UC, CSU Begin Sharing Procurement

The University of California and California State University systems have teamed up on a shared procurement system, known as CalUsource, that’s designed to streamline the procurement process and save money.

The UC system, in an announcement this week from the office of the president, said the new process, which went live last month, “may be the largest effort of its kind in higher education and possibly any industry.”

The CalUsource software platform — officially called California Universities Sourcing — is intended to save money and time, generate more competitive bids and improve contract management.

The procurement includes IT for the two systems’ combined 33 campuses, confirmed William M. Cooper, chief procurement officer in UC’s Office of the President.

“This is a true game-changer in the procurement world,” Cooper said. “It opens the door to consider further procurement and supply chain collaboration with CSU, the California Community Colleges and even numerous private California colleges and universities that lack such state-of-the-art technology.”

The CSU system’s Chief Procurement Officer Arun Casuba said, “This new collaborative endeavor is a major step forward in leveraging opportunities and resources and reducing duplicative efforts across our two systems.”

CalUsource will be the platform for a combined $10 billion annual spend. The two systems have finished configuring the platform for contracting, sourcing and spending analytics, and training within both systems is underway.