Purchasing

Purchasing at Ohio University is handled in two phases:

1. Procurement of goods and services. This is handled by Procurement and Contract Services.
2. Payment for delivered goods and services. This is handled by Accounts Payable.

Our mission is to serve the University with a customer-centric focus. We provide expertise in procurement sourcing, risk management, and timely payment to the University's external suppliers while ensuring compliance with the Ohio Revised Code, University Policy, and GAAP. Working together, the University community can reduce costs through collective purchasing and efficient payment processing. Our goal centers around assisting the planning units in saving money and resources that can be used to support the University's core educational and research activities while protecting the institution from unacceptable risk.

Suppliers and vendors wishing to do business with the University should visit our Supplier Information page.

Purchasing Options

Most purchases will be completed using the University's eProcurement application, BobcatBUY. This allows the University to electronically monitor and issue Purchase Orders (POs) to suppliers.

Travel and some low-cost purchases may be made using a Purchasing Card (PCard). These cards may only be used for official University business and have transaction limits in place. Cardholders are expected to follow the PCard rules and guidelines and must complete a training before obtaining their card.

Uniform Guidance Purchasing Standards

The Micro-Purchase Threshold (MPT), required by Uniform Guidance was implemented on July 1, 2018 which included M-18-18 OMB Statutory changes. In an effort to reduce the impact and keep administrative burden for principal investigators and researchers as low as possible, the University requested and received approval on November 13, 2018, from the University’s federal oversight agency, to adjust the MPT limit to $50,000 (from the current level of $10,000).  As a result of this change, the requirement to obtain three (3) quotes for expenditures against federal awards, has been eliminated. 

This change aligns both the University competitive bidding threshold (as required under the Ohio Revised Code section 125.05 and the MPT at $50,000.  All purchases that are $50,000 or more, against any source of funds (including federal), must be competitively bid through Purchasing.

For further information, please consult Ohio University Federal Procurement guidelines and Purchasing Policy (55.030).