2026 Annual Report - Strategic Partnerships

Systemwide

Supplier Partnerships Advance Laboratory Sustainability Across UC

UC Systemwide Procurement structured two major supplier partnerships to provide campuses with flexible funding for laboratory sustainability. Zeiss contributes $50,000 each fiscal year for green-laboratory initiatives, with another $50,000 available when systemwide sales exceed $5 million. Campuses may use the funds for equipment, rebates, operational projects, outreach, or student staffing based on local needs. Fisher Scientific has contributed $100,000 annually since 2022, providing $10,000 to each participating campus for rebates that help researchers replace inefficient equipment. Together, these partnerships represent approximately $200,000 in potential annual industry investment and have supported hundreds of equipment replacements, showing how supplier relationships can deliver measurable campus-level progress toward systemwide sustainability goals.

UCSF

Cross Campus Consultation Provides Practical Insights

UCSF Supply Chain Management hosted UC Santa Cruz Financial Affairs colleagues at its Oyster Point Logistics facility in October 2025. The visit included a warehouse tour and detailed briefings on UCSF's last-mile package delivery program, fleet electrification, and other logistics operations. The exchange gave UCSC practical insight as it considers a similar campus model and strengthened cross-campus collaboration around more efficient, sustainable delivery services.

UC Santa Cruz

UCSC Brings OneCard Amazon Purchasing Under Strategic Oversight

Beginning in March 2026, UC Santa Cruz required OneCard purchases from Amazon to flow through the campus official Amazon Business account. The managed channel combines institutional pricing, quantity discounts, analytics, and audit visibility with guided-buying controls that prioritize strategic agreements, campus-contracted suppliers, and local, small, diverse, and sustainable options. Procurement supported the migration with training and office hours. By bringing high-volume marketplace purchasing into a governed environment, UCSC is improving compliance and spend transparency while directing buyers toward choices that better support university priorities.

Systemwide

LAMP Enhances and Extends UC’s Purchasing Power

In FY26, the UC and OMNIA Lead Agency Marketing Partnership (LAMP) program moved $1.2B in spend across 84 contracts in 34 categories, returning $5.9M to UC campuses and reinvesting $3M into UC Procurement initiatives and programs. Through OMNIA Partners, LAMP makes UC’s competitively bid and publicly awarded contracts available to UC campuses and eligible public agencies nationwide.

LAMP is more than a portfolio of compliant contracts– it helps UC aggregate demand, strengthen purchasing leverage and improve value over time. Greater use of LAMP contracts across the UC system supports better pricing, stronger service standards and supplier accountability, while streamlining procurement, expanding supplier access, reducing risk and returning revenue to UC. This valuable partnership also extends UC’s procurement influence and public mission to agencies across the country.