Policy and Procedure updates as of August 19, 2020

The following draft documents are now available for review and comment and are posted on the Policies and Procedures Drafts Site.  The documents will be posted on the drafts site for a period of 30 days.  Please discuss the documents with the appropriate people in your department and send any applicable feedback to controllers.office@yale.edu.

Related Documents:

• Policy 1104 University Signature Authority – Revised

These revisions come from the Controller’s Office, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel.  The policy update is intended to streamline and simplify the current Policy 1104 Signature Authority, Approval Authority and Access for Financial Transactions.  The scope of the updated policy now covers only Signature Authority for agreements and contracts binding the University.  The other pieces – approval authority and access – were removed and are being added to the upcoming revision to Policy 1101 Guiding Principles for Business and Financial Administration.  This will serve to amplify the unique nature of Signature Authority and better differentiate and emphasize the key aspects of business administration.

The policy, as revised, was restructured slightly and edited to enhance precision and clarity.  The overall concepts, however, remain the same.  In particular, the primary policy statement is substantively unchanged: “Only Yale officers or employees who have been given Signature Authority by the Yale Corporation By-Laws or a resolution of the Yale Corporation, or who have been delegated Signature Authority as prescribed in such By-Laws or resolutions, may execute and deliver agreements, contracts, and other legally binding documents on behalf of Yale.”

The policy does incorporate a new subject: electronic signatures.  Rather than having a standalone policy on electronic signatures, the revised policy now incorporates the substantive components of that policy (Policy 1613), which will ultimately be retired.  We are in the process of also transitioning the related procedure on obtaining and using electronic signatures.  That procedure, once finalized, will be incorporated into in this series (1104 PR.01).

Related Documents:

• Procedure 3401 PR.01 Supplier Setup and Change – New
• Procedure 3401 PR.02 Supplier Invoice Request – Revised
• Procedure 3401 PR.03 Disbursing Funds for Prizes, Awards, Stipends, and Fellowships – New
• Procedure 3401 PR.04 Submitting Invoices for Payment – Revised
• Procedure 3401 PR.07 Requesting Accounts Payable Check Voids – Revised
• Procedure 3401 PR.08 Recurring Payments – New

These updates come from the Procurement Department and Accounts Payable.  They reflect the culmination of a comprehensive review of Policy 3401 and its related procedures.

Three of the six procedures reflect updates to existing documents.  In those cases, the procedures were comprehensively reviewed and revised for clarity and conciseness.  In instances when content was duplicative of another document (i.e., the policy or another procedure), it was removed and replaced with an appropriate directional reference.  Overall, the scope, purpose, and foundational elements of the procedures have not changed.  Rather, the intent of the revisions was to create more streamlined documents that are chronological in nature in order to more accurately reflect the processes they describe.  In addition, the revisions seek to clarify and reinforce the various responsibilities in the processes (e.g., Requestor v. Approver v. AP’s role).  Ultimately, the intent is for these to be more functional documents that can be used by even the newest employee.

The other three procedures are brand new.  While the documents themselves are new, however, the documented processes are largely not.  Rather, the processes for establishing a new Supplier and making changes to an existing Supplier were repeatedly documented in other procedures (e.g., Procedure 3401 PR.02 Supplier Invoice Request).  As such, the Policy Sponsors thought it would be better practice to consolidate that information, ensure there is only a single source for it, and use it as the foundational document for Supplier setup and changes.  Similarly, the processes related to PandA requests and recurring payments are well known to departments who regularly use them.  As they are fairly widespread practices, the Policy Sponsors again thought the better practice would be to document them.  In all cases, the procedures seek to chronologically detail their associated processes.  They outline where responsibilities exist throughout the procedure.  The intent of the new documents is to distill important information into a usable format for the community.

Always check the Policies and Procedures website for the latest revisions of all documents.  This will ensure you that are utilizing the most up-to-date version.

If you have any questions, please contact Policy & Compliance Services at controllers.office@yale.edu.