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Contracts

All agreements and contracts affecting the College must be approved and executed by the President or the President's designee.This is in accordance with TBR Policy Approvals of Agreements and Contract: 4.02.01.00.  Whether a document is called an agreement, contract, memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, terms and conditions, purchase order or other similar name, it is subject to the requirements of this policy. 

A complete list of contract policies and guidelines that must be followed is below:
Approvals of Agreements and Contract: 4:02:01.00
Contracts: 4.02.02.00
Contracts Guideline: G-030
Delegation of Authority/Signature Authorization

In order to comply with contract policies, the following process must be followed when routing contracts or agreements for signature:

  1. All contracts must be secured in accordance with the proper purchasing method based on the dollar value of the contract as outlined on the Purchasing Methods website. This applies to both revenue and expenditure contracts.  A Justification For Non-Competitive Purchases and/or Contracts form is required if a non-competitive purchase is requested, and must be attached to the contract documents. Consult with Purchasing Director if necessary to confirm the justification is valid.
  2. All contracts must be reviewed for acceptable substance by the requesting department. For expenditure contracts, it is imperative that ample budget is available to fund the entire contract cost.
  3. It is advisable to consult with the Purchasing Director prior to routing an agreement with non-standard terms and conditions.  Non-standard terms and conditions require a detailed review and often revisions are needed to ensure compliance with TN law regarding acceptable terms and conditions. This process can take a considerable length of time. 
  4. The initiating department will route all final contract documents and supporting required forms, if any, for approvals via DocuSign.
    1. DocuSign login address:  https://account.docusign.com/#/username
    2. Southwest email address is the username
    3. Use company login option
    4. Enter Southwest credentials and DocuSign will load
    5. Select “Start” and “Send an Envelope”
    6. Populate requested information, including upload of required documents
    7. Contract Approval Form stipulates required approvals (addressed in 5 below)
    8. Very important:  After all required approvers have been entered sequentially, select the box titled “Add Recipient”, then click the drop down box “Needs to Sign” and instead select “Receives a Copy”.  Purchasing Department should be added with these parameters at the email address Purchasing@Southwest.tn.edu
  5. A Contract Approval Form must be included with the contract routing.  All applicable signatures must be obtained in sequence prior to Presidential approval.
    1. Initiating department head
    2. Other department approval or dean, if applicable
    3. Divisional vice president or division head of requesting department
    4. Grants review, if agreement is a grant
    5. AVP, Administrative Services, if the agreement includes technology hardware or software services
    6. Purchasing Director
    7. Chief Financial Officer
    8. President
      1. Contracts less than $50,000 delegated to CFO for signature approval on behalf of President
      2. Clinical Affiliation Agreements delegated to VP Academic Affairs for signature approval on behalf of President
      3. All contracts over $50,000 should still follow standard routing procedure for President’s signature.
      4. example of of how to create delegated signature flag assignment
  6. The requesting department will be notified via an email from DocuSign when the contract has been fully executed. A copy of the executed contract is attached to the email.  The executed contract may also be obtained from Purchasing.
    1. You can check your "sending and receiving" notifications in your DocuSign Profile to ensure you and others receive copies of routed documents
    2. To ensure Purchasing has a copy of the contract on file, make sure Step 4.h. has been implemented in routing process.

In addition to routing the contract for signature via DocuSign, a requisition must be entered into Saluqi Buy/SciQuest/Jaggaer.  If the contract will require multiple payments, a manual Purchase Requisition should be emailed to Purchasing@southwest.tn.edu. This results in the issuance of a Purchase Order upon execution of the contract. 

If the vendor is new to Southwest, a New Vendor Packet is required.

Reference the Purchasing website for specific information regarding purchasing and for links to the relevant forms. 

For more information, email Purchasing@southwest.tn.edu.

 

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