How Do I Buy Things?
Updated August 2026
Stockrooms – Need instant gratification? In the Stockrooms (located on the Lower Levels of Sabin Reed and Ford Hall) we keep a variety of frequently-used items such as personal protection equipment, culture plates, tubing, and glassware, as well as a selection of chemicals and solvents.
Here is a list of what we typically stock in Ford. We have the same PPE and consumables in Sabin Reed, but not the same array of chemicals.
What you need to do:
- Call or Stop in during our open hours, or send an email.
- Be sure to tell us what you need, where it needs to go, and when you need it by
- We’ll need you to provide financial information (cost center, gift, grant, internal grant) about where you would like to charge your purchases
- We might need to verify that you are authorized to purchase against the financial information you provide.
Workday offers real-time viewing of the stockrooms’ inventory. If you are interested, please email us to be given access.
Centralized Ordering – You fill out a requisition and we do the rest. Checking for the best prices, dealing with the vendors, and making sure it’s delivered on time and in good condition. We’ll let you know if there’s a pricing problem or if something’s on backorder. It’s all part of the service we provide. Need a quote for some equipment or an especially large consumables order? Not sure where to find something? We can help point you to some vendors who can provide what you’re looking for. We have all the contracts and pricing agreements and we know where to look so you get the most out of your funding.
What you need to do:
- Requisitions can be found here for download. Please fill out all highlighted areas. You or your authorized signer/admin can email it to us from your/their Smith email account.
- You’ll probably use the same info for most orders; we recommend saving a version to use as a template rather than using a previous submission for accuracy.
- Please be sure to indicate the date you really need your order by (ASAP is not a due date.)
- Please tell us where (building and room number) your order needs to go.
- Please be sure to specify if something requires temperature controlled storage.
- Any orders charged to a department operating budget or endowed fund should be sent to your administrative coordinator first for budget tracking.
- Looking for the best price or aren’t sure where the best source for something is? The Stockroom can help you. Put as much information as you can on your req and send it to stockroom@smith.edu or stop by. We may change vendors based on price and/or availability. We will let you know ahead of placing the order when necessary.
- Ordering from Amazon? See our helpful hints to avoid delays in placing your orders.
- If you purchase fully-regulated hazardous material or items containing fully-regulated hazardous material, PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL ORDERING! Even if a vendor is able to ship the product to us, and will accept a return, we may not be able to ship it back because of shipping regulations for hazardous materials.
Have more questions? Don’t hesitate to call, email, or stop by!