As of 19 July 2010
Q. What changed on July 1, 2010?
A. House Bill 2433 was signed by Governor Mark Parkinson, which amended KSA 76-769. The Kansas Board of Regents now has the authority to establish purchasing policies separate from the State of Kansas Division of Purchases, Division of Facilities Management, Division of Printing, and Kansas Correctional Industries, et al, as of July 1. Kansas State University, in conjunction with BOR, is in the process of establishing its own purchasing policies & procedures.
Q. What are the immediate changes?
A. Departments are no longer required to purchase items from the State of Kansas statewide contracts, e.g. Staples, Fisher Scientific, Grainger, etc. This will eliminate the need for off-contract prior authorization requests for small dollar (under $5000) purchases. When an item is found cheaper or quicker locally, the dept. will be able to proceed with the purchase without having to take the extra step or paperwork of special approval. CAUTION… Regent Universities are still required to purchase items from the State Use Catalog (often referred to as “State Use Items).
Q. What if I want to use the State of Kansas contracts?
A. Departments are encouraged to consider using the State of Kansas contracts because these agreements provide good products at good prices.
Q. What are State Use Items?
A. State Use Items refers to items available from the State Use Catalog for Blind & Handicapped Made Goods. Items available through the State Use Catalog must still be purchased through vendors noted in the catalog. The website listing state use items and related vendors is www.ksstateuse.org . Primary vendors and their products are: Envision for writing instruments, Ketch for three-ring binders, Cartridge King for toner cartridges, etc. Departments may purchase these items directly from the vendors or through Staples, which stocks State Use items.
Q. Okay, so K-State depts. are exempt from Statewide Contracts. What about K-State specific contracts?
A. Statewide contracts were established by the State Division of Purchases for all state agencies as a “one-size fits all” agreement. While the statewide contracts are good contracts the mandatory nature did not allow for flexibility when the situation called for it, resulting in extra work for small return. Hence the release from the statewide contracts. CAUTION: The copier contract may be a statewide contract but each copier placement set a binding three-year agreement which takes precedence over this general policy change. Can’t change copiers until October 31, 2012.
K-State specific contracts were established for K-State and the University signed the contract with the vendor. Most of these agreements are even department specific. Examples are clothing rental, food items, taxicab service, et al.
Q. What stays the same?
A. Several points:
Q. What is a “consortium”?
A. In the purchasing world, a consortium is a group of similar entities pulling their buying powers together to obtain better pricing, service, etc. K-State has the ability to purchase through various consortia, such as MHEC (Midwestern Higher Education Compact), E& I (Educational& Institutional Cooperative Purchasing), and WSCA (Western States Contracting Alliance). There are other purchasing groups which K-State may be able to participate in. Contact Purchasing when special equipment purchases arise. We may be able to tap into an existing contract through a consortium.