§ 4-9.02 LEVEL II AUTHORITY

a. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 5 of Chapter 824 and 829 of the 2008 Acts of Assembly, institutions of higher education that have met the eligibility criteria for additional operational and administrative authority set forth in Chapters 824 and 829 of the 2008 Acts of Assembly shall be allowed to enter into separate negotiations for additional operational authority for a third and separate functional area listed in Chapter 824 and 829 of the 2008 Acts of Assembly, provided they have:

1. successfully completed at least three years of effectiveness and efficiencies operating under such additional authority granted by an original memorandum of understanding;

2. successfully renewed an additional memoranda of understanding for a five year term for each of the original two areas.

The institutions shall meet all criteria and follow policies for negotiating and establishing a memorandum of understanding with the Commonwealth of Virginia as provided in § 2.0 (Information Technology), § 3.0 (Procurement), and § 4.0 (Capital Outlay) of Chapter 824 and 829 of the 2008 Acts of Assembly.

b. As part of the memorandum of understanding, each institution shall be required to adopt at least one new education-related measure for the new area of operational authority. Each education-related measure and its respective target shall be developed in consultation with the Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Education, the appropriate Cabinet Secretary, and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Each education-related measure and its respective target must be approved by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The development and administration of education-related measures described in paragraph b. and in § 23.1-1003 A.3. are suspended through 2022-2024.

c. Subject to review of its Shared Services Center by the Department of General Services, and approval to proceed with decentralized procurement of authority by the Department of General Services, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is authorized, for a period of five years, to exercise additional financial and administrative authority as set out in each of the three functional areas of information technology, procurement and capital projects as set forth and subject to all the conditions in §§ 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 of the second enactment of Chapter 824 and 829 of the Acts of Assembly of 2008 except that (i) any effective dates contained in Chapter 824 and 829 of the Acts of Assembly of 2008 are superseded by the provisions of this item. The State Board for Community Colleges may request any subsequent delegation of procurement authority after consultation with and positive recommendation by the Department of General Services.

d. Notwithstanding the small purchase thresholds set forth in the Rules Governing Procurement for institutions of higher education that have operational authority in the area of procurement, the small purchases thresholds shall be the same thresholds set forth in the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2- 4300 et seq). Where small purchase thresholds in the Rules Governing Procurement for such institutions exceed those in 2.2-4300 et seq, the Rules Governing Procurement shall be the authorized procurement threshold.

e. Consistent with the 2019 updates to the Virginia Public Procurement Act, institutions of higher education that have operational authority in the area of procurement are permitted to conform their Request for Proposal advertising rules to that of § 2.2-4302.2.A.2.