Purchases From Employees (C-27)
Original Implementation: Unpublished
Last Revision: January 27, 2009
Purchases (including p-card, requisition, purchase order and purchase voucher) from an SFA officer, employee or any person or entity with which the officer or employee has a Family, Financial or Personal Relationship is prohibited unless conflict of interest is disclosed and avoided as provided herein.
To disclose and avoid conflict of interest the SFA employee:
- will “not participate” in and have no involvement in the procurement decision making process and must not communicate with anyone about the procurement decision; to “not participate” includes, but is not limited to, not processing electronic documents as noted in item 2 below as well as not being involved in any request, selection, evaluation or justification process;
- will not enter a requisition, approve a requisition, enter a purchase order, approve a purchase order or receive a purchase order in the university’s financial system when such requisition or purchase order is being requested or ordered from an SFA officer, employee or any person or entity with which they have a Family, Financial or Personal Relationship;
- will annually file a Disclosure of Substantial Interest form identifying any person or entity with which the employee has a Family Relationship, Financial Relationship or Personal Relationship that might give rise to a conflict of interest situation. The information provided in the annual disclosure will be used only to ensure that conflicts of interest are avoided and the procedures herein are followed. The annual disclosure will be considered confidential information and will be released only to those individuals involved in purchasing decisions; i.e., procurement, accounts payable, department heads, vice presidents, president, general counsel, etc. See Purchasing Ethics and Confidentiality Policy C-33.
Family Relationship – means
- employee’s spouse/partner
- employee’s children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters (including half brothers and sisters)
- the spouses of any of the persons listed in the above bullet
- the spouse’s/partner’s parents, brothers, sisters and children
- any firm in which any of the above persons is a partner or sole proprietor, or any corporation in which any of those persons holds 5% or more stock either directly or indirectly, or any other individual living in the same household.
Personal Relationship – means
relationship with a person or entity sufficiently close that a reasonable person would believe that it would be difficult for the SFA employee to deal with the person as he or she would deal with a stranger.
To avoid conflict of interest, Procurement Services will process purchases as follows:
- The purchase of COMMODITIES from any SFA officer, employee, or any person or entity with which they have a Family, Financial or Personal Relationship is prohibited unless the price is equal to or less than that which can be obtained from any other known and ethical source, regardless of the dollar amount.
- The purchase of SERVICES from any person or entity with which an SFA officer or employee has a Family, Financial or Personal Relationship is prohibited unless the price is equal to or less than that which can be obtained from any other known and ethical source, regardless of the dollar amount.
- Solicitation documentation showing pricing from a minimum of two other sources is required on any Procurement Card purchase, Purchase Order, or voucher submitted for payment. A proprietary purchase from an employee may be acceptable, but only with a completed and signed Sole Source/Product Justification and approval from the Director of Procurement and Property Services.
- Contracting for SERVICES with an SFA officer or employee is prohibited unless approved by the Director of Procurement and Property Services in consultation with General Counsel. Otherwise, a request to purchase SERVICES from any officer or employee of Stephen F. Austin State University must be initiated by submitting an additional compensation form to human resources. The request will not be considered unless the service being performed is significantly different from the employee's regular duties. See Compensation in Excess of Base Salary Policy E-9.
- Contracting for PROFESSIONAL OR CONSULTING SERVICES requires additional disclosures to avoid conflict of interest or when contracting with former or retired employees. See Ethics Policy E-56 and Professional and Consultant Services Policy C-45.
Cross Reference: Policy E-9 Salary Supplements, Stipends and Additional Compensation; Policy C-33 Purchasing Ethics and Confidentiality
Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for Finance and Administration
Contact for Revision: Director of Procurement and Property Services/HUB Coordinator
Forms: Disclosure of Substantial Interest; Sole Source/Product Justification