Airgas Supply Contract Renewal
UVM is extending the 5-year Airgas Supply contract one additional year through June 2022 to bridge the COVID-19 Pandemic. For budgeting purposes in FY22 – please plan on a 4% price increase for tank rentals and gas prices.
Uniform Guidance Update: Micro and Small Purchases using Federal Funds
(Effective January 1, 2021 for UVM)
Uniform Guidance (UG) is the set of federal regulations (see 2 CFR 200) that drives research administration and allowable costs, with procurement guidance in sections 200.317 - 200.326. The procurement sections focus on increased competition and transparency.
On November 12, 2020, the UG revised the micro-purchase threshold limits from $10,000 up to $50,000 with specific requirements for audit purposes. This is great news, and UVM has made the decision to increase its micro-purchase threshold to $25,000, which is in line with UVM’s existing policy and procedures.
What this mean for departments:
- Micro-purchases: Thresholds will be revised from $10,000 to $25,000. As long as the pricing is considered reasonable, purchases will not require competitive bids (multiple quotes). Micro-purchases must be distributed equitability among qualified suppliers (to the extent practicable).
- Small purchases over $25,000: Will be required to follow UVM’s policy, by obtaining three quotes from multiple sources prior to the purchase. If multiple quotes are not obtained, the charge will not be allowed on a federally funded sponsored project; unless a single sole source justification is allowed/approved on a federally funded sponsored project.
- Purchases over $100,000: Will also be required to follow UVM’s policy, by processing a Request for Formal Proposal via Purchasing Services office.
COVID Compliance for Essential Suppliers and Contractors 8/14/20
Please review our process that requires all suppliers, vendors, consultants, and contractors (suppliers/contractors) to adhere to strict safety standards while on campus. This process includes acknowledgement of completed required training, and following current UVM and state COVID-19 protection protocol. Over 300 suppliers/contractors are currently compliant.
A supplier/contractor will not be allowed onto the UVM campus or into its buildings/ facilities, including any off-campus facilities, unless an acknowledgement form has been duly signed and returned to UVM in advance of a scheduled visit.
- UVM Essential Supplier/Contractor Form (PDF)
- COVID-Compliant UVM Suppliers List (Excel)
- Acknowledgement Procedure (PDF)
Important information for our campus suppliers
As you may know, the University of Vermont is limiting student and business functions by decreasing individuals allowed on campus. As such, the procure-to-pay essential functions are being maintained by a reduced staff. Our response time to supplier requests and inquiries may increase during this timeframe and we thank you for your patience in advance. More information here:
- In order to ensure your payment during this time, we ask all of our suppliers to engage in invoicing the University electronically, by sending PDFs directly to the Disbursement Center Accounts Payable team at disburse@uvm.edu. If you currently send paper invoices to individual departments, we ask you to remit PDF versions to those departments for processing.
- Signing up for an ACH payment (Word) will ensure you receive payments from the University if you electronically send us your invoices as well. This form should be sent to the Disbursement Center via secure file transfer to supplier@uvm.edu.
For those suppliers who are not signed up for ACH payments and are invoicing us electronically and would like to receive a paper check as form of payment, please be advised there will be a delay in producing and mailing paper checks until the University returns to normal operations.
The Purchasing & Contracts and Disbursement Center/Accounts Payable web pages will provide regular updates on any service impacts to UVM’s suppliers.