COP 10-0101: Contract Signature Authority and Contract Submission Management

Purpose Statement

To ensure that all College agreements are submitted, reviewed, approved, and executed in a consistent, methodical, efficient, and thorough manner.

Guidelines

This policy sets out the procedures relating to all contracts executed for the benefit of the College. All College employees shall adhere to this procedure as it relates to all aspects of College contracts. Attempting to circumvent guidelines within this procedure may result in cancellation of an event or service. College Operating Procedure (COP) 05-0106: Employee Acceptance of State Laws, College Policies and Procedures states employees that violate the policies and procedures of the College may be subject to disciplinary action including termination.

Definitions:

Contract: A written agreement intended to be enforceable by law which outlines goods and services provided by or provided to the College.  Examples include contracts that require no expenditure by the College, contracts that require an expenditure by the College, Memorandums of Understanding, and Standard Purchase Orders. 

Procedure

1. Contract Submissions.  All College contracts must be reviewed and formally approved within the College's Contract Management System ("CMS").    
   1. All contracts are assigned a workflow within College’s CMS that must be compliant with College Operating Procedures and will otherwise reflect best practices for review of contracts. 
   2. Each employee submitting a contract into the CMS and the Vice President to whom that employee ultimately reports is responsible for veracity and business need for the contract submitted to the the CMS.  
   3. Contracts must be executed before goods or services are provided to the College. 
   4. The Office of the General Counsel will review contract submissions for legal sufficiency. It, in consultation with the College's Risk Manager, shall ensure appropriate insurance requirements are included in each contract executed by the College.  Deviations in insurance requirements from the College's standard practices may be waived by the Office of the General Counsel, in consultation with the Vice President, Business Affairs and Technology/CIO.  
   5. After a contact submission has fully completed the assigned workflow within the the CMS, the contract will be submitted to the appropriate College signatory(ies) for review and execution, as set forth in Section II.
2. Contract Execution. 
   1. All non-construction contracts require approval from the Vice President, Business Affairs and Technology/CIO, the President, and/or the Board of Trustees according the following delegated authority levels:
      1. Contracts valued up to $100,000.00 require the signature of the Vice President, Business Affairs and Technology/CIO or the President.
      2. Contracts valued between $100,000.01 and $325,000.00 require the Vice President / Chief Information Officer’s recommendation for the President’s signature and the President's execution.
   2. Contracts over $325,000.00 require the Vice President, Business Affairs and Technology/CIO and the President’s recommendations for the Board of Trustees’ signature and the Board of Trustee's execution.
   3. Contracts for construction contract services, architectural services, and engineering services contracts require approval from the Vice President, Facilities Management. These services are performed under continuing contracts in an amount not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) each.
   4. Unless specified in this Section II, no other College employees may execute contracts on behalf of the College.
3. Contract Template Creation and Contract Creation.  The Office of General Counsel drafts all College contracts and contract templates and makes necessary changes to update the templates.  The Office of the General Counsel shall review all standard contract templates no less than every three years.