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Procurement and finance teams that handle purchasing for colleges and universities walk a tightrope these days, due to complex compliance regulations, policies, and institutional initiatives. At the same time, there are increasing budget constraints. It can be challenging to keep your balance while trying to meet all of these objectives and make sure your institution has the goods and services needed.
It can also be exhausting.
Higher education procurement professionals are increasingly turning to cooperative purchasing agreements to streamline purchasing and achieve cost reductions. But what are cooperative agreements, and why are they so valuable? We’ll explain.
Cooperative agreements for higher education are formalized contracts whereby multiple institutions come together to purchase goods or services collectively. E&I Cooperative Services is a sourcing cooperative that aggregates demand on behalf of its 6,000 member schools and negotiates terms and conditions favorable to higher ed institutions. E&I members can utilize these cooperative agreements to save time and money.
Here are seven simple reasons why cooperative purchasing agreements benefit your academic institution.
By aggregating the purchasing power of multiple schools, these agreements can secure better pricing and terms than you could likely achieve on your own. Volume discounts generally translate into significant cost savings. Through these agreements, all participating institutions, regardless of size, can benefit from economies of scale, making procurement more cost-effective for everyone involved.
Procurement can be a time-consuming process that requires careful planning, multiple bids, and ongoing vendor management. For higher education institutions, where time and resources are often limited, cooperative agreements help simplify this process. Instead of negotiating individual contracts with each supplier, you can tap into pre-negotiated terms and contracts.
This streamlined process saves time and reduces administrative costs—ensuring a faster and more efficient procurement cycle.
In addition to cost savings and efficiency, cooperative agreements provide access to high-quality suppliers that have already been through a competitive solicitation.
For procurement professionals, one of the challenges of sourcing is ensuring that vendors meet the institution’s compliance standards and deliver value for money. Cooperative agreements can help reduce the risk of entering into partnerships with subpar suppliers, ensuring you get high-quality goods and services to meet your needs.
Higher education institutions are bound by complex procurement regulations, particularly public institutions, which must comply with a unique set of laws and regulations.
Cooperative agreements help ensure compliance with these regulations by providing a pre-approved framework, as a result of a competitive solicitation process. Procurement professionals negotiate these agreements to make sure they follow the appropriate legal and regulatory guidelines.
While cooperative agreements come with standard terms and conditions, they often allow for flexibility. Institutions can choose to participate in agreements that align with their specific needs, opting in only when the goods or services are relevant to their purchasing needs.
Cooperative agreements also reduce procurement risk. Since the terms have already been negotiated by a trusted organization, like E&I, you can be confident that the agreements are fair and favorable. This minimizes the risks associated with supplier disputes, price fluctuations, or unexpected contractual issues, which can be costly and time-consuming to resolve.
When procurement professionals take advantage of cooperative agreements, they can spend less time on transactional activities and more time on strategic sourcing initiatives. Rather than negotiating individual contracts, procurement teams can focus on higher-value activities that drive long-term improvements to the institution’s procurement strategy.
For example, sourcing professionals can dedicate time to evaluating long-term supplier performance, identifying opportunities for additional cost savings, or collaborating with suppliers to identify innovative solutions.
Another often overlooked benefit of cooperative agreements is the opportunity for collaboration and networking. By participating in a cooperative agreement, procurement professionals can connect with peers from other institutions, sharing best practices and learning from each other’s experiences. This collaborative environment can lead to new insights and opportunities, improving procurement processes across the board.
So, there you have it. What is a cooperative agreement for higher ed? It’s a way to save time and money, meet your procurement goals, and stay on that tightrope until you get to the other side. For procurement professionals, this can significantly shorten your to-do list without compromising quality or cost.
Keep your balance and save money. View the cooperative purchasing agreements available right now at E&I Cooperative Services, the only nonprofit member-owned sourcing cooperative that focuses exclusively on the education sector.
