How can campus departments be sure they're getting the best deal when buying supplies?

This was the issue set before the Procurement 2000 program, created by Sam Morabito, associate vice chancellor for Business and Financial Services. Procurement 2000 was formed in the fall of 1996 to create an effective purchasing system that would maintain or increase product and service quality; leverage campus buying power through strategic alliances; make the buying process more efficient through improved technology; and save money.

But when it came to computers and printers, the Procurement 2000 team - comprised of both computer and purchasing specialists - worried that many computers would be treated as commodities, the same as pencils, notepads or any other office supplies. For computers, price is only a small part of the total cost of ownership.

"In many cases, particularly for research and teaching computers, there are many special needs," said chemistry and biochemistry Professor Christopher Foote. "So there was nervousness that departments would be forced to take whatever was offered by a university contract."

Foote is the chairman of the Information Technology Planning Board (ITPB), a new, joint administration-Academic Senate committee that oversees information technology direction and policy at UCLA. The ITPB and campus CIO Jim Davis collaborated with Morabito, the Campus Computing Cooperative and the Procurement 2000 team to broker an approach that offers the advantages of a universitywide contract while maintaining the ability to purchase elsewhere to meet alternative requirements. Qualification of vendors is also an issue where agreement was reached.

"We eventually agreed that the contract would be voluntary; if you didn't want to use what the vendor was offering, you could fall back on the current purchasing procedure as long as you could demonstrate price-reasonableness," Foote said. "We also suggested there be a mechanism to appeal denials of sole-source contracts."

The result of their efforts was a Request for Proposal that went out to potential vendors earlier this month. Vendors will then submit their bids for the university's contract.