Requesting the Provost’s Signature

CU Boulder’s Signature Authority Policy defines who may sign operational agreements on behalf of the university. Only individuals listed in the Signature Authority & Delegation Matrix have this authority.

University employees who sign operational agreements without proper authority may be held personally liable for the agreement and/or subject to discipline.

The Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs holds signature authority for originating departments who are direct reports (Division of Academic Affairs) as detailed in the Signature Authority Matrix.

Additionally, the Provost may sign letters of recommendation or support if required by the organization, for example for a fellowship or grant.

The Provost’s Office requires that documents requiring the provost’s signature use the Provost’s Office Signature Routing Coversheet for document approval through DocuSign.

This workflow is designed to ensure that all required reviews have taken place before a document comes to the provost for final signature.

Required reviews are as follows:

  1. Originating Unit Department Head/Chair/Director
  2. Originating Unit Dean/Director/VC
  3. Appropriate Officer (for example for institutes Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dean of the Institutes for schools/colleges Dean)
  4. CU Boulder Legal Review (required for all third party operational agreements)
  5. Budget/Finance Approval (required for all non-research revenue and non-revenue business agreements, danielle.brunner@colorado.edu)
  6. Office of the Provost Review (vcaa@colorado.edu) 

If you have operational agreements or letters of recommendation or support that require provost signature the outlined process should be followed:

  1. Download and complete the document information and the name column of the initial and signature flow of the Provost’s Office Signature Routing Coversheet with relevant information.
  2. Load coversheet and the final draft of your document into DocuSign.
  3. Update email signature line in DocuSign using the following naming convention [Document Title][FINAL][YYYY-MM-DD]
  4. In DocuSign add all relevant parties for their initial. You may choose to add final signatures for parties who are also signatories to the agreement at the same time as adding their initials on the coversheet.
  5. The provost should be added as the final step for signature of the agreement. This step is separate from the Office of the Provost review and initial on the coversheet.
  6. Allow 3–5 business days for review and signature, assuming the document is complete.
  7. If revisions are needed, the Provost’s Office will contact the originating unit.

A pdf of these instructions is also available.