Summary of Report 99-015

November 1998

Report Number 99-015

Overall Conclusion

The University of Houston, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Texas at Arlington have established basic purchasing processes to help them achieve the best value for their dollars. In fiscal year 1997, the three universities spent a combined $575 million (local and state funds) on the purchase of goods and services. It was important to review this area because, in the past, some agencies and universities have not had proper controls over purchasing expenditures, which allowed inappropriate purchases to be made.

Therefore, it is significant to note that the three universities reviewed have established the basic purchasing processes and that these processes appear to be working effectively most of the time. We found that the departments at the universities can purchase goods and services independently and that the universities have established purchasing guidelines and limits. At one university, we noted effective procedures for the purchase of information technology.

Key Facts and Findings

We did note that management at all three universities should increase oversight of purchases made by departments. We found that the level of oversight used to implement controls varies among universities and among classes of purchases. Individual instances were noted where:

• Discounts for volume purchases were not negotiated.
• Departments did not monitor personal usage of freight delivery services and cellular phone calls made to personal residences.
• Contract payments were not adequately monitored.
• Duties were not adequately segregated for some procurement cardholders.

Contact the SAO about this report.

Download the PDF version of this report. (.pdf)

HTML Equivalent (utilizing Adobe's PDF Conversion by Simple Form).