New, Simplified RFCUNY Procurement Policy Effective July 1, 2025

Published on: 10/14/2025

Published on: 06/11/2025

Please be advised that the Research Foundation of CUNY (RFCUNY) has heard suggestions to examine and revise policies that were too complex and restrictive. As a result, the Board of Directors of RFCUNY has approved a new, streamlined Procurement Policy (Policy No. 551) which applies to all projects administered via RFCUNY accounts.

The new policy modernizes the procurement process, ensuring competitive pricing and alignment with all requirements while supporting CUNY Project Directors and other stakeholders. The policy is effective July 1, 2025.

Key benefits of the policy include:

  • Simplified procurement thresholds: a single competitive procurement threshold will now apply to all funding sources, replacing the previous, four-tiered system.
  • Reduced administrative requirements: the micro-purchase threshold is raised to $50,000, allowing many transactions to proceed without competitive procurement.
  • Streamlined intake process: Rather than three separate systems, individual contractor services procurement transactions can be requested via either an Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) or Purchase Order Request. Note: Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) will be discontinued as of July 1, 2025 and only MOUs submitted by June 30, 2025 will be honored.
  • Consolidated guidance: this policy merges multiple disparate policies into one central document.


Next Steps:

We recommend reviewing the following documents and guidance:

If you have additional questions not answered in the guidance above, please don’t hesitate to email at:
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