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Revised: September 2018

The NSHE Board of Regents Handbook and Procedures and Guidelines Manual assign the President of each institution considerable authority regarding personnel and financial decisions and transactions. The President may delegate signature or approval authority to university officers in order to facilitate the timely execution of business processes. This policy, in conjunction with UAM 507, Delegation of Authority for System Business Processes, prescribes the processes for delegation of authority and the limitations on delegation.

Standard human resources and financial transactions in Workday, with authority to initiate and approve transactions are limited to those with appropriate authority. Certain actions require prior written approval before they are initiated in Workday. These include expenditures of hosting funds; termination of employment due to a Notice of Non-Reappointment or Notice of Termination; and transactions that are exceptions to university policy, such as ad hoc raises and initial salary requests above Quartile 2 (Q2).

Delegation of Approval Authority

Approval authority is delegated by the President to the following officers for the purpose shown. Approval authority may not be further delegated except when expressly and specifically allowed. Any further delegation of authority permitted by this policy must be in writing, updated every time a change in that delegation occurs, and distributed to the appropriate offices.

In the event of a temporary absence of the delegated approval authority for an organizational unit, approval authority may be delegated to another individual for a specific period of time where such delegation is permitted by this policy.

Additional approval and signature requirements for certain other processes or documents may be found in other sections of the University Administrative Manual.

Stamps or others signing the name of the designated individual are not permitted. Individuals may use an electronic version of their own signature.

Electronic signatures may be used as specified in UAM 506, Use of Electronic Signatures and Records.

Personnel Transactions and Documents

The President is the ultimate appointing authority for all faculty and staff of the University. The President, or those person(s) so designated by the President, must approve all recommendations concerning employment, salary, promotion, or appointment with tenure within the University.

Standard employment contracts are executed through Workday. Decisions regarding changes in employment such as promotion or the granting of tenure occur through separate processes outside Workday. After such actions are approved through the proper process, they are then processed in Workday.

Notice of Non-Reappointment and Notice of Termination for non-tenured academic and administrative faculty must be signed by the President unless the non-renewal is due to funding.

Contracts for Academic and Administrative Faculty, Residents and Postdoctoral Fellows

The Executive Vice President & Provost and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs are authorized to approve contracts as appointing authority for academic faculty, administrative faculty, resident physicians, and post-doctoral fellows in all organizational units reporting directly to them. Vice presidents are authorized to approve contracts as appointing authority for all administrative faculty in all organizational units reporting directly to them; they may delegate this authority to their associate/assistant vice presidents. All salaries and contracts will have at least two administrative levels of review and approval. The contract is not binding or of any legal effect until it is electronically accepted by both the employee and the appointing authority or designee. Delegation does not extend to contracts that require an exception to established university policies and procedures. Any exception, other than the initial salary offer exceeding Q2 must be personally approved by the President, Executive Vice President & Provost, or Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. Divisional vice presidents have delegated authority to approve initial salary offers over Q2.

Additional Information Letters for Academic Faculty

The Executive Vice President & Provost or Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs must approve all additional information letters making workload and/or financial commitments to academic faculty. Any dean or vice president who has made a financial commitment in the start-up package must approve the additional information letter.

Employment Documents for Classified Employees, Graduate Assistants, Temporary Hourly Employees, Student Employees and Letter of Appointment Employees

Chairs, department heads, principal investigators (PI) or direct supervisors are designated to approve personnel transactions and documents as the appointing authority for these employee types in their organizational units.

Leave Requests

The supervisor of an employee must approve all leave requests for the employee. All annual leave must be approved in advance in Workday. Leave approval may be delegated by the immediate supervisor to another responsible party familiar with the operational needs of the unit.

Request for On-Demand Payroll Checks

All requests for on-demand payroll checks must follow NSHE Payroll guidelines and practices.

Grants-In-Aid and Classified Employee Family Opportunity Program Approvals

Faculty and classified grants-in-aid requests for employees' personal use must be approved by the appointing authority or designee for that unit. Grants-in-aid for dependents and Classified Employee Family Opportunity Program requests must be verified for eligibility by Human Resources. No supervisor approval is required.

Financial Documents

The approval process for standard financial transactions are established in Workday. Deans are authorized to approve all transactions for their college, department chairs are authorized to approve all transactions for their departments, and supervisors are authorized to approve all transactions for areas which are under their supervision.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is authorized to approve research-related transactions such as cost transfers, journal vouchers and requisitions for all sponsored project generated and related accounts to include all grant accounts, miscellaneous program development accounts, and facilities and administration cost recovery accounts.

Approval to Travel

For university policy regarding approval to travel and travel expenditures, see UAM 1,401, Travel.

Host Expenses

Vice presidents, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, deans, and the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics are delegated to sign as the final signature approval for hosting expenditures; this authority may not be further delegated regardless of the signature authority on the account funding the expenditure. Furthermore, individuals may not approve any hosting expenditure for which they are able to be personally reimbursed.

Table Purchases

Prior to a table purchase, Table Purchase Request forms must be directed to the President's Office, for approval and tracking of table purchase expenditures.

Budgets and Budget Amendments

Budget amendments are entered into Workday by individuals given that responsibility. Budget amendments are approved by the Workday unit manager (typically dean or directors or their designee) and by Planning, Budget and Analysis. If the budget amendment in on a grant, Sponsored Projects must approve.

Budget overrides requested in Workday are approved or denied by the Controller's Office. If an override is approved and an account goes negative, the fiscal staff in the colleges and departments are responsible for amending the budget to correct the negative balance.

Self-supporting budgets must be approved through the Planning, Budget & Analysis review process before they are entered in Workday.

The Vice President for Administration and Finance or designee(s) may act as the approval authority for budget transfers, self-supporting budgets, and budget revisions.

Contracts (Other than Employment)

The Executive Vice President & Provost, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Vice President for Administration & Finance, Associate Vice President for Business & Finance and the Controller are delegated authority to sign all contracts that have been delegated to the President for signature by the Â鶹ӳ»­ System of Higher Education Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Chapter 5, Section 3.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign all standard sponsored projects related federal grant applications, grants, contracts, amendments and modifications, and funding release forms, including private and state contracts funded with federal grant funds that, therefore, must be in compliance with federal grant requirements.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign all other sponsored projects related non-federal grant and contract agreements that have been delegated to the President for signature by the Â鶹ӳ»­ System of Higher Education Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Chapter 5, Section 3.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign contracts concerning research and/or intellectual property that do not exceed five years and $1,000,000.00 and that have been reviewed and approved by the Office of the General Counsel.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign an agreement to obtain the following biological materials used in research, including such agreements that exceed five years:

Material transfer agreements involving biological materials which are used in research, such as animals, reagents, cells, cell lines, antibodies, funguses, bacteria, viruses, antigens, cultures, nucleotides, proteins, pharmaceuticals, plasmids, vectors, embryos, tissues, fluids, and clinical specimens.

The approval of such material transfers is subject to all other applicable contracting policies and procedures. The Vice President for Research & Innovation shall create an annual report regarding his/her and/or the designee's approval of such transfer agreements.

The Vice President for Research and Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements addressing the sharing of proprietary information and/or information concerning research and/or intellectual property that do not exceed five years and that are approved by the Office of General Counsel. The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee shall ensure that those students and/or employees involved in the matters that are the subject of the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement have signed a copy of the agreement, acknowledging that they have read the agreement.

The Vice President for Research & Innovation or designee is delegated authority to sign the following forms approved by the Office of General Counsel related to the Innevation Center Powered by Switch: Room Reservation License Agreement; Assigned Incubator Space License Agreement; and General Membership Agreement.

The Vice President for Administration & Finance and the Director of Purchasing or their designees are delegated authority to sign all purchase orders and purchasing contracts in which the purchasing contract is awarded in accordance with the purchasing policy set forth in Title 4, Chapter 10 in the Board of Regents Handbook.

The Vice President for Administration & Finance is delegated to sign cost overruns or change orders for construction contracts, which, in the aggregate, do not exceed 10% of the base contract amount, or de minimus changes that do not materially increase the risks of the contract such as brief extensions for time of performance and the like.

The Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education is delegated authority to sign all agreements with outside entities for internships, exchange agreements, service learning and civic engagement that do not exceed five years and $1,000,000.00 and that have been approved or are on forms that have been approved by the Office of General Counsel.

The Dean of the Â鶹ӳ»­ School of Medicine (UNRMed) is delegated authority to sign all contracts (including interlocal cooperative agreements, interlocal contracts and standard form contracts) which require consideration (cash, property or services) valued at $1,000,000 or less, calculated by adding the total cumulative payments, delivery or performance over the entire term of the contract, and which are for terms of five years or less or which provide the right to renew for terms that do not exceed five years in the aggregate. All UNRMed contracts must be reviewed and approved by UNRMed Legal Counsel prior to the Dean's approval.

Alcoholic Beverages

The Associate Vice President for Student Life Services is delegated authority to sign and approve requests to serve alcoholic beverages at events that occur on campus.

Documents Requiring President's Signature

The following require the President's signature and may not be further delegated:

Notice of Non-Reappointment and Notice of Termination for non-tenured academic and administrative faculty unless the non-renewal or termination is due to funding or the President has specifically delegated signature authority for personnel matters in writing due to his/her absence.

Contracts requiring the President's approval prior to being forwarded to the Chancellor or the Board of Regents for review and approval.