Multidisciplinary Senior Design Projects
Purchasing Guidelines
(Rev. 10/13/09)
Senior Design Teams may find it necessary to purchase parts and/or materials for their project.
Before making purchases, teams should clarify the following with your teammates and Guide:
1) Who is paying for your project supplies?
a. If a sponsoring organization (external to RIT) is making purchases directly for you,
you should work with the organization to understand purchasing guidelines. You do
not need to submit any paperwork to RIT for such purchases.
b. If a RIT department or grant is covering your project’s expenses, you should work
directly with the department or Principal Investigator to discuss purchasing options.
c. If the Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD) program is paying for supplies, you
must work with the Design Center office on the 4th floor of the Engineering Building
for all purchasing requests and reimbursements. The Design Center purchasing
contact is: Chris Fisher, phone 475-7971/4077, fax 475-4080, email
christine.fisher@rit.edu.
2) Who is the “Purchasing Agent” for your team? For projects utilizing the MSD program
funds, you must identify a single team member (eg. Project Manager) who will interface with
the Design Center staff regarding purchases and expense tracking.
3) What is your approved budget? Each team should understand how much they are allowed to
spend, and from which accounts. Your “Purchasing Agent” should be tracking expenses for
your team.
Purchases through the MSD program (applies only to teams categorized above in 1c)
Before making any purchases, teams should check with Ken Snyder (EE), John Bonzo (ISE),
Rick Tolleson (CE) and the Mechanical Engineering Machine Shop to see if materials are
already available or an alternate part can be used that is in stock.
1) Purchase Requisition
a) Print the Purchase Requisition (PR) from Mycourses or the EDGE/Resources website.
b) The PR must be completed for all purchases. Remember, a PR is not a bill of materials
(BOM) – you should only list parts on a PR that you need to purchase.
c) Purchasing Agent for team completes PR and has it reviewed and signed by their Guide.
d) The Purchasing Agent then submits the signed PR to the Senior Design Center Office
(fax: 475-4080 or in-person: 9-4441).
e) For PR’s <$1500, the order will be placed within 3 business days. The Purchasing Agent
(email or phone) will be contacted when the order has arrived in the Design Center for
pickup. NOTE: All orders are shipped to the Senior Design Center, no exceptions.
f) For PR’s >$1500, a purchase order (PO) will be created. PO’s require a minimum of 5
business days for the Purchase Order to be processed. The order will be placed once a
Purchase Order number is received from RIT Purchasing. The Purchasing Agent will be
contacted (email or phone) when the order has arrived in the Senior Design Center for
pickup.
1
106755875
2) Cash, Personal Check, or Personal Credit Card
a) Team member completes purchase requisition as outlined above.
b) Original receipts must be submitted for reimbursements.
c) For purchases <$50, you will be reimbursed in cash and notified by phone or email when
your reimbursement is available for pick-up from the Senior Design Center Office.
d) For purchases >$50, <$1500, you will be reimbursed by a RIT check. A mailing address
must be provided upon submission of receipts with the PR.
e) Tax Exempt forms
i. Should be used in conjunction with all methods of purchases: cash, personal
check, or personal credit card. This form ensures that sales tax is not applied
to your purchases.
ii. Copies can be obtained from the Design Center Office 9-4441. It is not for
personal use.
iii. We will not be able to reimburse you for any tax charged to your purchases.
Vendors
There are a number of vendor catalogs available in the Senior Design Center. Below is list of
recommended and restricted vendors. Orders through a “restricted vendor” must be approved by
Chris Fisher in the Design Center Office before the order will be placed.
Recommended
 Digi-Key
 Fastenal
 Grainger
 McMaster-Carr
 Mouser Electronics
 MSC Industrial Supply
 Newark-One
 Newegg.com
 Omega Engineering
 Sigma-Aldrich
 Zeller Electric
Restricted
 SDP-SI/Designatronics
 Any vendors who use pay-pal as the only payment option
2
106755875