CMC Purchasing Handbook...CMC Purchasing Department Team ..... 20 Chapter 3: Competitive Purchases...

Purchasing Handbook

Fiscal Year 2016-2017

(If viewing electronically, click the ‘Bookmark’ symbol in the top left corner for the navigation pane)

CMC Purchasing Handbook FY2016-17

2 | P a g e

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK


3 | P a g e

Purchasing Handbook

Table of Contents

Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 1: Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Where to Find Help and Information ........................................................................................................................ 8

1. Basecamp ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

2. Quick Reference Guide ................................................................................................................................. 8

3. Designated Buyers........................................................................................................................................ 8

How to Use this Handbook ........................................................................................................................................ 8

Before You Buy .......................................................................................................................................................... 9

Purchasing Code of Ethics ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Authority to Purchase ......................................................................................................................................... 10

Alcohol ................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Unauthorized Expenditures; Funds 10, 20, 50, 51 ............................................................................................. 11

Unauthorized Expenditures; Funds 12, 15, 60 .................................................................................................... 13

Authorized Items with Limits; Funds 10, 12, 15, 50, 51, 60 ................................................................................ 13

Professional Development .................................................................................................................................. 14

Working Lunches and Meals ............................................................................................................................... 14

Choosing the Right Purchasing Method .................................................................................................................. 16

Avoiding Out-of-Policy Purchases ........................................................................................................................... 16

Conflicts of Interest ............................................................................................................................................. 16

After-the-fact Purchase Orders ........................................................................................................................... 16

Compliance with Competitive Bidding Limits ..................................................................................................... 17

Selecting the Best Value for Purchase ................................................................................................................ 17

Vendor Insurance Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 17

Vendor Agreements Signed by the College ........................................................................................................ 18

Gift Cards and Certificates .................................................................................................................................. 18


4 | P a g e

Chapter 2: Purchasing Process and Work Flow ........................................................................................................... 19

Process Flow ............................................................................................................................................................ 19

Designated Buyers ................................................................................................................................................... 19

CMC Purchasing Department Team ........................................................................................................................ 20

Chapter 3: Competitive Purchases and RFPs .............................................................................................................. 21

Competitive Purchase and Bid Requirements ......................................................................................................... 21

RFP and RFQ Intake Form ........................................................................................................................................ 21

Request for Quote (RFQ) ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Request for Proposal (RFP)...................................................................................................................................... 22

Bid Waivers and Exceptions .................................................................................................................................... 23

1. Sole Source Procurements ......................................................................................................................... 23

2. Single Source Procurements ....................................................................................................................... 24

3. Emergency Condition ................................................................................................................................. 24

4. College-wide Price Agreement(s) (“CPA”) .................................................................................................. 25

5. Cooperative Purchasing Agreement(s) ...................................................................................................... 25

6. Colorado Correctional Industries ............................................................................................................... 26

7. Used equipment ......................................................................................................................................... 26

8. Professional Services .................................................................................................................................. 26

9. Goods for Resale ........................................................................................................................................ 26

10. Revenue Producing Contracts ................................................................................................................ 26

11. Vehicles .................................................................................................................................................. 26

Chapter 4: Risk Management and Insurance .............................................................................................................. 27

Risk Management Process ...................................................................................................................................... 27

Risk Factors ............................................................................................................................................................. 27

Vendor Liability Insurance ....................................................................................................................................... 27

CMC Insurance Requirements ................................................................................................................................. 27

Certificates of Insurance ......................................................................................................................................... 29

How to Obtain a vendor’s Compliant Certificate of Insurance ............................................................................... 29

Chapter 5 - How to Pay for your Purchase .................................................................................................................. 31

P-Card ...................................................................................................................................................................... 31

Voucher ................................................................................................................................................................... 31

Purchase Order........................................................................................................................................................ 32

How to get a Purchase Order .................................................................................................................................. 32

Step 1: Inform your Designated Buyer of the purchase ..................................................................................... 32


5 | P a g e

Step 2: Confirm the vendor is registered in Colleague ...................................................................................... 32

Step 3: Enter a Requisition in Colleague ............................................................................................................ 32

Step 4: Send your Quote or Estimate from the vendor to Linda Ouellette ....................................................... 34

Step 5: Send Anything the Vendor wants Signed to Lucas Ten Harmsel ........................................................... 34

Step 6: Purchase Order is sent to Vendor .......................................................................................................... 34

Step 7: Receive the Goods or Services ............................................................................................................... 34

Step 8: Obtain an Invoice from the vendor ........................................................................................................ 34

Step 9: Enter a Voucher for Payment................................................................................................................. 34

Step 10: Submit the Voucher to Accounts Payable ............................................................................................ 35

Step 11: Purchasing Processes and Mails the vendor’s Check ........................................................................... 35

Step 12: Celebrate! ............................................................................................................................................ 35

After-the-fact Purchase Orders ........................................................................................................................... 35

Expense Reimbursement Requests ......................................................................................................................... 35

Chapter 6: Contracts and Agreements ....................................................................................................................... 38

Signature Authority ................................................................................................................................................. 38

Types of Contracts ................................................................................................................................................... 38

CMC’s Purchase Order Terms and Conditions .................................................................................................... 38

Vendor Agreements ............................................................................................................................................ 38

CMC Standard Contracts and Agreements ......................................................................................................... 39

How to Get a Contract Signed ................................................................................................................................. 39

Best practices for contracting with your Vendor .................................................................................................... 39

Contract Objectives ............................................................................................................................................. 39

Scope of Work Documents and Vendor Deliverables ......................................................................................... 40

Managing the Contract ........................................................................................................................................... 40

List of Contracts....................................................................................................................................................... 41

Contract Intake Form .............................................................................................................................................. 41

Chapter 7: Travel ........................................................................................................................................................ 42

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 42

Food ........................................................................................................................................................................ 43

Meal per-diem Eligibility Chart ................................................................................................................................ 44

Lodging .................................................................................................................................................................... 44

Transportation......................................................................................................................................................... 45

Travel Advances ...................................................................................................................................................... 46

Combining College and Personal Travel .................................................................................................................. 46


6 | P a g e

Chapter 8: P-Cards ...................................................................................................................................................... 48

Overview and Policy ................................................................................................................................................ 48

Critical P-Card information: ..................................................................................................................................... 48

Working lunches and meals: ................................................................................................................................... 50

Vendor categories: .................................................................................................................................................. 50

Card Use Procedures ............................................................................................................................................... 51

Procurement Process .............................................................................................................................................. 52

Resolving Errors/Disputes/Returns/Refunds .......................................................................................................... 53

Enforcement ............................................................................................................................................................ 53

Notes ....................................................................................................................................................................... 53

CMC P-Card Application .......................................................................................................................................... 56

Appendix – Best Practices and Other Purchasing Tips ............................................................................................ 57

Best value ............................................................................................................................................................ 57

Estimated cost .................................................................................................................................................... 57

Freight ................................................................................................................................................................. 57

Needs Assessment .............................................................................................................................................. 57

Initial Research .................................................................................................................................................... 58

Pre-Solicitation Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 58

Table of Figures Figure 1: Designated Buyers ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2: Code of Ethics ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Figure 3: Process to Purchase Alcohol ........................................................................................................................ 11 Figure 4: Purchasing Process Overview ...................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 5 – RFP/Q Intake Form ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 6: RFQ Process and Timeline ............................................................................................................................ 22 Figure 7: RFP Process and Timeline ............................................................................................................................ 23 Figure 8: Vendor Insurance Requirements ................................................................................................................. 28 Figure 9: Services Exempted from Requiring an Insurance Certificate ....................................................................... 29 Figure 10: P-Card Purchases ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 11: Purchase Order Work Flow ........................................................................................................................ 32 Figure 12: Expense Reimbursement Form .................................................................................................................. 35 Figure 13 – PO Terms and Conditions.......................................................................................................................... 38 Figure 14: Travel Per-diem for Meals ......................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 15 - Meal per-diem Eligibility Chart .................................................................................................................. 44


7 | P a g e

Executive Summary Colorado Mountain College utilizes a decentralized purchasing process where buying decisions are made and executed by individuals at the Campus and Department level. The advantage of this model is that you, the end-user, are generally able to determine the best value for the College. That advantage comes with a significant responsibility, however. In this procurement model the end-user functions as a purchasing agent on behalf of the College. That means you have accepted the responsibility to understand and follow established rules, do sufficient research to determine the best value, negotiate terms with your vendor, receive the product or manage the service, and initiate payment to the vendor when you are satisfied with the supplier’s performance. The Purchasing Department is here to help at every step along the way. While it is the responsibility of the person initiating the purchase to follow procedure, the employee that is ultimately held accountable is the supervisor who approved the expenditure. Whether the expense was paid via a P-Card, Voucher, Purchase Order or via an expense reimbursement request, once you sign off on an expenditure as the Initiator’s supervisor you are accountable for any oversight or lack of judgment as if were your own.


8 | P a g e

Campuses Central Services Leadville Susan Estes, Mollie Sorenson Academic Affairs Christine Burke Steamboat Kathie Rudasics Student Affairs Kim Arnold Roaring Fork Jackie O’Brien IT Margaret Flesner Edwards Wendy Wotring, Julie Lingle Facilities Pete Waller Summit Jen Kemppainen Executive Office Myia Lackey, Deb Novak Aspen Christina Montemayor Marketing Kendra Wilson Rifle Karen Roberts Other CS staff Kim Buchanan, Lucas TenHarmsel

Chapter 1: Overview Where to Find Help and Information

1. Basecamp For all forms, documents, training and how-to’s. Purchasing’s Basecamp page is organized in three columns: Column 1: Quick Reference Guide, Purchasing Handbook, Forms, Documents and Contracts, How-to’s Column 2: Training Resources Column 3: Purchasing team and Designated Buyer contact information

2. Quick Reference Guide The Quick Reference Guide is available on Basecamp. It summarizes College buying policy and provides information on related processes: Page 1: Summary, Overview and FAQ Page 2: How to buy for $5,000 or less, and how to buy for more than $5,000.

3. Designated Buyers Each campus and several operating departments have selected a person to oversee spending. They have access to more purchasing resources and training, and are charged with ensuring expenditures are from the right account. A list of Designated Buyers is provided below:

How to Use this Handbook This Handbook is searchable. The Colorado Mountain College (“College”) purchasing process follows the State of Colorado Procurement Code as outlined in the Colorado State Procurement Manual where possible and practical. Most departures from state code are to give supervisors in the College more flexibility to make buying decisions. This Handbook is for any college staff or faculty member that has a P-Card or is involved in making buying decisions for the College, placing orders for goods or services, receiving goods and services, directly communicating with vendors or suppliers, or managing a project that uses goods or services provided by a third party. Please contact the purchasing department if you have questions about anything in this handbook.

Figure 1: Designated Buyers


9 | P a g e

State of Colorado Procurement Code of Ethics

Any person who purchases goods and services, or is involved in the purchasing process for CMC shall be bound by this code and shall:

1. Avoid the intent and appearance of unethical or compromising practices in relationships, actions, and communications.

2. Demonstrate loyalty to the College by diligently following the lawful instructions of the State of Colorado while using professional judgment, reasonable care, and exercising only the authority granted.

3. Conduct all purchasing activities in accordance with the laws, while remaining alert to, and advising the College regarding the legal ramifications of the purchasing decisions.

4. Refrain from any private or professional activity that would create a conflict between personal interests and the interests of the College (C.R.S., 18-8-308).

5. Identify and strive to eliminate participation of any individual in operational situations where a conflict of interest may be involved.

6. Never solicit or accept money, loans, credits, or prejudicial discounts, and avoid the acceptance of gifts, entertainment, favors, or services from present or potential suppliers which might influence, or appear to influence purchasing decisions.

7. Promote positive supplier relationships through impartiality in all phases of the purchasing cycle.

8. Display the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships in order to merit the respect and inspire the confidence of CMC and the public being served.

9. Provide an environment where all business concerns, large or small, majority or minority owned, are afforded an equal opportunity to compete for College business.

10. Enhance the proficiency and stature of the purchasing profession by adhering to the highest standards of ethical behavior.

Before You Buy Purchasing Code of Ethics CMC personnel are empowered to deal directly with suppliers, contractors and vendors. When you represent the college in the procurement of goods and services you are considered a purchasing agent. Because CMC is a public entity we all have responsibility to protect the public trust. The Purchasing Department’s mandate includes compliance and transparency. Virtually everything that happens in the purchasing and contracts department is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act and even the appearance of impropriety can embarrass the College. CMC adheres to the State of Colorado Procurement Code of Ethics as presented below with the reference changed from the State of Colorado to CMC.

Figure 2: Code of Ethics


10 | P a g e

Authority to Purchase The Board of Trustees of Colorado Mountain College is entrusted with budgeting and allocating college funds. The majority of the college’s funding comes from property owners in our service area paying property taxes. As a result, most activities in the purchasing function are public record. CMC is required to act as good stewards of the taxpayer dollar and also to conduct business in a transparent way. With the exception of an open negotiation with a vendor(s) on a prospective purchase, you should assume everything you do when deciding how to spend College money can be printed in the newspaper. A request for information can be made by anyone under the Colorado Open Records Act to which the College must comply. The Board of Trustees delegates the day-to-day authority to enter into contractual relationships and to purchase goods and services on behalf of the College to the College President. The President then appoints college designees to sign purchase orders, execute contracts and enter agreements. Presidential designees are the only personnel at the College with the express authority to bind the College to purchases of goods or services. All employees have implied authority in discussions with third parties. This means that even though you do not technically have the authority to commit the College to an expenditure of resources or an assumption of risk, a third party has valid reason to assume that you do. You must conduct negotiations and other discussions within the provisions of this Handbook. All purchases are subject to Purchasing Department review and approval. Contact the Purchasing Department for help or to report problems immediately if you are having a disagreement of any kind with a vendor or prospective vendor.

Alcohol Serving or otherwise making alcohol available introduces unique risks and needs to follow a specific process of approval prior to the event.

Alcohol Policy

Although alcohol use on CMC campuses or CMC sponsored events is prohibited, it is recognized there are occasions where serving alcohol may be permitted with prior approval by the College President or their designee. An event qualified for consideration to serve alcohol and request for Presidential approval should meet the qualifications outlined below:

• Support CMC’s involvement in the community; • Raise awareness of CMC’s academic programs and achievements; • Assist CMC Foundation’s fundraising efforts; • Contribute to credit and/or non-credit academic programing; or • Showcase CMC’s assets and facilities to the community.

Following are the steps required to obtain approval to serve alcohol on CMC premises or at a CMC sponsored event:

1. Department or Campus hosting the event (the Host) must submit a completed Application for Approval - CMC Event Serving Alcohol to their Department or Campus VP or leader for approval and sign off. The Application is available on the Risk Management page on Basecamp or by contacting the risk management department.

2. The Host will then forward the campus approved Application to Risk Management along with any supporting documents. The Director of Risk Management will ensure that CMC’s insurance provides coverage for the liquor liability exposure associated with the event. The Director will sign off and return the Application to the Host along with insurance requirements for caterers and/ or bartenders, if applicable.

3. Following Risk Management signoff, the Host will forward the Application to the CMC President or her designee for approval.

4. The Host will apply for and obtain any liquor licenses in accordance with local ordinances and regulations, unless an annual liquor license is already in place.

5. The Host will work with CMC PIO & Marketing for promotional activities.


11 | P a g e

6. During the event, alcohol may only be served by TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures Certification) certified servers and in accordance with all laws and ordinances. The serving of alcohol to minors is absolutely prohibited. Credit and non-credit classes incorporating alcohol (i.e. wine tasting or pairing) may be exempt from this TIPS requirement if approved by the President or her designee.

7. The Host is responsible for obtaining a compliant Certificate of

Insurance (COI) from any contracted caterers and/or bartenders hired to serve alcohol as directed by Risk Management (see #2). NOTE: CMC employees are not allowed to accept tips for serving as this violates payroll regulations.

8. If alcohol is not donated or provided by a bartending service, the purchase of alcohol must be made with a P-Card in accordance with CMC purchasing regulations. Contact the Purchasing Department to open the P-Card so the transaction will not be declined at the liquor store.

9. Store alcohol in a secure non-public space before the event. Any leftover alcohol must be securely stored following the event. Plan purchases to minimize storage time and leftover product.

10. Report any incidents, disruptions, or accidents occurring during an event to Risk Management. Exceptions include incidental purchases by culinary program managers and CLETA training.

Unauthorized Expenditures; Funds 10, 20, 50, 51 Following is a list of expenditure items viewed as inappropriate for purchase with taxpayer’s dollars allocated to funds 10, 20, 50 and 51: Political Contributions. Donations to a politician’s campaign fund or contributions to a lobbying effort that is not managed by the executive office are not allowed. Golf passes, Ski passes or Pool passes. Exceptions are cases in which students reimburse the College for passes required as part of a College class and passes for ski team members. All other expenses in this area must either be offered through the College’s employee benefit plan or approved by the Chief Operating Officer. Purchase of Flowers. In situations where flowers or other decorative items are needed the best practice is to pass the hat to self-fund the expense. In some cases flowers are acceptable if they are purchased for a college-wide purpose. This is an area of increased compliance requirements so take extra caution when ordering. See the VP of Fiscal Affairs or COO for questions. Exceptions can be made for special events such

Figure 3: Process to Purchase Alcohol


12 | P a g e

as graduation, community social events, open houses, and donor events. Flowers are not authorized for personal gifts. Parties. Social gatherings and celebrations are generally not allowable to be funded with College money. Certain special events, including Christmas, going away, staff and retirement parties may be approved with auxiliary funds. Only prudent, common sense spending on a holiday or retirement party to show staff appreciation is authorized. Extravagant expenses such as a private restaurant party is not an approved expenditure. For example, a main dish purchased for recognition of employees that is under the lunch per diem supplemented by participants each bringing a side dish may be approved. A private, full course dinner that exceeds the approved per diem amount per attendee is not considered prudent. Social gatherings and parties are a topic of increased scrutiny in spending college resources so prudence and discretion is required. Contact the Vice President of Fiscal Affairs or Chief Operating Officer for pre-approval questions. Holiday and Birthday Cards. The exception is holiday cards sent by the College Marketing Department or Executive Office. Gifts of Appreciation. It is not appropriate to purchase food for employees as a reward for doing a good job. Personalized Stationery. Any stationary displaying an employee’s name or title must be pre-approved by the President. Automobile Citations for Infractions. Moving and parking violations are the responsibility of the employee whether they are traveling for the College or not, and whether they are driving a personal or College vehicle. Alcohol. Paying for alcohol with college money is nearly always unauthorized. Exceptions include incidental purchases by culinary program managers for purposes of meal preparation only, and approved campus events subject to necessary licensing and risk management review. See the Alcohol Policy in this Handbook for details on following the established approval process for an event that will feature alcohol consumption. Food. In general CMC does not purchase food for college employees or constituents other than the per-diem (see Travel) and working lunches or meals (see below) sections of this Handbook. Gifts to individuals in lieu of payment for lodging, meals, transportation, etc. In some cases it seems prudent to pay a friend or relative to put you up for the night because it is less expensive than a hotel. Paying a private citizen rather than a commercially operable lodging facility is not an authorized use of College funds. Membership to Exclusive or Private Clubs. Examples are a dinner club or vacation club, health club, golf course or other memberships requiring the payment of a fee. Consult Human Resources for information about utilizing the College wellness benefit at an athletic club. Entertainment. Social get-togethers of a non-business nature. Participation in local fundraising events. Exceptions may be made by the COO if the expense is from an auxiliary fund (12 and 15 funds) as long as the amount is not excessive or the event is exclusive. Use reason and judgment when requesting authorization for these types of expenditures. If buying multiple tickets or a table, populate it with staff involved with the event, then the students of the organization and lastly with staff that is not directly connected to the event.


13 | P a g e

Unauthorized Expenditures; Funds 12, 15, 60 Political Contributions. Donations to a politician’s campaign fund or contributions to a lobbying effort that is not managed by the executive office are not allowed. Gifts to individuals in lieu of payment for lodging, meals, transportation, etc. (i.e. staying with a friend or relative when out of town on business). Automobile Citations for Infractions. Moving and parking violations are the responsibility of the employee whether they are traveling for the College or not, and whether they are driving a personal or College vehicle. Membership to Exclusive or Private Clubs. Examples are a dinner club or vacation club, health club, golf course or other memberships requiring the payment of a fee. Consult Human Resources for information about utilizing the College wellness benefit at an athletic club. Golf Passes, Ski Passes or Pool Passes. Exceptions will be cases in which students reimburse the College for passes required as part of a College class and passes for ski team members. All other expenses in this area must either be offered through the College’s employee benefit plan or approved by the Chief Operating Officer. Purchase of Flowers. In situations where flowers or other decorative items are needed the best practice is to pass the hat to self-fund the expense. In some cases flowers are acceptable if they are purchased for a college-wide purpose. This is an area of increased compliance requirements so take extra caution when ordering. See the VP of Fiscal Affairs or COO for questions. Exceptions can be made for special events such as graduation, community social events, open houses, and donors. Flowers are not authorized for personal gifts.

Authorized Items with Limits; Funds 10, 12, 15, 50, 51, 60 Following is a list of expenditures which are authorized for purchase in the 10, 12, 15, 50, 51 and 60 funds only under certain circumstances, please check with your supervisor for approval prior to making one of the purchases described below. Number of conferences a staff member attends in one year. The ability to travel to professional development opportunities is a privilege that is not always applicable equitably to all employees. To extend professional development and other opportunities to as many staff members as possible, College Council approved the general expectation that each staff member will attend no more than two conferences a year with a plan for department coverage in their absence. Attendance at more than two conferences in a year is allowable in some circumstances and need to be individually approved by supervisors. Cost associated with leadership programs, master’s classes, conferences, etc. CMC supports activities that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of our employees as long as all applicable rules are followed and with prior supervisor approval. College Council has approved the following guidelines:

• Prudent use of taxpayer dollars is expected • Must be for formal professional development • Tuition Assistance Benefit (TAB) • Supervisor approval needed in advance • Either the 10 or 12 fund can be used based on availability of funding • Must be directly job related

For example, an employee in Academic Affairs may obtain supervisor approval to enroll in a development program that endeavors to provide skills to prepare that person for more responsibility within a succession plan.


14 | P a g e

Art work. College Council has approved the following guidelines: • For new buildings, as much of the interior design should be done within the construction

budget • Art work should reflect our communities and students • Aesthetically pleasing buildings are important to both our students and our donors,

however, reasonable judgment and prudent spending apply • Bid processes should be used when work such as framing is needed for multiple pieces of

art • The Director of ArtShare is our internal expert for hanging and placement of art work • In general, auxiliary funds should be used for the purchase of art work

Items printed with the CMC Logo. For purposes of branding consistency all branded or logo’d items require approval from marketing. The process to get that approval happens when a PO is issued, therefore all purchases of such items require a PO or BPO regardless of the amount of expenditure. All items printed with or using a CMC logo must be purchased using a purchase order or blanket purchase order.

NOTE: Grant funds or 20 funds must also follow the guidelines of the grant for what constitutes an appropriate expenditure. If the college’s policy is more stringent than the grant the College policy applies.

Professional Development Exceptions for payment for training covered by Professional Development Funds can be made if approved in advance by your campus or department leader charged with allocating these funds. Best practice is to pay for all approved Professional Development travel and training with a College P-Card. In situations where the campus leader determines paying with a CMC P-Card does not fit the need, exceptions can be made. For example, if a faculty member wants CMC to pay his or her expenses to a conference and the campus leader does not yet know if sufficient Professional Development Funds will be available, the traveler may make travel arrangements using their personal credit card and enter an expense reimbursement request for repayment if the cost is ultimately approved by the campus. Traveler should only make such arrangements if he or she is planning to attend the event even if CMC does not elect to reimburse the expense. The 60-day requirement to submit for reimbursement is extended to one year. The maximum charge of $100 for reimbursement does not apply. Payment via personal funds for professional training does not guarantee reimbursement by the College.

Working Lunches and Meals

CMC Policy on Buying Food for Staff As a general rule the College does not buy food. The financial impact to the College is substantial, but more than the financial cost must be considered when purchasing meals. It is also inevitable that campuses, departments or employees will feel the benefit of the College buying meals is not equitably distributed and can be interpreted negatively by the public. In certain limited cases it is appropriate for the College to purchase a meal for a team of employees working together on approved college business subject to the following rules: 1. The only purpose and subject of the meal must be for approved college business. 2. The expense of the meal must be less than the cost of temporarily breaking a meeting. In most

cases it is practical to break for lunch and reconvene the meeting. For a meal to be purchased by the College it must be determined that the cost of interruption outweighs the financial and other costs of the meal.

3. Employee attendance during the meeting must be mandatory. For example, if employees have the option to leave for lunch and return an hour later, the College may not fund that lunch.

4. Meals to show employee appreciation are not allowed. 5. Meals with the primary objective of teambuilding are not allowed.


15 | P a g e

6. All meals purchased must be pre-approved by the appropriate budget officer. 7. Working meals charged to a P-Card must have an itemized receipt, a list of participants (if fewer than

12) and a clear description of the topic. 8. Supervisors signing off on a P-Card report or expense reimbursement form should take extra care to

review these charges for compliance. A supervisor bears the same compliance responsibility as the cardholder or employee charging the meal.

9. Be sure to subtract from your per diem request on your expense reimbursement form any meals that were provided by the College, including those in meetings or at seminars and conferences.

10. In most cases the cost of the meal per person will come in below the travel day per diem rates. The College cannot pay more per employee per meal than the established per diem rate.

A working meal consists of any food, prepared or otherwise. Coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages may be purchased by the College as deemed appropriate by presiding party and his or her supervisor. Small, incidental purchases of muffins, bagels, etc. are allowable.

Official Functions Policy While meals between colleagues are not necessarily improper, it does require additional care and attention. Leadership asks that we do two things before submitting a reimbursement request for a meal between CMC colleagues;

1. Please review the State Fiscal Rule regarding “Official Functions” (below). This is the law and

related rule the legislature uses to determine the appropriateness of meals and events that involve public employees. Though it’s possible for a college to have its own rules concerning official functions, and CMC does, keep the rule below in mind when deciding whether to host a meal or “event” that includes CMC staff. This is the prevailing guidance regarding public expenditures and the way most “taxpayers” view them, that is, determining whether the expenditure was for an official business purpose or for “personal benefit.” A CMC rule of thumb is that expensed meals among college staff should only occur if having the meal saves the college money or time, typically if deadlines are looming and staff forego their lunchtime breaks because it is the only time available. Otherwise, staff should plan to bring brown bag lunches or pay for their own lunches.

2. If/when you host an “official function” lunch and submit its expenses for reimbursement, please

provide as much detail about the “official business purpose” of the meal as you can with your reimbursement request. So, instead of providing a rationale like this “Meeting with (fill in the blank),” which took place at a local restaurant, please provide something more like “Meeting with (fill in the blank) to discuss (topic); meeting at a restaurant was necessary because (rationale).” Try to apply the lens of an external auditor to it. Our external auditors ask questions like: what was the official business purpose of the meeting? Why did it need to take place at a restaurant and not in your office? and, could the meeting have taken place at a different time that did not involve a meal?

Office of the State Auditor – Official Function Policy Authority: 24-30-202, C.R.S. (State Controller Authority)

Definitions: Official Function - A meeting, conference, meal, or other function that is hosted by the chief executive officer, or representative, of a state agency or institution of higher education, attended by guests and/or state employees, and held for official state business purposes. Training Function - A meeting, conference, or other function which is hosted by a state agency or institution of higher education, attended by customers of the state and/or state employees, and held to enhance staff knowledge or to educate customers of the state or state employees, that are affected by


16 | P a g e

the state agency or institution of higher education's operations or regulations. Training functions should have a written agenda, study materials, and be led by an identified presenter. Rule - Official functions and training functions shall be held to achieve program objectives and shall be limited to reasonable and actual costs. The attendance of state employees at official functions shall be kept to a minimum and shall include only those individuals directly related to the purpose of the function. Expenditures shall be kept to a minimum as they have the potential of being perceived to be for personal benefit and an abuse of public funds. Expenditures incurred for official functions shall be approved by the chief executive officer or by a representative of the state agency or institution of higher education that has been delegated authority by the chief executive officer.

Choosing the Right Purchasing Method P-Card: Goods and non-high risk services under $5,000 are often most efficiently paid with a P-Card. Purchases made with a P-Card do not have the protection of the College’s terms and conditions. Therefore, no high-risk services may be paid for with a P-Card without prior authorization from the P-Card coordinator. High-risk services, which are usually facilities related, are addressed in the Risk Management and Insurance section of this Handbook. Payment tithe vendor is made immediately with a P-Card which is often their preference, but it tips the leverage against us in a dispute. If you are purchasing a service, something that generates any risk for the college, or have reason to believe that there is a higher than average possibility that the transaction will lead to a future conflict always use the purchase order process even if the expenditure is less than $5,000. See the P-Card section in Chapter 5: How to Pay for your Purchase for more information. Voucher: Goods for up to $5,000 that you can’t or don’t want to pay with a P-Card. Like with a P-Card, purchases made with a voucher do not have the protection of the college’s terms and conditions. Therefore, no high-risk services may be paid for with a voucher; the PO process must be used when hiring a high-risk service provider. See the Voucher section in Chapter 5: How to Pay for your Purchase for more information. Purchase order or blanket purchase order: Most purchases for the College are made with a purchase order. All high-risk services and purchases that cost more than $5,000 usually require a PO or blanket PO. See the Purchase Order section in Chapter 5: How to Pay for your Purchase for more information.

Avoiding Out-of-Policy Purchases Our decentralized purchasing comes with a few places where it is easy to be out of compliance:

Conflicts of Interest Our small communities make it possible to find yourself in a conflict very easily. A conflict of interest exists when you or another party stands to gain or benefit personally from the college’s buying power, vendor relationships or business practices. Hiring a family member or friend as a contractor, owning an interest in a firm providing services to the college, earning frequent flier miles or other credit card rewards are examples of conflicts that should be avoided. Even the appearance of impropriety can damage the public trust. Let the purchasing department know if you have a personal relationship or a family member that wants to be a CMC vendor.

After-the-fact Purchase Orders A particularly easy mistake to make in this type of purchasing structure is having the vendor provide the product or service to the College before we have a purchase order. If we receive an invoice from a vendor asking for payment for performance or delivery that has a date on it that is prior to a PO date (or a separately pre-negotiated contract) the purchase is considered after-the-fact. The PO is the only official way that a vendor can know that the College has ordered something. If a vendor performs a service or delivers a product without being issued a purchase order, the purchase is out of compliance. In this case the College has no written agreement with the vendor that details what we are buying and for how much.


17 | P a g e

More importantly the transaction does not include CMC’s purchase order terms and conditions which establish basic rights for the College in an agreement. After-the-fact purchase orders present several significant problems in the purchasing process.

1. There may be an insufficient description of the basic business agreement 2. No legal terms and conditions govern the transaction 3. Approvals from supervisors and budget officers are not completed before the purchase 4. The purchase may not be compatible with current information technology or facilities

infrastructure 5. The College may also already own or otherwise have access to your needed product or service 6. Involved campus and department personnel may not be aware of their responsibilities under

the agreement, or when/where a vendor may need access to CMC property 7. Bid and insurance requirements may not be met

To maintain a purchasing function for the College that has institutional control we must address each of the items above. The purchase order is how CMC has elected to address all of those issues. As such, it is the most important and critical document in the purchasing process. College employees who repeatedly cause a vendor to perform before a purchase order is completed will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Each step is necessary and must be taken in the order depicted above to be considered compliant. After-the-fact POs increase the expense to the College in two ways; we take more risk than necessary by not having terms and conditions or insurance with the vendor, and we do not evaluate the property currently owned by the College that may be deployed to address the need. For example, if an instructor needs software licenses for a class we may already have a college-wide account with unused seats that could be utilized.

Compliance with Competitive Bidding Limits Like any public entity CMC subjects its more substantial purchases to competitive requirements. Soliciting offers from multiple parties serves two simultaneous college interests:

1. Controls cost – the simple fact that vendors know they are competing for our contract results in lower offering prices and better terms for the College.

2. Local vendor participation – vendors have the opportunity to compete fairly for college business.

CMC requires that all purchases of more than $10,000 (RFQ, goods) and $25,000 (RFP, services) introduce competition to the selection. Please note; these limits are set and approved by the Board of Trustees and must be followed in all cases, except where the purchasing directed makes an express exception.

Selecting the Best Value for Purchase Every expenditure of college resources is an investment in our student’s experience. The objective is always to identify and purchase the product or service that provides the best value to the College. Best value means the lowest total cost of lifetime ownership. Unfortunately it is often not as simple as lowest price. You should always carefully consider any expenditure of resources to be certain that the purchase is in fact needed, that the timing to make the buy is right, that the right vendor is selected and that the best available purchase terms are reached. Once you’ve defined your need and done basic research you will have an informed estimate of the purchase’s cost so you can determine whether the good or service needs to be bid. As the buying agent you are always required to do sufficient research into the purchase to ensure best value and determines whether a requirement to submit competitive bids or go to formal bid exists or not. The Purchasing Department is available anytime to help with the selection of your purchase or vendor negotiations.

Vendor Insurance Requirements All service providers for CMC must be professional businesses with appropriate licensing, expertise and insurance coverage. For services related to our facilities or otherwise exposing the college to risk we must have our contractor submit a certificate of insurance naming the college as an additional insured. Consult


18 | P a g e

Chapter 4 on risk management and insurance to determine whether your Vendor needs to provide an insurance certificate. If so, direct your vendor to the purchasing department external website and ask them to forward the insurance requirements to their insurance agent or broker. Vendors are required to maintain certain types and minimum limits of insurance based on the type of service they are providing for the College. Any variation from these requirements needs the approval of the College Risk Management Department. This policy ensures the selection of responsible vendors and adequate protection of the College. Vendors should carry the following types of insurance: Commercial General Liability, Professional Liability (where applicable), Automobile Liability (where the operation of an automobile is a part of the contract), and Workers’ Compensation if they have employees. The full Insurance Requirements document is found on the purchasing page of www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing and may be forwarded to vendors. Contact Steve Rozanski or Gina Pedrick in risk management for questions about vendor insurance.

Vendor Agreements Signed by the College All services must have a clear description of the scope of work, the project’s timing, a rate schedule or explanation of cost, and the terms of payment. Generally a service provider has an estimate or a proposal that they prepare to assist CMC in determining whether to contract for the service. All such documents must be forwarded to Lucas in the contracts department for review and execution prior to performance of the service. Do not sign vendor agreements yourself. If the service contains risk to CMC the terms and conditions of our purchase order are required to be part of the agreement. In cases where the vendor is paid with a purchase order our terms and conditions are part of the purchase order. In all other cases the vendor must be notified in writing that our terms and conditions apply. Contact Linda Ouellette for assistance.

Gift Cards and Certificates All gift card purchases are to be pre-approved by your supervisor and meet the below policy: The gift card purchase request form is to be completed and signed by your supervisor and the P-Card coordinator prior to any gift card purchase at www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing.

• Gift cards may only be purchased from an auxiliary or student fund. Exemptions from this policy may be made for a 10 fund purchase in exceptional cases including pre-approved programs at CMC and only with the approval of Linda English, Vice President of Fiscal Affairs (VPFA).

• They may not be greater than $25. • No employee is eligible to receive a gift card that has been purchased by the College, or

multiple gift cards totaling more than $25 in any calendar year. Any amount provided to an employee over $25 will be considered an employee benefit and be generated by our Human Resources department. Any gift cards or gifts given to employees in excess of $25 per calendar year must be processed by HR and will be considered taxable income to that employee. Employees/faculty/adjuncts must have the opportunity to decline the gift.

http://www.coloradomtn.edu/

http://www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing


19 | P a g e

Chapter 2: Purchasing Process and Work Flow Process Flow

The purchasing requirements are based primarily on the amount of money being committed. All college purchases of more than $1,000 require more than one person to pre-approve the buy. Select the appropriate process to use in your purchase here. Detailed instructions and process flow charts are in Chapter 5.

Designated Buyers Each campus and several operating departments have selected a person to oversee spending. The Designated Buyer acts for the campus or department leader(s) on purchasing and procurement matters. They have higher approval authority, access to additional purchasing resources and training, and are charged with ensuring that all expenditures are from the right account. Designated Buyers are here to help and support you, but are not responsible for appropriate P-Card usage or accuracy of expense reimbursement requests or P-Card reconciliations. The cardholder or person being reimbursed, along with that person’s supervisor, are responsible for the proper execution, reporting and record keeping associated with buying on behalf of the College. By submitting requests and documentation that fall into the following categories to your Designated Buyer, your issue will find its way through the process most efficiently:

1. P-Card reconciliations 2. Expense reimbursement requests 3. Vendor paperwork; including proposals, estimates, quotes, terms and conditions, invoices

and contracts 4. Requests for approval of purchases over $1,000 in one of the following ways:

a. Campus P-Card ($1,000 to $5,000) b. Temporary increase in your P-Card limit c. Voucher ($5,000 or less) or PO/BPO (over $5,000) in Colleague

These specialists have many constituents and it is critical that you submit requests and reports that are accurate and complete. The buyer is responsible to follow procedure and collect any necessary documentation, the campus or department specialist’s role is to collect and approve them, then forward to purchasing for processing. It is not possible for them to have to chase things like late P-Card receipts and vendor invoices and keep up with their responsibilities, they need your help. See Figure 1 for a list of Designated Buyers by Campus.

*Important: Please note that you and your supervisor are solely responsible for the compliance of your spending activities and reporting, your Designated Buyer is a resource but is not responsible for your expense reimbursement requests, P-Card reconciliation or other purchasing and contracts issue.

Figure 4: Purchasing Process Overview


20 | P a g e

CMC Purchasing Department Team The following is a list of personnel and primary responsibilities:

• Steve Boyd x8402 Director of Purchasing and Contracts; [email protected] - policy questions, unresolved or elevated situations, contract signatures, emergency purchases, bid waivers and for other exceptions.

• Linda Ouellette x8400 Procurement Specialist and P-Card Coordinator; [email protected] -RFPs, RFQs, P-Card issues, requisition and PO questions, status checks on purchasing items, central services mailroom and supplies questions, vendor relations.

• Kim Buchanan x8510 Accounts Payable; [email protected] - accounts payable activities, expense reimbursements, travel advances, status checks on vendor payments, vouchers, Vendor Registration forms, vendor invoice questions, vendor W-9s.

• Lucas TenHarmsel x8401 Contracts Administrator [email protected] - for contract intake forms, status checks on contracts, requests for copies of contracts and agreements, scheduling purchasing department training and other calendar items.

The Purchasing and Contracts Department reports to Linda English, Vice President of Fiscal Affairs. You may direct any feedback, positive or negative to her at [email protected]. As a buyer for the College you will often interact directly with suppliers and service providers. The purchasing department will help manage these relationships if you would like and please always inform Linda Ouellette or Steve Boyd if you have a vendor that is upset with the College or a staff/faculty member.

mailto:[email protected]






21 | P a g e

Chapter 3: Competitive Purchases and RFPs Like any public entity CMC subjects its more substantial purchases to competitive requirements. Soliciting offers from multiple parties serves two simultaneous college interests:

• Controls cost – the simple fact that vendors know they are competing for our contract results in lower offering prices and better terms for the College.

• Encourages local vendor participation – vendors have the opportunity to compete fairly for college business.

Best value must be selected for all purchases; and those greater than $10,000 for goods (RFQ) and $25,000 for services (RFP) are subject to a formal competitive process.

Competitive Purchase and Bid Requirements The College has adopted the following bidding requirements based on the expected cost of purchase:

More than $10,000 for goods requires an RFQ (Request for Quote) More than $25,000 for services requires an RFP (Request for Proposal)

Note: Procurement of goods and services funded with State and/or Federal funds are subject to additional purchasing requirements. Please contact Ed Chusid, Grant Coordinator, if you are buying with grant funds. To initiate an RFP or an RFQ you simply need to fill out the RFP/Q Request Form found on Basecamp and submit it to Purchasing. Purchasing will then draft a document for your review and manage the process from there. There are exceptions to the bid requirements in certain situations where it is not in the best interest of the College to take a purchase out to bid as described later in this chapter. Remember that the limits described in this section apply only to what level of competition needs to be introduced to your purchase. The limit for a voucher or P-Card purchase is $1,000 without a prior exception as described in Chapter 5 of this Handbook. Purchases over $1,000 generally require a purchase order.

RFP and RFQ Intake Form Once you have determined that your purchase will need to be taken out to bid the first step is to fill out and submit the RFP/Q Intake form. The form can be found on Basecamp and communicates to the purchasing department what you are buying, who will be involved in the selection, when it needs to be completed, and what specifications are offered to the vendor community. Fill out and submit the form to Linda Ouellette.

Figure 5 – RFP/Q Intake Form


22 | P a g e

Request for Quote (RFQ)

For products that cost more than $10,000 we post the specifications using Rocky Mountain e-Procurement and invite all qualified parties to submit a quote for their product that meets or exceeds the quality and fitness of purpose outlined in the RFP. Standard procedure is to leave the RFQ posted for a week and collect responses in purchasing via email. Submittals are then compiled and reviewed. Qualified quotes will be forwarded to the buyer with a summary of pricing. Allow approximately two weeks for an RFQ.

Request for Proposal (RFP) In cases where we are hiring a service provider or when contact with vendors is necessary in the buying process we launch an RFP. These are generally posted to Rocky Mountain e-Procurement for 3 weeks. A selection committee is formed and the process includes a few additional steps:

1. Site visit for pre-bid walkthroughs are common and sometimes mandatory 2. An addendum is usually issued to answer remaining vendor questions 3. A meeting is held to discuss proposals and select a shortlist of candidates 4. A round of interviews to evaluate service ability is often needed 5. Negotiation of the scope of work and other contractual points is often necessary 6. Reference checks and other due diligence may be needed 7. For facilities and high risk services the vendor must submit a compliant insurance certificate

Figure 6: RFQ Process and Timeline


23 | P a g e

These additional steps require a longer timeline. Allow approximately 6-7 weeks for a normal RFP. The process is presented below with an estimated average timeline.

Bid Waivers and Exceptions Aside from the CMC effort, vendors spend considerable time and resources responding to an RFP. In some cases it is not in the college’s interest to require competition in a purchase. Procurement without competition is authorized under limited conditions and subject to written justification documenting the conditions that preclude the use of a competitive process. The competitive bidding process may be waived in certain cases:

1. Sole Source Procurements A Sole Source Procurement is justified when there is only one good or service that can reasonably meet the need and there is only one vendor who can provide the good or service. A requirement for a particular proprietary item (i.e., a Brand Name Specification) does not justify a Sole Source Procurement if there is more than one potential vendor for that good or service. Price is not a consideration to justify a Sole Source Procurement. In cases of reasonable doubt, competition will be solicited. The following are examples of circumstances which could justify a Sole Source Procurement:

• where the compatibility of equipment, accessories, or replacement parts is the paramount consideration;

• where a sole supplier’s item is needed for trial use or testing; • where public utility services are to be procured.

Figure 7: RFP Process and Timeline


24 | P a g e

Continuing Need for Sole Source CMC procurement shall take reasonable steps to avoid using Sole Source Procurement except in circumstances where it is both necessary and in the best interests of the College. The Purchasing Department shall take action, whenever possible, to avoid the need to continue to procure the same Goods and/or Services without competition.

Sole Source Procurement Procedures • The requesting department shall submit the Bid Waiver Form along with any other

pertinent information regarding the Sole Source Procurement; e.g. vendor’s quote, literature, etc.

• The Purchasing Director shall make a determination that a procurement is a Sole Source Procurement, setting forth the reasons. Such written determination may be made on CMC’s Bid Waiver form.

• The Director of Purchasing is the final authority for approval of Sole Source Procurements.

• The buyer has a duty to negotiate the most favorable price, terms and conditions notwithstanding the Sole Source nature of the Procurement.

2. Single Source Procurements Procurement without competition is authorized under limited conditions and subject to justification documenting the conditions that preclude the use of a competitive process. A Single Source Procurement is justified where an alternative vendor may exist, but it is not in the College’s best interest to seek competitive Quotes/Bids/Proposals for the Purchase. Justified instances of Single Source Procurement include where opening the purchase up to competition may not be feasible, practical, or cost-effective, or, the selected vendor has unique qualifications.

Single Source Procurement Procedures: The requesting department shall submit CMC Bid Waiver Form along with any other pertinent information regarding the Single Source Procurement; e.g. vendor’s quote, literature, etc.

The Purchasing Department shall make a determination that a purchase is a Single Source Procurement. The Determination shall include:

• any alternative vendors considered; and • the basis upon which it was determined the cost is fair and reasonable;

The Director of Purchasing is the final authority for approval of Single Source Procurement.

3. Emergency Condition An emergency condition exists when a situation creates a threat to public health, welfare, or safety. When an emergency condition creates an immediate and serious need for supplies or services, the lack of which would seriously threaten

• the functioning of the College, or its programs; • the preservation or protection of property; or • the health or safety of any person(s) or animal(s), the University may conduct an

emergency Procurement.

Authority to Make Emergency Procurements The College may make Emergency Procurements when an emergency condition arises and the need cannot be met through normal methods, provided that whenever practical the purchase shall be made through the normal channels. In the event an emergency arises after normal working hours, the


25 | P a g e

College campus or department shall notify the Purchasing Department on the next working day. If the Director of Purchasing determines that an emergency procurement was made without the existence of an emergency condition, the Procurement will be processed as an after-the-fact purchase.

Limits of an Emergency Procurement The emergency procurement shall be limited to the procurement of items and quantities or time period sufficient to meet the immediate threat and shall not be used to meet long- term requirements.

Source Selection Procedures • Vendors shall be selected to assure that the required goods or services are procured in

time to meet the emergency. Given this constraint, such competition as is practical shall be obtained.

• Any acceptable form of solicitation (e.g., written, faxed, electronically transmitted, phoned, etc.) may be used to obtain proposals for an Emergency Procurement.

Documentation As soon as practical, the College department shall prepare and submit a written justification to the purchasing department that sets forth the justification for the emergency procurement. The justification shall include the following:

• the basis for the emergency procurement including the date the emergency first became known;

• a listing of the goods and/or services procured; • a description of the efforts made to ensure that proposals or offers were received from

as many potential vendors as possible under the circumstances; and • the basis for the selection of the vendor.

4. College-wide Price Agreement(s) (“CPA”)

• Purchasing may issue College-wide price agreements for goods or services for use by all campuses and departments. Such CPAs may include, but are not limited to, College- initiated agreements or cooperative agreements. The purpose of such agreements is to promote efficiency and savings that can result from leveraging the College’s buying power.

• CPA pricing is based on the College’s overall anticipated volume of purchases during the agreement period. In order to assure the College of the least total cost of goods or services, all College departments may be required to order needed goods or services from CPAs.

• The Purchasing Department is responsible for publicizing all College-wide price agreements and for monitoring compliance.

• The Director of Purchasing may designate a State Price Agreement as a CPA and may permit or require the use of the agreement.

• The Director of Purchasing may permit College departments to make procurements of goods and services from vendors whose prices are equal to or less than the prices established for the same or comparable goods or services under State Price Agreement, without the need for additional competitive Solicitations.

5. Cooperative Purchasing Agreement(s) The Director may approve the purchase of goods or services from a cooperative purchasing agreement if he/she finds that such purchase is in the best interests of the College after considering:

• the competitiveness of pricing under the contract; and • the efficiencies and cost savings of using the contract.


26 | P a g e

The College may participate in, conduct, sponsor or administer a cooperative purchasing agreement. This includes, but is not limited to, agreements with any of the following:

• the Federal government or an agency or other instrumentality of the Federal government;

• the State of Colorado, another state, or an agency or other instrumentality of the State of Colorado or another state;

• a bi-state or multi-state agency; • a county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State of Colorado

or of another state, or an agency or other instrumentality of the political subdivision; • other institutions of higher education; or • a cooperative or organization established for the purpose of establishing contracts to

aggregate the common requirements of similar institutions for maximizing economies of scale when soliciting bids or proposals, e.g. Educational and Institutional Cooperative Service, Inc. (E&I).

The Director of Purchasing may approve a single purchase from a cooperative purchasing agreement or may approve ongoing participation in a cooperative purchasing agreement as a CPA. The Director has the final authority to approve the College’s participation in or use of cooperative purchasing agreements, subject to approval from CMC’s General Counsel.

6. Colorado Correctional Industries Procurement without competition from Colorado Correctional Industries (“CCI”) is permitted.

7. Used equipment It is impossible to compare quality and performance expectations on an apples-to-apples basis so bidding is not required. You may always get quotes or launch an RFQ/P to obtain other purchase options at your discretion.

8. Professional Services Sometimes the College needs to hire a service that is primarily intellectual in nature. A professional service is a service provided by a trained professional who sells a product that is primarily intellectual and requires specific qualifications to deliver. Scopes of practices in architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture and industrial hygiene are not hired through a bid process.

A professional service listed above will not need to be opened to a competitive bidding process as they are exempted by state statute. Many professionals have their own engagement agreements that CMC needs to sign, please review those and forward them to the Purchasing and Contracts Department with the Contract Intake Form. You may always launch an RFI, RFQ or RFP to invite responses from the vendor community if you would like to open it to competition. Contact Steve Boyd or Linda Ouellette for more information about a professional service.

9. Goods for Resale The College can procure products that it intends to resell in a bookstore or other auxiliary fund.

10. Revenue Producing Contracts Contracts that generate income for the College must meet the standard of offering the College the highest return and do not need to be competitively procured.

11. Vehicles Facilities handles the CMC motor pool. All vehicles are budgeted in the campus budget process, approved by facilities and procured by purchasing. Vehicles are exempt from bid requirements.


27 | P a g e

Chapter 4: Risk Management and Insurance Risk Management Process

Risk assessment is a continuing process and risks should be reviewed and re-evaluated by contract managers during contract formation and on a continual basis until the contract is fully performed and final payment is made. Successful contract management requires allocation of scarce resources and professional judgment to sufficiently monitor risk. Preliminary risk assessments at the campus or department level should be conducted to make an initial determination about the level, type, and amount of management, oversight, and resources required to plan and implement contracts from beginning to end. As the risks associated with procurements increase, the level and degree of sponsorship, participation, and oversight by executive management should increase correspondingly; for example, high-risk contracts, such as a service that involves a vendor bringing heavy or other industrial equipment onto CMC property should involve significant management participation while low-risk contracts such as routine purchases of lower risk goods or services require less oversight.

Risk Factors Identifying and quantifying risks related to procurements cannot be reduced to a formula; risk determination is based on subjective criteria. Some factors useful in identifying risk levels include:

• The complexity and subject matter of the procurement; • The dollar amount; • Whether the procurement will result in a separate contract; • The anticipated payment methodology; • Whether the results of the procurement will impact the general public or only the CMC campus

or department; • Vendor experience with this type of procurement; • Whether the procurement includes “cutting edge” development or technology; • Time constraints or the expected duration of the procurement; and • The type, availability, or experience of college staff required to implement the objectives of the

procurement. • Whether students are involved in the activity.

Vendor Liability Insurance If your vendor needs to provide an insurance certificate you can direct them to ask their insurance agent to consult the Insurance Requirements and submit the certificate per its instructions. Risk Management will work with the vendor to obtain anything necessary to bring it into compliance. In cases where your contractor objects to our requirements please ask them to contact Steve Boyd in Purchasing or Steve Rozanski in Risk Management. Our requirements are not unreasonable and the majority of businesses have sufficient coverage. Direct the vendor and/or their insurance broker to the purchasing website at www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing for the insurance requirements and ask them to forward them to their insurance broker.

CMC Insurance Requirements CMC has to protect the interests of the taxpayer in our dealings with third parties. All vendors providing a service to the College are required to be responsible businesses and bear their share of the risk in our work together. As such, all CMC service vendors must be insured. Except in cases of exempt services the vendor must provide the College with a compliant certificate of insurance that names CMC as an additionally insured party under the contract. If you need to know if your vendor will be required to submit a certificate you can consult the list of exemptions below or contact the risk management department.



28 | P a g e

Figure 8: Vendor Insurance Requirements


29 | P a g e

• Advertisers • Artists • Food Delivery (examples are pizza delivery or a Qdoba Taco Bar…caterers are not

exempt) • Grant writing • Hotels and Lodging • Non-credit Instructors (unless the class has inherent risks, like welding or kayaking

courses) • Space rental or usage for classes that are not high risk (i.e. Kayaking or Welding) • Lobbyists • Photographers • Vending Machines

Certificates of Insurance All vendors are required to be professional businesses that carry appropriate licenses and insurance. In some cases of higher risk services the College needs to have the vendor submit a compliant insurance certificate naming CMC as an additionally insured party.

It is the responsibility of the Purchasing Department to confirm the vendor has a compliant certificate of insurance at the time a purchase order or blanket purchase order is generated. If not, purchasing will contact the initiator who will send the vendor to the purchasing website and ask them to forward our insurance requirements to their agent (note: most employees prefer to communicate directly with their vendor, just let purchasing know if you would like us to contact them.) The vendor’s agent will submit the certificate directly to risk management. If the vendor sends a certificate that is not compliant our risk management department will work with them. It is important not to have a vendor start a facilities-related service prior to a compliant certificate being collected.

How to Obtain a vendor’s Compliant Certificate of Insurance Always send your vendors to the purchasing website. The vendor page has everything a service provider needs to register as an approved vendor. Vendors should send the insurance requirements or website address to their insurance agent, who will prepare the insurance certificate and send it directly to the risk management department. Upon receipt, risk management will review for compliance and update the insurance spreadsheet that can be found on the shared drive (R drive) found at R:/CMC Vendor Insurance. Risk management will work directly with the insurance agent to obtain the certificate. Steps to obtain an insurance certificate: 1. Agree with the vendor on the scope of his or her service(s). 2. Inform your Designated Buyer of your purchase and advise him/her that the event features

alcohol. 3. Determine whether an insurance certificate is needed. All vendors must be insured, and if your

vendor is providing service(s) related to facilities or that otherwise introduce risk to the College, for example formal caterers or mental health counseling. Contact Gina Pedrick or Steve Rozanski in risk management if you have questions. If an insurance certificate is not needed you or your Designated Buyer can simply complete the requisition normally. Purchasing will confirm the certificate and process the PO or BPO. Purchases for less than $5,000 that do not require CMC to collect an insurance certificate can often be done with a P-Card or voucher, check-in with your Designated Buyer for assistance.

Figure 9: Services Exempted from Requiring an Insurance Certificate


30 | P a g e

4. Check to see if the vendor’s insurance certificate is compliant and up-to-date. The spreadsheet is located in the shared drive (R:/CMC Vendor Insurance) and is maintained by the risk management department. Please contact Gina Pedrick or Steve Rozanski with questions.

5. If the certificate is compliant you can simply put a requisition for the service into Colleague and it will be processed. If the certificate is not compliant go to the next step below.

6. Ask your vendor to visit www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing and follow the instructions for registering as a vendor and submitting an insurance certificate.

7. Add Steve Rozanski and Gina Pedrick to your requisition as approvers. Once they obtain a compliant certificate risk management will approve the requisition in Colleague and the purchasing department will send the PO or BPO to you, your Designated Buyer and the vendor.



31 | P a g e

Chapter 5 - How to Pay for your Purchase

Like competitive requirements we have a more thorough process for our larger purchases. For purchases of product under $5,000 you can usually use a P-Card, which will be the easiest and fastest way for you to make a compliant buy. Follow the chart below to determine whether to use a P-Card.

Contact Linda Ouellette for assistance if you are unsure whether to use a P-Card.

P-Card The application to obtain a CMC Purchasing Card is found at the end of the chapter on P-Cards in this Handbook. All cardholders must read this Handbook and complete the P-Card Training located on Basecamp prior to using a CMC Purchasing Card.

Be careful not to hire a service provider and pay with a voucher or P-Card. Without a purchase order and compliant insurance certificate, if necessary, the purchase is not within policy regardless of the amount. Exceptions are listed in Chapter 4 – Risk Management and Insurance. Consult the Quick Reference Guide for the process and instructions for buying with a P-Card.

Voucher In some cases a voucher may be a more suitable way to pay a vendor. Some circumstances such as utilities and subscriptions to journals or trade associations present a challenge to using a P-Card and make a voucher the better alternative without having to go through the entire PO Process. Be careful not to hire a service and pay with a voucher or P-Card. Always obtain a purchase order or blanket purchase order for high-risk services. Contact your Designated Buyer or Linda Ouellette for assistance if you are unsure whether to voucher an expense. Online training is available in Basecamp.

Figure 10: P-Card Purchases


32 | P a g e

Purchase Order When spending over $5,000 we usually need a purchase order. A PO is a formal contract with the vendor and by providing the goods or services detailed in it the vendor has agreed to those terms and conditions. They are available in the staff section of the website for your reading pleasure. They are also on our website you are encouraged to point them there if they would like to review the requirements. Terms and Conditions are general in nature and contain provisions that don’t always apply to the purchase at hand. If there are things in our Terms and Conditions that the vendor would like to negotiate, contact Steve Boyd.

How to get a Purchase Order Step 1: Inform your Designated Buyer of the purchase The Designated Buyer at your campus or department is in charge of purchase orders. Each has their own preferred method of working with you to get your Purchase Order processed. They need to know what expenses are hitting which account numbers and obtain the right approvals in Colleague. Purchase Orders need to define the terms of the purchase;

• who we are buying from • what we are buying • when it will be delivered and paid for, and • where we will take delivery.

In most cases your vendor will have provided you with an estimate, a proposal, rate schedule or some other documentation of what they intend to sell the College. Send this page to your Designated Buyer and the person entering the requisition if it is someone other than your Designated Buyer.

Step 2: Confirm the vendor is registered in Colleague Use ‘VENI’ or ‘VEIN’ to find vendor information in Colleague. Enter the name of the business or person we are paying. Check to confirm that the vendor name in Colleague is the same as it is on the estimate, contract, proposal, print out from a website, or whatever you have that defines the purchase. Contact Kim Buchanan if something does not match. Always send your vendor to our website and ask them to visit the ‘vendors’ page. Our registration form is located there. There they are asked to complete the vendor Registration Form and submit a current W-9 with it if they haven’t done so with in the past 3 years.

Step 3: Enter a Requisition in Colleague The Requisition is where you communicate both tithe vendor and to other CMC personnel the relevant details of your purchase. Enough detail needs be included, which can happen in one of two ways;

1. Type it into the Requisition, or

Figure 11: Purchase Order Work Flow


33 | P a g e

2. Refer to the document described in Step 1 above in the Requisition with a very short description of the buy. That document will become part of the purchase order, you will just want to describe what you are buying in Colleague enough so that someone can search for it later. Use an RFP or RFQ number if it has been taken out to bid or the quote number if one is available and that document will become part of the purchase order.

The department desiring product or services (with budget authority) is the entity responsible for initiating the buy. As the requesting department it is your responsibility to enter a requisition into Colleague prior to procuring any goods or services requiring a purchase order. For purposes related to proper separation of duties, the Purchasing Department is not authorized to enter Requisitions or Vouchers. Your Designated Buyer may choose to enter it themselves or let you enter your own. The first three lines of the description will print on the PO. Anything that is typed in the “Printed Comments” section of the requisition will also display on the purchase order the vendor receives. There needs to be enough detail captured in the PO to avoid miscommunication and to support our position in the event of a later dispute. This is the place to add any additional information forth vendor and the email address of the vendor for Purchasing to send the PO with Terms and Conditions. Email is the way we can legally demonstrate that the vendor received the PO, thereby agreeing to our Terms and Conditions prior to delivering the product or service. It is very important that an accurate email address be in the ‘Printed Comments’ for Purchasing to deliver the PO. If you have a quote or other agreement from a vendor with pricing or other specifics please send it to Linda Ouellette in the purchasing department, via an email with the requisition number in the subject line at the time the requisition is done.

Decide whether you need a regular or blanket purchase order. Choose a blanket purchase order for procurement decisions that require the vendor to be paid in multiple installments. Example; an annual cleaning contract that is paid monthly or a contractor that is paid a 50% deposit at the beginning of a project. Do not overspend on a PO or BPO without completing the BPO/PO Change form located on Basecamp. The original PO or BPO was approved for a specific amount and will need further documentation for an increase, then a voucher can be input. Determine your approvals. The business office has internal controls imposed by our audit firm that require multiple people to approve or execute financial transactions. We also communicate purchase and budget information among departments in Colleague. For those reasons all requisitions must have the appropriate approvals entered before it can become a purchase order. If you are using an account number at a campus, someone with approval authority from that campus will need to have approved. If you are buying software or something that connects to our IT network a representative of the IT department would need to approve. You should check periodically to make sure your requisition status has been turned from “not approved” to “Outstanding”. If it sits in a “not approved” status you will want to see who hasn’t approved and ask them to do so. Most Requisitions are turned into purchase orders within one day from the time they become “Outstanding”.

Change the box titled “Requisition Done?” in the requisition (REQM) only when adequate approvals have been entered, and send the documentation of the purchase to Linda Ouellette at that time. Once that box is marked with a “Y” the requisition will be on the list of POs for the Purchasing Department to process. Sending your quote to Linda when that box is checked will ensure that the Requisition and its back-up get matched up and the PO can be completed.

Watch and follow up. There are mechanisms in Colleague that can cause a requisition or voucher to get “stuck” in the system, keeping the requisition in a status of “In Progress”. A requisition that does not have the Requisition done field changed to “Y” for yes will not let your next approvers see the requisition in the system. Colleague treats this as the initiator is still working on the requisition and is not ready for approvals. Only when this field is changed to “Y” yes will your approvers listed be able to view the requisition. It is a good idea to follow your requisitions to make sure they are progressing as they should. Contact the


34 | P a g e

purchasing department for assistance. Alert messages upon the last approver signing off on a requisition will appear if you have not listed all the necessary approvers on your requisition. i.e. PUR=Purchasing, ITT= IT Department Supervisor etc. These messages alert the approver that an individual required to approve is missing in the requisition and needs to be added. Ignoring these messages will cause your PO to get slowed down. Contact your Designated Buyer or purchasing for assistance.

Step 4: Send your Quote or Estimate from the vendor to Linda Ouellette See the instructions above. Contact Purchasing if you have questions or need help.

Step 5: Send Anything the Vendor wants Signed to Lucas Ten Harmsel Sometimes a vendor wants a CMC employee to acknowledge acceptance of their proposal. These can obligate the College to make the purchase and they often contain fine print that CMC cannot accept.

Step 6: Purchase Order is sent to Vendor The Purchasing Department is required to confirm several things before a Requisition can be turned into a PO and sent tithe vendor:

1. Adequate description of purchase has been developed 2. Competitive bid process is complete, if applicable 3. All related contracts and back-up and other documents are received in Purchasing 4. A compliant insurance certificate is received in Risk Management if needed 5. Accurate account numbers have been used 6. Price cost analysis confirms the purchase is reasonable and at best value 7. All approvals have been entered 8. The item has been tagged in the Requisition if necessary as a capital item and added to the college

inventory 9. The purchase order has a valid vendor email address

The Purchasing Department cannot create a purchase order or blanket purchase order unless and until each of the items above is acceptably completed. Purchasing sends the completed PO directly tithe vendor at the email address entered on the Requisition. That is the way a vendor is officially notified that the College has agreed to buy from them. The initiator of the Requisition and their Designated Buyer will be copied.

Step 7: Receive the Goods or Services After getting a purchase order the vendor will deliver your goods or provide your service. Use ‘PORC’ in Colleague to receive the purchase after careful examination of product received. Any damage not clearly shown is the responsibility of the receiver to uncover in a reasonable time. Open boxed orders in a reasonable time frame and confirm the contents are complete and in good order. Do not receive in Colleague if there is evidence of damage. Work with the vendor for return and credit. Contact someone in Purchasing for assistance. Receive correct quantities in whole numbers.

Step 8: Obtain an Invoice from the vendor Once your vendor has delivered the goods or performed the service acceptably they will be ready to get paid. They will submit to you an itemized Invoice with information about the purchase including the name and address of the vendor, listing merchandise sold or shipped to a purchaser; showing Purchaser’s name and address, and containing a description of the merchandise, the quantity, values or prices and charges, and other significant details of the transaction such as the terms of sale and the currency of the purchase.

Step 9: Enter a Voucher for Payment Use ‘VOUM’ to request that a vendor get paid. Enter the PO number when prompted to voucher an expense against that purchase order.


35 | P a g e

Step 10: Submit the Voucher to Accounts Payable Write the Voucher number that you just created on the Invoice, then scan it either into Softwoods or email it to Kim Buchanan. All complete Vouchers received by Kim prior to noon on Wednesday will be paid in the check run the following day according to the vendor’s payment terms. Be sure your Designated Buyer is aware of your purchase.

Step 11: Purchasing Processes and Mails the vendor’s Check Checks go out once a week, normally on Thursdays. Let Kim know if you have a check that you need to have delivered in a way other than regular mail to the address in Colleague.

Step 12: Celebrate! You did it! A compliant purchase order, a successful purchase and a happy (basically meaning paid on time) vendor is worthy of at least a fist pump.

After-the-fact Purchase Orders CMC requires several procedural steps to happen before we commit to a purchase from a vendor that include product and industry due diligence. That work needs to be accomplished prior to submitting an order. When a vendor performs or delivers prior to the creation of a valid purchase order it’s an After-the-Fact Purchase Order. That means the college did not officially approve the purchase and doesn’t have some important transactional protection around the purchase that are contained in our PO Terms and Conditions. That exposes the college to unnecessary liability and is therefore against policy. Vendor invoices that are submitted for payment must carry a date that is AFTER the PO or BPO date, or there must be a master agreement or contract in place with the vendor prior to the PO or BPO date or they are considered After-the-Fact. Information about all After- the-Fact POs are reported to the VICE PRESIDENT OF FISCAL AFFAIRS, including the vendor name, amount of purchase, responsible CMC parties, an explanation of the circumstances and the resolution. Always report an After-the-Fact PO to purchasing as soon as it comes to your attention and we will work with you to resolve the issue. Mistakes that are self-reported are much easier for us to deal with than out of policy issues that are caught by an internal or external audit.

Expense Reimbursement Requests Whenever possible the College uses an approved method of payment. In some cases where the spend is nominal (less than $100) and the purchase does not include a service that represents financial risk to the College and cannot reasonably be made with a college P-Card or voucher, it is allowable to use personal funds to make the purchase and be reimbursed by the College.

Any request for an expense reimbursement must include the date of, reason for and destination of travel. Use one row per day on the form to report that day’s mileage and/or meal per diem. Do not co-mingle personal expenses with CMC business expenses if at all possible. Make separate purchases or contact the Purchasing

Department for assistance. If you are traveling with someone not attending the CMC function you are going to or if you plan to add a personal component to the trip and it is not reasonably practical to pay for business and personal parts separately, extra caution must be used to show that no college funds were misused. Examples may be renting a vehicle that you want to keep an extra day, booking plane reservations or paying for parking at DIA upon return from a trip that was extended for personal reasons.

Figure 12: Expense Reimbursement Form


36 | P a g e

In these cases contact Linda Ouellette prior to the trip for assistance in making sure we have met and documented our obligation in spending taxpayer funds. Reimbursable expenses - The College will reimburse faculty and employees for all budgeted, reasonable and necessary expenses to operate the College. All expenses must be necessary to carry out the mission of the College and all expenditures must be made in a responsible fashion that follows policy and procedure. Non-reimbursable expenses - Snacks, entertainment, personal purchases, alcohol, flowers, green fees, fuel, and services are not reimbursable expenses. Commuting from home to work is non-reimbursable. Student funds need to have a Student body member to sign the receipt in order to be reimbursed. Meals included by hotels, conferences or otherwise paid for by the College are not eligible for per-diem and should not be claimed. Form – The expense reimbursement form is located on Purchasing’s web page under forms.

To submit a request - Attach copies of your itemized receipts (on a full sheet of paper) and send along with the Expense Reimbursement Form to your Designated Buyer or designated department specialist who will review the form for completeness and scan to SoftDocs or forward to Kim at [email protected] for payment. Conferences, Classes – Itineraries for trips and events are required as part of the P-Card reconciliation and expense reimbursement procedure to document that we have excluded any provided meals and dates of travel. Meals that are paid for by the college as part of the event registration fee or in another way must be subtracted from your daily per-diem on the expense reimbursement form.

No Invoice number on invoices/expense reimbursements –Invoices need unique numbers; when entering in Colleague the invoice number is the voucher number is the letter “V” followed by the seven-digit voucher number, unless it is a utility statement then use the account number. Do not make up your own invoice number or add additional numbers or letters to the invoice to maintain unique identification of each invoice. If you get an error message that it is a duplicate invoice please contact Kim Buchanan. Direct deposit – Eventually all reimbursement payments will be distributed to employees via the Accounts Payable direct deposit system. Employees must sign up for direct deposit in Web Advisor under Employees Menu – Financial Information- E-Check Bank information for Student refunds and Accounts Payable payments, including expense reimbursements to be automatically deposited into your bank account of choice. Please note that the auto deposit process for payroll is separate. Approved payments need to be completed and received by the Accounts Payable office before 12:00 pm on Wednesdays in order to process for Thursday’s check run. Allow 2 weeks for Direct Deposit to be processed at the bank before your first direct deposit is made. Expense reimbursements received after 12:00 on Wednesday will be processed the following week.

Request period - All reimbursement requests must be received in the Accounts Payable office no later than 60 days from the time the expense was incurred. Mileage expenses – Use the CMC Mileage Chart to determine distances between campuses and common destinations for reimbursement. The CMC Mileage Chart is available as a tab at the bottom of the Expense Reimbursement Form. If your destination is not listed on the CMC chart, use Google or MapQuest to verify the mileage you are claiming. Simply include the “MapQuest page” that shows the mileage you traveled with your form. Mileage reimbursement is not available for commuting from home to your office. When traveling your starting point should be the shorter of your primary work location and the location from where you actually departed.



37 | P a g e

Miscellaneous Expenses – Includes expenses associated with meetings, instructional material, class supplies, working lunches for 2 or more people (with names of attendees on itemized receipt), baggage, shuttles, parking, taxi service, pre-authorized lodging, rental cars etc. CMC is exempt from sales tax in Colorado and it is more difficult to get vendors to process your payment without tax. Sales tax paid personally may not be eligible for reimbursement. Purchases over $100 should be made with a College P-Card or other approved payment whenever possible – In addition to the sales tax complication above, such purchases do not leverage the college’s purchasing power or generate a rebate from our P-Card provider. Any College employee may be issued a P-Card as long as the employee agrees to follow P-Card procedure and the employee’s supervisor directs that a card be issued. The card’s limit may be reduced to a low level to protect the budget officer from unauthorized spending and then lifted anytime a purchase is expected to be made. If you become aware of a purchase made with personal funds on behalf of the College for more than $100 please let purchasing know right away. Travel Advances - Plan ahead so Accounts Payable can process the request before you leave on your trip. Compliant requests that are submitted before noon on Wednesday normally are paid on Thursday. The travel advance form can be found on the Purchasing’s webpage page under forms. Travel Advances will be issued the Thursday before your departure but you are encouraged to start the process as early as you can. Please note the dates you will be traveling in the description field in the voucher screen (VOUM) The account # you will use for your travel advance is 10-000-000000-1245. You must include the Vice President of Fiscal Affairs as an additional approver for a travel advance voucher. Travel Advances must be reconciled within 60 days of the dates of travel. Fill out the expense reimbursement request form located on www.coloradomtn.edu/purchasing to reconcile the actual cost of your trip. If your expenses were less than the advance you received, attach a personal check with your reconciliation form and forward it to your Designated Buyer or department specialist. If your expenses were more than you received for the advance, A/P will process a refund check to you. You will not need to enter a separate voucher (VOUM) in Colleague for the reconciliation process. Travel Advances must be reconciled before another travel advance will be issued. If you have questions contact Kim at extension 8510.


38 | P a g e

Chapter 6: Contracts and Agreements Like the purchasing function, contracts at CMC are managed at the campus or department level and are administered centrally. The need for most contracts at CMC originates in the field, where staff and faculty need to partner with a party that is not part of the College. The Purchasing and Contracts Department is responsible for ensuring that all agreements are compliant with CMC protocol and that campus and department leadership is aware of our commitments.

Signature Authority Additional procedure is required for major purchases: $100,000 requires prior legal review and a second signature from Matt Gianneschi or his designee $250,000 requires prior approval from Board of Trustees Any agreement involving the lease, acquisition or divestiture of CMC real property requires formal Board approval

Types of Contracts CMC’s Purchase Order Terms and Conditions Purchase order. This is the most commonly executed type of contract by CMC. When the College issues a purchase order with our Purchase Order Terms and Conditions it becomes a binding legal contract. Our terms and conditions communicate important purchase information to the vendor and establish our rights in the transaction as a consumer. The purchase order defines:

• Who we are buying a product or service from

• What we are buying • When delivery is made, the contract

expires and payment is made, and • Where the product will be delivered or

service will be performed. A purchase order must have an adequate description of the good or service to define the business transaction. Most purchases can be made with either a purchase order or on a P-Card. You can send any documentation that helps define the purchase to Purchasing for it to be made part of the purchase order.

Vendor Agreements Vendor drafted agreement or proposal or their terms and conditions. When the College is buying a product or service from a vendor who requires us to sign their document it needs to be reviewed to ensure its terms are within college policy. Be aware of conditions that are detailed online. Vendor terms and conditions need to be carefully reviewed for provisions or language to which the College cannot agree. A few common examples include:

• Indemnification clause; Colorado statute does not permit the College to indemnify another party.

• Entire Agreement clause; can negate our terms and conditions. The college’s terms and conditions of a purchase order always apply to a business relationship under the purchase

Figure 13 – PO Terms and Conditions


39 | P a g e

order. The College is not able to waive our terms and conditions or establish them as less than primary.

• Limitation of liability; in many cases a vendor will attempt to limit their liability to the amount the College has paid them for the service, even in the event of their negligence. A Vendor’s mistake can cause financial damages far in excess of the contract amount paid to them and the College cannot agree to limit their liability exposure.

• Insurance requirements; a vendor’s agreement may require the College to carry certain types and amounts of insurance, and may require us to produce a certificate of insurance as proof with them named as an additional insured. Insurance requirements must be analyzed to determine whether our basic coverage is adequate. Any request to add a party to our insurance policy as an additional insured is answered by Risk Management.

CMC Standard Contracts and Agreements CMC Standard Contracts. The College has developed pre-approved contract templates for our most commonly executed agreements that a purchase order alone will not cover. These fillable pdf documents are available for you to customize Basecamp and have been reviewed by risk management, legal counsel, human resources, purchasing and contracts, and other involved departments:

• Standard Contractor Agreement. This agreement is designed to capture the important terms and the scope of work of your agreement with a vendor to provide a service to the College. This contract is not needed in relatively simple agreements that can be adequately defined within a requisition.

• Facilities Use Agreement. When another party uses our facilities or when we use the facilities of another party we need to define the responsibilities and obligations of each. We may also need to consider insurance requirements or other terms of use.

• Clinicals in Nursing and EMT. • Summer conferencing activities.

How to Get a Contract Signed If you need to execute one of these standard contracts take the following steps:

• Determine whether a purchase order or blanket Purchase order, together with its terms and conditions is sufficient. In cases of most products and routine services, the college’s purchase order is the only contract necessary. A thorough description of the product or service being acquired should be printed on the purchase order or attached to it as an exhibit.

• Consider what risk you think the College may be exposed to from this service and communicate it when you forward the contract to Purchasing.

• Submit the contract along with the Contract Intake Form per the instructions on that form.

Best practices for contracting with your Vendor Contract Objectives Each procurement is different and the description of the objectives, assumptions, and constraints vary. Defining them can be quite complex. Campuses and departments may find that individuals on the procurement team hold different views. Answering the following questions will aid the procurement team in clarifying and harmonizing potential divergent objectives and interests:

• What does your campus or department specifically need? • Why must the need be fulfilled and how does it benefit the College? • Are other campuses or departments affected? • When must the need be fulfilled? • When must a vendor be selected and notified to proceed to meet the required deadline(s)? • What is the duration of this need? • How will the campus or department know when the need has been met?


40 | P a g e

• How is the business transaction expected to work? • Did we select the best value? • Who can fulfill the need? Can it be performed in-house? • Do Vendors have all the information needed to submit a complete proposal? • Do the contracting objectives make sense? Are they described too broadly or too narrowly?

Scope of Work Documents and Vendor Deliverables In college contracts, vendor obligations are often called a Scope of Work (SOW), even if there is not any “work” being performed in the common meaning of the word. SOWs usually include the following elements, which should be considered in every contract:

• General description of project; • Definitions (those not already covered in the contract’s standard provisions); • Deliverables (Goods/Services); • Personnel; • Testing and acceptance criteria; • Payment; and • Time frames and deadlines, including any required by law.

SOWs are critical to contracts and should include as clear, comprehensive, and concise a statement of the vendor’s obligations, i.e. what they are to do, as possible. SOWs should also (a) delineate performance measures for vendors and the college’s obligations, if any beyond payment, and (b) to the extent relevant, set forth the how, where, when, and by whom of performance. Clear, comprehensive, and concise SOWs are the key to avoiding disputes and possible litigation with vendors. The key is to consider early in the process the things that are likely to create a dispute between the parties and tackle any uncertainty at this point in the process rather than after a contract has been executed and/or performed. Subject matter experts should be included on the procurement team involving technical and/or complex products and/or Services. Subject matter experts can provide and explain specific information (often called a “Work Description”) critical to good SOWs; e.g. industry standards, terms of art, specifications, reports, benchmarks, timeframes, and necessary tasks. It may be helpful to ask an expert on the subject at CMC to provide an initial draft of SOWs.

Managing the Contract The responsibility of managing the project or contract associated with any procurement event is at the campus or department level. The Purchasing Department is involved in vendor selection, negotiation and contract execution. Once a contract is mutually executed ownership of the project normally transfers to the initiator. Vendors are more successful if they report to one person at the College, and at CMC that person is on the ground at the point of purchase. The Director of Purchasing is also always available to help with any disputes or vendor problems and it is often easier for purchasing to assert our rights than it is for the campus or department that has a day-to-day working relationship with that vendor. In any event, please let the Director of Purchasing know of any potential vendor relation problems or issues you see developing as soon as possible. Contracts that are to be renewed or cancelled that require notification from the College should be tracked by the initiator. Purchasing and Contracts is not in a position to know whether you would like to renew a contract, cancel a contract, re-open the relationship to competition, etc. The person managing the relationship should keep track of key contractual dates and let Purchasing know when any renewal, renegotiation or notice to terminate is upcoming. The Purchasing and Contracts Department attempts to track these dates but cannot guarantee a proactive communication to the initiator.


41 | P a g e

List of Contracts A link to a list of college contracts is available on the staff page of our website. You may refer to that document to see if a prior agreement exists or to check the status of a contract that is currently being processed. Contact Lucas if you have questions or do not find the information you need.

Contract Intake Form To expedite contract turnaround time and ensure that an agreement gets routed to all necessary parties this form was created to be submitted when you need an agreement signed by the Purchasing and Contracts Department. This form is not required, but expedites processing as it communicates to the campus vice president and purchasing department the primary terms of the agreement. The campus or department vice president signs the form once he or she is satisfied with the terms of the proposed agreement. The initiator forwards the Contract Intake Form to their Designated Buyer or department administrative assistance once he or she has read the agreement, can confirm that it is in the best interest of the College, and that the College is able to meet all of its obligations therein. Attach to or include with the form any and all exhibits, addendums, explanations or other related documents. The Contract Intake Form is on Basecamp. Contact Lucas if you need assistance.

Contracts or requests to draft a contract are received in the Purchasing and Contracts Department for processing. Purchasing creates a file for each contracted relationship the College enters. The Purchasing Department is responsible for maintaining a complete and current file for each active contract. Prior to execution the Purchasing Department must confirm that the agreement meets acceptable college policy and procedure. Specifically reviewed in all contracts are the following:

• The scope of work has been communicated to any interested parties of which it is aware. Often a purchase of a product or service will have a consequence for another area. The initiator should carefully consider the project’s impact on the institution and all of its constituents. Be sure all impacted parties are aware of and approve all parts of the agreement that may touch their area(s) of influence

• There is an adequate summary description of the project • That an independent contractor is not classified as an employee by mistake • The term of the contract is defined • The termination provision is clearly stated • Bid requirements have been met if applicable • Insurance requirements have been met if applicable

Remember to have a requisition for a purchase order or blanket Purchase order entered if the contract involves the college expending funds through the Accounts Payable system. A purchase may be made with a P-Card or voucher in some instances after the agreement has been executed and any vendor insurance requirements have been met.


42 | P a g e

Chapter 7: Travel Introduction

Scope CMC has generally adopted the same rules for travel expenses as the State of Colorado as detailed below. In instances where CMC policy may contradict State policy, CMC policy shall apply. Differences between State of Colorado’s policy and that of CMC’s usually results from CMC supervisors having more flexibility to manage staff and budget considerations. Reimbursement A Traveler may be reimbursed for travel expenses only if the:

• Traveler is traveling away from their base work location; • Traveler is on College business; travel charged to the College, regardless of the funding source,

shall be for the benefit of the College; • Travel occurs only for the time period necessary; • Travel is completed using the most economical means available which will satisfactorily

accomplish the College business; • Expenses are reasonable under the circumstances; • Traveler submits adequate documentation of the travel expenses to the approving authority;

and • Reimbursement requests and travel advances are settled as required

Traveler’s Responsibilities A traveler is responsible for controlling expenses at a reasonable level and ensuring that the College receives adequate value for the amounts expended. A traveler shall identify expenses incurred for the benefit of the College while traveling away from home and request an advance or reimbursement for only those expenses. Approving Authority’s Responsibilities The Approving Authority shall review the expenses claimed by a Traveler and authorize an advance or reimbursement for only those expenses incurred for College business. The approving authority may require documentation, in addition to the documentation prescribed in the Purchasing Handbook if it is deemed necessary. Travel within a Single Day If travel is completed wholly within a single day, reimbursement for lunch shall not be allowed. If, however, an employee or official leaves home prior to 5:00 a.m. on College business that requires the employee to extend the workday, the approving authority may allow a meal per diem for breakfast. In addition, if an employee or official remains away from home after 8:00 p.m. on College business that requires the employee to extend the workday, the Approving Authority may allow a meal per diem for dinner. Make travel arrangements prior to your travel when possible. Use a college P-Card for your event registration and fees, airfare, lodging and car rental. CMC places the responsibility for responsible travel spending on the traveler’s supervisor. The College is a public entity and subject to responsible public travel practices but we are not a formal member of the Colorado State Travel Management Program (STMP). Though CMC has generally adopted the same rules as the STMP, CMC places the responsibility for responsible spending on the traveler’s manager. CMC decision makers are required to use discretion and prudence in approving travel expenses. The College will pay for the least expensive option that satisfies the College’s business. You may consult the State of Colorado Travel Management Program for guidance in protecting the public trust and for help with how to think through the expenses you will approve and those that you won’t at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfp/travel. You can determine your direct reports’ travel budget on a trip-by-trip basis. CMC does not currently utilize an online travel reconciliation and

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfp/travel


43 | P a g e

reimbursement program to force end user compliance. Supervisors, however, are required to carefully review all travel expenditures to ensure they comply with applicable policy. Your Designated Buyer or department lead Administrative Assistant is the point person on travel information. Receipts A receipt is required for all expenses except for meals and mileage per diem. Receipts are required for Lodging, rental vehicles and airfare, regardless of the amount. Receipts shall be original, detailed vendor receipts. Non-specific charge card transaction slips shall not be accepted as proper documentation.

Food The State has chosen to use the standard allowance method for meals, rather than the actual cost method allowed by the IRS. Under the standard meal allowance method, a traveler shall claim the authorized meal per diem rate for each meal the Traveler would normally have eaten while traveling away from Home. If a meal is included in a conference fee or is provided with the cost of lodging, a traveler shall not request reimbursement for the standard meal allowance, unless the meal is determined to be inadequate by the traveler. Under no circumstances shall a Traveler request reimbursement for more than the applicable per diem rate. Receipts for meals are not required for per-diem payment to a CMC employee. The per diem rate for in-state travel during the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year is $60 per day and breaks out as follows: If you are traveling out of state the applicable per diem amount will be determined by the current CONUS rate that can be found by visiting the following link and searching by geographic area; http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120. Conferences and other events CMC pays a meal per-diem so do not use your P-Card to buy meals while traveling. If you attended an event and are claiming per diem, you must attach the conference schedule or itinerary with information specific to the conference attended and provided meals. No meals can be claimed as per-diem that were provided through the conference or another form of purchase by the College. The applicable per diem-rate can be used to subtract meals that have already been paid for from your expense reimbursement request. Instructions can be found on the expense reimbursement form. Working lunches and meals while traveling The same rules apply to purchasing a working meal whether you are at your base location or traveling for the College. Please see the section on Working Lunches and Meals that can be found earlier in this Handbook. Sales Tax Exemption The College is exempt from paying sales and use taxes in the State of Colorado. Vendors, however, are not required to conduct a transaction on a tax-free basis. Make a request of the vendor to honor our tax exemption. If the vendor will not comply, make the transaction and pay the tax. Circle the transaction on your reconciliation form and make a note of it, the purchasing department will take it from there. If you are staying in a hotel, print our tax-exempt certificate and present it upon check-in.

CMC Travel Per-Diem for Meals

$10.00 Breakfast $15.00 Lunch $30.00 Dinner $5.00 Miscellaneous and Incidentals $60.00 Total daily per-diem

*Note: CONUS rate is used for out-of-state Figure 14: Travel Per-diem for Meals

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120


44 | P a g e

Meal per-diem Eligibility Chart

Lodging A Traveler shall follow the travel policy as outlined below. See §3.2 of rule 5-1 of the Colorado State Travel Management Program for help understanding our responsibility to the public in traveling in a cost effective way. CMC employees are not subject to the State travel rules but the College generally follows State policy and their written rules shall be followed where this document does not specifically contradict State policy. The Traveler shall submit receipts for lodging as documentation of the expense and shall be reimbursed for the actual cost of lodging, provided the traveler complies with this section of the CMC Purchasing Handbook. Eligibility In cases where an overnight stay is necessary the College will cover the expense of the most cost effective reasonable alternative. A hotel may be approved by a supervisor in cases where the traveler is more than 35 miles from home.

To book your hotel room Review the Best Practices in Booking a Room document on the website. If you are booking accommodations within our service district a list of hotels that have a pre-negotiated rate with CMC is included. You may stay in these establishments at the negotiated rate without prior supervisor approval. These hotels should also have our current tax-exempt paperwork on file and process your room without tax. Please let purchasing know if you find that one of our hotels is not offering the rate listed, insists that

Figure 15 - Meal per-diem Eligibility Chart


45 | P a g e

we pay tax and/or complete paperwork for the exemption, or if you find any other inconveniences in your accommodation and its booking. If you would like purchasing to contact a particular hotel about their being added to this list please contact Kim.

Maximum hotel rates The federal government publishes and regularly updates a list by geographic area of maximum hotel prices that their constituents may pay throughout the continental United States, known as CONUS. Like the state travel management program, CMC has adopted the CONUS rate as the maximum spending guideline. A CMC traveler is not allowed to exceed this amount without supervisor approval. Any amounts spent over the published CONUS rates will be reimbursed by the traveler to CMC unless approval was received prior to the stay. Applicable CONUS rates may be found by visiting the following link and searching by geographical area; www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120. A traveler must consult this document anytime he or she is traveling away from home and confirm on their P-Card reconciliation that the actual rate paid is either less than applicable per diem or was pre-approved by their supervisor with an explanation of the higher charge. P-Card reconciliation reports that contain a hotel charge in excess of the appropriate per diem and are without explanation should not be submitted. The traveler will be responsible to reimburse the College the difference between the actual price paid and the per diem amount without prior supervisor approval. CONUS rates may be exceeded in limited cases where an adequate accommodation is not available or when a supervisor determines there is a business need for the extra spend. For example, an employee may choose to stay at a (reasonably priced) hotel that is hosting a conference rather than checking into a less expensive hotel elsewhere if their supervisor pre-approves the expense. The traveler is charged with ensuring their P-Card and expense reimbursement reports are not in excess of the per diem amount or obtain supervisor approval. A supervisor’s signature on a P-Card reconciliation that has a higher than per diem lodging expense without confirmation that it was pre-approved and an acceptable explanation will be found to be in violation of CMC’s travel policy. Please refer to the ‘Best Practice for Booking Hotel Rooms’ portion of the “Best Practices for Booking Your Hotel Room” on Basecamp for help reserving your room. Remember that CMC cannot pay for room service or other amenities considered non-essential. In cases where a hotel does not offer free Wi-Fi you may purchase the internet connection for the business portion of your stay if necessary and have the charge added to your bill.

Transportation A Traveler shall be reimbursed only for the dollar equivalent of the most cost beneficial method of transportation available to the traveler that satisfactorily accomplishes the College business. Reimbursement shall be limited to the actual cost of commercial transportation. A traveler requesting reimbursement shall submit receipts for all transportation expenses except as provided for meal per diem and mileage reimbursement. Using your personal vehicle for college business – if you are operating your own vehicle on legitimate, supervisor approved college business you will be reimbursed for mileage. The CMC reimbursement rate can be found on the expense reimbursement form and generally follows the published IRS guideline. You must have a valid driver’s license while operating your personally insured and registered vehicle. While traveling on college business you are NOT covered by the college’s auto policy. You are responsible for any damage caused to your vehicle or other property. For example, if your windshield gets cracked driving between campuses neither CMC nor its insurance carrier will cover the repair expense. You may not use your P-Card to buy fuel for your personal vehicle. The mileage reimbursement rate is sufficient to cover the entire cost of operation of most vehicles, including fuel, oil changes, filters, tires, depreciation and other wear and tear. Car rental - if you are traveling more than 100 miles in a round trip for the College it is cost effective for you to rent a vehicle. CMC uses Enterprise Rent a Car for our rental needs (the account must be identified by “CMC”, not “Colorado Mountain College” or they won’t be able to find us). You may check out a gas card at


46 | P a g e

your campus facilities team or from Sandi Anderson at Central Services for gas purchases. Other rental car agencies may be used if Enterprise cannot match the offered rate or provide the needed service as efficiently. You should decline any insurance coverage you are offered by a car rental agency, CMC’s insurance provides coverage for you to rent a vehicle on behalf of the College. Fleet vehicles - the College owns and operates vehicles at campuses that may be checked out for use in some circumstances. The Facilities Department manages the motor pool, so see your physical plant manager or Designated Buyer for assistance. Use of a motor pool vehicle charges your budget a rate per mile that is determined by the campus and may exceed the rate for personal reimbursement. Gas cards are located in and stay with each CMC fleet vehicle. Simply use that card to buy fuel when you are driving a motor pool vehicle. Be sure to keep the receipt and log the mileage per the instructions. Fuel purchases - your reimbursement for fuel in your personal vehicle is included in the mileage reimbursement rate so you will not need a college form of payment. If you are driving a motor pool vehicle there should be a gas card in the vehicle. If you are driving a rented vehicle you can check a gas card out from the reception desk of your campus or Central Services. Air travel – Prices of plane tickets can vary widely depending on your method of purchase, and may change substantially from day to day. You need pre-authorization in order to use personal funds (your own credit card) for airfare that you expect to present for reimbursement at a later time. CMC will purchase “standard cabin seating” and any up-grades are considered personal expenses. Please see purchasing if you need assistance booking air travel. Other expenses - CMC will reimburse faculty and employees reasonable expenses incurred during travel on behalf of the College. Such expenses can include taxi fare, baggage fees, parking convention or attendance fees, hotel room internet fees, supplies and other incidentals. You may make a compliant P-Card purchase or submit an expense reimbursement form to be paid back.

Travel Advances Plan ahead so Accounts Payable can process the request before you leave on your trip. Compliant requests that are submitted before noon on Wednesday normally are paid on Thursday. The travel advance form can be found on the Purchasing’s web page under forms. Travel Advances will be issued the Thursday before your departure but you are encouraged to start the process as early as you can. Please note the dates you will be traveling in the description field in the voucher screen (VOUM). The account # you will use for your travel advance is 10-000-000000-1245. You must include the Vice President of Fiscal Affairs as an additional approver for a travel advance voucher. Travel Advances must be reconciled within 30 days of the dates of travel. You must fill out the expense reimbursement request form located on Basecamp to reconcile the “actual” cost of your trip. Account numbers for your expenses must be included as well as the approval of your supervisor. If your expenses were less than the advance you received, attach and return a personal check with your reconciliation form to the Business Office – Accounts Payable. If your expenses were more that you received for the advance, AP will process a refund check to you. You will not need to enter a voucher (VOUM) into Colleague for the reconciliation process. Send reconciliation to your Designated Buyer who will forward to the Accounts Payable office to process. Travel Advances must be reconciled before another travel advance will be issued. If you have questions, contact Kim in Accounts Payable extension 8510.

Combining College and Personal Travel In some cases you may be traveling for the College and wish to either bring another person with you or add some personal travel to a college trip. While the College allows it under certain circumstances, using college resources to book personal travel is an area where the mere appearance of impropriety with college resources can be problematic. Many incidents involving public figures that hit the newspapers result from their combining business and personal travel without being able to prove no public resources were used. It


47 | P a g e

is important to know that the burden of proof is on you, the traveler, to prove that no College funds were utilized on any portion or element of the trip that was personal in nature. Because it is difficult to “prove a negative” all employees must take great care in documenting the expense of their trip. The objective is to evaluate exactly what the trip would have cost if you are traveling alone for business only, then comparing that with the actual expense, and to be certain that any college funds used are repaid. At any time you may be combining personal travel with business travel notify the Purchasing Department prior to the travel.

If you are considering a trip with a personal portion involved the CMC Purchasing Department will help you with appropriate documentation as long as:

• Your supervisor pre-approves the itinerary after he or she understands exactly what is personal and what is business travel.

• You do your best to separate the payment of College and personal expenses. For example, if you are traveling for the College for three nights and decide to add another two nights to the trip, you will usually be able to pay for the business portion with your P-Card and the balance with your personal credit card. In some cases it may not be possible to separate charges. For example, when you return to DIA from the trip described above you may not have the option to pay with two different credit cards. Another example is booking a flight; it may not be possible to buy two seats together with different credit cards.

• In cases where you are not able to split the charges appropriately between a CMC P-Card and a personal credit card you should use your personal credit card for the entire expense and subsequently submit an Expense Reimbursement Request for the business portion of the trip that was pre-approved by your supervisor.

• An explanation of the expense and circumstances around it is submitted with your Expense Reimbursement request.

• You understand that this adopted procedure is available to CMC employees as a result of college leadership wanting to accommodate our employees where possible, and that we must be particularly careful to think about the trip ahead of time, obtain supervisor approval and have a plan with the Purchasing Department to pay both college and personal expenditures. If we are unable to properly plan and document personal expenses on travel trips we will not be able to combine these expenses in the future.


48 | P a g e

Chapter 8: P-Cards Overview and Policy

The purpose of the CMC Procurement Card Program is to establish an efficient, cost effective method of purchasing and paying for small dollar (under $5,000 including all delivery, shipping and/or special handling charges) transactions within established usage limits. P-Cards can replace vouchers, petty cash, and the use of personal funds followed by an expense reimbursement request. P-Card transactions take less time to reconcile than processing a voucher and the College earns a small rebate from our bank on the charges we make.

Critical P-Card information: *Underlined items will cause your card to automatically be administratively suspended for 6 months

1. Never circumvent your transaction limit (usually $1,000) by having a vendor split the purchase

into separate charges that are each under $1,000. Intentionally working around a central P-Card constraint will cause your card to be administratively suspended. Your Designated Buyer has a $5,000 transaction limit and has the authority to increase the limit on your P-Card to accommodate a charge between $1,000 and $5,000. All other P-Cards have a transaction limit of $1,000. Expenditures over $1,000 need approval from your supervisor, Designated Buyer or appropriate budget officer. Designated Buyers are an exception. To make a P-Card purchase over $1,000 send a link to the product to your Designated Buyer who will either make the purchase with their card and reconcile the charge on their own P-Card, or increase your card limit to accommodate the buy. This process may vary slightly because Designated Buyers may have different systems, so it is a good idea to check-in with them for the preferred practice.

2. Never buy alcohol with your P-Card. The Alcohol Procedure outlined at the beginning of this Handbook must always be followed when buying any alcohol. Even the appearance of taxpayer money being used to buy alcohol is harmful to the College.

3. Never give your P-Card to another person to use. Asking another employee to represent

themselves as you in making a P-Card charge is illegal. It will result in an automatic administrative suspension of your card and there may be other consequences imposed.

4. Always reconcile your P-Card on time. The deadline for online reconciliation is the 20th of the

month and the deadline to send your receipts and back-up to your Designated Buyer is the 25th. If either of these deadlines are missed it slows the college-wide P-Card reconciliation process which impacts several CMC departments.

5. No services may be charged on a P-Card. The purchase order process is how we confirm we have

compliant insurance certificates in place. Contracting for a high-risk service also requires that we send the vendor our Purchase Order Terms and Conditions. For a list of high-risk services see the Insurance Matrix on the purchasing website.

6. Your supervisor always has the ability to suspend or revoke your P-Card. P-Card usage is

monitored monthly. The decision for you to have a P-Card is your supervisor’s, who can suspend or revoke your card at any time even if no violation has occurred.

7. Complete three requirements before you obtain and/or use a P-Card:

a. Cardholders must be familiar with the Purchasing Handbook; all procurement rules apply to P-Card purchases.


49 | P a g e

b. Complete the P-Card training video located on Basecamp. c. Both the cardholder and his/her supervisor must sign the Procurement Card Application

located at the end of this Handbook. The signature on the application indicates that you understand the intent of the program and agree to adhere to the established guidelines. Your P-Card will be sent to the Designated Buyer at your site.

8. Your hardcopy reconciliation needs to include the following items, if applicable:

a. Receipts. For P-Card purposes, a receipt is defined as an itemized, priced packing slip, an invoice or an itemized receipt provided byte vendor. All business lunches or meals must include a description of the meeting, a list of attendees (if there were 10 or fewer) and the itemized receipt. CMC must be able to demonstrate no alcohol was purchased and that the meal stayed within our allowable per-diem rates.

b. A MapQuest (or any equivalent) report with proof of mileage. c. A copy of the conference agenda or other description of the program or meeting you are

attending needs to be included if you are claiming per-diem; no per-diem can be claimed for a meal that was provided to you.

d. Remember, the best practice for submitting these is to scan and email to your Designated Buyer.

9. No personal purchases are allowed: It is inappropriate to use a College resource for personal

purchases; if business and personal charges need to be comingled contact the P-Card Coordinator prior to any purchase. Utilizing CMC’s tax-exempt status or leveraging its purchasing power for personal gain is not lawful and jeopardizes the continuation of the CMC P-Card Program. In instances where personal and CMC expenses are incurred (example travel) only CMC related expenses can be charged to your P-Card.

P-Cards will be issued in the following strategies: CMC1 $1,000 maximum limit General Use and Travel CMC2 $1,000 maximum limit General Use CMC6 $1,000 maximum limit Fleet CMC Designated Buyer $5,000 maximum limit All Vendor categories A fuel card that can be checked out for use in rental cars may be available at your site. Check with your facilities team at a campus or the receptionist if you are in Central Services for availability. Gas purchases are not allowed on individual end user P-Cards because CMC files a quarterly Fuel Tax Refund Claim for reimbursement of excise tax paid on all college fuel purchases. This allows quick access to the necessary data for the refund request. Cardholders must immediately report any inadvertent or out of compliance purchase to the P-Card Coordinator and must immediately either reimburse the College or arrange for a credit transaction from the merchant. A credit transaction is the first and preferred method for correcting any inadvertent personal purchase. Documentation shall include proof of reimbursement by the employee or credit by the merchant. The moment you are aware of any personal expense or any violation on the P-Card immediately notify the P-Card Coordinator. Advance notification gives us the opportunity to work with you for the best resolution of the issue and possibly avoid any violations. The CMC P-Card Program is carefully reviewed for compliance each year. If we are not able to conform to our rules the P-Card Program will be at risk. Intentional personal purchases not reported by the cardholders to the P-Card Coordinator immediately may be considered suspected fiscal misconduct and may result in termination and possible prosecution.


50 | P a g e

CMC reimburses staff and faculty for meals while traveling through the expense reimbursement program. No meals other than working meals in compliance with this Handbook may be charged to a P-Card. Only working meals attended by two or more people may be charged if the receipt includes names of all people attending and the purpose of the working meeting. All receipts are required to be itemized, showing the detail of food and beverages purchased; no exceptions. Meal costs should stay within the per-diem reimbursement rates specified on the Expense Reimbursement Form.

Working lunches and meals: Cardholders should take care to be sure your meal is an authorized expense. It is particularly important to document the reason the College had to purchase a meal when CMC staff members eat together. Efforts should be made to take care of College business without incurring food charge if possible. See the Working Lunches and Meals section of the Purchasing Handbook for more information about employee meals during business meetings. When purchasing food for the College with your P-Card it is necessary to turn in the itemized receipt rather than only the credit card receipt so that our external auditors are able to confirm no alcohol was purchased. Working lunches or other meals should not exceed the established per diem amount without prior approval from your supervisor.

Vendor categories: Some vendor types are blocked from the CMC procurement card. If a card is presented to a blocked merchant the transaction will be declined. Examples of vendor code strategies by card type:

Vendor Code Approved Not Approved General Retail and Online Use CMC1, CMC2 All others Hotels and Motels CMC1 All others Restaurants CMC1 All others Airlines CMC1 All others Rental cars CMC1 All others Parties and entertainment None All Liquor stores and bars None All ATM and cash advances None All Capital Purchases None All Leases None All Fuel CMC6 All others Personal and Miscellaneous None All

*Note: this list may not be is not all-inclusive and is subject to change If your card is declined contact the P-Card Coordinator while you are at the vendor’s location or as soon as possible. Purchasing can contact the bank to determine the reason for its decline and open the card immediately if appropriate. The P-Card is intended to complement existing processes and not to avoid or bypass appropriate procurement or payment procedures. Under no circumstances is a cardholder to split charges over $1,000. This is cause for automatic and immediate loss of your P-Card privileges and may result in other disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. P-Card charges over $1,000 must be pre-approved by your Designated Buyer or campus/department leader. Check with your Designated Buyer, if they approve the purchase he or she will either make the purchase or send an email to [email protected] and copy your supervisor. Temporary P-Card limits are changed daily at 10:30 am.



51 | P a g e

A split purchase is defined as: The purchase of a single item costing more than $1,000 (including shipping) with the purchase being divided (split) into more than one transaction; or, the purchase of a group of items totaling over $1,000 (including shipping) for a single purchase need. A single purchase need identifies a group of items that are similar enough in nature to be purchased from a single source and are all known to be needed at the time of the first purchase transaction. No two cardholders can make a purchase of like items totaling over $1,000 using two cards to procure the purchase. Designated Buyers and other campus personnel with a higher permanent limit are authorized to spend up to that limit. It is not permissible for those employees to split charges to circumvent their transaction limit. When an employee leaves the department/employment of CMC or assumes different duties that do not require the use of the procurement card, the cardholder’s supervisor is responsible for contacting and notifying the P-Card Coordinator immediately. If an employee moves to another CMC department, the old department’s card does not transfer to the new department. The new department must initiate the process to obtain a new card for the employee to authorize charging against the new department’s budget. Cards must only be used by the cardholder whose name appears on the card. At no time is a cardholder to give their card or card number to any other individual for purchases. This is cause for automatic and immediate loss of P-Card privileges and may be subject to other disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

Card Use Procedures How to Obtain a Card 1. Read this Purchasing Handbook, including Chapter 8 on P-Cards. 2. Complete the application found on the Purchasing website. 3. Forward the completed application to your Designated Buyer via email who will verify the default account

numbers and forward to the P-Card Coordinator, Linda Ouellette. 4. The P-Card Coordinator reviews the application and processes. 5. The card is issued and delivered to the P-Card Coordinator. 6. P-Card Coordinator will forward the P-Card to the campus Designated Buyer who will contact you and give

further training at their discretion. When the card is received sign the back of the card immediately. Although the card is issued in the cardholder’s name, it is the property of CMC and is only to be used for college purchases as defined in this Handbook. How to Cancel a Card Destroy the P-Card and notify the P-Card Coordinator via email or return the P-Card to the P-Card Coordinator. Card Renewal A renewal card will automatically be mailed to the P-Card Coordinator in the middle of the month of expiration as shown on the card. The card is then delivered to the campus Designated Buyer or the P-Card Coordinator will deliver to Central Service employees. Fraud and How to Report a Lost or Stolen Card If your card is lost or stolen immediately notify the bank at 1-800-821-5184 and email the P-Card Coordinator. The P-Card Coordinator must initiate the process for a new card to be issued. The new card will be sent to the P-Card Coordinator to log in the system and send as stated above. If the fraud department of UMB Bank suspects fraud they will immediately close the card access and attempt to contact the cardholder via the phone number supplied on the P-Card application (please supply


52 | P a g e

both your office direct line and a cell number). If no number is provided, a letter will be sent to card holder from the fraud department. If at any time you get a phone recording, stating suspected P-Card fraud (from the Transaction Review Department) call the 800 number provided in the recording. Always contact your P-Card Coordinator with any fraud issues and if you received a call from the Transaction Review Department.

Procurement Process Receipt of Goods and Materials The cardholder is responsible for ensuring receipt of goods and materials and will follow up with the vendor directly to resolve any delivery problems, discrepancies and damaged goods. If goods or materials are ordered by phone, ask the vendor to include a detailed sales receipt in the package and explain the College is a tax-exempt organization. Be sure to save the credit card receipt. Reconciliation and Approval Process The statement closing date is the 3rd business day of the month. Each cardholder will be notified by e-mail when the statement is available for electronic reconciliation. Sales receipts and the finalized P-Card report must be kept together and forwarded to your Designated Buyer (or follow the procedure set forth by your particular Designated Buyer). Receipts should be in the order of the finalized report. Best Practice is to keep your original copies and scan report and receipts to your Designated Buyer. Please note that each campus may have a different approval processes. Your Designated Buyer or supervisor is responsible for editing and approving your finalized paper report. If the reconciliation report is more than one page, the last page must be signed by the cardholder and their supervisor. Supervisors are accountable for all charges on the reconciliation reports of their employees. Their signature ensures that all purchases are authorized and within CMC policy. Supervisors must contact the P-Card Coordinator if there are any noted policy violations on an employee’s reconciliation. Considerations when Submitting your P-Card Reconciliation 1. Vendor name must match the receipt you are submitting. 2. Each transaction must have its own identifiable, vendor issued receipt. Credits to your P-Card do not

require a receipt. 3. If a receipt is not available the purchase will be considered a personal purchase, disciplinary action will be

taken as described below, and the cardholder is responsible for payment via cash, check or payroll deduction.

4. Allocate each transaction to the appropriate general ledger account number. 5. Enter a detailed description for each transaction. 6. Note any Colorado State or city/county (within Colorado) sales tax charged. Work directly with the

vendor to obtain a correction. Cardholder is responsible for personal payment reimbursement to the College for tax paid in the State of Colorado. If attempts to reverse the tax are refused; this must be noted on the reconciliation report and the P-Card Coordinator will verify the attempt.

7. Attach receipts in the same order as the report, scan completed reconciliation report and receipts; email to your designated buyer or cc your designated buyer and send to [email protected] by the 25th.

8. The finalized report should be signed by the cardholder and supervisor on the last page of the reconciliation report. If using a general ledger account not assigned to your supervisor’s authority you must obtain signature from the appropriate budget officer.

9. If you have a disputed charge on your finalized report, reconcile electronically as usual, and submit completed Visa Purchasing Card Dispute form, located on the Purchasing website, to the P-Card Coordinator immediately. The P-Card Coordinator will work with the bank and the vendor to issue a credit to your card, if appropriate.



53 | P a g e

10. P-Cards must be reconciled electronically in either Colleague or Web Advisor by the 20th of each month. No exceptions. Call for assistance if you are experiencing any difficulties; do not miss a deadline. Best Practice is to reconcile immediately upon being notified that the transactions are available. Timing is extremely critical so that the Business Office can post monthly activity to the general ledger, audit transactions and pay the bank in a timely fashion. Even a single card not reconciled will affect the Business Office process.

11. Email the finalized report, including receipts as described above to your designated buyer by the 25th of the month. No exceptions can be made. You may mail your finalized report only if you do not have access to a scanner. Best Practice is to keep the originals and scan your report. If your report gets lost between your desk or supervisor and/or our office you can easily resend from your file.

Resolving Errors/Disputes/Returns/Refunds The cardholder is responsible for contacting and following up with the vendor on any erroneous charges, disputed items, tax paid in the State of Colorado or returns as soon as the discrepancy is discovered. Most issues can be resolved as the vendor will either issue a credit or provide a copy of a receipt. If agreement cannot be reached with the vendor, the cardholder should complete the Visa Dispute Form located on the Purchasing and Contracts website. Forward the completed form to the P-Card Coordinator who will then notify the bank. In order to assist us with resolution, the bank must be notified by the P-Card Coordinator of any dispute as soon as possible but in no case later than 60 days from the date of the disputed charge.

Enforcement Administrative Suspension The CMC P-Card Program is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act and is carefully reviewed for compliance. The appearance of undisciplined spending or usage of a P-Card outside the approved procedure can embarrass the College. Cards will automatically be suspended for six months in these cases:

1. Splitting a purchase into separate charges to circumvent the $1,000 per transaction limit. 2. Purchasing alcohol 3. Allowing someone else to use your card 4. Reconciling late twice within a 12 month period. Late electronic reconciliations must be

forced to close into a default account which requires several steps in the Business Office to rectify. The audit process requires collection of all reconciliation back-up and details prior to closing the month. As a result, missing either of the following deadlines is a late reconciliation.

a. Failure to reconcile online by the 20th of the month, or b. Failure to submit the hardcopy with receipts and conference agendas to his/her

Designated Buyer by the 25th of the month If you are not able to get your Supervisor’s signature or have other trouble completing your reconciliation; make a copy, send the reconciliation to your Designated Buyer anyway, make a note of the incomplete item and send it in when you are able to obtain what you need. The moment you are aware of any personal expense or any of the above violations on the P-Card immediately notify the P-Card Coordinator. Advance notification gives us the opportunity to work with you for the best resolution to the issue and possibly avoid any violations.

Notes P-Card privileges may be suspended or revoked by the P-Card Coordinator, your supervisor or a campus/department Vice President at any time. P-Card violations are reported to the Business and Executive Offices once a month. Intentional violations will result in immediate loss of P-Card privileges and the cardholder will be subject to additional disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Upon a six-month suspension the cardholder must complete a current application and any applicable training and testing before privileges are reinstated.



54 | P a g e

All working lunches or meals must have an itemized receipt, regardless of the amount. Line itemization is the only way that we can prove alcohol was not purchased with College funds and that the per-diem rate per person has not been exceeded. Purchases that are missing a receipt for a purchase over $25 will be considered personal expenditures. A Documentation of Lost or Unavailable Transaction Form will need to be completed for any missing receipt. All personal expenditures must be reimbursed by check or cash within one week of notification to the cardholder by the P-Card Coordinator to avoid automatic payroll deduction. By applying for a CMC P-Card you are authorizing the College to deduct personal expenditures charged to your P-Card from your paycheck. Reimbursement does not eliminate other disciplinary action as described above. College tax-exempt status and its negotiated purchasing power are jeopardized when personal items are charged to college P-Card. Any unintentional personal expenditure should be brought to the attention of the vendor instantly and a credit issued for the full amount of the expenditure. Please notify the P-Card Coordinator of any breach of policy as soon as it is noticed. In many cases the Cardholder may avoid any disciplinary action if the violation was unintentional and the P-Card Coordinator is involved right away. Your supervisor and Campus VP or department head will be notified of any disciplinary action. Sales and Use Tax Colorado Mountain College is exempt from paying Colorado sales or use tax; our tax exempt number is 98-00796. Information on the CMC’s tax-exempt status appears on the front of the P-Card. Always inform the vendor of the State of Colorado tax-exempt status when making a purchase. In cases where a vendor will not comply with our tax exempt status after you have made a good faith effort, note this in the description on your finalized report and the P-Card Coordinator will work to resolve the situation. Colorado tax paid on a P-Card purchase may be considered personal and reimbursement by personal funds may be needed. How to Raise your P-Card Limit There are two limits on your P-Card that may need to be temporarily increased: 1. Transaction limit (generally $1,000) 2. Cycle (monthly) limit (generally $3,000 or $5,000)

Your Designated Buyer has a single-purchase limit of $5,000 and the best practice may be to let your Designated Buyer make the transaction with his or her P-Card. The Designated Buyer can also lift your card limit when necessary; send the link for the purchase and the amount/timing of the requested increase. The Designated Buyer will determine the preferred method of purchase. See Page 3 of the Quick Reference Guide for the procedure. Prohibited Purchases: This list may not be all-inclusive. More information on authorized and unauthorized expenditures can be found in the Purchasing Handbook. Contact the P-Card Coordinator for questions or clarification.

Purchases that are prohibited by college policy in any payment method include: • Alcoholic beverages • Political contributions • Fines for traffic violations (driver caused) • Flowers (except auxiliary i.e. graduation, open house etc.) • Gifts to individuals in lieu of payment for goods or services (i.e. staying with a friend out of town &

purchasing a meal in exchange) • Personal items • Generic gift cards (cards not to a specific retail vendor; no Visa/MC) No unauthorized expenditures may be charged to a College P-Card. See Chapter 1 for a list of unauthorized expenditures.


55 | P a g e

Allowable Gift Cards See the section on Gift Cards and Certificates found earlier in this Handbook for purchasing policy. The gift card purchase request form is to be completed and signed by your supervisor and the P-Card coordinator prior to any gift card purchase. • All gift card purchases are to be pre-approved by your supervisor. • Gift cards may only be purchased from an auxiliary or student fund. Exemptions from this policy may

be made for a 10 fund purchase in exceptional cases including pre-approved programs at CMC and only with the approval of the Vice President of Fiscal Affairs (VPFA).

• They may not be greater than $25. • No employee is eligible to receive a gift card that has been purchased by the college for a total of more

than $25 in a calendar year. Any amount over $25 is an employee benefit and will be processed through our Human Resources department. Employees must have the opportunity to decline the gift.

• No Gift card can be for flowers; this is unauthorized out of any fund. Purchases that may be within college policy but may not be paid for with a P-Card include: • Software purchases or any purchase that will connect to the IT network • Business cards/printed stationary/envelopes/printed logo products • Capital items (over $5,000) • Cash advances • Construction, renovation or installation • Furniture • Gasoline (exception CMC6 fleet cards) • Meals while traveling that are subject to per diem reimbursement • Entertainment • Lease or rentals • Laptops, tablets, cell phones, printers or other computer devices (other than the IT Department) • Purchases involving trade-ins • Telephones or related equipment • Weapons and ammunition • High risk services that require CMC’s T’s/C’s of our PO and/or a Certificate of Insurance from the vendor.


56 | P a g e

CMC P-Card Application

Applicant Name

Applicant Phone (Cell and Office Phone)

Campus Address City/State/Zip

Department

Last 4 digits of SSN (to activate card)

CMC Employee ID

Supervisor Name

Supervisor Phone

Transaction Limit

� $500 � $1,000 � Other $______ (must be less than $1,000)

Cycle (Monthly) Limit

� $3,000 � $5,000 � Other $______ (must be less than $5,000)

Card Type

� CMC1 (General Use and Travel) � CMC2 (General Use) � CMC6 (Fleet) � CMC Other (call P-Card Coordinator) Fleet Cards: License Plate Number; vehicle make and model must be included.

Default Account Number

________ - _________ - ____________________ xx xxx xxxxxx Fund Location Department

By signing below cardholder confirms understanding of the 2016-2017 Purchasing Handbook in its entirety, agrees to adhere to all its requirements and has watched the training video. Sign below, have your supervisor sign, and email completed application to [email protected] for processing. Allow 7 to 10 days for processing. Your P-Card will be sent to your Designated Buyer who will distribute it to the Cardholder.

Cardholder signature:____________________________ Date: __________________ Supervisor signature: ____________________________ Date: __________________



57 | P a g e

Appendix – Best Practices and Other Purchasing Tips Best value The college is not obligated to choose the vendor offering the lowest price in all cases. CMC will award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. That means we buy from whoever offers a solution that meets our objective(s) sufficiently at the lowest total cost of ownership. Always think about the long-term impact to the college economically. Sometimes a higher quality product will perform better and last longer, which may make it a better long-term value for CMC. The purchasing department is available to help analyze your options. The purchasing director has the ultimate responsibility to determine whether a purchase is or is not the best value. It is the responsibility of the initiator to adequately research the purchase prior to placing an order or entering a requisition.

Estimated cost You must start with an idea of the cost of the project. A range is fine, even if it’s a big range. Use the high end of the range, or your best good faith guess, to establish the expense level for competitive procurement purposes. In some cases you will need help drafting a scope or estimating a price for your project. You may ask a vendor to help design a bid document or establish an estimated pricing range as long as that vendor does not gain an advantage in winning the solicitation. A vendor must be paid fair market value for their time. For example, if we are hiring someone to replace all of the awnings and signage on a building we may not know enough about what we want to even launch a bid. It is appropriate in this case to have an architect or other qualified professional help us pull together enough information to write an effective bid, and to help us estimate pricing so we know what procurement method to use. The person or firm then must be paid a fair market wage for that work so there is not the appearance that CMC may “owe a favor” to one participant. The purchasing office should be involved at the beginning of the process. Anyone providing assistance to the college of this nature must be told clearly that the project will be subject to our competitive bidding process, and by completing this task for us will not affect the chances of winning.

Freight Ask about freight and attempt to negotiate “FOB destination” to your location. This means freight will not be charged. “FOB destination” also means that if it gets lost or damaged before CMC accepts delivery the vendor accepts liability. Freight charges should always be considered when determining the total price as freight can be as much as 20% of the cost for many items. If the item is shipped “FOB factory,” then freight is added and CMC is responsible if it gets lost in shipment. If it is necessary to accept “FOB factory”, ask the vendor to “prepay and add freight.” The vendor will add the cost of the freight to total invoice. Otherwise a separate invoice will be received from the freight company.

Needs Assessment In most cases the campus or department desiring to procure the product or service has the best visibility into the need. Clear product specifications and good definitions of contracting objectives assist the rest of the procurement team later in developing statements of work and solicitations, negotiating and drafting contracts and related documents, and verifying vendor performance. A careful consideration, early in the procurement process, of your needs and how a purchase will impact other college personnel will always be valuable. Drafting a scope of work or product specifications requires subject matter experts to interface with the vendor community in preparing a clear description of the purchase. It is often necessary for multiple people or departments to provide their input into the procurement decision and draft a successful SOW


58 | P a g e

(Scope of Work). It is imperative that the College is open to all qualified vendors when making a purchase. A general SOW or product description that does not unnecessarily lock out some vendors with a narrow description of an acceptable bid provides an equitable buying environment and maximizes our chances of selecting the Best Value. Business requirements which are documented, communicated, and understood by vendors help ensure the success of a contractual relationship. The Purchasing Department is available to help you interact with vendors if you need assistance from them understanding or scoping a project. An informal Request for Information (RFI) may also be launched to assist you in gathering needed information in making a decision regarding whether or not to pursue purchasing a good or service.

Initial Research Nearly all procurements require initial research. The party at the College using the procured product or service is the content expert for the purchase. The Purchasing Department should be consulted when a campus or department needs help finding a source for a purchase or determining which source to buy from. Purchasing may know of other campuses or departments that have engaged in procurements similar to the one being planned who are willing to share lessons learned. Other sources for conducting research include:

• Reviewing websites for information, discussions and reviews; • Asking universities, trade associations, and professional organizations to identify industry

practices, methods, standards, and rules; • The purchasing staff can also publish a Request for Information (RFI) asking potential vendors

to identify information regarding the availability, features, or measures for the purchase of goods or services that will assist campuses and departments throughout the procurement process.

Pre-Solicitation Discussion Campuses and departments may contact potential bidders pre-solicitation to discuss procurements if conducting research and/or developing cost estimates; however this approach has risks. All vendors must be treated equitably and the College must not appear to favor one vendor over another. It is acceptable to ask a vendor or two for help developing a statement of work. In cases where the scope is detailed or complicated contact the Purchasing Department for assistance. In all cases involving purchases of more than $25,000 you should involve purchasing immediately. In cases where the spend is less than $25,000 the Purchasing Department can launch an RFI (Request for Information) that invites all potential bidders to submit their ideas for a solution to our procurement need. In general, when contacting potential bidders CMC employees should:

• Solicit information from more than one potential bidder and advise them in advance that current interest is strictly for research purposes and formal requests for pricing or other information will be made via appropriate solicitation processes; and

• Not give potential bidders a competitive advantage, including providing project or department specific information to some but not all potential bidders or by including one potential bidder’s specifications in the resulting solicitation document. To avoid such situations, ask all potential bidders the same questions and do not answer any questions from a potential bidder that could provide an unfair advantage.

CMC Purchasing Handbook...CMC Purchasing Department Team ..... 20 Chapter 3: Competitive Purchases...

Documents

Transcript of CMC Purchasing Handbook...CMC Purchasing Department Team ..... 20 Chapter 3: Competitive Purchases...