COVID-19 Purchasing

COVID-19 Supplies

In the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, many items related to personal care have been in high demand across the entire university. In an effort to assist our staff in planning for upcoming supply needs, the Sourcing Department has established multiple supply chains for these items for everyone’s health and safety upon return to campus operations.

There are three (3) mechanisms to order COVID-19 supplies:

Per the university’s Campus Face Covering Guidance, all students, employees, and visitors are to wear a face-covering at all times, except when alone in a private room with a closed door or in a private vehicle. This guidance must be followed on all campus spaces, including buildings/grounds, shared laboratory areas, shared residence hall spaces, conference rooms, GUTS busses, etc.

Here are CDC guidelines on how you can best protect yourself and others:

  • Wear face coverings that cover the mouth and nose where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. OSHA designates N95 masks as respirators, and they are currently reserved for use by healthcare providers and first responders only. *use of N95 masks requires medical evaluation, training and fit testing*
  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  When this is not available use hand sanitizer that contacts at least 60% alcohol.
  • Gloves are only worn for routine duties by staff in areas such as facility maintenance, food preparation, research/teaching laboratories, and should never be worn in common areas. Follow CDC hand washing guidelines. In instances where the performance of job duties requires direct human contact other staff  members may require disposable gloves based on increased general health/safety requirements.

While offices should remind them that they must follow the Campus Face Covering Guidance, the university is not responsible for providing face coverings to visitors, vendors, and contractors. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please submit all urgent purchasing requests using the COVID-19 Supply Order Form. The Strategic Sourcing department is ready to assist with any needs.

If you are ordering a product from a catalog and it is available, please continue to order through GMS direct purchasing.

The Sourcing department continues to be in contact with key suppliers that provide PPE & FFE supplies to discuss the availability of products. If you have immediate needs, please contact sourcing@georgetown.edu.

No. Supplies should only be purchased for use directly in the workplace, lab, or research space on campus. Please continue to order supplies through the three mechanisms provided, GMS Direct purchasing, Master Agreements, or COVID-19 Supply Order Form. Please contact the sourcing department for any exceptions.

Please work directly with your sourcing department in the event that you need to terminate a contract related to a change of plans due to the COVID-19 impact. If you have lost deposits that are not refundable, there is a high likelihood that nothing that can be done. However, Procurement will work with our suppliers to negotiate credits or other options in order to minimize impact. In the event a contract was signed prior to our knowledge of COVID-19, there are certain contractual language we can leverage to alleviate commitments.

You can work with your, Cost Center Manager to request access to Punchout.If you have an urgent supply request, please use the COVID-19 Supply Order Form or contact Sourcing@georgetown.edu.