II. Procurement Administration

A. Unified Procurement Services Team

The Unified Procurement Services Team (“UPST”) is established and under the direction of the Chief Procurement Officer and is responsible for the implementation of the Standards applicable to the University’s campuses and the President’s Office and shall manage and conduct purchasing activity as set forth herein.
All decisions made by the Department with respect to Goods and/or Services, Contractor selection, and acceptance of risk shall be in accordance with the Policy and these Standards as well as the other applicable University policies and standards. For the avoidance of doubt, UPST is the exclusive department for conducting purchasing and procurement activities. UPST has oversight responsibility for all procurements covered under the Policy and these Standards; however, final selection of Goods and/or Services, Contractor selection, and risk acceptance is the responsibility of the Department or Campus.
The President is designated as the officer of the University responsible for issuing these Standards. The Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance and Treasurer shall recommend such standards for the President’s action. The Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance and Treasurer shall confer on a regular basis with the Vice Chancellors of Finance and Administration and the General Counsel to determine whether revisions to the Standards are appropriate to comply with University policies or law, and to assure that the University is using best practices to secure its Goods and/or Services.
University Personnel shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations with respect to purchasing and the procurement of Goods and/or Services including, without limitation, laws and regulations related to:
1. Use of public funds
2. Competitive bids
3. Public works projects
4. Federal Acquisition Regulation
5. Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation
All decisions to expend funds related to the acquisition of Goods and/or Services must be in accordance with the delegation and signatory authority set forth in Treasurer’s Delegations T97- 014.
UPST shall be engaged at the requirements development stage for any RFX or procurement that requires a Competitive Procurement by submitting a sourcing request; otherwise, UPST shall be engaged by submitting a requisition for a Purchase Order in BuyWays. Questions regarding this process should be directed to UPST.
To the extent that a Department, Campus, or the President’s Office has additional procurement- related polices or administrative rules or processes for the approval of purchases, those policies, rules, and/or processes that are not configured in BuyWays shall be complied with prior to or at the time of engagement of UPST. For example, 1) if a Campus has a policy that furniture products must be approved by the Campus’ facilities department; then such facilities’ approval shall be obtained prior to the requisition being submitted in BuyWays; or 2) if a Campus has a hazardous materials policy that specifies a ship to address, then those ship to addresses shall be specified on the BuyWays requisition when submitted.
UPST shall be engaged to conduct the purchasing and procurement activities for all purchasing and procurement activities as set forth in these Standards or when the purchase cannot be conducted with the use of only a Purchase Order.

B. Other Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)

University Personnel responsible for procurement and purchasing shall inform themselves of prices and specifications of items available through Group Purchasing Organizations (“GPO”), including but not limited to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Operational Services Division (“OSD”) and the Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium (“MHEC”). GPO contract price agreements may be utilized whenever it would be to the advantage of the University. When utilizing GPO contracts other than OSD or MHEC, UPST shall determine if the GPO contract was the result of procurement activity that complies in all material respects to the Policy and these Standards, including, without limitation, any requirements for Competitive Procurements.

C. Contracting, Purchase Method Requirements, and Additional Approvals

The required methods for procurement are specified in Section III, set forth in Table 1. Certain Goods and/or Services have more restrictive requirements, controls, and approvals as set forth under Section II(C)(2) and Section II(D). Any purchase that includes multiple categories of items purchased shall be governed by the most restrictive requirements.
Specific Approvals Required for Certain Goods and/or Services
1. Bank Cards
  1. The University of Massachusetts Bank Card program is available to offer a payment method for those Contractors that do not accept a Purchase Order, a mechanism for emergency purchases, and a payment method in lieu of employee travel reimbursement.
  2. All purchases made using a Bank Card must be in compliance with University of Massachusetts Policies, Standards and Procedures, including these Standards and the University of Massachusetts Bank Card Use Standards.
2. Direct Payments
  1. “Direct Payments” are to be used only for approved purchases where UPST has determined that the transaction does not warrant the issuance of a Purchase Order. The Direct Payment is not to be used as a method to pay an invoice for goods or services after the fact, when a Purchase Order should have been issued.
  2. All purchases made using a Direct Payment must be in compliance with University of Massachusetts Policies, Standards and Procedures, including this Standard.
  3. Goods and Services approved by the UPST for Direct Payment shall be set forth in Table 4.
3. Requisitions and Purchase Orders
  1. A Purchase Order is required for procurement of any Goods and/or Services that are ineligible for Direct Payment.
  2. Requisitions for Purchase Orders are created by the Department and must be approved by an individual in the Department who has adequate Expenditure Authority.
  3. Purchase Orders for certain Goods and/or Services require additional approvals set forth in Table 2. Once the requisition is approved, UPST issues the related Purchase Order. All University Purchase Orders are issued by UPST.
  4. The issuance of a “Blanket” Purchase Order does not override any other requirements in these Standards.
4. Goods and/or Services Always Requiring a Purchase Agreement
  
  In addition to the requirements set forth in Section II(C)(2)(c), any procurement of Goods and/or Services, regardless of Cost, that meets any of the criteria listed in Sections II(C)(2)(d)(i-vi) below always requires a Purchase Agreement. The applicable University standard Purchase Agreement form shall be used whenever possible when a Purchase Agreement is required. Whenever the governing Purchase Agreement is a Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Operational Services Division or other approved consortia agreement, the related purchase order shall reference such agreement.
  1. Procurements involving maintaining, disclosing, transmitting, accessing, using, or storing information defined as Private, Restricted or Confidential data in T97-010 Policy Statement on Data Security, Electronic Mail, And Computer Policy Development. require a Purchase Agreement with sufficient language that specifies the obligations of the Contractor for safeguarding personal information (“PI”) or protected health information (“PHI”) from unauthorized disclosure or use.
  2. Procurements of software, software development or Software as a Service (“SaaS”) or any software or Service which would include access to University networks.
  3. Procurements in which the Contractor is performing design, engineering, consulting and construction work, including but not limited to work governed by M.G.L. c.149, M.G.L. c.30 § 39M and M.G.L c.7C.
  4. Procurements in which the Contractor is performing hazardous work, dangerous or security related activities, or may have access to sensitive areas or sensitive information.
  5. Procurements of any hazardous material or radioactive materials, or radioactive medical supplies.
  6. Purchase Agreements implicating the University’s trademarks, copyrights, or intellectual property.
  7. Procurements in which the Contractor will receive payments on behalf of the University of Massachusetts and will have access to Payment Card Industry Data (“PCI”), any data associated with a credit card or card holder’s account.
  8. Procurements of Services with a cost greater than $50,000 per fiscal year.
5. Restrictive Controls for Specified Goods and/or Services
  1. Additional approvals may be required for requisitions of certain Goods and/or Services that are subject to other Board of Trustee policies or designated by a Campus or UPST. Additional approvals that are not configured in BuyWays shall be complied with prior to or at the submission of a requisition. The absence of a configured approval in BuyWays does not absolve the Department requesting a good or service from the requirement to comply with Policy or campus requirements.
  2. Additional approvals including but not limited to those set forth in Table 2 under Section II(C)(1) are required prior to UPST issuing a Purchase Order.
6. Purchase Agreements requiring notification of the University of Massachusetts President’s Office
  1. The Campus must notify the Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance and Treasurer, or designee when entering into a Purchase Agreement for consulting services greater than or equal to $300,000 in value.

D. Real Property

Procurements involving Real Property shall always require a Real Property Agreement, and must comply with the Capital Planning, Land and Facilities Use Policy (T93-122, as amended).