The College has specifically defined standard purchasing methods for procuring goods and services for College business purposes Unless otherwise specified in policy/procedure, individuals must adhere to the purchasing method(s) identified for each good or service.
Contracted /Preferred Suppliers
Office Supplies: Lafayette College has selected W.B. Mason as its current office supply provider. All office supplies should be purchased from W. B. Mason at the discount pricing. Please fill out the form found at https://purchasing.lafayette.edu/forms/ and email the completed for the Procurement Office procurement@lafayette.edu.
Air Travel: Until further notice during the COVID 19 situation: the College recommends that all new College-sponsored business travel arrangements be booked through our preferred travel agent –Emmanuel Travel. This will provide the College with an efficient means to proactively contact business travelers if necessary, plus provide travelers with a dedicated resource for travel questions and personal assistance during their travels if needed. It will also provide a convenient means to recoup the cost of a trip if it has to be canceled, or recoup the cost of change fees that may be assessed by airlines, as the travel agents can proactively apply for fee waivers on our behalf.
Airline ticket purchases and hotel; reservations can be made through a local women-owned professional travel agency, Emanuel Travel Service, in Easton, PA, the American Express online travel system, or by using various “travel” web sites which offer an opportunity to compare rates and options, such as Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, Trivago, etc. To request set up on the American Express website, employees should contact the Procurement Office, procurement@lafayette.edu
Refer to the Controller’s Office Expense Reimbursement and Travel Policy at https://finadmin.lafayette.edu/information-for-faculty-staff/policies/ regarding expectations for appropriate travel accommodations.
Note: The College P-Card can be used to book airfare and travel arrangements on other websites when a lower cost for airfare is found. The P-card may be used to pay for travel.
Car Rental: An employee driving on College business must comply with the College’s Transportation Policy and Procedures found at Public Safety and Parking’s website https://publicsafety.lafayette.edu/parking/. When needed and in compliance with the stipulations of the Transportation Policy, employees should rent a car through our preferred provider, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, by calling 610-253-7599 (the local Easton office), or booking on-line at the link below. Advantages for Lafayette renters include “Best Rate”. The Best rate “is automatically extended with no loss of driver protection benefits. Driver protection benefits on business rentals include Damage Waiver and liability protection, and free Emerald Club enrollment. DO NOT BOOK any “daily specials”, etc. , as loss of the CDW and liability protection increases risk and possible additional expenses for the college.
Needed for booking. Our CONTRACT ID is CLICK HERE TO VIEW. For rentals to be billed directly to the College, renters should also reference billing # CLICK HERE TO VIEW, and provide your Banner FOAP account. If only the Contract ID # is provided and no billing number, then the renter will be required to pay using a credit card. For the central billing, while making reservations, confirm (click “yes”) in “Confirm Trip Purpose” the trip is for business, a “Billing” section will display, click “yes”, then enter the billing # CLICK HERE TO VIEW, and enter your 19 digit FOAP Banner number under “Additional Account Details, Internal Account Number”, then select the “delivery Location: at the dropdown. Any sections with a “ * ” is required information.
Reservations for out-of-area locations for picking up a car rental can be made through the local Easton office, or on-line with a personal credit card or College P-Card, using the Contract ID # CLICK HERE TO VIEW.
Note: All renters must be approved drivers with the College. See the policy here.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW Enterprise Rental Car information and relevant links.
Note there is a “Mileage Calculator” at the website link. Travelers are strongly encouraged to use the calculator to see whether a rental vehicle or personal vehicle is more cost-efficient. For example, by using the calculator, taking a rental vehicle for 2 days on a trip of 400 miles at $41/day, $2.95 per gallon of fuel, and mileage reimbursement for a personal vehicle of $0.58/mile, and a rental car fuel usage of 25 MPG, the cost of using a rental vehicle vs. a personal vehicle reimbursement SAVES the College $102.80!
Enterprise Car rental helpful info
If you are looking to reserve a 12-passenger or 15-passenger van, we strongly recommend emailing EnterpriseRentACar-5723@ehi.com or calling (610) 253-7599 the local Easton Enterprise branch, in addition to making online reservations. These vehicles are in high demand, so giving an extra “heads up” to the local branch is helpful to be sure the van is available when needed.
When you need to reach Enterprise after hours regarding Road Side Assistance, please call 1(800) 307-6666. Otherwise, please call the branch at (610) 253-7599
IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT with an Enterprise rental car rented for Lafayette business purposes
Food Service: All food served on College property should be provided by Lafayette College’s Dining Services unless one of the authorized vendors are used and in compliance with the College Policy. Refer to the College’s Food and Non-Alcoholic beverage Policy and the Alcohol Policy at the Finance and Administration website at https://finadmin.lafayette.edu/information-for-faculty-staff/policies/ for food purchased on campus.
Research and Sponsored Programs-Excluded Parties: College employees should not purchase from or make an award to any organization that is debarred or suspended or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs under Executive Order 12549, ”Debarment and Suspension.” Employees may check the status of a potential supplier on the sam.gov website.
All other goods or services provided by a College department: Lafayette College’s internal service providers (e.g. Printing/Reprographics and Bulk Mail Department, Design Services, Plant Operations, Information Technology Services) should be consulted/utilized when possible to furnish goods and services. Consult their websites for information and procedures. Furniture requests should be sent to Facilities operations.
In each of the scenarios described above, the initiating department can make a purchase if they have adequate budgetary funds and by providing an appropriate 19 digit Banner accounting code (FOAPAL), which stands for Fund(6) –Org(5) –Account(6) –Project(2).
Before making any purchase, it is always prudent to get at least 2 comparison quotes to assure the pricing and other terms and conditions are fiscally responsible. Higher purchase amounts ( $5,000 or more) require 3 written quotes. Many items can be purchased at significant discounts through our membership in group purchasing organizations (GPOs), where these organizations advantage the volume spend of many member institutions to get discounts and pass it along to their members. Some examples are E&I, US Communities, PA COSTARS, Sourcewell, Omnia Partners, PEPPM, LVAIC. Contracts include photography and technology equipment, vehicles, laboratory & scientific equipment, turf, software, to name a few. If you have a product or service in mind, see if it is available via any of the GPO organizations to receive access to the discount. See the links below to see if a supplier has a contract. You can contact them directly to find out more information, or contact our dept. at X5016 for more information.
P-Card
The College currently has selected a MasterCard card for its program, issued by JP Morgan Chase. Using a p-card is the preferred way to purchase goods, services, and travel in accordance with the College P-Card policy (see Policy Chart) and up to a limit of $4,999 per transaction. All permanent employees may request a card with approval from their Department Head by sending the P-Card application listed in “Forms” to the Procurement Office. Please review the P-Card Policy including the Authorized and Non-Authorized P-Card charges list.
When a purchase is made using funding through an external agency (foundation, federal, local), it is imperative that the person making the purchase abide by any additional requirements set forth by the funder.
For faculty research projects that are externally-funded, you may contact the Office of Sponsored Research if there are questions. Please visit the grant handbook here (https://researchsupport.lafayette.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/84/2018/06/Jul2018-Lafayette-College-Grant-Manual.pdf) for further information about purchasing when using grant money related to research projects.
If there are p-card purchases using funds that are managed by Development (CFGR), please contact that department to determine if there are additional requirements associated with the project.
Blanket/Direct Purchase Order
All goods and services under $4,999 and within Policy can be purchased directly and paid for using the Payment Authorization Form. A “blanket” or “open” Purchase Order is a particular form of Purchase Order that is used when the ordering department anticipates purchasing goods or services regularly throughout the fiscal year from a single supplier, but is unsure of purchase specifics, and/or the supplier does not accept the College P-card and/or the supplier requires a purchase order number.
A Blanket/open purchase order is limited in terms of (1) the items for which it can be utilized, (2) who can place the orders (by department), and (3) must comply with Policy. Blanket/open Purchase Orders do not encumber the budget, so they do not require a budget account at set up, but will require an account be specified at the payment of an invoice. When requesting a blanket purchase order use the Blanket Purchase Requisition Form found on the procurement website, https://purchasing.lafayette.edu/forms/ so that it will not encumber a budget account. The “Payment Authorization” form is used to pay an invoice against a blanket order.
Open Purchase Orders cannot be used for any restricted items referenced in the Policy Chart.
Payment Authorization Form-See Accounts Payable website for specifics
The Payment Authorization form at Finance and Administration’s website at https://finadmin.lafayette.edu/information-for-faculty-staff/forms/ will be the only form used for all Invoices with or without a purchase order, honorariums, and all other payments, except for reimbursements. This form replaces a receiving copy of a purchase order and a check request form. The Payment Authorization Form should be sent to the Accounts Payable Office. It should always be fully completed, e.g., PO number filled in, where it is a final payment, etc. and accompanied by the Invoice, packing slips, and other relevant documents.
Travel and Expense Reimbursement forms found at https://finadmin.lafayette.edu/information-for-faculty-staff/forms/ will still be used for approved College business-related travel, and travel and reimbursements of personal funds, and sent to the Accounts Payable Office after all approval signatures are on the form.
Electronic On-Line Purchase Requisitions
Purchase Requisitions should be utilized for departments requesting the purchase of goods or services of $5,000 or over. An on-line Purchase Requisition describing the goods or service requested should be completed and will require approval on-line by a duly authorized Department Head/Budget Manager. An appropriately approved Purchase Requisition results in a Purchase Order being issued to the Supplier by the Procurement Office, and the respective College department’s budget will reflect the commitment of funds. As appropriate for the circumstances, Purchase Orders may be related to a one-time expense or a commitment to a Supplier for goods or services to be delivered during the course of a fiscal year (example: specific monthly charges for services). See the On-Line Requisition directions.
Limited Purchase Order
In some circumstances when a P-Card may not be feasible, requests for limited purchase orders may be used. Limited purchase orders can be used to purchase goods and services under $200 from local Suppliers. Limited purchase orders are pre-numbered and approved, much like a blank check. The Procurement Services Office maintains a record of the Limited purchase order numbers assigned to each department. Departments should maintain appropriate security of their limited purchase orders and ensure they are utilized only in accordance with the policy and procedures. Receipts and records must be retained according to the College’s document retention standards (or if none exists, the legally-required or otherwise appropriate industry standards). If using LPOs, the guidelines must be followed.
Limited Purchase Orders may only be signed out to office staff; they cannot be signed out to Student Groups by the Procurement Office. Student Groups requiring a Limited Purchase Order must go through the Office that is responsible for the management of the account to be charged. Records and responsibility must be kept by the department issuing use of a Limited Purchase Order to a student or student group.
Limited purchase orders cannot be used for any items not approved in College policies, nor for any goods or services described in the College-Contracted Supplier or Preferred suppliers, or any purchases using restricted funds (i.e., gifts, federal, state or other grants or endowed accounts); only purchases to be charged against the College’s general E&G or Auxiliary operating budgets (primarily Fund codes 100100 and 100200 as well as certain 66xxx and 65xxx Fund Codes) are eligible.
See the Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages Policy for special use of a Limited purchase order for food purchases and the approved outside vendors. Any Limited used for a food purchase must-have details listed: Reason, Attendees, type of food purchased.
Personal (Out-of-Pocket) Funds
In limited circumstances, (primarily travel-meal related) and in accordance with the College’s Reimbursement Policy, small-dollar purchases may be made using personal funds. Requests for reimbursement for purchases of this type require a Reimbursement Form and receipts showing a description of the goods/service purchased and proof of payment. In order to avoid unauthorized purchases that may not be reimbursed, the Reimbursement Policy should be reviewed and questions should be directed to the Accounts Payable Office prior to making any purchase with personal funds.