The objective of the Procurement Department at Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) is to ensure that all goods and services are purchased at the lowest possible cost to the college without sacrificing quality.
The role of the Procurement Department is to assist the college community with questions regarding the procurement of goods and services, to initiate bids and contracts, and to ensure public procurement policies for higher education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are followed. CCCC follows M.G.L. c.30B when a vendor is not on a State contract, MHEC, or E&I. Procurement actions with federal funds must also conform to regulations as stipulated in 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”), 200.318 to 200.326.
In general, Chapter 30B applies to the procurement of supplies and services with the intent of promoting competition and fairness. Construction projects at CCCC follow the guidelines of Chapter 149. Procurement assists the college community in the timely and cost effective purchase of goods and services.
We strive to maximize the college's purchasing power through the use of competitive bidding, negotiations, and administering special pricing agreements and contracts. Relationships with qualified vendors and consortiums, which service the college are established and developed. The financial controls of the college are maintained by ensuring that there is proper authorization of all goods and services purchased.
| Procurement Totals | Required Approvals |
|---|---|
| Up to $500 | Exception below |
| $501–$2,499 | Budget Manager or Department Head |
| $2,500–$9,999 | Department Head, Department VP, VP of Finance and Operations |
| $10,000–$100,000 | Department Head, Department VP, VP of Finance and Operations, President |
| $100,001 and over | Department Head, Department VP, VP of Finance and Operations, President, Board of Trustees |
Approval Exception: CCCC will no longer require requisitions to be submitted for goods and/or services where the total purchase is $500 or less. Individual department heads are authorized to order supplies and services directly from vendors without submitting a requisition when the total cost of the purchase is less than $500.
Department heads may delegate this authority to those persons that they authorize to approve departmental expenditures by informing the Procurement Department in writing or by e-mail of the decision. A listing of authorized signers by department will be maintained. However, please keep in mind that the budget manager is responsible for keeping total expenditures within his or her departmental budget, regardless if another individual has been given authority to purchase goods and/or services.
After following the procurement delineated in the charts below, the ordering department will fill out an online purchase requisition form prior to purchasing the good or service. A purchase order will be created and issued regardless if the vendor accepts purchase orders or not.
Departments shall solicit 3 written quotes, and select the lowest cost, acceptable best value quotation that meets the requirements. In the event that the Department cannot find three potential suppliers for the item, the Department should contact Procurement for assistance in locating potential suppliers.
The ordering department will provide detailed specifications, bid evaluation criteria, and a list of vendors to submit the request for proposal to Eric Anderson (eanderson@parkcitiesflowermarket.net) in the Procurement Department. Formal bids will be posted on COMMBUYS and be available on the College website.
The requesting department will develop and submit the evaluation criteria and committee for selecting the winning bidder at the same time when submitting the technical specifications. The Procurement Department will assist the requesting department with the evaluation criteria.
The date and time for public bid openings shall be stated in the Request for Sealed Proposals or Invitation for Sealed Bids with an estimated cost of more than $50,000 or more. Representatives of the Requisitioning Department are invited to the bid opening and will work with Procurement to analyze the bids and make recommendations. Procurement will work with the requesting department to prepare a summary of recommendation for approval by the BOT.
When sourcing goods or services, vendors who are currently on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, MHEC, or E&I contracts should be consulted whenever possible in determining the best purchase value. Procedures and documents along with links to COMMBUYS, MHEC, and E&I have been added to the Procurement page on the CCCC website. All purchases with federal funds must be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition consistent with 2 CFR 200.319.
Please contact Eric Anderson (eanderson@parkcitiesflowermarket.net), or 774.330.4327, if you need assistance locating a State, MHEC or E&I vendor. Please contact Marie Murphy, mmurphy@parkcitiesflowermarket.net, or 774.330.4507, if you need assistance with reviewing federal funded purchasing.
Note: you will need to create a personal log-in on both MHEC and E&I websites to search for vendors. COMMBUYS is accessible without a login id.
The PI/Grant Program Manager and their supervising Dean/VP are responsible for understanding and following the applicable purchasing requirements stipulated in the terms and conditions for the grant award(s). The Grant Program Manager and/or Grant Accountant review costs before charging them to an award to ensure that they are allocable, allowable, reasonable and necessary. All grant purchases should be accompanied by a Grant Agreement and Procurement (GAP) form (insert link to PDF version of the form) that documents allowability as well as proper procurement procedures. Grants Management and Accounting should be contacted for specific questions concerning a charge to an award account, preferably in advance of the incurrence of a cost.
A sole-source procurement is the purchase of supplies or services from a vendor without advising or seeking competition. Sole-source procurements are authorized under M.G.L. c.30B only under very limited circumstances.
M.G.L. c.30B, § 7, authorizes sole-source procurements of supplies or services with a value of $50,000 or less when a reasonable investigation shows that there is only one practicable source for the required supply or service. The determination must be made in writing.
A sole-source contract may be awarded in an amount of less than $50,000 or a contract for the procurement of library books, school textbooks, educational programs, educational courses, educational curricula in any media including educational software, newspapers, serials, periodicals, audiovisual materials or software maintenance without competition when, after reasonable investigation, the Vice President of Finance and Operations is assured in writing that only one practicable sources for the required supply or service exists. The Sole Source Justification form must be filled out and attached to the online requisition form. To obtain the Sole Source Justification form please contact Eric Anderson (eanderson@parkcitiesflowermarket.net), or x4327.
Procurement by noncompetitive proposals is procurement through solicitation of a proposal from only one source and may be used only when one or more of the following circumstances apply: (1) The item is available only from a single source; (2) The public exigency or emergency for the requirement will not permit a delay resulting from competitive solicitation; (3) The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes noncompetitive proposals in response to a written request from the non-Federal entity; or (4) After solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate. Profit must be negotiated as a separate element of the price for each contract in which there is no price competition.
M.G.L. c. 30B, § 8, provides that if the time required to comply fully with a M.G.L. c. 30B requirement would endanger the health or safety of people or property due to an unforeseen emergency, the procurement of the needed item or service without complying with that M.G.L. c. 30B requirement could occur. Even under emergency circumstances, however, you must comply with M.G.L. c. 30B to the extent possible.
A record of your emergency procurement must be maintained, documenting the basis for determining that an emergency exists, the name of the vendor with whom your jurisdiction will be contracting, the amount and type of the contract, and a list of the supplies and services purchased under each contract. The document should also describe the procedures used to solicit competition. The record of the emergency procurement must be submitted to the Goods and Services Bulletin for publication as soon as possible.