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1. Purpose. As part of its fiduciary responsibility, the board of trustees has responsibility and authority over all procurement activity at Kent state university.  The purpose of this policy is to establish approval authority for agreements to purchase goods and/or services excluding capital construction projects, which are provided for in rule 3342-7-04 of the Administrative Code. This policy also provides guidance regarding reports of purchasing activity to be provided to the board of trustees.
2. Definitions.
   1. Agreement to purchase goods and/or services. Agreement to purchase goods and/or services shall mean, for the purposes of this policy, a binding agreement to acquire goods and/or services from a specific vendor under specified terms and at a set price.
   2. Vendor. Vendor shall mean, for the purposes of this policy, an organization or individual intending to provide goods and/or services to the university in exchange for a fee.
3. Scope. This policy applies to anyone engaging in university purchasing activity excluding capital construction projects.
4. Procedure for approving agreements to purchase goods and/or services.
   1. Agreements to purchase goods in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars or services in excess of fifty thousand dollars require a formal bidding process that is coordinated through the procurement department.  Details including exceptions to this requirement are provided in rule 3342-7-12.1 of the Administrative Code.
   2. A single agreement to purchase goods in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars or services in excess of fifty thousand dollars either of which has an estimated total cost of less than one hundred thousand dollars shall be approved by the director of procurement prior to awarding a contract or other commitment to purchase.  This represents the minimal approval required and management is not precluded from adopting more stringent approval requirements at the divisional level.
   3. A single agreement to purchase goods and/or services with an estimated total cost of one hundred thousand dollars or more shall be approved by the vice president of the division making the purchase and the senior vice president for finance and administration prior to awarding a contract or other commitment to purchase.  The authority under this section is non-delegable.
   4. Any single agreement to purchase goods and/or services with an estimated total cost of one million dollars or more including the initial term and any optional renewals shall be approved by the board of trustees prior to awarding a contract or other commitment to purchase.
      1. The board of trustees meets periodically and any purchase under this paragraph must be presented to the board of trustees at a regularly scheduled meeting.
      2. Only when it is determined by the president that time is of the essence, a proposed agreement to purchase goods and/or services with a total cost of one million dollars or more may be jointly approved by the president, the chairperson of the finance and administration committee of the board of trustees, and the chairperson of the board of trustees.  Any agreement to purchase goods and/or services that is approved in this manner shall be presented and discussed with the full board of trustees at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
5. Procedure for reporting purchasing activity to the board of trustees.
   1. The director of procurement shall provide to the senior vice president for finance and administration, the president, and the board of trustees for each regularly scheduled meeting of the board of trustees a report of all vendors for whom year-to-date purchases in aggregate have reached or exceeded five hundred thousand dollars.  This report shall be a component of the regular financial report package provided to the board of trustees.
   2. The director of procurement shall provide to the senior vice president for finance and administration, the president, and the board of trustees at least annually a report of purchases with minority vendors, as defined by the state of Ohio, in keeping with state procurement guidelines regarding procurement levels with minority vendors.
6. Policy implementation.

The implementation of this policy shall be the responsibility of the university administration.  The office of the senior vice president for finance and administration shall establish such administrative policies and procedures as are necessary for the systematic and orderly implementation of this policy.