Purchase Request Form (http://forms.enme.umd.edu/purchase.html) is for use by everyone in the ME department except CALCE personnel. You should use this form to request purchases.

The electronic Purchase Request Form replaces paper forms of Internal Service Request, Small Purchase Request, Credit Card Purchase Request, and Purchase Requisition (for amounts greater than $5000). So basically, all purchases can be requested using this form.

Users must have Netscape 4, iExplorer 4, or a newer web browser. The system has been tested on UNIX (Solaris) and Windows.

1. Initiating a Request

All Mechanical Engineering personnel, including students, can initiate a new purchase request. This is done by clicking the Make a new Request link.

2. Authorizing a Request

When the requestor submits the form, an authorization request is sent to the authorizer/approver that the requestor has chosen, in the means of an email notification message. When the authorizer clicks the link in the received email, he/she can authorize the form. Observe that even in the case where the original requestor is permitted to authorize the request, he/she is still sent the authorization request in the form of email message. This is for security reasons. So if you are for example a faculty member (and should hence be permitted to authorize purchase requests), you first must fill out the initial request, and then later authorize it.

The authorization step asks for a password. You can change this password by contacting the ME computer support (meweb-admin@eng.umd.edu). Also, if you want to add new names to the list of available persons allowed to authorize, please contact the ME computer support.

An optional way to authorize a request is by selecting the Authorize a Request link in the purchase form main page. In this case you are asked for the Request ID and the key which you were sent in the email notification message. This is also for security reasons, so that people can’t authorize requests even if they knew the password of the authorizer.

When the authorizer/approver authorizes (submits) the form, an email notification message is sent to Mechanical Engineering Administrative Services, where it’s processed further.

3. Getting/Sending feedback

The request processor in Mechanical Engineering Administrative Services can send a feedback notification for the authorizer, who can make the corrections, and then re-authorize the request if required by re-submitting it.

4. Tracking the state of a Request.

The requestor can check the status (including last access date and time now) of the request by clicking the View the detailed State of a single Request link in the purchase form web page. To view the status, one must enter the Request ID and a code that was given upon submission of the request. This is for privacy.

If the initiator is a person that can authorize forms (typically a supervisor and faculty member), they can click the List your Requests link to easier track the state of their requests.

The Purchase Request form uses special verification codes that are sent to the authorizer by email. This ensures that nobody but the authorizer can authorize purchases.

Send your comments and feedback to meweb-admin@eng.umd.edu.