Procurement & Purchasing at George Fox University

Policies

Need to buy something? See if university surplus has it

BruinBuy

BruinBuy is George Fox University's eProcurement system, designed to streamline and integrate the entire process of shopping, ordering, receiving, and invoice management into a single, cohesive environment; this system, accessible directly from your GFU My Apps Dashboard, acts as your central hub for buying, automating various steps that previously required creating separate, manual documents.

Shopping in BruinBuy: You log into BruinBuy and can often shop directly from integrated "punchout" catalogs (like Amazon Business or other preferred vendors). It's like online shopping, but for your organization. You select the items you need and check out.
Internal Approvals (Built-in Workflow): When you "check out" in BruinBuy, the system automatically routes your request through the necessary internal approval workflow. This is where the requisition aspect is handled digitally. Based on pre-set rules (e.g., dollar amount, type of item), it knows who needs to approve it.
Automated PO Generation: Once all the required internal approvals are received within BruinBuy, the system automatically generates a formal purchase order and sends it directly to the vendor electronically.

In essence, BruinBuy replaces needing to create your own requisition and PO by:

Digitizing the request: You don't fill out separate paper forms; you use the system's interface.
Automating approvals: The system manages the flow of approvals, ensuring all necessary parties sign off without manual routing.
Generating the PO automatically: Once approved, the PO is created and sent to the vendor without manual creation.

This streamlines the entire purchasing process, making it faster, more efficient, and providing better tracking and control over spending.

Purchase Order Terms & Conditions

New Vendors

For George Fox University employees, creating a new vendor in BruinBuy (Unimarket) is primarily handled by the Procurement team to ensure proper setup and compliance. If you need to use a vendor that isn't already available in BruinBuy please click the Request Supplier button found on the BruinBuy Marketplace Home page. This form will walk you through a series of evaluation questions to determine the necessity of working with a new vendor. It will also assist you in identifying whether this vendor should be categorized as an Independent Contractor.

Unapproved Vendors

We understand that sometimes you might find a vendor who seems to meet your needs, but we strongly advise against working with unapproved vendors. The University has a process for thoroughly assessing every potential vendor to ensure they meet our standards and comply with our policies. There are circumstances where we may choose not to engage with specific vendors due to various factors. Please be aware that if you do choose to work with a vendor that has not been approved through the University's official process, the University will not be obligated to issue payment for their services or goods. We're here to help you find approved vendors or guide you through the process of getting a new vendor set up correctly.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are not a replacement for BruinBuy, which is the university’s preferred system for making purchases. All orders placed through BruinBuy must be paid through the Accounts Payable department, using either electronic transfer (ACH) or check—not by credit card. Using a credit card to pay an invoice circumvents the university’s purchasing and approval processes.

A new credit card policy is currently in development and will provide clear guidance on appropriate card use. Please watch for updates coming soon.

Concur

Concur is the mandatory program that is used to process all George Fox expense reimbursements (personal reimbursements and/or George Fox Visa card transactions) for all employees.

Learn More About Concur