POLICIES

General Policies

Approvals Required

All expenditures from regular departmental budgets require the advance approval of the Department Head. In the case of Grants and Contracts, the Principal Investigator must approve in advance. The Chief Financial Officer must approve any expenditure over $10,000 in advance of the commitment.

Sole Source Justification

Requests for a waiver of bidding or price-checking requirements, based upon the premise that only one vendor exists who can meet the need, require the advance review and written approval of the Purchasing Manager, who is expected to consider each case on its individual merits and decide it fairly, based upon objective criteria, the needs of the customer department, best industry practices, and the best interest of Smith College. 

We should carefully consider all possible alternatives and avoid unnecessarily restricting our search for the best, lowest-cost, alternatives. Often a careful review of the facts will reveal an alternate strategy that preserves the college's leverage in the marketplace, and still gets you the best item at the best price. Consult with Purchasing as soon as possible whenever such cases arise.

Grants and Contracts

Expenditures made under grants and contracts must comply with all of the requirements of the grant or contract agency. For example, federal grants and contracts require compliance with Circular A-110, Attachment O. Principal investigators should familiarize themselves with these requirements in advance of any expenditures. All items purchased under grants and contracts are under the ownership or stewardship of Smith College, which delegates responsibility for the care and operation of the equipment to the principal investigator.

Emergency Procurement

Whenever scrupulously following these procurement policies and procedures, and taking the time to obtain the required quotations or bids or a Purchase Order would endanger anyone's life or health, degrade personal or college security, threaten structural integrity, jeopardize property, or severely limit college operations, you are empowered to act without delay on your own personal judgment, as you see fit, in the best interests of Smith College. Consult with your supervisor, and/or the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Security, the Director of Physical Plant, Purchasing Manager, and/or other appropriate officer of the college, as the specific situation warrants, in advance, whenever possible. 

A memorandum of explanation, outlining the actions taken, and the reasons therefore, should be sent to the Purchasing Manager as soon as is possible following the emergency.

Minority and Woman-owned Business Policy

We are committed to actively developing and supporting minority-owned and woman-owned businesses, because we recognize the tremendous value of diversity in our society. We actively seek out and promote partnerships with minority-owned and woman-owned businesses.

Tax Exemption Certificates

Smith College's Commonwealth of Massachusetts Tax Exemption Certificate number is E041843040.

Smith College is exempt from the payment of most federal, state, and local taxes.  However, we must pay certain taxes, such as hotel and restaurant taxes.

Print off a copy of the Smith Tax Exemption Certificate.

Please do not use this number for personal purchases.

Certificates of Insurance

Appropriate coverage is required of all vendors who come on campus to perform labor or make deliveries.  Coverage requirements appear on the vendor copy of a Purchase Order and in RFPs and RFQs for construction or other services.  This policy protects the College against expensive liability in the event of an accident.

Click here to see Smith College Insurance requirements

The Purchasing Department maintains the files and a system for obtaining the coverage and advising the vendor as to when Certificates of Insurance must be renewed.

Certificates must be received before work can start and must remain in effect continuously for as long as the vendor has personnel coming onto campus.