procurement news - Caltech Procurement Services

PROCUREMENT NEWS
February 2016
Procurement Services Newsletter
Back by Popular Demand
A big THANK YOU for those of you who took the time to fill out our first annual CardQuest Survey back
in November. Because of your feedback, our quarterly newsletter is back—new and improved! Each
quarter we hope to communicate important news concerning Purchasing, P-Card & Travel, and Payment Services. We will highlight upcoming events, new and revised policies and procedures, as well
as fun and exciting things taking place in our office. We hope you will take the time to read our newsletter and be informed. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email our Editors!
A Fresh New Look for Procurement Services
It had been over 15 years since Procurement Services moved to the first floor of the Keith Spalding
Administration Building. Our cubicles were worn, stained, and inconsistent sizes. We had a lot of wasted space and our floor plan was dysfunctional and not ADA compliant. The whole idea of remodeling
was not just for us, but, simply put, to present Procurement Services with a more professional image to
our campus community.
It was time for a change…
In order to get approval, our proposal had to demonstrate we would achieve our goal economically by
purchasing:



Refurbished cubicles
Reupholstered chairs
Carpeting at the lowest price
Continued on pg. 2
Remodel Highlights
Procurement Services Hotline/Reception Area

Manager’s cubicles

Updated Hotline/
Reception area

Standardize
workspaces

Open House coming
1st Quarter 2017!
After nearly a year of planning, the concept became reality in October
of 2015 when we were granted approval. At that point, we literally had
two months to carry out the construction in order to complete our remodel before the holiday season.
Jay Wood and Hillary Sanchez, our co-project managers, would like to
thank our Director, Tina Lowenthal, her boss, Sharon Patterson, our
staff, the Caltech Electricians assigned to our project, the IMSS team,
Total Office Online, their installers, Randy Howard who provided the
office artwork, and everyone else that supported us during our remodel. We welcome you to stop by the Keith Spalding Bldg. to see our
new home!
Employee
Highlights
Employees of the Year 2015:
Jay S. Wood & Hillary Sanchez
Retirements:

Peggy Winstanley - Jan. 2015

Diane McRiley - March 2015

Margo Villalobos - May 2015

Sandy Durkee - Jan. 2016
“If you stand in front of the Matterhorn or the Eiffel Tower, it’s
hard not to take a great picture. Why I love photography is the
hunt to capture the beauty in everyday life from around the
world. This bicycle shot taken in Noyers, France is an exemplary scene of the simplistic, peaceful beauty that many would fail
to acknowledge on any given day. It gives me joy to be able to
capture a scene like this in a way that reminds people there is
beauty all around us if we just take the time to travel and observe the simple things in life.”
Electricians Left to Right: Pedro Guzman, Nathan
Braden, Jose Alvarez, Mike Vega, Alex Malinowski
(back), Jaime Torres(front), Newell Jorden
-Randy Howard, Senior Construction Contracting Officer/Photographer
Before
After
2
Procurement
Fair: June 2016
We are excited to announce that for the first
time, Travel Services will
be combining their annual
Travel Fair with TechMart
Catalog suppliers. Stay
tuned for more information
in the coming months!
“Gateway to Europe” - Travel Fair 2015
P-Card & Travel Announcements
New Caltech Logo Card
We are happy to announce the arrival of
the newly designed Caltech P-Cards. If
you received an email from P-Card
regarding your new card, please come to
the Procurements Services Hotline to pick
yours up.
New agreement with Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego!
Please see our hotel agreements webpage page for more info.
New Parking Agreement with Quik Park at LAX
Enjoy a FREE Day of Airport Parking*
Special Offer for Our Friends at Caltech
Book a pre-paid online reservation for yourself
or your staff and use the following corporate
code: Caltech
Save 5% Booking Southwest Airfare*
*Offer valid for travel booked through the CardQuest
travel portal or by a CTP travel agent.
*offer expires May 31, 2016
3
Attention Frequent Flyers: Skip the security
line at the airport by signing up for TSA
Pre✓®. Go to tsa.gov/tsa-precheck.
International Transaction Fees
We received many helpful suggestions and ideas through the CardQuest
survey. One suggestion was concerning the reconciliation of international
transaction fees. We have taken your concerns to Bank of America and
are happy to announce beginning with the February billing cycle international transaction fees will be embedded with the original transaction.
Currently the international transaction fees are billed separately and it can
be difficult to identify which charge they correspond to. Please contact PCard Services should you have any concerns or questions.
Need to Pick Up
a Check?
The location to pick up a check
has moved. Checks are now
available for pick-up at the
Procurement Hotline.
Pick-up Hours:
9:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M.
I.D. Required
When Going “Green” Isn’t Good
Documents submitted to Procurement Services are
digitized by scanning on double sided scanners.
When submitting documents or PDF files, please
avoid using previously printed paper with printing on
the reverse side.
CTP Winners!
Congratulations to our first two CTP winners
Carolyn Peterson (left) and Alison Ross (right).
They each won two free airline tickets by booking
through Caltech’s new travel management
company, CTP!
While we love being green, data submitted on previously printed paper will be picked up during scanning.
This makes the digital version of the document larger
and the unrelated data can make the file confusing or
misleading during audits. Thank you!
Procurement Services - Consider it Done!
Contact Us
Procurement Hotline
(626) 395 - 8900
[email protected]
1200 E. California Blvd. MC 103-6
Pasadena, CA 91125
Visit our Website at:
https://procurement.caltech.edu/
Newsletter Editors Rachel Fisher & Sophia Hurst
Please email [email protected] with any questions or comments.