CHAPTER 256
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 51, TITLE 14, DELAWARE CODE, BEING THE CHARTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, BY CLARIFYING AND REDEFINING CERTAIN POWERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY WHICH PERTAIN TO FISCAL MATTERS AND BY INCLUDING IN THE SAID CHARTER AN EXPRESS LIMITATION UPON THE POWERS OF ANY STATE OFFICIAL TO INQUIRE INTO THE SOURCES, MANAGEMENT OR DISPOSITION OF ANY FUNDS OR PROPERTY COMING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE OTHERWISE THAN BY STATE APPROPRIATION.
WHEREAS, the Trustees of the University of Delaware deem it desirable to preserve those characteristics of the University which have heretofore made the institution respected and well regarded among its peers and therefore attractive to persons of means as an object of their generosity, thus strengthening and enriching the University's program beyond any degree which would otherwise be practicable; and
WHEREAS, with the aforesaid aim in mind, the Board of Trustees of the said University has, by formal resolution, petitioned the General Assembly to enact the following provisions;
NOW THEREFORE,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware (two-thirds of all Members elected thereto concurring therein):
Section 1. § 5106, Title 14, Delaware Code, is amended by adding to the said section as it is presently worded the following:
Notwithstanding any provisions appearing elsewhere in the laws of this State which might suggest or provide the contrary, the entire control and management of the affairs of the University, which is conferred upon the University's Board of Trustees by the foregoing paragraph, shall be construed, in the area of fiscal and revenue matters, as including, but not as being limited to, the following powers and duties: all authority with respect to salaries and compensatory payments or benefits, as well as other terms of employment, of any and all University personnel, and individual salaries or salary increases or other benefits do not have to be reported or justified to any official or agency of the State (except to comply with applicable laws and regulations providing for preference in employment of laborers, workmen and mechanics who reside in the State of Delaware and the applicable minimum wage requirements for public construction projects, and to cooperate in the ordinary way with the appropriate officials with respect to income tax and other tax matters); the management of all of the remaining fiscal affairs of the University, including the establishment of fees and charges, the collection thereof and the adoption of the University's budget, the establishment of all accounting and auditing procedures, (subject to the duty to obtain independent certified audits as provided in Section 5109), the authorization, issuance and repayment of bonds or other obligations of the University; the selection of means and procedures for the deposit, investment, and control of all monies, funds, and securities which are now held or which may at any time be received by the University, as well as the allocation, use, and reinvestment of the proceeds and earnings of any such deposits and investments and the right to commingle funds appropriated by the State with other funds of the University; the right to elect whether and to what extent to participate in programs of which all or a part of the costs are provided by the United States of America or by the State of Delaware or any subdivision or municipality thereof; control of all matters having to do with the formulation of the terms of contracts for the construction of buildings or other University facilities, as well as the manner of awarding contracts or purchasing supplies and equipment; in respect to the purchase of supplies and equipment, regulations established by the State for bulk or central purchasing are not to apply to the University of Delaware unless the General Assembly expressly so provides, and in that case are to be understood as applying only to transactions involving the expenditures of monies which have been appropriated from the General Fund of the State; the planning for buildings and improvements and the extension or diminution of the campus or other land holdings are matters wholly under the control of the Trustees except where inspections or regulations may be provided for by law in respects involving the health or safety of the occupants of the buildings; where monies are appropriated by the General Assembly to the University, unless the General Assembly should expressly provide otherwise, they are intended to be paid to the University in equal monthly installments, and are not in any event to be cumbered by any procedures calling for pre-audit or other administrative control exercised by the Budget Director or other agency or official of the State.
Section 2. § 5109, Title 14, Delaware Code, is amended by striking out the language presently appearing in § 5109 and by substituting a new section as follows:
§ 5109. The accounting records of the University may be audited by the Auditor of Accounts of the State of Delaware or such other auditing official as the General Assembly may from time to time appoint. Neither this nor any other law of this State, however, shall hereafter be construed as imposing any duty upon, or creating the occasion for, any State official (with the exception of such State officials as may from time to time also be Trustees of the University) to audit, question or inquire into the receipt, handling or expenditure of any funds coming to the University from any source other than a State appropriation, provided, however, that if the University should hereafter commingle funds which came from a State appropriation with other funds, the audit of State appropriated funds may be made complete even if in the process of doing so, because of such commingling, non-state funds have to be audited as well.
The University shall continue the practice, which has heretofore been followed on a voluntary basis, of obtaining an annual certified audit of all its financial transactions and making the audit report available to the members of the University's Board of Trustees, including the Governor of the State.
Approved April 22, 1964.