Procedure for the Approval of Contractual Commitments – May 25, 2020

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PROCEDURE FOR THE APPROVAL OF

CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS

Procedure

Type:

Management

Initially

Approved:

May 25,

2020

Procedure

Sponsor:

General Counsel

& University

Secretariat

Last Revised: May 25,

2020

Administrative

Responsibility:

Associate

General Counsel

Review

Scheduled:

October

2025

Approver:

Executive Leadership Team

PROCEDURES

APPROVAL OF CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS

1.1

All Contractual Commitments made on behalf of the University must be made in

writing. Oral agreements are not permitted and will not be honored or recognized by

the University.

1.2

If an Employee is uncertain whether they have contractual signing authority over

certain Contractual Commitments, they will seek the advice of their supervisor prior

to Approval of the Contractual Commitments.

1.3

The Approval of any amendments to Contractual Commitments must be Approved

by the Authority who first Approved the Contractual Commitments or that Authority’s

supervisor. Where the amended Contractual Commitments exceed the original

Authority’s contractual signing authority, the amendment must be Approved by a

supervisor of the Authority who has contractual signing authority.

MULTIPLE SIGNATORIES

2.1

Where two or more Employees have contractual signing authority over Contractual

Commitments and only one signatory is required, the Employee whose Department

has the stronger connection to the Contractual Commitments will normally sign on

behalf of the University.

2.2

Where a third party to a Contractual Commitment requires more signatories on

behalf of the University than is required under this Policy, the additional signatories

must independently have contractual signing authority over the Contractual

Commitments and will be:

a. accountable for a Department who is connected to the Contractual

Commitments;

b. the supervisor of the Authority; or

c. where the Authority is a Vice-President or the President, another Vice-President

or the President.

Procedure for the Approval of Contractual Commitments – May 25, 2020

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2.3

Where multiple signatures are required for any Contractual Commitment, unique

Authorities must sign the Contractual Commitments, even if one Authority may have

contractual signing authority under multiple roles.

DEFINITIONS

(1)

Approve /

Approval:

refers to the act of the University entering into Contractual

Commitments in accordance with this Policy. Contractual

Commitments may receive approval in many ways, such as

by an Authority signing or executing a contract, submitting

a binding proposal, accepting or issuing a purchase order

or quotation, agreeing to terms of use, or accepting online

terms and conditions

(2)

Authority:

means the Board of Governors or an Employee who has

contractual signing authority over Contractual

Commitments on behalf of the University in accordance with

the Policy and Procedure

(3)

Board of

Governors:

means the Board of Governors of Mount Royal University

(4)

Contractual

Commitments:

means the binding legal commitments that are established

between the University and one or more third parties

through a contract. For clarity, Contractual Commitments

exclude any legal commitments that may arise through the

establishment of a trust or endowment

(5)

Contractual Risks:

means the risks that arise as a result of the University

entering into Contractual Commitments and includes, but is

not limited to, the inherent risks of the activities that will be

undertaken as a result of the Contractual Commitments, the

risks which arise from the contractual relationship itself and

the risks which may arise if the Contractual Commitments

are breached by either party

(6)

Department:

means a faculty within the Academic Division or a

department outside of the Academic Division

(7)

Division:

means a division of the University that is led by a Vice-

President or the President

(8)

Employees:

means individuals who are engaged to work for the

University under an employment contract, including but not

limited to faculty, staff, exempt, casual and management

employees

(9)

Financial

Commitments:

means the total value of all payments, taxes or any other

fees paid by one party to another as a result of Contractual

Commitments. For clarity, this includes the value of all

payments made over the full term of the Contractual

Commitments, but excludes non-mandatory renewals or

optional extensions. For Contractual Commitments of

indefinite duration, the value is calculated as the greater of

either (i) the sum of the estimated payments that will be

Procedure for the Approval of Contractual Commitments – May 25, 2020

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made over the first five years of the contract or (ii) the cost

of terminating the contract on a without cause basis. For

clarity, all Financial Commitments are stated in Canadian

Dollars

(10)

Policy:

means the Contractual Signing Authority Policy

(11)

Procedure:

means this Procedure for the Approval of Contractual

Commitments of the Policy

(12)

PSLA:

means the Post-secondary Learning Act of Alberta, as

amended

(13)

Senior Leaders:

means either (i) any Employee who both reports to a Vice-

President or President and leads a Department and (ii) any

other person designated as a Senior Leader by the

Executive Leadership Team

(14)

University:

means the legal entity continued under the PSLA as “The

Board of Governors of Mount Royal University” and which

operates under the name “Mount Royal University”

RELATED POLICIES

•

Code of Conduct Policy – Board

•

Code of Conduct Policy – Employees

RELATED LEGISLATION

•

Post-secondary Learning Act of Alberta

RELATED DOCUMENTS

•

Contractual Signing Authority Policy

•

Procedure for the Evaluation of Contractual Commitments

•

Procedure for the Sub-Delegation of Contractual Signing Authority

•

Schedule 1 – General Authorities

•

Schedule 2 – Specific Authorities

•

Schedule 3 – Controls

REVISION HISTORY

Date

(mm/dd/yyyy)

Description of

Change

Sections

Person who

Entered Revision

(Position Title)

Person who

Authorized Revision

(Position Title)

04/20/2023

Editorial

Definitions

Policy Advisor

General Counsel and

University Secretary