Bennington College Purchasing Policy

The Purchasing Office can assist with campus-wide purchases and purchase order processing at Bennington College. Within guidelines described in this Purchasing Policy authorized department representatives may initiate purchases covered by funds approved in their budgets.

If you have any questions about this Purchasing Policy please contact the Tim Hutton in the Purchasing Office. 

Acquiring Goods and Services

Depending upon the dollar amount of the item you want to purchase there are different methods you may use to secure the goods and/or services. The Procurement Value Table below shows the various methods for acquiring goods and services with explanations of each category following.

What’s needed at each level?

Purchases less than $200

The College gives you three ways to purchase items totaling $200 or less:

  • Use a check request

  • Use a company credit card

  • Use your own cash or credit card, then to receive reimbursement:

Remember that Bennington College is a tax‐exempt organization and as such sales tax should not be charged for purchases made on behalf of the college. (Tax exempt certificate)

Purchases between $200 and $999

A College credit card is expected to be used for all orders under $1,000. For vendors that do not accept credit cards, some will allow you to charge your purchase to a Bennington account. In these situations, the supplier sends an invoice to the College and a purchase order is not required. Please stamp the invoice with the Bennington College invoice stamp, authorize with a department number and subcode, sign off on the charge and forward to the Business Office.

Purchase orders are not required for purchases under $1,000. Exceptions are made for suppliers that insist on receiving a purchase order number. In instances where you need to issue a purchase order number for an order less than $1,000 we recommend that you use your telephone extension followed by a sequential number so that you can keep track of your orders. For example in the Business Office we would issue purchase order numbers as follows 4458‐01 (our extension – XX) for Brown Company; 4458‐02 for Smith Incorporated 4458‐03 for Acme Industries, etc.

Purchases over $1,000

A purchase order is required for purchases greater than $1,000 that are not listed as categorically exempt (see below). We require purchase orders for budget control purposes and for the added legal protection that purchase orders provide. The $1,000 threshold may be reached in one of the following three ways:

1. A single ordered item with a total cost (including freight) equal to or greater than $1,000.

2. More than one item ordered at one time with a total cost (including freight) equal to or greater than $1,000.

3. Multiple purchases to the same vendor against the same budget number that total $1,000 or more in a fiscal year (also known as a “blanket order”).

Categories Exempt from Purchase Orders

Certain categories are exempted from the purchase order requirement. These include:

  • Honoraria and fees for entertainers

  • Bank fees

  • Fringe‐benefit related costs

  • Taxes and payments to government agencies

  • Legal and audit fees

  • Membership dues and subscriptions

  • Insurance

  • Inventories of food, books and clothing

  • Utilities

  • Fees for contracted services where the Business Office has a copy of the contract

College‐Wide Suppliers

The College contracts for certain commodities and services on a college‐wide basis with particular suppliers. Please refer to the following chart for a summary and note that this list is not exhaustive – if you can find items cheaper than with one of the vendors listed below, please feel free to use that vendor.

  • Office Supplies: WB Mason, Staples
  • Shipping: Campus Post Office
  • Business cards: Communications

Bid Guidelines

When dealing with vendors under a bid process, it’s important to conduct a fair and ethical process.

Here are some key points to remember:

  • All vendors must be provided with the same information and deadlines to avoid any advantages for any vendor.

  • No information on the bids submitted (especially price) may be disclosed to the other competing vendors except for the name of the company.

  • You should not advise or suggest to any vendor the amount (price) that should be submitted.

  • You should not allow any vendor to resubmit a bid unless all vendors may resubmit. (Resubmission bid requests must include all vendors.)