Signature Policy

University Contract Signature Policy and Procedures

Signature Authority Delegation

Table: Signature authority is directly delegated for the following subject areas and positions per Section 2.1 of this policy.
Subject area	Delegated position(s)	Threshold
Contracts for purchase of goods and/or services, non-capital construction and design, professional services, software licenses, and technology services*	Vice President for Finance; Director of Procurement; Senior Management Area Administrators	Vice President for Finance: $6,000,000; Director of Procurement: $1,000,000; Senior Management Area Administrators: $10,000
Debt issuances*	Vice President for Finance	$3,000,000
Investment agreements	Vice President for Finance	$3,000,000
Tuition and fee payment contracts	University Bursar	No limit
Conveyance or acquisition of real property and/or real estate easements or deeds*	Vice President for Finance	$3,000,000
Real estate lease agreements, license, service, operating, use and access agreements*	Vice President for Finance	$3,000,000
Capital outlay contracts*	Vice President for Facilities; Vice President for Finance	Vice President for Facilities: $10,000,000 (sole); $10,000,000-$26,000,000 (joint). Vice President for Finance: $10,000,000-$26,000,000 (joint)
Public-private Education and Infrastructure Act (PPEA) interim and/or comprehensive agreements*	Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer	No limit
Non-financial agreements related to construction and renovation projects, other than capital outlay and procurement activities	Vice President for Facilities	No limit
University retirement programs	Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer	No limit
All tax shelter transactions, including annuity enrollments, rollovers, transfers, withdrawals, and terminations	Vice President for Human Resources	No limit
Legal agreements and services (e.g., outside counsel, expert witnesses, consultants)	University Legal Counsel	No limit
Trademark agreements	Vice President for Communications and Marketing	No limit
Travel and lodging contracts pertaining to intercollegiate sporting events	Executive Associate Director of Athletics and Chief Financial Officer	$200,000
Gameday Guarantees	Director of Athletics	No limit
Academic Agreements	Senior Management Area Administrators	Senior Management Area Administrators: $10,000
Confidentiality, non-disclosure, and/or material transfer agreements; contract and grant documents; and other contractual agreements related to sponsored programs (e.g., consulting and subcontract teaming, data use, licensing, software evaluation).	Executive Vice President and Provost; Senior Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer; Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation and Director of Sponsored Programs	No limit
Virginia Tech Intellectual Property (VTIP) assignments of intellectual property	Senior Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer	No limit
Contracts for extension services rendered to external parties	Director of Cooperative Extension	$50,000
Contracts for Outreach and International Affairs programs (e.g., Continuing Education courses, Economic Development contracts)	Vice President for Outreach and International Affairs	$300,000
Special arrangement contracts related to in-state tuition	Executive Vice President and Provost; Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar	No limit

Note: Items marked with an asterisk (*) are identified in Section 2.1.

Table: Delegates for Signature Authority
Name	Title/Department	Direct Delegator Name	Signature Authority	Based On	Date of Letter (if applicable)
David A. Baker	Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff Innovation Camp/Greater Washington D.C. Area	Lance R. Collins	Greater Washington D.C. Area and Executive Briefing Center (EBC) goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Jonathan Baros	Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff Innovation Camp/Greater Washington D.C. Area	Mario Ferruzzi	Agriculture and Life Sciences goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Sharon Barrett	Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration/Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine	Lee Learman	Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Dawn Camacho	Finance and Operations Manager/Human Resources	Bryan Garey	Human Resources goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Daniel Cockrum	Director Contract and Agreements/Sponsored Programs	Linda F. Duffy	Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), and Data Use Agreements (DUAs) on behalf of the university, provided such agreements are consistent with applicable university policies, sponsor requirements, export control regulations, research compliance obligations, and applicable federal and state laws. This delegation is limited to agreements that do not create financial obligations beyond approved institutional authority, do not involve indemnification or other prohibited legal terms requiring review by University Legal Counsel, and do not otherwise require higher institutional approval. The delegated authority must be exercised in accordance with all university procedures and may not be further delegated without prior written authorization.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	N/A
Sherri L. Cook	Deputy Director for Research Administration and Chief Financial Officer; Associate Vice President for Virginia Tech Health Sciences & Technology, Finance and Operations/Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC	Michael J. Friedlander	Health Sciences and Technology goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Lefter Daku	Associate Dean for Finance and Administration/Honors College	Rebecca Bott	Honors College goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Gwen Davis	Director of Finance/Graduate School	Aimee Surprenant	Graduate Education goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Cathy Duerbeck	Director of Finance/Library	Tyler Walters	University Library goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Martha Glass	Assistant Vice President for Administration/Student Affairs	Frances Keene	Student Affairs goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Keith Goyne	Associate Dean/College of Natural Resources and Environment	Saskia van de Gevel	College of Natural Resources and Environment goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Nancy Gruber	Assistant Vice President Resource Management and Planning/Outreach and International Affairs	Guru Ghosh	Outreach and International Affairs goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
April Hylton	Associate Dean for Personnel and Administration/Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine	M. Dan Givens	Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Kyle Johnson	Associate Vice President for IT Governance, Planning, and Strategy/Division of Information Technology	Sharon Pitt	Division of Information Technology goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Steve Kleiber	Chief of Staff and Associate Dean for Operations/Pamplin College of Business	Saonee Sarker	Business goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Lauren Magruder	Director of Pre-Award Sponsored Programs/Research and Innovation	Linda F. Duffy	The Director of Pre-Award Sponsored Programs, who is delegated authority to execute non-electronic proposal documents requiring an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) signature, including proposal cover letters. This authority also includes execution of subcontract modifications and internal Principal Investigator (PI) Status Approval Forms when the Assistant Vice President is unavailable. In addition, the Director of Pre-Award shall serve as a designated backup authorized official to ensure continuity of operations and timely execution of sponsored research transactions.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	N/A
Edward Nelson	Associate Dean, Administration and Chief of Staff/College of Engineering	David B. Knight	Engineering goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Justin Noble	Chief Audit Executive/Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance	Sharon Kurek	Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance contracts that do not go through the Procurement Department, contracts for goods and/or services valued up to $10,000 and are not placed against university contracts, orders for goods and/or services of any value entered in the HokieMart and placed against university contracts.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Rebecca Pauly	Vice Dean/Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine	Lee Learman	Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
David Raymond	Division of Information Technology/Associate Vice President for Security & Identity/Division of Information Technology	Sharon Pitt	Division of Information Technology goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Susanna Rinehart	Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs/College of Architecture, Arts, and Design	Lu Liu	College of Architecture, Arts, and Design goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Julie Rosenberger	Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration/College of Architecture, Arts, and Design	Lu Liu	College of Architecture, Arts, and Design goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Emma Ruby	Assistant Director IT/Procurement	Reed Nagel	Contracts for purchase of goods and/or services, non-capital construction and design, professional services, software licenses, and technology services.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Brandy Salmon	Vice President for Innovation and Partnerships/Research and Innovation	Dr. Daniel Sui	Execution of Intellectual Property Assignments on behalf of Virginia Tech, assigning to Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties (“VTIP”)	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Leisa Shelor	Senior Director of Benefits/Human Resources	Bryan Garey	Tax shelter transactions, including annuity enrollments, rollovers, transfers, withdrawals, and terminations	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Adam Smith	Associate Director of Capital Construction/Procurement	Reed Nagel	Contracts for purchase of goods and/or services, non-capital construction and design, professional services, software licenses, and technology services.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
John Spence	Associate Director for Goods and Services/Procurement	Reed Nagel	Contracts for purchase of goods and/or services, non-capital construction and design, professional services, software licenses, and technology services.	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Patrick Tomlin	Associate Dean, Academic & Creative Engagement/University Library	Tyler Walters	University Library goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Jennifer Vincent	Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration/College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences	Laura Belmonte	Liberal Arts and Human Sciences goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
Ruth Waalkes	Associate Provost for the Arts and Executive Director/ Center for the Arts	Reed Nagel	Artist contracts related to performances, exhibitions, and artist commissions for the Center for the Arts programs and public art installations. Contracts related to procurement of Center for the Arts facility maintenance projects and facility and theatrical production equipment and services	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026
William W. Walton	Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration/College of Science	Kevin T. Pitts	College of Science goods and services contracts	Signature Authority Delegation Letter	June 25, 2026

Signature Policy

Signature Authority Delegation

List of Signature Authority Delegates