Contract Review and Approval Process

• Check the panel on the right side of this page. If your contract falls into one of these categories, you must utilize the routing process identified.
• Read the entire agreement. You are in the best position to evaluate if the agreement appropriately details your understanding of the obligations. Be certain you understand and agree to the conditions and responsibilities. If there are terms to which you cannot agree, you will need to negotiate those items with the other party prior to submitting the agreement for review. Be certain you have secured the funds necessary to satisfy the financial obligations of the agreement.
• Fill in all blanks prior to submitting the agreement for review (with the exception of signatures or dates of execution). The agreement you submit must be complete and include all information.
• Confirm that the "Notice" provision is complete. Most agreements contain a "Notice" provision. This clause details the contact name and address of the parties to the agreement for notifications required by the contract (i.e. breach, termination, renewal). The person receiving the notice for ISU should be the same as the person authorized to sign the agreement. Please be sure the “Notice” clause includes the following: With copy to: Office of the General Counsel, 200 North 7th Street, Parsons Hall, Terre Haute, IN 47809.
• Route the agreement through the appropriate channels within your College or Department. The Dean or Vice President of your department must approve the agreement prior to submission to the Office of General Counsel for review. College Deans may assign an associate Dean to review contracts.
• Complete the Contract Review Submission Form, attach your agreement (along with any exhibits or addenda, if referenced), and click "Submit." Please be sure to provide as much information as possible and to attach confirmation of the approval of the Vice President, Cabinet Member, or Dean. Your contract will be emailed to the Office of General Counsel and then forwarded to the Office of Risk Management for risk and insurance review.

Please be sure to allow enough time for the contracts to be reviewed and approved. One way to reduce the time for review and approval is to use standard contracts as much as possible.  The Office of the General Counsel’s goal is to provide feedback on risk management, insurance, and legal issues within seven (7) calendar days. If the agreement involves a complex matter or multiple parties, please allow additional time. To expedite reviews, please be sure that you have thoroughly read the agreement, agree with all of the business terms, and have included all information in the initial submission. Agreements are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. If your agreement requires immediate attention, please indicate the need for immediate review and the date by which you need the agreement in the "Brief Description of the Nature/Purpose of the Agreement."

If an ISU department, college, or division wishes to renew an existing agreement that has been previously approved by the Office of the General Counsel, please submit the agreement through the standard submission process but note in the "Brief Description of the Nature/Purpose of the Agreement" section of the submission form that you are seeking renewal of a previously approved agreement. If there are changes to any of the terms (dates, services, costs), please be sure to identify and detail those changes.

Contracts typically include a clause that details a specific process through which a party may terminate the agreement. In the event that an ISU department, college, or division wishes to discontinue the services provided under an existing agreement before the contract term expires, please submit a copy of the fully executed agreement to the Office of the General Counsel before initiating the termination. Please detail the specific reason(s) for the early termination.

Yes! All pages (including exhibits or addenda) of the fully executed agreement should be scanned into a .pdf and submitted to the Office of the General Counsel at Executed Agreements. A “fully executed agreement” is the one that is signed by all parties to the contract.