1.2.040 Delegation of Authority to the University President and Review and Approval of Contracts, Real Estate and Capital Projects

The Board of Governors is responsible for the governance, control, and management of the University of Central Missouri. The Board, however, recognizes that its resolutions and directives must be implemented through the University’s administration. Moreover, the Board understands that the University president must have the authority to carry out the day-to-day operations of the University in a manner that is consistent with the Board’s resolutions, direction, and vision. This Policy outlines certain responsibilities of the University president and delegates certain powers to the University president to operate the University. 

The University president is the chief executive of the University and the administrator of all decisions made by the Board concerning the operations of the University. The University president will assist the Board in the development of policy and will be responsible for the preparation of rules, procedures, guidelines and regulations necessary to carry out the Boards’ resolutions and directions. The University president will be responsible for the promulgation and application of all Board rules and regulations. The University president will take all actions necessary and appropriate to implement any formal action of the Board.

The University president is, among other things, responsible for:

A. preparing and presenting new courses of study consistent with the role and mission of the University to the Board for approval; 

B. coordinating with the chief academic officer about the effectiveness of educational programs and modifications to degree programs, and reporting regularly to the Board about any changes to educational programs;

C. directing the preparation of the University budget designed to support the educational programs of the University;

D. overseeing the maintenance of financial records of the University and making regular reports to the Board concerning the status of receipts, expenditures, debts, and investments;

E. consulting regularly with the President of the Board and the Executive Committee of the Board regarding all requirements for regular and special Board meetings;

F. reporting the actions and the vision of the Board to the University’s administration, faculty, staff, students, and the community at large; 

G. organizing the University for effective day-to-day operations and ensuring continuous, faculty, staff, and administrative participation in University affairs;

H. developing effective lines of communication for the University community, including the annual preparation of an organizational chart that will be the model through which effective communications may be described;

I. establishing a Strategic Leadership Team that, as a group, is representative of all campus constituencies to assist the University president in monitoring all aspects of day-to-day operations of the campus;

J. serving as the official University representative to various third parties and establishing the means to effectively communicate to third parties the services available from the University; 

K. providing the means for continuous evaluation of programs, personnel, and products; and

L. providing both internal and external leadership that focuses on:

1. the role of the University;
2. the need for planned change;
3. the need for collegial governance;
4. the importance of open, active intellectual dialogue and debate; and
5. setting annual goals that describe the strategic plan of the University, including modifications in the role and mission of the University and be used as the basis for resource (re)allocation.

To effectively accomplish the University president’s responsibilities, the Board expressly delegates to the University president the authority to:

A. approve all personnel appointments and terminations within the budget and policies of the University, except those for relatives of the University president within the fourth degree of consanguinity as described in the Board’s nepotism policy;

B. approve University procedures to ensure efficiency and accountability governing bids, contracts, agreements, and all commitments of University resources;

C. approve and execute contracts on behalf of the University for the purchase of goods and services that are less than $350,000 in University resources, regardless of the source of funding, over the life of the contract, as long as authority to execute the agreement is not expressly reserved for the Board and is otherwise permitted by law; 

D. authorize vice presidents at the University to approve and execute contracts on behalf of the University pursuant to the following restrictions: 

1. the contract must relate to the purchase of goods and services and must not exceed the authority delegated to the University president;
2. a single vice president can approve and execute contracts on behalf of the University for the purchase of goods and services that do not exceed $150,000 in University resources, regardless of the source of funding, over the life of the contract;
3. in the absence of the University president, two vice presidents can collectively approve and execute contracts on behalf of the University for the purchase of goods and services that are less than $350,000 in University resources, regardless of the source of funding, over the life of the contract; and 
4. a vice president may not delegate his/her authority to contract to another individual. 

E. approve the following changes to educational programs:

1. deletion of a program; 
2. moving an active program to inactive status; 
3. the addition or deletion of courses to an existing program that does not require additional resources; 
4. changes to course titles; 
5. changes to course numbers; 
6. changes to course descriptions; and 
7. changes to course pre-requisites. 

F. approve and execute grants of leasehold interests in University real property that do not exceed one calendar year;

G. approve the contents of and changes to the Academic Policies and Procedures, Staff Handbook, Student Guide to Good Decision Making, and other University catalogs and publications, consistent with policies established by the Board; and

H. delegate responsibility to various campus administrators consistent with the annual organizational chart and to monitor the implications and decisions made at all administrative levels. 

Consistent with this Policy, the Board has expressly not delegated authority related to the following functions:

A. the addition of new educational programs; 

B. significant changes to existing educational programs, which includes, but is not limited to, any change that is not specifically enumerated in Section III; 

C. how the University delivers or prices educational programs; 

D. authority to purchase, regardless of the source of funding, or sell real property; 

E. authority to lease real property for use by the University if the lease term exceeds one year or annual costs for use of the real property are $350,000 or more, regardless of the source of funding;

F. authority to approve the demolition or construction of University buildings, regardless of the source of funding; 

G. authority to approve capital projects, major renovations, or significant alterations that were not included in the fiscal year budget approved by the Board;

H. authority to approve and execute contracts for the purchase of goods and services that exceed the powers delegated in Section III, whereas such contracts that are $350,000 or more but less than $500,000 may be approved by the Board Committee on Finance & Administration, and all such contracts of $500,000 or more must be approved by the Board as a whole; and

I. any other authority expressly reserved for the Board or otherwise expressly required by law.