CSULB Purchasing Operations Manual
The Role Of The CSULB Purchasing Office
The CSULB Purchasing Office exists to assist faculty and staff with the acquisition of commodities and services of the proper quality, at the right time, in the proper quantity, at an economical price, and from the right source. It is a partially de-centralized management system that includes the responsibility for purchasing, receiving, delivering, and maintaining inventory control over, materials and services provided to the University community. The Office is organized into buying teams each having classified responsibilities for serving on-campus instructional and administrative elements of the university. Campus authority has been delegated to most individual offices on campus to place purchase & service orders up to $1,000. Selected offices have received this delegation up to the amount of $10,000.
The Purchasing Office at CSULB subscribes to the fundamental principles encompassed in the CSU Trustees’ Policy, which are:
- a recognition that the basic mission of the CSU is to support the teaching, research and public service requirements for higher education for the people of the State of California,
- a recognition that the continued development and refinement of purchasing policies in accordance with good business judgment and best business practices is paramount to the effective and efficient total operations of the CSU,
- a firm belief that it is in the CSU’s best interest to limit, as much as possible, prescriptive policies and regulations and to provide maximum flexibility to, and accountability for, the adoption of local campus policies and procedures to insure the cost effective operation of campus business, and,
- a recognition that the CSU on-line Policy Manual establishes a baseline for State Law and Trustees’ Policy and that it is the responsibility of the campus to determine the disposition of any issue not specifically addressed in the CSU Policy Manual or prescribed in State laws or regulations.
The CSULB Purchasing Office is committed to maintaining high standards of performance based upon fair, ethical and professional business practices.