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Policies and Procedures

APPM

2.3.4. Contracts for Specialized Services with Organizations (Revised 03/05/24)

Administrative Responsibility:   Associate Vice President for Business Services / Procurement

PURPOSE

This Policy is designed to clarify what is meant by a Contracted Service.  The University contracts with outside entities (companies, agencies, other universities, etc.) for the purchase of goods and services. The contract / agreement is the governing document, and the Purchase Order serves as the payment mechanism. A Personal Services Contract is used when contracting with individuals (see APPM section 2.5 Personal Service Contracts).

SCOPE

This Policy and related policies 2.3.1, 2.3.3, and 2.3.4 apply to all WSU employees and external contractors involved in the procurement of goods and services for the University, whether as an administrator within a Department or Unit, or the final end user of such goods and services.  

DEFINITIONS

The following are terms and definitions of some commonly used terms in the procurement cycle:

Contracted Service

A signed contract authorizing a vendor to perform an ongoing service.

Purchase Order

A purchase order (PO) is a legally binding document created by a buyer and presented to a seller.

WayneBuy

The University eProcurement & Requisitioning System used for the placement of all regular purchase orders and payment of invoices submitted by Departments through the direct payment request (DRP) process.
WayneBuy Requisition (PR)

The online WayneBuy Requisition form generated by a department to request the purchase of goods or services from an individual or a company.

POLICY

The signature authority for contracts is detailed in University Policy 2004-6. The AVP of Procurement may approve contracts up to $1 million, and the Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Operations (CFO) approves contracts at $1 million and above. There are other administrative officers with signature authority. For further information on signature authority see University Policy 2004-6.

Contracts for $50,000 or more are subject to the competitive bid process or the request for proposal process as described in APPM section 2.4.  Contracts for less than $50,000 are bid at the discretion of Procurement & Strategic Sourcing.  For all contracts that are to be signed by the Associate Vice President of Procurement and/or CFO, the bid or RFP process is to be performed by Procurement & Strategic Sourcing.  For contracts signed by administrators other than the Associate Vice President and/or CFO, the responsible department, college or division must provide all supporting documents (i.e. quotations, contracts, etc.) to Procurement.  In instances where a competitive bid may not be appropriate, the requestor must submit a request for a waiver of the bid process to the Associate Vice President of Procurement.  Submission of a request for a bid waiver is not a guarantee that a waiver will be granted.  No work is to commence until a PO has been issued.

PROCEDURE

I. If contract to be awarded is less than $50,000 for the total anticipated project:

Responsibility

Action

Department

  1. Identify a vendor.

  2. Identify all services to be performed.

  3. Obtain the vendor contract (if appropriate, use a pre-approved University contract form).

  4. Prepare a WayneBuy Purchase Requisition (see APPM 2.2).

  5. Send the contract and any other support documentation to Procurement by e-mail at purchasingdocs@wayne.edu, campus mail at 4200 AAB, or upload support documentation into WayneBuy.  Include the Requisition number with all documentation.
Procurement

  1. Review the request to determine the nature and appropriateness of the order.

  2. Determine if a competitive bid is applicable.

  3. Check to see if an approved contract is already on file in Procurement.

  4. Review the contract and any prior versions on file to determine if it should be reviewed and approved for legal form by the Office of General Counsel (OGC).

  5. Submit to OGC for review and approval as required.

  6. Approve the Requisition. Upon approval, WayneBuy will systemically generate a Purchase Order. Submit the Purchase Order and the contract for approval by the Procurement management.

Office of General Counsel

  1. Review and approve/reject, modify contract form.

  2. Return contract to Procurement.

II. If the contract to be awarded is $50,000 or more, see APPM section 2.4 .

Responsibility

Responsibility

Department

  1. Review and approve or reject Purchase Requisition in the WayneBuy System.

  2. If approved, Waynebuy will systemically route to Procurement.
Procurement

  1. If this is a competitive bid, select Vendor and approve the Requisition to issue a Purchase Order.

  2. If this was not a competitive bid, review the request for bid waiver.  If approved, approve the Requisition to issue a Purchase Order.  If denied, return to the Requestor.

  3. Transmit completed purchase order with the executed contract to the vendor.

Department

  1. If the request is denied, then contact Procurement to discuss options.

APPENDICES

N / A

RELATED UNIVERSITY/BOARD POLICIES

  1. 2.81.01 Contract Awards           

Effective Date: Prior to 2000

Revised Date: 6/27/2024

Reviewed Date: 3/05/2024

To be reviewed, at minimum, every three years and/or revised as needed by:  Associate Vice President for Business Services / Procurement

Next Review By Date: 3/05/2027

SUPERSEDES POLICY

  1. N / A

HISTORICAL DATES

01/01/2013, 04/01/2012, 09/01/2010, 08/01/2009