ADMIN 150 – Authorized Signature

This policy provides for oversight and responsible stewardship of the resources of College of Western Idaho (CWI).

This policy applies to all contracts and other written or electronic documents that obligate the College financially, legally, or in its operations with an outside party.

Emergency absence: Emergency absence refers to a sudden or prolonged unplanned circumstance where the president or a senior leader is unable, or it is reasonably anticipated they will be unable to execute their authority to sign agreements, and where the individual is also unable to delegate their authority to an authorized delegate. 

Administrative unit: Any department, office, division, or other administrative component of the College.

Signature authority: The legal right to execute contracts and other written instruments in the name of and on behalf of the College and to bind the College to an obligation or promise.

Approval authority: The authority provided by internal CWI practice and policy for authorized CWI employees to issue payment through purchase orders (PO) for invoices for goods or services received by CWI, where a signature is not required to purchase the goods or services.

Delegator: An individual with authority to delegate signature authority to another individual.

Delegatee: An individual that receives the authority to sign agreements from a delegator.

Policy

This policy controls the authorization and delegation of signatory authority in regard to institutional agreements executed between the College and outside parties and other transactions involving the purchase or exchange of goods and services from another entity. It defines which employees of the College are authorized to legally bind the College or obligate resources of the College. It further provides authority to designate temporary signature authority to facilitate efficiency and productivity in college administration through the delegation of signature authority to other CWI employees.

The CWI Board of Trustees (Board), pursuant to Idaho statute, has the authority to adopt policies and regulations for its own government and the government of the College. See IC 33-2107(1). This authority includes the ability of the Board to delegate signature authority for various contracts and agreements to CWI employees, where the approval of the Board is not required.

For audit purposes, agreements entered into or made prior to the latest revision of this policy are subject to that version of this policy in effect at the time the agreement was initiated. Agreements entered into after the latest revision date of this policy are subject to this policy as amended.

No CWI trustee, employee, faculty, or staff may sign a contract without the express written authorization as designated in this policy, or pursuant to a sub-delegation of authority under this policy. Any individual who signs on behalf of the College without proper signature authority may be personally liable for the terms and conditions contained therein and will be potentially subject to institutional policies regarding employee misconduct.

The College shall not be bound to any contract, legal document, or other obligation made by any individual acting outside the express authority stated by this policy notwithstanding any representations or misrepresentations that may be made about the individual’s apparent authority.

This policy does not apply to signatures or approvals required for internal college transactions and processes including time reports and space reservations.

A. CONTRACTS REQUIRING BOARD APPROVAL

The Board has approval authority through its governance policies for a variety of contract categories. The Board’s governance policies supersede any provisions contained herein and should be consulted to ensure a full understanding of approval authority. See CWI Governance Policies Section IV. 

B. SIGNATURE AUTHORITY

All signature authority not specifically retained by the Board belongs to the president of the College. The president retains sole signature authority for contracts that require a presidential signature pursuant to the terms of the contract, and for contracts with a total value of $75,000 or more. In regard to an emergency absence of the president, the vice-president of finance and administration, and the provost will automatically have signature authority for contracts with a total value of $75,000 or more.  

The president has delegated signature authority per the table below. The president may provide for additional delegations through a signed delegation of authority provided to the contract manager.

C. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY WITHIN CWI

For the purposes of this policy, a senior leader is defined as any member of the President’s Cabinet who reports directly to the president.

The president delegates signature authority as follows:

Sub-Delegation

A senior leader is permitted to sub-delegate signature authority for contracts, agreements, and MOUs with a total value under $75,000 to another senior leader, or an employee that reports directly to a senior leader (sub-delegatee). [JF9.1] In addition, the vice president of finance and administration, chief financial officer, is permitted to sub-delegate signature authority to any management position in the Business Office. 

A sub-delegation of signature authority must: (1) be in electronic form (email acceptable), (2) specify the nature of the sub-delegation by contract type, amount, and time period, and (3) be submitted to the Contracts Group prior to the execution of any pertinent contract, and (4) must be renewed annually. When a sub-delegation does occur, the delegator also retains their signature authority. However, all documents may be routed to the sub-delegatee for signature.

A sub-delegation is revoked upon the occurrence of any of the following: (1) the delegator revokes the sub-delegation at any time in an electronic document submitted to the Contracts Group, (2) at the end of the designated sub-delegation time period, or (3) if the delegator or sub-delegatee is no longer employed at the College.

Questions about delegation and sub-delegation can be directed to the Contracts Group.

Every individual with signatory authority, whether through state statute, delegation, or sub-delegation is solely responsible for ensuring the following:

1. The individual has read and understands the nature of the contract.
2. The contract complies with all applicable college policies and procedures.
3. The contract is consistent with sound business and legal practices and the CWI Office of General Counsel has been consulted where needed to verify sound legal practices.
4. Appropriate consultation has taken place with any other units within the College that will be impacted by the document.
5. The individual has no conflict of interest in regard to the contract that prohibits its execution.
6. There is budget available within the signer’s budget authority to meet any obligations contained in the contract.
7. Only an individual with appropriate signature authority is the individual executing the contract.

E. GRANT AWARDS & sponsored projects

Authorized CWI employees in the Grants Group are permitted to sign agreements as required under federal and state grant awards pursuant to federal or state regulations.