The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Fledgling software was to blame in two cases where chartered student organizations' University-financed purchase orders were declined at the Brentwood Target, according to Bob Woodruff, vice president of business and finance.

The Student Government Association and Asian Students in Action attempted to buy supplies--$300 and $500 worth, respectively--with University purchase orders in mid November. They were told their accounts had been voided.

Woodruff said that in July, the University transitioned to a new purchasing system. Amid the shuffle, invoice processing halted and outgoing payments slowed to a trickle. Some businesses, like Target, collapsed SLU's accounts. When the problem was realized, in early August, Woodruff immediately enlisted four extra workers to recalibrate the software for accounts payable. Payments have since resumed.

"We think we've cleaned it up," Woodruff said.

President of ASIA Joseph Lim said, "We were surprised and shocked," when he found out while waiting at the register at Target with other members of ASIA that he could not make his $500 purchase.

"We were given the form for the purchase order, and when the manager double checked our account in his book, he told us that the account had been voided a few days earlier," he said.

The group was fortunate in that one of its members had a credit card to be able to cover $30 of the merchandise. Currently the University is in the process of reimbursing the group.

"We were okay," Lim said, "but there was the possibility that we didn't have any money."

While Lim said that the process is being worked out, he is still worried about subsequent purchases.

"I'm concerned [that] in the future if we'll be able to have purchase orders in the future," Lim said.

The late payments have also adversely affected small businesses that work with SLU. Derek Weber, who graduated from SLU in 2004, runs a shirt printing business. He sells much of his apparel to CSOs at SLU. He faced revenue problems over the summer when the transition was made to the new purchasing software and the University was not able to pay on time.

"It really put a crunch on the cash flow for a little while," Weber said. "There's going to be bugs starting off though. It's getting a lot better now."

Weber commended the University for being responsive to his problems and reimbursing him promptly. "They were very responsive and cooperative," he said.

The accounts with Target remain closed, however. The delinquent payments have come to bear on SLU's relationship with Target. "The problems haven't all been resolved," Woodruff said. "It's very unfortunate."

Article Tools