Certain purchases require prior approval. Examples include food and clothing. To obtain prior approval, complete a spend authorization in Workday and choose Special Expense. If you are uncertain if your purchase requires prior approval, consult the Procurement Office. It is always better to complete the form if you are unsure whether or not you need prior approval.

Special Expense Procedures and Guidelines

General categories for which approval for special expenses are required:

  • Food purchases (Please refer to Special Expense Guidelines for Common Purchases)
  • Giveaways, door prizes, incentives
  • Clothing/uniforms
  • Excessive expenses (example: meals exceeding normal travel thresholds)

Special Expense Request Procedures

  • If in doubt as to whether or not you need pre-approval, please submit a Spend Authorization in Workday .
  • Please submitt at least one week in advanceof the event. Late submissions may be grounds for denying the request and must include an explanation of the late submission.
  • Items are not to be ordered until the Spend Authorization is approved. If items are ordered prior to approval, the person who did the ordering may be personally liable for the expense.

Approved Special Expenses

Special Expenses that would generally be approved:

  • Refreshments or meals that are part of a meeting with citizens; members of boards, commissions, task forces or workgroups; foreign, federal, state or local governmental officials and/or employees.
  • Meetings that are composed primarily of individuals who are not BSU/NTC employees (e.g. commencement meals, receptions for speakers or performers).
  • University or College meetings held annually or each semester during start-up.
  • System-wide training sessions, held on campus, with an external party conducting the training.
  • Refreshments for the Center for Professional Development meetings or other campus-wide organizations, when the meetings deal with important issues that have campus-wide significance. Generally, these meetings would need to be at least two hours long to meet the criteria in the MnSCU procedure for special expenses.
  • Departmental retreats or other non-routine meetings that generally are two hours long or longer, and deal with long-range planning or other substantive issues that will have departmental or campus-wide significance, funded through a departmental account.
  • Survey incentives for students.
  • One meal for up to four members of faculty or administrator search committees who are meeting with a candidate, at a reasonable cost, but in no case to exceed twice the standard reimbursement rate.

Unlikely Approvals

Special Expenses that likely would not be approved:

Requests for refreshments submitted after the event has taken place.

Disallowed Special Expenses

Special expenses that are specifically not allowed:

  • Refreshments or meals for routine staff meetings (e.g. weekly or monthly departmental meetings).
  • Employee parties (including holiday parties).
  • Requests for serving alcohol.

Note: These guidelines do not apply to funding requests from Foundation accounts. Those accounts follow Foundation rules and designations associated with the particular account, and some expenses not allowed by MnSCU policy may be acceptable expenses from some Foundation accounts.