Date Established: 10/16/2008
Date Last Revised: 3/2/2012
Category: Administration and Governance
Responsible Office:
Associate Vice President and Controller
Responsible Executive:
Vice President for Finance and Administration
This policy provides guidance on the delegation and assignment of authority to approve transactions; identifies the circumstances under which approvals are required by the president, provost, vice-presidents and the Research Foundation operations manager; and requires that transactions requesting payment to an individual with approval authority be approved by the next higher level of authority.
Only authorized individuals may approve transactions that obligate the university to receive or spend funds, provide or receive services, and/or otherwise commit its resources. Individuals may enter into these transactions only if they have the appropriate level of authority.
Transactions requesting payment to an individual, or that benefit an individual with approval authority, require approval by the next higher level of authority. No approver may authorize a payment to oneself or benefitting oneself, including but not limited to, personnel transactions, employee expenditure reimbursements, procurement card transactions, petty cash reimbursements, and travel or entertainment expenditures. This standard of ‘two sets of eyes’ reviewing transactions promotes accountability as well as the appropriate use of university resources.
The State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees and the Research Foundation (RF) Board of Directors have vested authority in the president, provost, and RF operations manager to contractually bind and commit the resources of the university. Where permitted, these individuals may delegate authority to the vice presidents and deans who may further delegate such authority to other qualified employees to improve operational efficiency.
Delegations of approval authority must be documented, kept current, maintained in the departmental files, and a copy provided to the university business office charged with oversight of the transaction (e.g., Human Resources, Financial Management, Sponsored Projects Services). Guidelines for delegating approval authority include:
Adequate segregation of duties is important for effective internal control. Segregation of duties provides necessary checks and balances to detect errors, deter fraud, and prevent concealment of irregularities.
In general, the approval, reconciliation, and record keeping functions should be separated among employees. When these functions cannot be separated, a detailed supervisory review of related activities is required as a compensating control activity. Some examples of segregation of duties are:
The University at Buffalo (UB, university) enters into and executes many transactions which obligate university resources. A sound internal control environment requires that only authorized individuals or their designees approve transactions. Internal controls help to ensure that transactions are:
This policy applies to all university accounts and funding entities including all State, Research Foundation, and University at Buffalo Foundation accounts.
Approval Authority
Permission to approve transactions for execution. This approval attests to the accuracy, validity, and appropriateness of the transaction within the university’s program objectives and budgetary authorizations. Transaction approval may be performed electronically in accordance with system requirements or manually with a handwritten signature.
Endowed Chair
An academic position of the highest faculty honor supported by earnings from invested funds.
Exception Approval
The approval required when hiring an individual under the specific situations for which an affirmative action search is not required.
Internal Control
The integration of the activities, plans, attitudes, policies, and efforts of the people of a department working together to provide reasonable assurance that the department will achieve its mission.
The following charts list the transactions which require the signature of the president, provost, vice president, and/or RF operations manager.
Appointments, Reappointments, and Promotions | Provost or Vice President (non-academic) | And /Or | President |
---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated. All delegations must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | |||
Appointments and promotions to titles of Distinguished Professors, Distinguished Teaching Teaching Professor, Distinguished Service Professor | X | And | X * |
Appointments, reappointments, and promotions to endowed chairs and named professorships (State and UBF appointments) | X | And | X |
Appointments, reappointments, and promotions of the campus RF Operations Manager | X | And | X |
Appointments and promotions of faculty with tenure (UP-3) | X | And | X ** |
Permanent appointments for professional staff (UP-3) | X | And | X ** |
All appointments, reappointments, or promotions with a salary above the salary maximum for the grade/rank | X | And | X |
Appointments and promotions for administrative staff for the rank of MP1, MP2, and MP3 | X | And | X |
Appointments, reappointments, and promotions for all staff within the Provost's or vice presidents' offices (State, RF, and UBF) | X | ||
Appointments, reappointments, and promotions of Vice President's (State, RF, and UBF) | X | ||
Appointments, reappointments, and promotions of professional staff to the rank of SL-4 and above | X | ||
Paid appointments, reappointments, and promotions in academic rank at the level of Associate Professor or above (qualified or unqualified title) | X |
* Appointed by SUNY Board of Trustees upon Chancellor's recommendation.
** President's approval required by the SUNY Board of Trustees Policies.
Leaves | Provost or Vice President (non-academic) | And /OR | President |
---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated, but must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | |||
All applications requesting Title E (sabbatical) or Title F leaves. | X | And | X |
Presidential sick leave (Title C.5 Additional Sick Leave) at full pay, partial pay, or without pay; i.e.,
| X | And | X |
Salary Changes and Additional Compensation | Provost or Vice President (non-academic) | And /OR | President |
---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated, but must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | |||
All base State and/or UBF* salary increases for faculty and professional staff, including also receives, and temporary increases over 10% of base salary and all chair stipends | X | And | X |
All RF salary increases, including over-the-maximum increases, require approval of the Principle Investigator and the Chair or Dean | |||
All State salary increases with a new salary above the maximum for the grade/rank | X | And | X ** |
All salary changes for administrative staff at the rank of MP1, MP2, or MP3 | X | And | X |
Salary changes (State, RF, UBF) for administrative staff within the provost’s or vice presidents’ office: below 10% above 10% |
X X | And | X |
Requests for extra service compensation (State, RF, and UBF) for persons with official state titles of Vice President, Dean, or Director who report directly to the Provost (UP-8 for UUP academic and professional employees). Advance approval from the Chancellor is required for extra service payments to Management Confidential (M/C) employees (UP-6 for M/C professional employees) | X | And | X |
* This applies to University employees paid on the UBF payroll. It does not apply to employees paid by UBF and working in the UBF Administrative Offices.
** A letter signed by the President must be sent to SUNY System Administration.
Other Human Resource Transactions | Provost or Vice President (non-academic) | And /OR | President |
---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated, but must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | |||
Time and attendance records and requests for individuals with the titles of Dean, Director, Vice Provost, or Vice President reporting directly to the president, provost, vice presidents | X | And | Direct reports only |
Request for reclassification of lines for all administrative positions for the rank of MP1, MP2, or MP3 | X | And | X |
UP 211 for the rehiring of retired state employees | X | And | X |
Request for reclassification of lines for all administrative positions within the provost’s or vice presidents’ office require the approval of the next level of authority | X | OR | X |
Review of proposed department chair appointments and reappointments, including draft letters to the appointee from the dean or vice president | X |
UB Jobs - State Appointments | Hiring Manager/ Department Approver | Chair | Dean Or Director | Provost Or Vice President | University Human Resources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated. All delegations must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | |||||
All departments under the Office of the President, Vice President and Director of Athletics Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Vice President for Finance and Administration Vice President for University Life and Services | |||||
Classification and Recruitment Approvals | X | X | X | ||
Hiring Proposals ´ Faculty |
X |
X |
X | ||
Exception Approvals (must be approved by EDAAA) ´ Faculty ´ Professional |
X |
X |
X | ||
All departments under the Office of the Provost Except for the Vice President for Health Sciences Departments | |||||
Classification and Recruitment Approvals | X | X | X | X | |
Hiring Proposals ´ Faculty and Professional |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Exception Approvals (must be approved be EDAAA) ´ Faculty and Professional | X | X | X | X | X |
All departments under the Vice President for Health Sciences | |||||
Classification and Recruitment Approvals | X | X | X | X | |
Hiring Proposals ´ Faculty and Professional |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Exception Approvals (must be approved by EDAAA) ´ Faculty and Professional | X | X | X | X | X |
* These requirements apply to University employees paid on the UBF payroll. They do not apply to employees paid by UBF and working in the UBF Administrative Offices.
UB Jobs - Research Foundation Appointments | Principal Investigator | Chair | Dean or Director | Provost Or Vice President | Research Foundation OM | University Human Resiources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Approval Authority may be delegated. All delegations must be documented, kept current and maintained in the department. | ||||||
Classification and Recruitment Approvals | X | X or | X or | X | X | |
Hiring Proposals | X | X or | X or | X | X | |
Exception Approvals | X | X or | X or | X | X |
Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) | Principal Investigator | Director | Deputy Director | Provost Or Vice President | Research Foundation OM | University Human Resiources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UB JOBS State and RF Appointments | ||||||
Classification and Recruitment Approvals | X | X or | X | X | ||
Hiring Proposals | X | X or | X | X | X | |
Exception Approvals | X | X or | X | State X | RF X | X |
Other Transactions | RF Operations Manager | OR | Provost or Vice President (non-academic) | And /OR | President |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annual SUNY internal control certification | X | ||||
Annual RF salary plan | X | ||||
New and revised university policies | X | ||||
Service center and departmental fees | Provost for academic fees, Controller for non-academic fees | ||||
RF funded travel to any country identified by the US Department of State with a travel warning (requires advance written approval from the RF operations manager and president, with written notice to RF Central) | X | X |
Contracts and Service Agreements | Approval Authority |
---|---|
Contracts and Service Agreements must be signed by an authorized signatory No other signatures are legally acceptable. Unless otherwise noted, only one authorized signature is required. | |
All State purpose contracts |
|
All State leases, revocable permits, and academic agreements |
|
State and RF Procurement-related contracts for goods, services, and equipment |
|
State and RF Facilities construction and consultant contracts only |
|
State Athletics sponsorship and NCAA agreements only |
|
State and RF Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) contracts |
|
All Research Foundation contracts |
|
RF Facility Use Agreements |
|
RF Intellectual property-related contracts only |
|
Requisitions and Purchase Orders | Approval Authority |
---|---|
Requisitions and Service Agreements must be signed by an authorized signatory No other signatures are legally acceptable. Unless otherwise noted, only one authorized signature is required. | |
Initiate e-Requisitions |
|
Approve e-Requisitions |
|
Sign purchase orders |
|
Activity | Approval Authority |
---|---|
Unless otherwise noted, only one authorized signature is required. | |
UB Foundation Contracts |
|
RF bank accounts |
|
RIA bank accounts |
|
HIPAA Business Associate Contracts (must be reviewed by the Director of HIPAA Compliance prior to review and execution by the Approval Authority) |
|
Space Rehab Requests | All approvals are required in the order listed:
|
Space Request Form | All approvals are required in the order listed:
|
Associate Vice President and Controller
420 Crofts Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
Phone: 716-645-2505
Fax: 716-645-3701
Mark Coldren
Associate Vice President, Human Resources
120 Crofts Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
Phone: 716-645-7777
Email: mcoldren@buffalo.edu
February 2012 | Revised to clarify requirements for payments benefitting oneself and documentation of delegations, and the Approval Authority charts. |
February 2010 | Updated to clarify the Approval Authority charts, UB Jobs Approval Requirements, and Authorization To Sign Contracts Obligating University Resources. |
December 2009 | Updated to add additional sections to the Approval Authority chart. |
Satish K. Tripathi, President
3/2/12
Date