Home / Purchasing / Justification Memo Oct 2004...

To comply with provisions in Tennessee Public Chapter 413, Public Acts of 2003, the "Justification for Non-Competitive Purchases and Contracts" form is used to document and approve non-competitive purchases of goods or services costing $2,000 or more.

Based upon the University's experience over the past year and input from various areas of the University, effective November 1, 2004, the following changes will be made to the justification form and approval process.

1. The justification form that has been in place for the last several months will be broken down into two forms, a simplified version for purchases under $50,000, and another form for purchases of $50,000 or more. Since there are additional reporting requirements for expenditures of $50,000 or more, that form contains additional fields to support those requirements.
2. Campus/Units will have final approval for non-competitive purchases up to $250,000. In addition to the approvals from the Department Head, Purchasing, and the Business Officer, the Campus/Entity Chancellor or Vice President or their designee must approve expenditures of $100,000 or more. The Vice President for Administration and Finance will continue to approve the justification form for expenditures of $250,000 and more.
3. Designees will be permitted to approve the form for all levels of approval.
4. An electronic copy is no longer required.
5. The justification form will not be required for memberships and subscriptions, income only contracts, and concerts (e.g. circus, rodeo, Disney on Ice, etc.). These are the only exceptions.

The new forms are attached to this document and can be found at the following addresses.

Under $50,000 (doc)
$50,000 or More (doc)

Please share this information with the individuals who process documents for your areas of responsibility.