Introduction to Service Contracts



External contracts with individuals (not employees, graduate assistants, student workers, students) or business entities (not businesses of employees) qualified by definition for personal services, professional services, consulting services under $75,000, or social services under $250,000 annually, may be obtained without competitive bidding and the price negotiated with a responsible contractor.
See Legal & Ethic Concerns & Statutes Concerning Contracts.

 

Consulting services of $75,000 or greater, and social services of $250,000 or greater annually, may require solicitation of a Request for Proposal to determine the contractor (contact the Director of Purchasing for more details on Request for Proposal process that may require up to (6) months).

 

Immediate familymembers (defined below)and their businesses may be contracted, but not by, or services provided for, the faculty/staff employee's department (agency). In such instances, the faculty/staff employee is prohibited from participation in any manner associated with the service contract.
See Legal & Ethic Concerns.

 

* "Immediate family" as the term relates to a public servant means
his children, the spouses of his children, his brothers and their spouses,
his sisters and their spouses, his parents, his spouse, and the parents of his spouse.

 

Former employees (including Graduate Assistants and Student Workers) during the two year period following the termination of service of the employee, may not assist another for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction involving the University in which the former public employee participated while employed by the University nor may the former employee provide on a contractual basis to the former employee's department (agency), any service he or she provided while employed there.
See Legal & Ethic Concerns.

 

PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT DATE ON CONTRACTS EXCEEDING $2,000, the contract should be processed and approved through the Purchasing Department. For contracts in excess of $50,000, review and approval must be made by the Office of State Procurement. In some instances, other external agency approvals may be required to be secured.

 

The contract must be on the prescribed contract form (except for legal services* and cooperative endeavors*) and signed by the contractor prior to submission to the Purchasing Department. The department will submit the contract form with a completed purchase requisition to the Purchasing Department for requesting the President's signature for contracts over $20,000 or Provost/Vice President's signature for contracts over $2,000 and up to $20,000. Under no circumstances should a faculty or staff employee sign an agreement with any contractor on the contractor's contract form.

 

**Contracts for professional legal services and cooperative endeavors have their own approved contract form. See Service Contract Forms directory.