The College’s general office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Sales personnel are expected to interact productively and to provide useful product information to community members. All sales personnel are advised to make advance appointments; cold calls are not permitted.

Swarthmore is a private college of liberal arts and engineering located 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia in the Borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Coeducational since its founding in 1864 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Swarthmore is nonsectarian today, but still reflects many Quaker traditions and values. College Facts & Figures are available online.

As a central resource, the purchasing office serves the College community by providing resources to support the best value purchase of goods and services, developing purchasing policies and procedures, and assuring that College purchasing complies with applicable federal and industry standards. The College’s purchasing is decentralized in that individual faculty and staff across campus determines business needs, place orders, and authorizes the payment of invoices. As such, each member of the College community that participates in the buying process accepts a responsibility as a steward of the College's financial resources and a commitment to the highest ethical standards. Please refer to the Purchasing Office Vision, Mission, and Values statement and Conflict of Interest Policy for further details.

Swarthmore College is in the process of developing central purchasing software for use as a decentralized means to generate purchase orders. ESM Solutions is the software that will enable community members to requisition needed goods and services, while the transaction will route for authorization before being emailed to suppliers. The College refers to the ESM interface as eMarket Portal.

General Terms and Conditions of this purchase order are stated in the Purchase Order Terms and Conditions and are incorporated by reference. If you did not receive these Terms and Conditions or do not have a copy on file, you may obtain the document by clicking on the link.

A certificate of insurance is a standardized form that provides evidence of insurance coverage, including the supplier's coverage types and liability limits. A Sample Swarthmore College COI [pdf] is provided for supplier's reference to the College's insurance requirements. Note the College should be named as Primary Additional Insured on a noncontributory basis and supplier insurance company should be.rated A-, Class X or better by A.M Best Company. The COI should be received by the College before work begins. More detail on insurance requirements may be found on the College's Contract Terms and Provisions [pdf].

For those suppliers in need of coverage, insurance may be purchased at a competitive price through University Risk Management and Insurance Association's (URMIA) Tenants' and Users' Liability Insurance Policy (TULIP) for events, suppliers, performers, and exhibitors. Third party property damage and molestation coverage is included.

URMIA also offers insurance to third party campus facility users for sports camps through their Sports Camps Insurance Program (SCIP).