Summer Hours Begin May 15 - Aug. 10  7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Mon - Thurs

Policy and Procedures

Campus spring
Purchasing

Lincoln University - Purchasing facilitates the process required for all University departments to acquire goods and services which meet the user needs. We strived to ensure goods and services are procured in a manner that assures the best value, requires minimal use of Unviersity resources, and is fair, open and competitive.

Please collaborate with the Purchasing staff if you have questions or require assistance. We appreciate your advance planning to assure timely processing of routine requisitions, purchase orders, and allow for internal and external customer support. At times, there are supplier shortages or process challenges, please allow ample time for our team members to work with you.

Doing Business with LU
State of Missouri University Procurement Authority

  • Purchasing Guide
  • Lincoln University Purchasing Procedures (update in progress)

Policies

An Equipment Sign-Out Request Form must be completed and approved by the respective Vice President/President prior to removing Lincoln University equipment (as specified below) from campus. All equipment officially approved to be removed from campus must be used exclusively for University business.

DEFINITION:

"Equipment" is defined as all non-expendable items costing over $1000.00 and having a life expectancy of two (2) years or more, plus the following regardless of cost:

  1. Audiovisual Equipment

  2. Cameras and Attachments

  3. Microphones

  4. Computer and Peripheral Equipment

  5. Tape Recorders and Records

  6. Specific purpose type of equipment should be released and approved in advance.

Property Control covers the topics of inventory (including an annual physical inventory), surplus, and re-assignment of assets.

INVENTORY: 

The University is required by State law to maintain a current listing of all non-expendable items costing over $1000.00 and having a life expectancy of one (1) year or more, plus sensitive items that are considered attractive or easily pilfered, such as:

  • Audiovisual Equipment
  • Computers
  • Tablets
  • Cameras and Attachments
  • Electronics
  • Microphones
  • Power Hand Tools
  • Televisions
  • Rifles and Pistols
  • And any chair or table costing $50.00 or more, etc.

The inventory of each department's holdings must be verified on an annual basis. These inventories or verifications will be scheduled for each department. The extreme importance of this verification and the accuracy of the same cannot be emphasized too much. It has a direct bearing on funding for the University.

Audits will be made on the inventories reported. It is extremely important that some type of interdepartmental control be maintained on the location of all inventoried items. Such controls will not only facilitate an audit but will also make future inventories easier for departmental personnel.

For auditing purposes, care should be exercised in keeping records of circumstances surrounding missing property.

Inventory tags should be placed on all items prior to delivery to the requesting department. Should you receive an item or items that have not been tagged, notify the Property Control Office at once, giving the item, the vendor, and the purchase order number pertaining to the shipment.

SURPLUS PROPERTY:

No inventorable property may be disposed of in any manner except by notifying the Property Control Office in writing. After notification, the property will then be picked up and disposed of in a proper manner.

The property will then be deleted from the Department's chargeable inventory listing.

If in doubt about the disposition of any University property, contact the Property Control Office:

FURNITURE RE-ASSIGNMENT:

Any furniture items being declared surplus by any department MUST be returned to the Property Control Office. No other disposition is permissible.

The re-assignment and/or the disposal of excess and/or surplus property will be the responsibility of the Director of Purchasing.

A controlled facility is available for the storage of University records. This facility is for use by the custodians of records for the University and is intended for secure storage of University records that must be maintained for a set period of time. Please review the recommendations of the State of Missouri prior to submitting records for storage.

The following are the procedures for receiving records for storage:

All records received for storage must have a Records Management Box Label, a Records Management Transmittal Form, and must be stored in a regulation box.

  1. Fillable labels are available on the Purchasing forms page
  2. Click here to request boxes. 
Information is available from the Missouri Secretary of State website regarding which records must be stored and for how long by department. (Click Department of Higher Education, Lincoln University and appropriate department.)
  1. Missouri Secretary of State Records Management
  2. Missouri Secretary of State Agency Records Retention Schedules
The box label and transmittal form must be completed and approved by the department head before records will be stored.
  1. The destruction date must be in accordance with the Missouri Secretary of State guidelines. 
  2. Any non-permanent records needed for an extended time past the requirement must have a reasonable destruction date.

Although Purchasing will be responsible for maintaining the inventory of all records received for storage, each department must keep their own inventory of records stored.  .

Purchasing will also maintain a check in/out sheet for any record a department might need to retrieve while in storage.  Unsupervised access will not be permitted. 

Precedence:
Except in cases of emergency, all approved requisitions will be handled in order of their receipt by our office. 
Lincoln University does not accept C.O.D. shipments.
If a user department needs to purchase an item to replace obsolete equipment, and the surplus property cannot be used by another department, the Purchasing Department should explore the possibility of a trade-in. If trade-ins are accepted on a particular equipment item, which a user department desires to replace, the bid solicitation should require bid prices with and without trade-ins, and indicate that an award may be made on either basis. In so doing, the best trade-in offer can be evaluated against the expected sale price for the obsolete item.
It is permissible for vendors to demonstrate equipment to departmental personnel. These demonstrations should, however, be held strictly at the convenience of departmental personnel. This practice is encouraged by the Purchasing Office and no prior clearance is required. If equipment is left in the department, it must be understood by all concerned that the vendor does so at his own risk. The University cannot and will not in any way assume responsibility for the equipment other than to exercise normal and usual care. It should also be made perfectly clear to the vendor that the University will in no way commit to the purchase of the equipment without the proper bidding process.