Important Notes:
Before a purchase is made, requests are required to be approved first by your Principal Investigator and finally by the designated Research Administrator.
Do not commit University funds to an expense without prior approval. If funds are committed without prior approval, you may be liable to pay for the expense out of pocket or an Unauthorized Purchase form will have to be completed by you then be reviewed by the Interim Vice Chancellor of Research & Economic Development, Marjorie Zatz.
Please note: It is the department’s responsibility to purchase items at the best price for the quality of the item. Pre-qualified vendors are preferred. Departments are encouraged to take all reasonable positive measures to ensure the price to be paid is reasonable.
Timeline for requests:
● Typical requests will take between 2-3 weeks to receive items
● Urgent requests will require 2-3 business days for processing
● Requisitions will take between 4-6 weeks to receive items
Requisitions: Purchases which are required to be processed by UC Merced’s Procurement Department.
A requisition is required if:
● Order is > $5000 including taxes
● Services are being performed on campus
● Fabrication or construction
● Annual service agreements
● Any service that requires a signed contract
● Vendor is international
● It is a chemical on the EH&S regulated SOP list
Order requests greater than $50,000 will require competitive bids before a vendor is chosen. (BUS-43, Part 3, III.D) Exceptions to this requirement may be available for unique products, sole source, or emergency conditions.
Purchasing Continued:
SNRI abides by the Purchasing Policy & Procedures established by the University of California. A purchase order (PO) must be in place to acquire goods/services with University funds. The following information should be included in a PO request sent to snrirequests@ucmerced.edu:
- quote or hyperlink with the following information for each item
- item/service number
- the quantity of each item
- the unit price of each item
- a detailed justification explaining how the item(s)/service(s) benefit the specific project being charged
- the project account to be charged, so that proper approval from the PI may be sought (account name or FAU)
- preferred delivery date and location
Purchase requests over $5,000 must be submitted to SNRI as soon as possible as they require approval and processing by UC Merced Procurement; thus, increasing the length time for processing.
You may wish to utilize the UCM Procurement FAQ page to assist in your purchasing.
Unauthorized purchases will require an After the Fact Justification Approval, signature from the unit's Management Service Officer (MSO), Vice Chancellor, and Procurement Services Director, and may be rejected - resulting in the unauthorized individual assuming responsibility for either the full amount, fees and charges, or differences in UC pricing.
