Purchasing Policies and Guidelines

Purchasing polices at UCSD are complex and there are several methods of acquiring goods and services. Please consult with the department CAO or financial staff at vis-fiscal@ucsd.edu to determine the best method of procurement for your particular situation. There are multiple payment methods allowed by campus however the preferred method of purchase can vary based on the situation:

• campus will pay directly to the vendor using Oracle Financial Cloud or Concur
• a campus procurement card (staff only)
• a campus travel and entertainment card (staff only)
• reimbursement

To have staff complete financial entries on your behalf, please follow these steps to assign them as your delegate in Concur. Concur is the campus system for processing travel and reimbursements of any kind. 

1. Log in to Concur
2. Click 'profile' in the top right corner
3. Click 'Expense Delegates'
4. Select ‘add’ and enter 'Jessica Greenlaw' (jrgreenlaw@ucsd.edu) 'Sara Aslagson-Sahar' (saslagsonsahar@ucsd.edu)
5. Select the checkboxes (do not check, Receives Emails for Approver)
6. Save

Often employees need to purchase goods and services using their personal funds and then apply for reimbursement from the University. Reimbursement is possible only when:

• Goods and services purchased have a specific business purpose
• The purchase followed campus policies
• The individual had prior approval to make the purchase and/or has their own approved funds to be reimbursed by

Reimbursements typically take 3-5 weeks to process. Please keep this in mind when deciding to make out-of-pocket purchases. To avoid waiting for reimbursement and ensure procurement policies are followed, contact staff in advance to setup the appropriate method of purchase. 

If you need to be reimbursed:

1. Go to Concur and add Jessica Greenlaw (jrgreenlaw@ucsd.edu) as your Delegate. Directions are located HERE.
2. Within 15 days of purchase, complete the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button). Before submission, you will need to have:

• Copies of all receipts saved as separate .pdf files. If transaction receipt is lost, a bank statement can be provided as proof of payment. Receipts submitted after 60 days of purchase will require detailed justification & may not be reimbursable
• The business purpose of the transaction (i.e. book for XX research project)
• The project number and name of your funding source (see your monthly Faculty Funds Report if you are not sure what this is)
• Vendor details if this is reimbursement for services.

Reimbursements on very active grants (example: Hellmann Fellowship or Academic Senate Grant) should be done regularly rather than allowing receipts to build up. Reimbursement will be paid by a direct deposit (to current employees registered for direct deposit in UCPATH) or by a check (students who are not currently employed by University need to self-register in PaymentWorks to become UCSD payee).

Meetings that include meals or light refreshments must serve a substantial business purpose and have at least one employee present. 

Maximum Meal Expenses including meal, labor, sale tax, and delivery fee: 

• Breakfast- $31 per person
• Lunch- $54 per person
• Dinner- $94 per person
• Light refreshment- $22 per person

Alcohol is not reimbursable and all receipts must be itemized. List of attendees and their affiliation must be supplied. Typically there is no bonafide UCSD business purpose served by a non-employee's attendance. If a guest is in attendance without a business purpose, the employee/student should pay their guest's portion - which is a common practice.

Event types:

Most events for UC San Diego business are 1 of these 3 types of events, each with certain policies and guidelines:

• Meetings: Infrequent and at least one employee present
• Programmatic activities: In connection with student programs or community support
• Standard entertainment: Involving a guest-host relationship
  • Special entertainment: Additional approval required by a vice chancellor or designee

Frequency limits and tax implications:

UC San Diego does not pay or reimburse frequent or routine expenditures for meals or light refreshments for employees as they're considered taxable income by the IRS.

For meetings and entertainment events, limit:

• Meals to once per month, per group
• Light refreshments to twice per month, per group

A meal or entertainment expense is taxable income if:

• The activity is not directly related to the employee's job
• The expense if lavish or extravagant under the circumstances
• The official host (or other designated employee) is not present when the activity takes place
• The expense is not substantiated with supporting documentation and a receipt if an expense is $75 or greater
• It is deemed the employee did not adequately account to UC San Diego for these expenses within a reasonable period of time

• The campus preference is to buy equipment from the UCSD Bookstore. To do this, you need to first contact vis-fiscal@ucsd.edu for instructions regarding the recharge process. After the purchase is completed, a copy of the receipt needs to be provided for department records. You submit this receipt via the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button).
• If the UCSD Bookstore does not have the equipment needed or cannot order this on your behalf, start the process of purchasing from an outside vendor. To do this, the vendor will need to be added to the UCSD purchasing system. You would initiate their access to the campus systems via the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button).
• The least preferred method of purchase is personal funds (request for reimbursement after the purchase). UCSD Employee Agreement-Electronic Communications form will need to be filled out and submitted when reimbursement is requested in this method. Equipment purchased must have a business purpose. All equipment over $5,000 is considered property of the University and must be included in the department inventory and regularly accounted for.

If purchasing equipment or goods needed for your space or research purposes, the first step would be to see if this is available through the UCSD Bookstore. If not, you have two options:

1. Start the process of purchasing from an outside vendor. To do this, the vendor will need to be added to the UCSD purchasing system. There are many administrative steps to this option however if the vendor agrees to provide the goods and then invoice the campus for payment, the faculty member does not need to use their personal funds. This is not often a preferred option for vendors as they are not paid immediately. To initiate this, complete the Reimbursement and Purchase Request form linked at the top of this page (yellow button).
2. Purchase using personal funds from a store or vendor directly and then request for reimbursement after the purchase. Once the purchase is complete, submit for reimbursement via the Reimbursement and Purchase Request form linked at the top of this page (yellow button).

One of the most common expenses is the payment for services. These payments need to be paid directly by the university to the vendor. No payments made through PayPal or Venmo for services provided by a 3rd party will be reimbursed. International vendors take much longer to pay and can have additional policies and restrictions. Domestic vendors should be used as much as possible. UCSD procedures for hiring Independent Contactors/Consultants are here. Do not hire previous or current UC employees to provide services unless you have already received approval from campus. 

To pay a vendor:

1. Review the Vendor tab on the Visual Arts website.
2. Prior to receiving goods or services, receive pre-approval of the independent contractor/vendor you plan to work with. The vendor will need to provide a quote for the goods/services they plan to provide.
3. You complete the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button). You will need to provide details regarding the vendor and expected work to be completed. You can view the form without submitting in order to see all of the information that needs to be provided to campus. This submission process is less cumbersome if you work with the same vendor repeatedly as they will already be in the system and not have a conflict of interest that requires additional paperwork and approvals of campus.
4. Department staff will prompt the vendor to register themselves via PaymentWorks.  
5. If the quote is agreeable to the faculty member and aligns with campus policies, department staff will create a purchase order.
6. Department staff will provide the purchase order to the vendor. This must be included on the final invoice in order to be paid by campus. 
7. Final invoice provided by vendor to the faculty member. 
8. You complete the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button) a second time. You will be providing the final invoice and confirmation that the work was completed. This is a much shorter and easier submission than the first you needed to complete. 
9. Department staff will submit the final invoice for payment. 

Guest speakers or participants in special events may be paid honorarium. A typical honorarium payment is $250-$500 and must be approved by the department. Modeling fees are typically $100 per day.

If you wish to invite a speaker, model or a guest lecturer for your class using class or personal funds, submit for approval via the Financial Services Request Form linked at the top of this page (yellow button) with the speaker’s full name, email address, date of event, honorarium amount (if any), whether they are currently or in the past have been a UC student/employee and the funding source before making plans for their attendance. Things to know about bring to campus a speaker:

• Please allow at least 2 weeks for vendor procurement approval. Do not promise a payment to your speaker until they get approved in UCSD procurement system.
• Foreign national speakers will be paid by wire payment; the turnaround time is at least 45-60 days
• Speakers generally cannot be hired if they were recently affiliated with any UC school as a student or employee.

The Visual Arts department keeps a store of basic office supplies in Mandeville Room 216. These supplies are meant to support the basic instructional and office needs of Sociology faculty and staff and can be accessed during regular business hours (weekdays 8:30 am - 4:00 pm). Typical supplies kept include the following:

• Writing instruments - pens, pencils, markers, etc.
• White board marking pens, erasers and cleaner
• Writing pads, note pads and post-its
• Manila file folders, hanging filer folders, etc.
• Paper clips, binder clips and staples
• Transparencies and labels
• Scotch tape, liquid paper, erasers and other miscellaneous items

Items not usually kept in inventory can be ordered from the UCSD Marketplace - typical delivery time for most items is one to two days. An order can be placed with Fiscal Support. Depending upon the item requested, you may be asked for a project number to recharge for the supply.