The authority to purchase on behalf of the University is delegated to the Director of Business Services (materials, goods and services) and the Campus Librarian (library collections) by the Chancellor. 

In general, Campus Buyers (including those located centrally in Procurement Services and those based in certain campus departments) issue all purchase orders valued at $5,000.00 and above, under the authority delegated to them by the Director of Business Services.

Campus departments are delegated the authority to issue purchase orders at values under this threshold (up to $4,999.99) - see the LVPA page in this section (link at left) for more information.

For some exceptions to this general rule, see the Restricted items and Special Handling pages under this section (links at left). There are also  supplier agreements which in most cases allow campus departments the authority to issue purchase orders whose value exceeds this general threshold.  For more information on these agreements, access  the Supplier Agreements button on the right, and the Strategic Sourcing pages under the Procurement Services section (at left).  Some of these commodities are also explored in the Buying Goods and Buying Services pages in that section.  

Always contact your Campus Buyer if you are unsure of your purchasing authority in a transaction. See below to find the Campus Buyer assigned to your department.