III.G. Operational Review of Centralized Goods

In accordance with the Central Level Procurement Policy (Section IV.A of the Policy Directory), the Operations Committee will carry out an annual review of all goods procured centrally by the BSC.

III.D.1 PURPOSE

a. Ensure that the centrally-procured goods we offer meet the criteria delineated in Section IV.A.2.a of the Policy Directory.

b. Ensure that the vendor selection process for these goods follows that set forth in Section IV.A.3 of the Policy Directory.

III.D.2 PROCEDURE

a. Audit last year’s procured goods

i. At the beginning of the spring semester, OpCom shall obtain a list of all items purchased in the preceding year, divided by category. This list will be generated by the Purchasing Agent.

ii. OpCom shall ensure that specific items within each category meet the parameters of the category and the criteria for procurement.

b. Update list of authorized goods

i. OpCom shall review the categories of goods approved by OpCom in the preceding year and verify that each satisfies the criteria listed in IV.A.2.a. If feasible, OpCom shall use data about the frequency of purchases of specific items to inform their decision.

ii. OpCom will consider additional categories of goods to be procured centrally during this review process.

a) During the review, central level departments will have the opportunity to suggest additional categories to procure centrally. This list will be prepared in conjunction with unit-level management.

b) Additional categories of goods will be added if they meet the above criteria.

c) Categories should be defined narrowly enough that each item within a category meets the same criteria for central level procurement and the items are relatively comparable in their use (e.g. “Cheeses” would be an acceptable category, but “Dairy” would be too broad”).

Categories should be defined widely enough that the review does not operate on the level of individual goods (i.e. “Staplers”, or “Peanut Butter” would be too narrow).

d) In addition to the responsible bidding guidelines in IV.A.3, OpCom can approve any additional criteria to be used when selecting a vendor for a specific category if necessary.

e) OpCom shall notify staff and unit-level managers of the opportunities to present proposals for procurement of additional categories of goods.

c. Decide number of items to provide per category

i. Within each approved category, OpCom shall set a range for the number of items that shall be procured centrally, in order to allow for reasonable choice of goods while also ensuring that all goods procured centrally meet the goods procurement criteria.

a) The number of approved goods per category should attempt to minimize the number of vendors needed to supply these goods. As such, OpCom shall be authorized to make the number of items to be procured contingent upon the number of vendors providing them.

b) Whenever possible, the number of goods allowed per category should be decided based upon ordering history from houses.

ii. Decisions regarding what specific products within a category to purchase will be made by the relevant central-level departments and unit-level management.

iii. At the Unit-Level Manager Meetings, the relevant unit-level management and central-level staff will be able to decide to switch goods currently being purchased for others within the same category, provided that this does not require adding a new vendor.

d. Verify processes for vendor selection

i. Once the updated list of authorized goods has been approved, OpCom shall specify which of the categories will be bid by the Contracting Agent and which ones have alternative processes for vendor selection (e.g. a committee review or a board approval process).

ii. For those goods that are not bid by the Contracting Agent, OpCom shall ensure that each has a clear and specific process for vendor selection that is documented in policy.

iii. OpCom shall ensure that all processes used for vendor selection adhere to the guidelines in IV.A.3.

e. Extemporaneous additions to approved goods

i. In the event that an urgent need arises, the Executive Director and the Operations Manager shall have the authority to approve the central procurement of a good that is necessary to maintain essential operations or ensure the safety or habitability for the membership. Any such actions shall be placed on the consent agenda for review and approval at the next regular board meeting.

ii. If over the course of the year a significant operational change to the organization requires additional goods to be procured and it is infeasible to wait until the Spring review cycle for approval, then the Operations Committee will determine if the good should be centrally procured.

[Added 09/20/12]