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The University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents decided to steer clear of multimillion-dollar purchases by the university and instead chose to give UNM administrators the power to make such decisions.
On Tuesday, during a regular meeting, the regents voted to amend a policy to repeal a provision requiring the board of directors to approve purchases of goods and services worth more than $ 1 million.
Going forward, the university’s chief procurement officer will approve spending between $ 1 million and $ 5 million and the UNM president will sign more expensive contracts.
The university president must tell the president of the regents that the school will buy something worth more than $ 5 million. And such expenses must be reported to the full board at the next ordinary meeting. But the regents have no say in approving the indictment.
The UNM regents have taken several steps in recent years to transfer power over administrative matters at the university to the school president, unlike the regents, who are honorary board members appointed by the governor. For example, last year the regents gave the university president power to sign legal settlements worth less than $ 1 million and to hire and fire the health sciences center executive without their consent.
Teresa Costantinidis, UNM vice president of finance and administration, said purchasing policy had been changed because the university missed out on bargains while waiting for the regent’s approval. She said the university is forced to enter into multi-year contracts for software or other programs because officials cannot obtain regent permits before an advertising window is closed.
“Current practice in the directive has resulted in procurement delays that actually increased costs for the university,” she said.
The policy change only affects the purchase of goods and services. It does not relate to capital projects or legal settlements. Last year, the regents voted to authorize UNM President Garnett Stokes to sign settlements for $ 1 million. The upper limit had been set at $ 400,000.
Regent Jack Fortner said he was a little uncomfortable with the proposal, although he ultimately supported the change.
“Part of our job as the regent’s board is to do some kind of tax oversight,” he said.
Fortner pushed for a change requiring the UNM president to at least notify the regent president before making a purchase of more than $ 5 million that was not originally included in the proposed changes.
UNM has made about 50 purchases in the past five years that would have been affected by the policy change. Most of the purchases are in the UNM Health Sciences Center. Subscriptions to software programs, magazines for the HSC and main campus libraries, and an MRI scanner were some of these purchases.
The regents voted 6-0 for the change, with Regent Kim Sanchez Rael abstaining.
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