Procurement comprises a significant portion of UW’s spending. With its purchasing decisions UW can endorse suppliers who are practicing sustainability; we aspire to have 100% of them aligned with our Supplier Code of Conduct. We are quickly working to incorporate students’ voices in purchasing decisions. As we work with campus units and departments to develop equitable purchasing targets, we will follow the state’s goals for minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses under the Results Washington strategic framework.

Target actions for 2023

View actions for past fiscal years

Sustainability plan guiding principles

  •  Ensure students achieve sustainability literacy
  •  Choose our research conscientiously
  •  Keep equity and inclusion at the center
  •  Use resources responsibly
  •  Decarbonize

The UW’s Financial Transformation project will include transitioning the UW’s procurement platform from Ariba to Workday. The transformation could provide opportunities for integrating sustainability policies and goals into the procurement platform, including the ability to easily search for sustainable products and diverse suppliers.


The UW is creating an online training and toolkit for employees around supplier diversity. This is in response to a Washington State Executive Order for Equity in Public Contracting signed in early 2022. The training will support supplier diversity efforts in Washington State and increase spending with minority-and women-owned businesses. Procurement Services will track the number of staff that complete the training and determine how best to conduct outreach around the training. Procurement Services will also continue to provide annual funding for two student internship positions supporting supplier diversity work.