How to Procure Services

Academic Speakers/Honorariums

As a gesture of appreciation, the University may pay honoraria to certain individuals such as guest speakers, panel members, peer/program reviewers, or symposium participants. Honorarium payments are paid in lieu of reimbursement of travel expenses or any other payment of fees for service and are tax reportable if the total paid by the University exceeds $600 in a calendar year.

Honorariums, which should generally be a nominal amount, are payments made to individual guest speakers or lecturers as a "thank you" gesture of goodwill and appreciation. An honorarium is not based on an agreed upon amount between the individual providing services and the individual seeking services (and therefore an invoice should not be received). If payment is agreed upon, this constitutes a contractual agreement which must be formally recognized in some contractual form and should not be treated as an honorarium.

About Honorarium:

• An honorarium is payment in recognition of an individual's or organization's special service or distinguished achievement where propriety precludes setting a fixed price.
• Activities for which honorarium payments can be made include:
  • Special lecture, concert, or other creative academic-related activities
  • Short-term participation in a seminar or workshop as a guest speaker
  • Appraisal of a manuscript or article submitted to a professional publication
• Non-allowable honorarium transactions include:
  • Performance fees for entertainers or speakers at a non-academic based university event
  • Services provided by independent contractors, consultants, or service providers where services are provided in exchange for an agreed upon or expected payment amount.
• A typical honorarium amount is $250-$500 per day, depending on the fund source and expertise of the speaker. Honoraria should be charged to Account Code 7306.
• Please see Human Resources if trying to make an honorarium payment to a university employee.
• For honorarium payments to international citizens please see additional instructions here.

To make a payment:

• The individual must complete registration as a supplier with the University (department business office must initiate a request to invite the individual to register). This process provides a secure and accurate way to collect tax ID and other information from the individual to allow Clemson to make a payment.
• Once registered, the department will initiate a payment of an honorarium using the Direct Expenditure process. No PO is required.
• If only making a payment for travel reimbursement, the department end user will enter it in Concur as a reimbursement for a visitor. The Concur process will ask for the required information and ultimately process the voucher for payment in PSFT.

Advertising in a newspaper, magazine, radio or TV is exempt from procurement limit requirements. Many times, advertising in these entities will require signing a contract, which, if >$2,500, MUST be signed by the University Procurement Director, even if exempt from the procurement code.

If you are advertising on the internet, billboards or any other form of media, the exemption DOES NOT apply. You must follow the appropriate procedures for obtaining bids or justifying a sole source. Normally, a sole source is the most likely method for entering these contracts. Be sure your sole source justification clearly explains why that specific website, billboard location, etc... is the ONLY location for you to advertise to meet your goal for the advertisement.

Ordering and Additional Information:

To contract for advertising, you will want to enter a requisition in buyWays, either choosing the appropriate exemption (if applicable) or using the sole source form.  If it is something that is not a sole source and exemption does not apply, enter a requisition and Procurement Services will guide you through the bidding process.

• Exemption List — may be applicable to your purchase
  • 19. Advertisement for positions, goods and services in newspaper, magazine or other publication, and advertising time or space on radio or television.

Clemson has contracted with Bonitz Flooring Group and Harris Carpets to furnish and install flooring materials for the University. During installation, the contractor is responsible for all barricades, warning signs, etc.

All Bonitz and Harris Carpets employees should be easily recognizable by visible uniforms or badges while on campus.

Clemson is responsible for preparing the area to receive flooring prior to the installer's arrival by removing personal effects and furniture from the area and disconnecting and moving all equipment as required. If needed, you can take advantage of the furniture movers contract for heavy moving and storage while work is completed.

Any department wishing to utilize this contract should first contact Facilities to ensure no asbestos abatement needs to be completed prior to the flooring being installed.

Ordering and Additional Information:

To receive a quote for flooring, contact Bonitz at 864-288-3771 or Harris Carpets at 864-844-5460. Once you have obtained a quote, use the Carpet/Flooring Installation form in buyWays to initiate a purchase order.

Check buyWays for current flooring/carpet pricing.

Conference facilities, whether consisting of a single room for a few hours or an agreement with a resort for conference rooms and hotel rooms, must follow the procurement process. Many times, because Clemson may not actually be making a payment to the hotel (we are just guaranteeing attendees will reserve so many rooms), people do not consider it a procurement, but it is. Hotels have many hard-to-understand clauses in their agreements that potentially put Clemson at risk of paying large bills if we sign.

Unless you are positive that Clemson will in no way be responsible for paying no more than $10,000 (after considering any cancellation, attrition, or damage clauses), all hotel and conference agreements should be reviewed and signed by the Procurement Director.

When planning conferences, there are one of two exemptions that may be potentially used: 1) Exemption #15 (purchase for resale) would apply if attendees are paying registration dues that cover 100% of the costs, or 2) Exemption #40 (conference site selection), which can be used for a conference at any location but this exemption requires a form to be completed justifying the site chosen and some additional restrictions:

Ordering and Additional Information:

Use a Clemson University P-Card or buyWays to order.

Consulting services, or independent contractors, consist of the hiring of an outside professional entity, either individual or company, to provide expert advice or guidance in a specific area of need. A contract with a consultant should contain a clear deliverable (i.e. what is the consultant going to provide Clemson in exchange for the money we will pay them). Review the hourly rate service or consultant procedures (PDF).

Any contract for consulting services needs to adhere to procurement limits/thresholds. It is very rare that consulting services would be viewed as being a sole source, so plan accordingly.

Any actual agreement that needs to be entered into for these services needs to be signed by the Procurement Director if the value of the contract is $10,000.

If a deliverable for a specific scope is not absolutely clear, you may want to discuss it with HR or the Procurement Office to be sure you are not hiring temporary labor.  Hiring temporary labor and paying them as independent contractors may lead to IRS penalties for the University. Be sure to review the employee or independent contractor (PDF) before contacting HR or Procurement.

Ordering and Additional Information:

Be sure to issue a PO before a consulting engagement to cover the University and consultant from any insurance or other related issues that may arise regardless of the contract value.

Clemson University has established a contract with Rogers & Brown Customs Brokers, Inc. for brokerage and forwarding services. This contract provides assistance for all importing, exporting and freight forwarding needs.

If you wish to make arrangements for exporting, please reach out to Rogers & Brown directly to make arrangements:

For exports only –
Contact Cathy Jones (main contact)
864-970-4595
864-879-2157
cathy_jones@rogers-brown.com

Notify Rogers & Brown Custom Brokers, Inc. 146A W. Phillips Road, Greer, SC 29650, to coordinate the pickup and to make booking details for shipments going by air or ocean.

You must provide a valid Clemson University purchase order for export services before services can be rendered.

For imports only –
Typically, your supplier is responsible for making shipping arrangements. For inbound shipping from outside of the United States, be sure the supplier is aware that Rogers & Brown is responsible for handling our import requirements. To do so, ensure this text is placed on the purchase order to your supplier:

“A Clemson University purchase order number, the ‘Ship To’ and ‘Bill To’ information must be displayed on shipping documents. Ensure all airway bills or seaway bills show the notifying party as Rogers & Brown Custom Brokers, Inc. 146A W. Phillips Road, Greer SC 29650. Contact: Cathy Jones, telephone# 864-970-4595, cathy_jones@rogers-brown.com. Pre-alert and documents must be sent to Rogers & Brown to assist with the customs clearance process and to avoid any delays upon arrival of shipment to the USA.”

Frequently entertainers/performers services are employed by the University. Services may include music bands, speakers, artists, magicians, comedians, etc. Vendors should register with Clemson University well before their performance date.

Currently, Clemson University does not have a contract in place for Entertainers/Performers. Purchases should follow procurement guidelines regarding obtaining quotes as needed or bidding purchases as necessary when a sole source is not applicable or Direct Pay Exemptions do not apply.

For a contract template, please reach out to contracts@clemson.edu.

Ordering and Additional Information:

You should use buyWays or the P-Card for booking an entertainer or performer.

• Exemption List — may be applicable to your purchase
  • Purchases for commercial resale such as food (Campus Dining Services), books (University Book Store), drugs and pharmaceutical supplies (Student Health Center), arts and crafts supplies (Youth Learning Institute), and other items, which are sold in the retail market.
  • Speaker and musician fees are reimbursed from admission charges.
  • Expenditures of funds at state institutions of higher learning derived wholly from athletic or other student contests, from the activities of student organizations and from the operation of bookstores, except as such funds are used for the procurement of construction, architect-engineer, construction management and land surveying services.

To the individual seeking reimbursement, you would use Concur. The department will gather the appropriate details, receipts, etc. The change will be in how the department processes that. There will be no more entering through buyWays; the department end user will enter it in Concur as a reimbursement for a visitor. The Concur process will ask for the required information and ultimately process the voucher for payment in PSFT.

When possible, departments are encouraged to pay directly for their guests' travel expenses to minimize the out-of-pocket expenses for the guests and to obtain the University's negotiated rates for their travel using a University P-Card. However, when guests pay for their travel expenses directly, they may need to be reimbursed for their travel expenses.

Reimbursing a Guest/Visitor

Clemson guests may incur out-of-pocket travel expenses, which need to be reimbursed. These expenses must comply with the University travel policy and disbursement guidance based on the source of funds to be used (PDF).

Clemson University awarded a service contract to Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. to collect, package, consolidate, transport, dispose of, treat and otherwise manage the hazardous materials in compliance with all federal, state and local laws and regulations. This contract will cover all properties that are operated and controlled by the University. Primary areas will be campuses and research units in Pickens, Anderson and Oconee Counties. Additional outlying stations, all the way to the coast of South Carolina, will require some service during the course of this contract.

Clean Harbors online Service Accounts allow you to log in and manage your business more effectively. The online Account allows you to create, submit, edit and view waste profiles, conveniently schedule drum pickups, and order replacement containers and suppliers.

Download reports to track waste tracking data, profile lists, signed manifest scanned images, bulk scanned weight tickets, invoices, track drums, lab packs and smaller quantities of waste to an area or cost center.

Ordering and Additional Information below:

Use the Non-Catalog Form in buyWays to order from Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. Questions related to this contract (#25383332) should be directed to June Brock-Carroll, juneb@clemson.edu, 864-633-6357 or Sam Young, scy@clemson.edu, 864-656-2830.

This guide is intended to outline processes and procedures for making payments and reimbursements to international visitors as part of University business. This guide will outline the circumstances for allowable payments and describe the associated tax implications. Depending on an international visitor’s immigration and work authorization status, he or she may be prohibited from receiving payments and reimbursements of expenses or from having payments made on his/her behalf by the University.

Definitions

International Visitor (Nonresident Alien): A non-employee that is neither a US citizen nor a resident alien for tax purposes.  See IRS explanation for Resident Alien.

US Sourced vs. International Sourced Income: Income is pay for personal services performed such as honoraria and fee for service as well as royalties, rents and software license fees.  The source of the income is the place where the vendor performs the service or earns the income for which they are being compensated.  US sourced income is income for services performed in the United States, US royalties, rental of personal property located in the US and licensing fees for software used in the US.  international sourced income is income for services performed outside the United States, non-US royalties, rental of personal property located outside the US and licensing fee for software used outside the US.  Only US Sourced income is reported and subject to tax by the IRS depending on the availability of a tax treaty. International Sourced income is neither reportable nor subject to tax by the IRS.

Honoraria: A compensation payment made without legal obligation on the payer’s part to a person for services conducted in a volunteer capacity, or for services for which fees are not traditionally required.  An honorarium is provided as a token of appreciation for participation in a usual academic activity that benefits the University, including lecturing, teaching, consulting, conducting research, attending meetings, symposia or seminars, or otherwise sharing knowledge.

Fee for Service: A compensation payment for providing a service, such as a speaking engagement, consulting or any type of service where the independent contractor will participate only if they are compensated.

Reimbursement: A non-compensation payment made for expenses incurred and paid by a person or entity other than the University incurred as part of University business.  For example, airfare, lodging and meals.  These travel expenses must be reimbursed using the Non-Employee Visitor/Guest Travel Reimbursement form.

Social Security Number (SSN): A nine-digit number issued by the Social Security Administration to track benefits and used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to record earnings information.

Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN): A nine-digit number issued by the IRS used by the IRS to record earnings information.

Honoraria, Fee for Services and Reimbursements for International Visitors Guidelines

Payments of honoraria, fee for service, other earned income and reimbursements can be made based on the visa status of the individual and are subject to the visa constraints and the IRS tax liabilities. Please be aware that just completing the following forms does not lead to an automatic exemption from withholding or eligibility for payment.

Reimbursements

Whenever possible, departments should make travel and lodging arrangements directly with third-party vendors (i.e. airlines or hotels) for their international visitors using the Department P-Card.

An expense reimbursement made directly to an international visitor will not be considered as income and will not require tax withholding or reporting, provided that the following exist:

• The International’s visit benefits the University.
• All expenses are supported with receipts.
• To process any payment to an international individual, unless they live in the US and/or have a US bank account, Clemson will need to request the individual be invited to register as a supplier and they will have to complete the supplier registration process which allows Clemson to collect information to process a wire payment in addition to the possible international tax documentation.

Honoraria or Fee for Services (Income)

Where the honorarium, fee for service or other income is earned, whether here in the US (US Sourced Income) or in an international country (international Sourced Income), it is important to determine how to report the payment.

US Source Income

Honoraria or fees for services earned in the US are subject to complex visa constraints and IRS liabilities.  US sourced income is subject to 30% IRS withholding unless a treaty is applicable between the international visitor's country of residence and United States for a reduced tax withholding rate and/or exemption.  To claim treaty benefits, the visitor must have a SSN or an ITIN.  Departments that want to compensate a international visitor for work done here in the US must initiate a request to have the individual invited to register as a supplier.

Once registered, a PO must be placed (cannot utilize Direct Expenditure process for Honorarium/gift/award payment.)

International Sourced Income

Honoraria, fee for services or other income physically earned in an international country is not reportable to US Immigration or the IRS. Additional documentation may be required of the individual to complete registration based on their unique situation.

Clemson University selected Ricoh to provide Managed Print Services (MPS) for the entire University. In the past, we have had to utilize multiple vendors in order to fulfill Clemson’s network and desktop printing needs, making the management of these devices and services challenging and not always the most cost effective choice for the University. Pursuant to a Clemson University contract awarded via the State of South Carolina Managed Print Services Request for Proposal (RFP), Ricoh will be managing the service, consumable supplies and devices for the entire University.

The MPS program offers a significant overall cost savings to the University. These savings, along with the opportunity to introduce new technology while significantly reducing our carbon footprint, prompted the Administrative Council to approve moving forward with Ricoh as the MPS vendor.

With the MPS program, Clemson will be able to utilize Ricoh’s technology and expertise to reduce hard costs, provide a stable and consistent support system, and reduce the use of non-renewable resources. These goals are consistent with Clemson’s 2020 plan to become one of the top universities in environmental sustainability and ultimately to become a carbon neutral University by 2030.

Print Smart is a branding campaign for the Managed Print Services Program at Clemson to bring campus-wide, consciousness and excitement to document creation, output and distribution practices at Clemson University.

Manage Print Services include:

• Equipment including multi-functional devices (MFDs) and printers
• Supplies, including INK and TONER. Paper is not included.
• Preventive maintenance and parts
• Guaranteed service level response times
• Detailed account usage and simplified billing process
• Single contract for increased efficiency in managing contract terms and conditions

Ordering and Additional Information below:

See the Print Smart website for additional information or to order your PRINTER and MFD.

Order Toner (DOC)

Online Research Platforms (e.g., Amazon MTurk, Bovitz, Prolific, etc.) is a crowdsourcing Internet marketplace that allows individuals and businesses (known as Requesters) to coordinate the use of human intelligence to perform tasks that computers are currently unable to do. The Requesters are able to post tasks known as HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks), such as choosing the best among several photographs of a storefront, writing product descriptions, or identifying performers on music CDs. Workers (called Providers, Participants or Turkers) can then browse among existing tasks and complete them for a monetary payment set by the Requester. To place HITs, requesters can create and manage research activities directly on the platform or through automated tools provided by the service. Requesters are restricted to US-based entities. 

NOT ALLOWED
Reimbursements for payments to Online Research Platforms are not allowed.

Ordering and Additional Information below:

1. P-Card Holders, liaisons and departments are responsible for setting up specific processes to account for funds distributed through the online research platform.  A $2500 “purchase” will show up as a charge on your P-Card, but that “charge” requires additional supporting documentation.  A detailed requester or platform report showing the date/time, “worker id” to whom fund were distributed and the amount paid must be provided for each charge.  In addition, all services done must have a qualifying question asked on every survey/service request that asks the participant “Are you an employee of Clemson University, family member of a Clemson employee, or Clemson student involved in this particular research?”  If they answer Yes, then they cannot be allowed to participate in the service.  As our requirement for fiscal accountability and conflict of interest, we must ensure funds are NOT distributed to Clemson employees/students involved in the actual research.  All this must be done in a timely manner to reconcile P-Card charges as required by policy.  The excuse that funds have not been paid out yet is not an excuse, thus guidance to limit funding to no more than $2500 or, more ideally, what you need as you need it.
2. For Fund 20 projects:
   • Use of online research platforms must be included in the proposal budget and narrative with a specified amount in order for the charge to be allowed on a Fund 20 project.
   • The Department that initiates the charge and makes the payment must ensure that a refund is requested/issued if the requested number of HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) is not used.
3. Clemson MAY choose to establish “business” accounts with approved online research platforms in the name of the University, with the approval of the budget center/college and department head or approver of funds.  We will NOT set up parent-child accounts. Each account set up needs to be approved as a new and separate Clemson business account and will be tied to a specific payment account (P-Card) based on how you set up each account.
4. You MAY use a P-Card to make charges of no more than $2500 at a time.  Do NOT split purchases and make back-to-back charges exceeding $2500 or you may lose your P-Card privileges.  A $2500 charge followed by another $2500 charge the following week after funds are expended/distributed will be acceptable at this time but two charges on the same day or back-to-back days that exceed $2500 to fund a specific project will be viewed as a split charge and result in an unauthorized procurement.
5. Amazon MTurk (AMT) business accounts may still be tied to an individual’s Amazon.com and other Amazon related accounts. As such, it is even more critical to ensure that personal and P-Card charges are made to the correct accounts at time of payment in Amazon.  We caution strongly against this with the regular use of the P-Card in Amazon, and if this is abused or results in unauthorized procurements, this guidance may be revoked and the use of AMT will be suspended.  As previously noted, Amazon in general has a difficult time linking businesses to specific accounts. I am unsure at this time how a P-Card will be used to fund an account as you may run into issues if the P-Card is not in the name of the “Requester” on the account and/or the addresses don’t match up. This is the responsibility of the Requester and Card Holder to work out with Amazon.  This is NOT an issue Procurement needs to be involved in to assist.  This may be an issue that will cause a user/card holder time to get straightened out and it is your responsibility to do so. It may require getting a P-Card issued in the Requesters name – just a possibility.
6. Some companies offering similar services may not require prepaid balances; however, they still must meet the same standards for documentation, participant verification, and fiscal accountability described above.

Departments need to be aware that this entire process contains countless opportunities for issues, fraud, lack of accountability, etc…  The guidance put out above is guidance at this point but should issues arise that we were not aware of and/or cannot control, or processes not put in place to properly manage this situation, the guidance may be retracted and use of online research platforms may be prohibited.  We recognize the value of this service to researchers and want to support our faculty, but at the same time the faculty must recognize the very sensitive nature of the fiscal accountability this process creates and support the necessary requirements/processes to make this work.

To order printed materials, use the Print Services punchout in buyWays.

See more details at Print Smart.

The Office of Land and Capital Asset Stewardship (LCAS) is responsible for all the purchase/sale or leasing/lease out or all real property. More information can be found on their website.

Ordering and Additional Information:

The most common real property transaction would be the entering and payment of a lease for office space to a landlord. All real property leases that obligate the University or an affiliated organization require the approval of the funding department’s dean or vice president and the review and approval of the LCAS Office. See our Lease Policy and Procedures and Space Allocation Form for more information.