Don't Forget Supplier Diversity
Supplier diversity programs are in place in many campus
procurement departments at both large and small, public and private
institutions, in order to encourage buying from a wide variety of suppliers,
including small suppliers and businesses owned by people from
demographic groups that have been historically discriminated against.
At the City University of New York (CUNY), for example, the
university has an overall 30 percent MWBE (minority- and women-owned
business enterprises) participation goal and 6 percent SDVOB
(service-disabled veteran owned businesses) participation goal. Every
CUNY campus (senior colleges, community colleges, honors and professional
schools) is required to make a good faith effort to achieve the
university’s MWBE and SDVOB goal.
At the University of Washington in Seattle, Purchasing Services is
committed to ensuring that minority-owned, women-owned, small,
disadvantaged, HUB Zone (historically underutilized business zones),
veteran-owned and service-disabled-veteran owned businesses have
the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in purchasing and
contracting at the university of Washington.
Sinclair Community College in Dayton, OH, states a long-term objective
to attain 15 percent of its annual volume in Tier I minority- and
woman-owned spend.
Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, is known as one of the
premier supplier diversity programs in higher education in the U.S.
The university has received numerous awards for its work to develop a
diverse supplier base and to increase the contracts awarded to Indiana
women and minority businesses. Information on Purdue’s commitment
and processes can be explored at www.purdue.edu/supplierdiversity.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .