Signature Authority

Only authorized individuals may commit the University to a purchase, sale, lease or other arrangement with external parties. Any employee who makes such a commitment without proper authorization may be personally liable for the transaction.

Contracting Authority

• For the Columbia campus, only the following offices have signature authority related to contracting a purchase, sale lease or other contractual arrangement:
  • Office of the Chief Procurement Officer
  • Office of the Vice Chancellor Administrative Services
  • Office of Sponsored Programs
• Requisitions through the PeopleSoft purchasing system are approved by individuals who have been granted the security to do so.
• Purchasing card transactions are approved by the designated approving officials for each card.

Other Transactions

For other transactions, such as non-PO vouchers, feeder systems and Web Journal Entries, PS Web Authorizations identifies individuals having approval authority, as designated by the division fiscal officer.

Expenditures Benefiting an Employee

Expenditures that directly benefit an employee, plus all reimbursements to the employee require the approval of the employee's administrative superior. Types of expenditures requiring administrative superior approval include, but are not limited to:

• Travel, including airfare, rental vehicles, lodging and meals, whether reimbursed to the individual, provided by a University entity or paid directly to a vendor.
• Food or meals that are not part of travel. See 2:090 for related guidance.
• Registration fees, such as for a conference.
• Dues for individual memberships in professional societies or associations or in social service, or civic clubs (see 2:220).

Administrative Superior

The administrative superior must be either a supervisor of the employee or an appropriate administrative official. An appropriate administrative official must report to the administrative superior and cannot report to the employee. For example, a fiscal officer who reports to a dean, may be designated by the dean to provide administrative superior approvals. In no case may an employee approve his or her own expenses.