Founded in 1861, the University of Washington (UW) is one of the oldest universities in the western United States. It has 20 schools and colleges located across three campuses, and employs about 36,000 faculty and staff. In fiscal year 2020, UW’s budget was about $8.25 billion. Overall, it spent more than $1.6 billion on goods and services. Like other universities, UW uses contracts to purchase goods and services to support its departments and operations.
Public agencies like UW have an obligation to spend public funds responsibly. It follows that the public has a reasonable interest in knowing how the university uses this money. Furthermore, agencies must to take steps to reduce their financial and legal liability, and to prevent service issues that risk their operations. This legislatively mandated performance audit examined two UW procurement offices. It asked whether employees who made purchases did so following UW's rules. It also considered whether UW could make its contracts more transparent to the public.
Read a two-page summary of the report.