Portland State University
ISQA 410 ••• Governmental Procurement
 ••• Spring Term ••• 2010•••

 

Course Overview

This course is a survey of Public Purchasing specifically tailored for students in the Supply and Logistics Department to enhance their knowledge of procurement in the public sector of American society and thus, provide them with a course option which will serve as an elective toward either their undergraduate or graduate degree.

The course will teach all major aspects of purchasing within public agencies in the United States with special emphasis on the Oregon statutes and administrative rules. Additionally, the course will point out numerous differences between public and private purchasing processes and will touch on some federal purchasing processes as well.

Course Objective

The objective of this course is the provision of a detailed inspection of purchasing functions in the public sector and associated administrative rules such that students:

  • will have a firm grounding in the theory, development and practicalities of public purchasing;
  • will have a comprehensive understanding of the differences between private sector and public sector processes;
  • will have a reasonable understanding of Oregon’s Public Contracting Code, the Oregon Administrative Rules and the Attorney General’s Model Contract Rules including the comprehensive changes which took place on March 1, 2005;
  • will be capable of initiating, awarding and administering small and medium-sized contracts within any public agency with minimal supervision;
  • will have all necessary printed and electronic references at hand so that researching the rules applicable to each project will be simplified;
  • will have a reasonable understanding of the working environment, the job market, the employment availability, and the job search process applicable to public sector employment.

Course Study Requirements

Although the course is designated as a "survey," it is not a general philosophical review of the field as one might expect from the title.

The course consists of a comprehensive examination of the public purchasing profession and the technical knowledge required of candidates who would become employed as public procurement staffers in a public agency. Thus, it requires a good deal of reading and a considerble amount of study. There are typical general overviews and historical sketches that are inherent within a survey course; however, the majority of the course consists of the practial knowledge characteristic of the typical public agency employee.

Examinations are designed to ensure that students have acquired a broad understanding of the public procurement field and specific knowledge of the processes which engage the typical employee in his/her day-to-day activities.

Course Text

The course text book is a 60-page precis (look it up) entitled "The RFP Process," an assembly of the best processes of various public agencies in Canada and the United States. This text will be posted in the student section of this web page approximately midway through the course. The cost of the text is included in the course registration fee; i.e., there is no additional cost to students registered in the course.