Purchasing cards might soon become a last resort for faculty and administration at Ohio University as the school inches closer to a centralized purchasing system.
Commonly known as P-Cards, the company cards given to OU employees will become less common as OU expands use of its newest purchasing system, BobcatBUY, which is intended to ease the purchasing process. BobcatBUY will limit the companies OU employees use for work-related supplies.
Laura Nowicki, director of procurement services, spoke about the new system at Faculty Senate Monday evening.
“This system does not affect the ability to procure the goods and services you need when you need them,” she said.
Right now, OU uses more than 90,000 suppliers; BobcatBUY will reduce that total.
“We are trying to set up a process to buy and do things in a more efficient matter,” said Stephen Golding, vice president for Finance and Administration.
BobcatBUY is being tested in various areas throughout OU, including the office of OU President Roderick McDavis.
“When it comes down to it, it makes the purchasing of commodities easier over time,” said Becky Watts, McDavis’ chief of staff.
The next big move is for the system to be implemented in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Several Arts and Sciences faculty members voiced concerns at Monday’s meeting, citing specific purchases from niche producers.
“We order a lot of unique equipment and sometimes negotiate our own prices up front,” said Sarah Wyatt, associate chair of the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology. “I can’t see how this will work for our system.”
With its transition to BobcatBUY, OU will join other Ohio schools using a similar system, including Bowling Green State University, Miami University, Shawnee State University, Wright State University, Kent State University and Youngstown State University.
“What BobcatBUY will impact is getting the order in quicker than with a paper order,” Nowicki said. “Paper may soon become a piece of the past when it comes to department orders.”
af234909@ohiou.edu
Editor's note: This article was updated to correctly identify Laura Nowicki as the speaker at the Faculty Senate meeting.
