Contracts
Pursuant to Policy#听3364-10-14 Contract Review and Approval Process听all听contracts must be reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs (or the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, if related to sponsored research) prior to execution.
What is a contract?
A contract is a legally binding agreement between the University and another party or parties in any manner for any dollar value (including zero dollars), describing the terms of the contract. The term 鈥渃ontract鈥� can be referred to by many different names, such as agreement, memorandum of understanding, memorandum of intent, statement of work, amendment, addendum, proposal, purchase order, notice of award and includes electronic/鈥漜lick-through鈥� contracts which are accepted online and not printed.听
How do I request legal review of a contract?
Departments must request review of a contract through the听听听.听听(Exception: Sponsored research agreements must be routed for review through the听Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.)听 To check the status of a pending request, click here:听
The听will route your contract to the correct first reviewer (usually a team member in the Office of Legal Affairs). In certain situations, the portal will route the contract for preliminary review before it is routed to the Office of Legal Affairs. Specifically:
- Requests to review contracts for the purchase of Goods or Services will be automatically routed (by the portal system) to Purchasing Services for initial review. Purchasing Services will then request legal review as appropriate. Note: Contracts for the purchases of goods and services must follow听3364-40-15 Procurement Policy.
- Requests to initiate Employment and Independent Contractor agreements must first be approved through听听Human Resources听before being submitted to the portal.听A contract with an independent contractor must follow the听Procedure for Contracting with Independent Contractors.
Who has the authority to sign a contract?
All employees must follow policy 3364-40-08 Delegation of Signature Authority for Documents that Bind the University.听 As stated in the policy, signing a binding agreement without the appropriate authority could result in personal liability and/or disciplinary action up to termination.