Procurement Services

Mission Chicago State University’s Procurement Services department facilitates the sourcing of all goods and services required for the operation of all academic, operational, and administrative campus departments and programs, while maintaining the strictest possible compliance with all State of Illinois laws and statutes, as well as University rules and policies.  Chicago State University and the Procurement Services department encourage engagement with BEP Certified Vendors at all possible opportunities.

Function

The Procurement Services department is a service organization that supports all campus departments, programs, and units.  Sourcing goods and services within the context of a public institution of higher education in Illinois is a complex endeavor.  The Procurement Services team:

• Trains all requesting department personnel on campus and aids them in purchasing necessary goods and/or services
• Assists vendors that provide goods and/or services to the University
• Ensures that purchasing activities conform to the many different laws, rules, and policies that govern these activities.

Procurement Services does not select vendors, products, or services that supply the University, but ensures that proper policies and procedures are utilized by requesting departments to select vendors that satisfy identified needs, and to manage the selected vendors’ activities that follow.

Organization

Procurement Services reports to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Vice President of Financial Operations of the University.  University Accounting, Grants Accounting, Accounts Payable, the Budget and Planning Office, and Student Financial Services office also report to the University CFO.

Procurement Services supports all departments and programs on campus and works closely with the other departments in the Financial Operations Division.  This includes an especially strong relationship with Accounts Payable (AP), as Procurement and AP are the component units in the campus Procure-to-Pay (P2P) functionality. 

Procurement Services has an equally important relationship with the University’s Legal department, as the campus Legal team reviews and approves proposed contracts specific to purchasing business, and Procurement Services assists with routing purchasing contracts approved by the Legal team for appropriate University signatures.