KRS 164A.560 allows Public Institutions of Higher Education and their affiliated corporations to perform the functions of acquisition of funds, accounting, purchasing, and capital construction by regulation.

Procurement Services derives its authority to sign contracts on behalf of the University of Louisville from the Board of Trustees and from the Boards of the affiliated corporations, as regulated by KRS 164A.560.
 
No employees or officers of the University of Louisville, not named in the respective board resolutions, are authorized to make oral or written contracts or binding commitments in the name of the University, regardless of the source of funds.
 
Departments shall make requests of all goods and services through Procurement Services other than the small dollar transactions authorized under the University ProCard & Procurement process or transactions processed under Payment Request guidelines authorized by the Controller’s Office.

Procurement Services makes procurement decisions in conjunction with the using departments, as appropriate. The Department of Procurement Services is to serve as the exclusive channel through which all bids and request for proposals are handled. Under certain circumstances, the using departments, upon prior approval from the Department of Procurement Services, may correspond with suppliers. For example, in cases where technical details are necessary. In such cases, the Department of Procurement Services should be provided with copies of all such correspondence. Close communication and coordination between Procurement Services and the using departments must occur. For those purchases between $20,000 - $39,999 that require three (3) quotes per Procurement Policy 3.00, departments may directly contact suppliers to obtain the necessary quotes.