests and track inquiries directly through our online portal.
UCSB Procurement Processing Times
Standard turnaround times for purchase orders and contracts are available here:
bfs.ucsb.edu/procurement/processing-times
Where is my order?
After pulling up your requisition, locate the "What's Next" section on the right side. The current status will appear in a green checkmark. You can also use the Comment tab to get in touch with the person assigned the requisition.