Procurement at the University of Kansas

Authority and Delegation
KSA 76-769, grants authority to the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) to approve policies regarding the acquisition of any supplies, materials, equipment, goods, property, printing, certain leases and services, including professional services (hereinafter noted as materials and/or services), required by a state educational institution. The policy applies to the acquistion of all materials and/or services paid for with funds on deposit with the state treasury. For exclusions to this policy please see the exclusions and special circumstances.

KBOR has directed the Chancellor, as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Kansas (KU), to develop and implement the policies required to administer and operate University procurement activities in accordance with all terms, conditions and requirements detailed in KSA 76-769 and KBOR policies. Pursuant to KSA 76-725, the Chancellor has delegated the KU Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) all procurement authority, including the administration of the policies and procedures consistent with the provisions of this policy. All information regarding contract review and signature authority for acquiring materials and/or services is established in KU’s Contract Review and Signature Authority policy. 

Any transaction with a total contract value over $10,000 or relates to IT hardware, software, and cloud services, regardless of total contract value, requires procurement review prior to contract execution or purchase. 

All procurement policies and procedures must comply with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations including, but not limited to, those pertaining to affirmative action and access to facilities, educational and co-curricular programs, campus activities, and employment opportunities for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Ethics and Conflict of Interest
All parties involved in the negotiation, performance, or administration of the acquisition of any materials and/or services or is involved in the procurement process for KU, is held to the highest degree of trust and bound to these expectations as well as the University of Kansas Code of Ethical Conduct, University’s Statement of Commitment to Integrity and Ethical Conduct, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Code of Ethics. All suppliers who provide materials and/or services must abide by the Supplier Code of Conduct.

The Institutional Conflict of Interest Policy defines the processes for articulating and resolving conflicts of interest at KU. When the CPO has reason to believe that a conflict of interest may exist, the CPO will direct the affected unit to comply with the procedures described in the Institutional Conflict of Interest Policy.

Procurement Requirements
All units applicable under this policy are required to obtain needed materials and/or services through KU’s Mandatory Contracts, Preferred Agreements, and catalogs (i.e., KU Procurement contracted suppliers), whenever feasible, and are strongly encouraged to utilize the methods and sources specified in the KU How to Buy Matrix. All units are required to avoid purchasing unnecessary or duplicative items. Further information pertaining to procurement methods for Mandatory Contracts, Preferred Agreements, catalogs, and the KU How to Buy Matrix can be found in the Procurement Procedures.

Competitive Solicitations
The University procures materials and/or services in a manner that supports full and open competition and affords suppliers a fair and equitable opportunity to earn the University’s business. A supplier is prohibited from participating in a competitive solicitation if they assist in developing or drafting specifications, requirements, scopes of work, or other RFPs documentation for that particular solicitation. Furthermore, no supplier will be given an unfair competitive advantage by the inclusion of unreasonable requirements or supplier’s unique/proprietary elements in a solicitation or otherwise.

Purchases must not be structured to break up transactions into smaller dollar increments or contract term increments to avoid triggering the thresholds described below.

Supplier Suspension/Debarment
The CPO may issue a written determination to suspend a supplier from doing business with the University pending an investigation to determine whether cause exists for debarment in accordance with approved procurement procedures.