Purchasing Overview
There are several ways to make a purchase or pay for a service.
Employee Credit Card – the college utilizes Chrome River purchasing cards for employee purchasing. In addition to “brick and mortar” purchases, online purchases are a good way to utilize this payment method. The Division has an Amazon Business account for staff to utilize, and individual online accounts can also be established for purchasing office supplies, groceries and other pantry items, and all manner of goods. Credit cards are issued to staff with a credit limit (please check your Chrome River purchasing card paperwork for this amount, upon receipt of your card). For support, please email any questions to pcard@whitman.edu.
Interdepartmental Charges – within the college campus, we utilize the services of other departments for goods and services (i.e. catering services, communications charges, technology charges). Individuals make requests with these departments and provide a budget number for the purchase. The supplier then provides the purchaser and their Admin Support with a receipt for this transaction.
Vendor Payments – your Admin Support can pay vendor invoices, according to the budget number that you provide them with. The requisite paperwork will be generated, sent to you electronically for your signature, and then forwarded to the Business Office to remit payment in the form of a paper check.
Purchasing Meals
Bon Appetit Charge Voucher templates for DI departments can be found here.
You will need to add Budget Name (i.e. ‘Intercultural Center,’ ‘Power & Privilege Symposium’ and the correlating GL/Budget Number. These interdepartmental purchases will always utilize object code 5703 - Local Meals.
Please complete, print, and present the voucher to your cashier at Reid Market or Cleveland Commons, for meal purchases when hosting a student group, campus visitor, or dining with a colleague for business purposes. Diversity Affinity student groups can also utilize these charge vouchers for meetings and events, with the permission of their advisor.
Each department will receive a receipt of the final costs from Bon Appetit once a month.
For further information pertaining to campus meals and catering, please see Travel & Meals.
Click on image above to access the Bon App Voucher template for your department (google sheet with tabs at bottom).
Purchasing Communications Services
Printing Services Need something printed? Print Services in the Communications Department has an online portal to order various print requests: https://whitman.webdeskprint.com
Advertising Services radio promos, newspaper ads, and many other advertising services fall under the umbrella of the Communications Department. You will need a GL code to charge these items to. A good place to start is the Communications homepage: https://www.whitman.edu/communications
Design Services The Communications team can also assist with designing print materials. If it is an event poster that you need, they will design it (based upon the information that you provide), place the print job, and student workers will post them around campus (typical print run is 100 copies). For further information and pricing, please see Marketing & Promoting An Event.
The Whitman College Identity and Usage Guide is a useful tool to review logos, color palette, and typography, “crafted to offer guidance and maintain uniformity in representing Whitman College’s brand.”
Click image above to access the print services portal.
Purchasing Technology
Whitman College Technology Services (WCTS), will assist you with purchasing requests for both hardware and software.
Begin by submitting a support ticket, and the appropriate staff member at WCTS will reach out with assistance.
In addition to desktops, laptops, docks, printers, and telephones, WCTS have institutional agreements in place for various software programs (i.e. Adobe Pro, SignRequest), so you’ll want to check with them first prior to purchasing a software program or platform.
Please Note - Purchasing “Red Flags”
Gift Cards - College funds are sometimes used to purchase gifts, prizes, and awards to show appreciation or recognition of employees, students or non-employees. Gifts, prizes and awards purchased with college funds, including gift cards and gift certificates, are generally considered taxable income to the recipient. If you've given a gift card, gift certificate or cash card of any value to a student, staff or faculty member of Whitman College, please fill out the Gift Card Reporting Form and submit it to the Office of Accounting and Business Services.
Gifting - A non-cash gift (e.g., occasional flowers, fruit, books, etc.) to any individual must be reported if it exceeds $100 per individual.
Alcohol - Purchase of alcoholic beverages is discouraged due to the expense and the potential liability involved. Alcohol consumed at a business meal must be reasonable (generally not to exceed 20% of the total bill) or be served during discussions of college business with non-employees, such as alumni, current or prospective donors, prospective employees for recruitment, trustees or other business partners. For any exceptions to the above criteria, the college has designated the President and Cabinet members with approval authority for purchases of alcohol. Under no circumstances, consistent with federal policies, may alcoholic beverages be charged to federally funded grants or contracts, either directly or indirectly.
Please refer to the Whitman College Travel and Business Expense Policy for further instructions and parameters.
Reconciling Purchases
Employee Purchasing Card – for each of your charges, save your receipt. Please review the Chrome River User Guide thoroughly and follow the steps outlined therein to reconcile all purchasing card transactions by the 10th of each month.
Interdepartmental Charges – This is a seamless transaction. Other than providing the internal vendor with a GL code to charge the services or product to, nothing else needs doing on either your part or the part of your Admin Support. Within the college campus, we utilize the services of other departments for goods and services (i.e. catering services, communications charges, technology charges). Individuals make requests with these departments and provide a budget number for the purchase. The supplier then provides the purchaser and their Admin Support with a receipt for this transaction.
Vendor Payments – your Admin Support can pay vendor invoices, according to the budget number that you provide them with. The requisite paperwork will be generated, sent to you electronically for your signature, and then forwarded to the Business Office to remit payment in the form of a paper check.