Procurement Announcements

Jun82021

Coming Soon: Small Business First!

Small businesses play a significant role in the California economy, but small businesses face major challenges, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted procurement programs like Small Business First can help small businesses mitigate these difficulties.

With the Small Business First program, the University of California is committing to providing contracting and procurement opportunities with certified Small Businesses (SBs), Microbusinesses (MBs), and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBEs). The University has established the Small Business First policy to increase the utilization of these businesses in alignment with UC’s sustainability goals and overall mission.

Check out our new Small Business First resource to learn more.

May132021

Procurement Customer Service Feedback

Procurement is launching what we call a “Customer Service Feedback” form. It is a short survey that will allow our campus community to provide direct feedback to Procurement and Supply Chain Services all year long. We want to know how we’re doing and your responses will help us better understand where we can make improvements. Complete the survey here:

Procurement Customer Service Feedback Form

All responses are anonymous unless you choose to provide your personal information.

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Feb12021

Notice to Vendors: Fraudulent Purchase Order Email Activity

We want to alert you to an email scam involving fraudulent purchase orders and requests for product quotations purporting to originate from UC Santa Cruz. While the university cannot prevent this illegal action, we are actively working to inform our suppliers of this on-going activity. Common features of these supplier-targeted counterfeit UCSC orders include:

• The email message is poorly written, with misspellings and awkward sentence structure
• Orders start with an e-mail inquiry asking for a quote for a small order followed by a subsequent request for a larger order
• The order designates a Ship-To address that is not a UCSC facility or indicates the product will be picked up at the supplier’s premises
• Invalid contact information, such as email addresses using deceptive extensions; e.g. @ucsantascruz.com or @ucsc.mygbiz.com
• The message may include an attachment designed to look like a purchase order, and it may include a logo or other graphic, and in some cases, a signature
• Please note that the university’s internet address is www.ucsc.edu and it is not our practice to ask our suppliers to ship to addresses that are not UCSC campus facilities. It is also not our practice to place orders for merchandise that will be picked up at supplier premises
• The request lists the address of UC Office of the President in Oakland, which is not a UCSC address
• The request includes the title of Procurement Chancellor, which is a fictitious position

If you believe you have received a fraudulent order or quotation request, you may forward it to UCSC Procurement Services at buy4me@ucsc.edu to verify the communication’s legitimacy before responding. You may also contact the Procurement Services department by telephone at: 831-459-2311.