SOU Retainer Program
Direct Bill Options
Vendor Contracts
Vendor Issues and Billing Questions
SOU Retainer Program
SOU maintains an active list of Retainer Vendors through our yearly Retainer Program. Vendors who are on retainer can be used without a PSC or other contract for services under $25,000. Retainer vendors can be used by any department on campus. Please see the list below for vendors who are on retainer for the current fiscal year and their contact information. If there is a vendor who is not on this list that your department uses regularly, please contact Contracting@sou.edu. We can work with the vendor to get them on retainer for the next fiscal year.
Service jobs over $25,000 or Capital Construction related services fall outside of the Retainer Program and must be contracted separately. Please contact Contracting
Direct Bill Options
SOU maintains direct bill relationships with many local and non-local vendors.
Travel Options
Below is list of hotels, with whom SOU has direct bill relationships, for most of them. SOU employees can make business related reservations with these hotels and have them directly billed to SOU. The employee should have Budget Authority approval and a valid index code prior to making a reservation.
Non Travel Options
Below is a list of local vendors who have current direct bill accounts with SOU. SOU employees can make business related purchases at any of these vendors and have them billed to SOU. Employees should have Budget Authority approval and a valid index code prior to the purchase of goods.
Please contact the Purchasing@sou.edu if you would like to set up a direct bill account with a vendor not listed here.
Vendor Contracts
SOU, along with the State of Oregon, has negotiated contracts with several vendors for special pricing on a variety of items. These contracts provide SOU with special low pricing that can’t be found elsewhere.
Enterprise/National Vehicle Rentals
SOU has a contract with Enterprise/National for special vehicle rental rates, which are typically below market rates for rental cars. This contract also allows bookings to be direct billed to SOU with the use of an valid index code and Budget Authority approval. SOU employees and SOU students over the age of 25 can rent vehicles for business purposes through this account, provided the driver is Drivers Cleared and Van Certified (if renting a van). Please note that 15-passenger vans cannot be rented for SOU business purposes.
Please note: rental cars booked outside of the SOU Enterprise/National account will result in the user’s individual insurance being considered as primary insurance in the event of an accident.
Please contact Contracting@sou.edu for additional information to create bookings.
Office Depot
SOU has a contract with Office Depot for special rates on a variety of office, break room, custodial, and tech supplies. This contract pricing provides a significant saving over non-contract vendors such as Amazon or Costco. We encourage all our departments to take advantage of this pricing as it provides a significant savings to the institution.
These supplies can be purchased through our unique Office Depot website. If you would like assistance in making a purchase, or have your own Office Depot account set up, please contact Purchasing@sou.edu
Staples
SOU has a contract with Staples for special rates on a variety of office, break room, custodial, and tech supplies. This contract pricing provides a significant saving over non-contract vendors such as Amazon or Costco. We encourage all our departments to take advantage of this pricing as it provides a significant savings to the institution.
These supplies can be purchased through our unique Staples website. If you would like assistance in making a purchase, or have your own Office Depot account set up, please contact Purchasing@sou.edu
Amazon Business
SOU maintains an institution wide Amazon Business Prime account. This account offers free Prime shipping on eligible items at no cost to departments, volume purchasing discounts, automatic tax exempt purchasing (with the exception of California), access to a specialized business-only Customer Service team at 866.486.2360, and automatically links to your p-card. Amazon Business Prime also makes it easier to find receipts, return items, and manage exchanges.
Most importantly, the SOU Amazon Business Prime account is the only authorized way to make purchases via Amazon with SOU funds. Purchasing using a private Amazon account with an SOU P-Card is not authorized, nor are reimbursements for purchases made on private Amazon accounts with a personal credit card. Unauthorized use such as those mentioned above could result in the loss of departmental p-card or the denial of personal reimbursement requests.
If you are currently using a personal Amazon account, or if you are unsure whether you are using the SOU Amazon Business Prime account, please contact purchasing@sou.edu. The Purchasing and Contracting team can verify your Amazon status. They can also help set up accounts under our institution Amazon account for those with an active p-card who need it. If you have already purchased a private Amazon Prime account for your department, you may contact the Customer Service number mentioned in the first paragraph above to determine if you may receive a refund, which is dependent on your previous usage on that account.
**NOTE** The following items have restrictions on the Amazon Business accounts and you will need to contact the Service Center prior to ordering:
– Digital media downloads such as; Amazon Instant Video content, MP3 music, and Kindle ebooks
– Digital software downloads
– Digital and print gift cards (Physical gift cards can be ordered with Business Accounts)
– Wireless headsets and devices
– Subscriptions including Subscribe & Save
– AmazonFresh
When purchasing on Amazon, there are options that will help SOU select MWESB businesses. There are two ways to do this.
Option 1: When doing a product search, scroll down all the way on the menu on the left-hand side. At the bottom, there is an option to limit your search to a variety of types of MWESB business, and only the buying options that qualify as an MWESB business will appear.
Option 2: When looking at a listing on Amazon, look at the right-hand corner under the price. There you will see a field called “seller credential”. This will tell you if the company you are purchasing from is MWESB friendly or not.
While there may be easier ways to purchase from MWESB businesses, sometimes purchasing from Amazon is a necessity. This is a way to support these businesses when purchasing from Amazon.
Hotels
SOU has contracts with several hotels around the state. These contract provide specific room rates depending on the time of year.
- Ashland Hills Hotel
- Lithia Springs Hotel
- Oxford Suites Portland
Others
SOU has been contacted by various vendors wanting to do business with our departments. Below, find a list of vendors by category with whom SOU does not currently have a contract but who are interested in further business opportunities.
Vendor Issues and Billing Questions
If your department has problems with a vendor such as billing questions or issues with products, please contact Purchasing@sou.edu. We can help you straighten out billing issues such as improperly applied payments, missing payments or invoices, and disputed payments. We can also assist you with the returns of goods, disputes over product defects and any other vendor related questions.