Contract Review and Approval Process

• Check the panel on the right side of this page and review Policy 620 Contract Approval, Signatory, and Reporting. Your contract should be sent utilizing the routing process identified or by utilizing the Request for Contract Review Form.
• 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 terms, party names, and conditions 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.
• 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 Request for Contract Review 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 or eliminate the time for review and approval is to use standard contracts approved by the Office of the General Counsel 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 in the Request for Contract Review Form, 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. Please be sure to attach the existing agreement that has been previously approved.

Contracts typically include a clause that details a specific process through which a party may terminate the agreement. Often this will include providing notice of termination to the other party. 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 and sent electronically to ISU-GeneralCounsel@mail.indstate.edu.