General Policies

Most CIS purchases are for the maintenance, upgrade, or replacement of existing equipment.  As such they occur on a regular cycle without the need for a request.  Opportunities also are provided for “off-cycle” upgrades.  Any other requests for CIS-funded purchases should be discussed with CIS staff and approved by a CIS Group Leader before being submitted.  In most cases a “cost-sharing” arrangement is appropriate to fund these atypical requests.

Email is the preferred method for purchase requests and correspondence about them.

Approval from an authorized signer will be required “prior” to the purchase, along with project or internal assignment, and account number to charge.

If a “suggested” vendor contact or quote is provided, it will help to expedite the process. In cases where no vendor or quote is provided, please allow up to three business days for one to be obtained by our office.

CIS will provide “preferred vendor” contact information on request.

Internal Departmental Priorities

“CIS-funded” purchase orders necessary to facilitate our “departmental operations” will take precedence over ALL other purchase requests.   

Priority guidelines for all other purchases are as follows: 

a)      Renewal of contracts/licenses prior to expiration deadline

b)      Purchase requests for new equipment or upgrades will be handled in the order in which they are received, unless a faculty or staff member would be without computing means, in which case it would be assigned a higher priority.

c)      Planned project purchases will be prioritized in such a way that equipment is received by the time project is scheduled to begin. Project managers should include anticipated start date in their request.

d)      CIS will provide toner and paper for supported printers and copiers. Supplies and non-critical items will be given lowest priority, except in the case where it would leave an area at risk to run out of supplies. Note: It is the individual department’s responsibility to make sure they have a spare toner in stock at all times. Replacement cartridges could take 3-5 business days if not in stock.

Non-CIS Funded Purchase Assistance

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 We strongly recommend individual departments handle their own purchases.  This allows the departments to better control the purchase and delivery of items in a timely fashion to meet their needs.  However, we realize there are some instances where it might be valuable for our department to assist with quotes or procurement of computing equipment or software licenses. As a “courtesy” we may agree to provide assistance if the purchase meets one or more of the following criteria:

• our expertise makes it reasonable for CIS to be involved in the quote or purchasing process.
• it is a shared computing resource, such as software that will reside on a CIS server.
• it is a shared purchase in which CIS has agreed or “may” agree to partially fund.
• it is to CIS’ benefit to ensure it is within our supported equipment/software specifications (whether partially funded by us or not).

“Non-CIS-funded” purchase orders will be prioritized similarly to “CIS-funded” purchase requests, however it will be added to “our” queue and the actual “priority” will be determined by CIS.  Note: Our queue is sometimes quite large (particularly at the end of the school year and during peak times), so if a department has an URGENT purchase request, it might be more expeditious for them to handle the requisition themselves, particularly if there is a deadline involved.  We cannot guarantee procurement of equipment in time for fiscal year recording. 

Email approval from an authorized signer will be required prior to the purchase, along with an account number to charge.

CIS will (at our option) either forward the invoice to the department for processing; or process an RFC, attaching the email authorization in lieu of departmental signature. A copy of the paperwork will be forwarded to the department for their records.

If a purchase is instituted by CIS, we will have the package shipped to our offices.  Once we receive it, we will notify the department that it is available for pick-up.

CIS does not keep records for “non-CIS-funded” equipment, even when procured by us. It is the individual department’s responsibility to record serial numbers, software license and warranty info.

In cases where a department is making significant purchasing demands, CIS will train someone in that department to better support the department’s purchasing needs. 

If you have any questions regarding these policies, please contact CIS Administrative Services at admin_services@hmc.edu.

Policy revised 2/19/08