Contract FAQs

We strive to maintain the most efficient operations while adhering to the requirements of university, state, and federal laws, rules, and procedures. It is our goal to serve our customers in the most timely, efficient, and professional means possible. We are located in Mitchell Hall on the 2nd Floor, East End. Our hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding University holidays. If you don't find answers to your questions below, feel free to contact us.

Who do I contact for questions regarding contracts?
Please refer to our Personnel Directory

Contract Intake eForm (Now Available in MyCWU)

• CWU Contract Intake eForm - Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
• CWU Contract Intake eForm - Frequently Asked Questions - External Grants/Contract Specific (PDF)
• Contract Intake eForm Instructions (PDF)
• Entering an Online Contract Intake eForm - Quick Guide (PDF)
• Adding Approvers into the Contract Intake eForm - Quick Guide (PDF)
• Approving the Contract Intake eForm - Quick Guide (PDF)
  

Who has signature authority to sign a contract?

Yearly the Board of Trustees approves a delegation of authority to certain individuals to contract with outside vendors.  The BOT Resolution details is located within CWUP 2-10-170.  This authority covers all documents that require an individual to sign and return to a vendor including agreeing to electronic terms and conditions on websites.  Individuals that are not on the BOT delegation of authority do not have authority to sign agreements and can be held personally liable for signing agreements without authority.

Is there a department that should review and approve contracts before they are sent to a vendor?

The Contracts Office should review all third party agreements before any signatures are applied to the agreement.  This assures the end-user that the University is agreeing to terms and conditions that the state of Washington approves for its agencies. CWUR 3-10-612 defines the university's contracting procedure.

https://www.cwu.edu/about/policies-procedures/procedures-manual/3-0-finance-administration/cwur-3-10-600.php#contracting

If I need to create a contract based on a University awarded grant, who do I work with?

If you have been awarded funding from an outside agency for research and need to create an agreement to receive the funding or to contract with a firm/agency to assist in completing the research, you should first contact the Research and Sponsored Programs office.  They will work with you on a scope of work, budget and timelines.  The scope of work should include at a minimum the following information:

1. Provide background on the project to ensure vendors understand what is needed
2. Break each major task down into smaller components or performance measurements
3. Define project schedule with realistic dates – beginning and ending dates
4. Will this service be needed on an on-going basis that might need renewal information included in the terms
5. Type of payment – do you expect to pay at end of service in lump sum or pay on an hourly basis monthly, are there progress reports or steps in the process that would allow for progress payments

Once this is defined, our office may be involved in creating the appropriate agreement.  Research and Sponsored Programs will work with us to finalize the grant funded agreement(s).

What is the typical contract processing time?

Review and approval as to form for most standard low-dollar value agreements should take 30 days once received in our office.  More complex contracts, such as software or other technology-based contracts, may take 3-6 months to ensure necessary data security and privacy reviews are completed.  Some services will require competition which will be based on dollar amount. This may add several days to several weeks to several months to the process depending on the complexity and dollar amount of the purchase.

How can I amend an existing agreement if some of the terms need to be changed

Depending upon the type of agreement and the dollar amount, there may be several steps involved in creating and signing an amendment to an existing agreement.  For non-competitively awarded agreements, a simple email to our office with the terms that need to be changed may suffice.  Items that would normally require an amendment would include: a change in scope of work, change in dollar amount of agreement, and substantial increase in amount of time necessary to the complete work.  We will prepare an amendment document for your review if an amendment is necessary.  Once the amendment is approved, we will send to the vendor for signature.

For contracts that have been competitively awarded, we may be limited by the original scope of work on what types of changes can be made.  Please contact Contracts & Procurement to discuss before notifying the vendor.

Should the contract be signed by CWU first or the vendor?

The normal practice is that if CWU creates the contract, the vendor should sign first and if the vendor creates the contract, CWU should sign first.

Is someone a contractor or an employee?

Unfortunately, there is not an easy answer to this question.  We are guided by the rules from the IRS.  There are a number of factors that need to be reviewed.  We work with Human Resources to aid departments in making these decisions. A checklist is available at http://www.cwu.edu/contracts/products-and-services. Look under Employee vs. Independent Contractor tab.

Do I need to get insurance from a vendor on a contract?

Insurance certificates are typically required for all vendors working on campus performing services such as maintenance, repair and certain high risk services regardless of dollar amount.  Contracts and/or Purchasing will work with the vendor on the type of insurance required.

Can I prepay for services on a contract? 

The state constitution precludes agencies from paying for personal services before they are performed.  We can make progress payments during the life of an agreement based on evidence that a certain amount of work has been completed.  This should be addressed during negotiations of the agreement before it is signed.  Maintenance agreements, which are purchased services, can be prepaid for up to a year in advance.  Some commodities can be prepaid that are not typically on agreements such as subscriptions and memberships.  The Purchasing Office can work with you on prepaying subscriptions and memberships.

What standard contract forms are available from BS&C?

• Standard Agreement for Purchased and Personal Services
• Loan of Equipment – short term and long term
• Art Loan Agreement
• Interagency Agreement
• Clinical Affiliation Agreement
• Cultural Exchange Agreement