University Contract Policy

A. GENERAL STATEMENT

Except as otherwise provided below, all agreements and contracts (including letter agreements) which obligate Loyola University of Chicago (the “University”) in any manner must comply with this Contract Policy. This Contract Policy is applicable to all campuses and operations of the University including the Lakeside Campuses, the Health Sciences Campus, the Cuneo Mansion and Gardens, LUREC and the Rome Center Campus.

Exceptions to Contract Policy:

Faculty appointment letters, faculty contracts and/or other faculty employment agreements for faculty with major administrative appointments (e.g. Provost, Vice Provost, Associate Provost, Assistant Provost, Dean, Associate Dean or Department Chair) will be subject to the procedures and review requirements of the “Policy: Faculty Appointment Letters including Major Administrative Appointments” and will not be subject to the Contract Review Requirements in Section C below; provided however, that such faculty appointment letters, faculty contracts and/or other faculty employment agreements for faculty with major administrative appointments will be subject to the Signature Requirements in Section B below. Please contact the Vice Provost, Academic Finance & Operations for information regarding these additional procedures and review requirements. All other faculty appointment letters, faculty contracts and/or other faculty employment agreements are subject to this Contract Policy.
Except for certain documents relating to research contracts and subcontracts subject to the Signature Requirement Exceptions in Section B below, research contracts and subcontracts for services and products to be provided by University faculty, staff, and students which are paid for by external funding sources are not subject to this Contract Policy, but will be subject to a separate policy pertaining to such contracts. Non-research contracts for consulting or other non-research services are subject to this Contract Policy.

B. SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS

Only the President, the Provost, the Vice Provost, Academic Finance & Operations, the Senior Vice Presidents and the Vice Presidents (and, collectively, with any employees holding the foregoing titles on an interim basis, the “Authorized Officers”) are authorized to sign agreements and contracts for the University within their respective areas of responsibility, except for any authority which is reserved to the Board of Trustees of the University (e.g., all obligations or expenditures over 1% of the fiscal year total operating revenues of the University [1], subject to certain exceptions) or any authority which is otherwise delegated by the Board of Trustees or the President (for example, only the President, and those to whom the President has delegated gift acceptance authority in writing, are authorized to sign gift agreements) and except as otherwise provided below. All other contracting delegations are terminated.

[1] As set forth in the most recently available fiscal year audited consolidated financial statements of the University

Signature Requirement Exceptions:

Employment Agreements: Only the President and the Provost are authorized to sign faculty appointment letters, faculty contracts and/or faculty employment agreements, and only the President, the Senior Vice President for Administrative Services, as such title may change from time to time (the “SVP for Administrative Services”) and the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (as such title may change from time to time) are authorized to sign employment agreements for staff.
Residential leases in which the University is the landlord may be signed by the appropriate senior manager, as delegated in writing by the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer, as such title may change from time to time (the “CFO”).
Agreements concerning the University’s investment portfolio may be signed by the Chief Investment Officer (as such title may change from time to time), as delegated in writing by the CFO.
Conference Services agreements may be signed by the appropriate senior manager, as delegated in writing by the Vice President for Student Development, as such title may change from time to time.
Certain Athletics Department agreements, including athletic event agreements, game agreements, external facility rental agreements and applicable athletic sponsorship agreements, may be signed by the athletic director, as delegated in writing by the President or the SVP for Administrative Services.
The Vice Provost for Research may sign research contracts and subcontracts and documents relating to research contracts and subcontracts. Certain documents relating to research contracts and subcontracts may be signed by the Senior Director - Sponsored Program Accounting (as such title may change from time to time), as delegated in writing by the President or the CFO.
All contracts involving any electronic storing, hosting or sharing of University data and information must be reviewed and approved by the Vice President and Chief Information Officer (as such title may change from time to time) before being signed by an Authorized Officer, or other individual authorized to sign certain agreements/contracts as described above under this “Signature Requirement Exceptions” section (“Other Authorized Individual”). This requirement applies to contracts regardless of whether the University data and information flows into the University or outside the University or through a cloud computing, file sharing or other third-party technology service platform.

C. CONTRACT REVIEW REQUIREMENTS

For all agreements/contracts up to $500,000 (received or paid during the term of the contract), the appropriate Authorized Officer, or Other Authorized Individual if applicable:

must review and approve the business terms of the agreement/contract;
has the discretion to seek the review of the legal, financial and/or insurance terms;
must obtain signed copies (both parties) of all such agreements/contracts;
in the case of any exclusive provider, must seek review of the Finance Department; and
in the case of any sponsorship arrangements, must seek review of the Athletics Department.

For all agreements/contracts of $500,000 or more (received or paid during the term of the contract), the appropriate Authorized Officer, or Other Authorized Individual if applicable, must meet the following requirements prior to signing any agreements unless there is an exception as set forth below:

the appropriate Authorized Officer, or Other Authorized Individual if applicable must review and approve the business terms of the agreement/contract;
the Finance Department must review the financial terms of the agreement/contract;
the Office of the General Counsel must review the legal terms of the agreement/contract;
the Risk Management/Insurance Department must review the insurance terms of the agreement/contract;
the appropriate Authorized Officer, or Other Authorized Individual if applicable, must obtain signed copies (both parties) of all such agreements/contracts; and
in the case of any sponsorship arrangements, must seek review of the Athletics Department.

Contract Review Requirement Exceptions:

The following types of agreements/contracts of $500,000 or more do not require review by the Office of the General Counsel:

form contracts that have been reviewed and pre-approved by the Office of the General Counsel;
and
renewals of contracts with the same parties and the same terms where legal review has been provided on the original contract.

D. RETENTION OF SIGNED CONTRACTS

Signed contracts must be safeguarded and retained consistent with the University’s Document Retention Policy.

Signed employment agreements for faculty will be retained by the Provost’s Office.
Signed employment agreements for staff will be retained by the Human Resources Department.
Signed gift agreements will be retained by Advancement.
All other signed agreements and contracts must be retained and safeguarded as follows:

Contracts that involve a financial commitment of $150,000 or more (received or paid during the term of the contract), must be uploaded by the Authorized Officer or, Other Authorized Individual if applicable, responsible for the agreement to the central contract repository immediately after the agreement is signed by both parties. Information about how to access the central contract repository is available at https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/purchasing/pdfs/Contracts_ECM_Procedure.pdf.

Contracts that involve a financial commitment of less than $150,000 (received or paid during the term of the contract) must be retained and safeguarded by the Authorized Officer’s, or if applicable Other Authorized Individual’s, department. At the Authorized Officer’s, or if applicable Other Authorized Individual’s, discretion, these contracts may be uploaded to the central contract repository.

E. COMPLIANCE WITH UNIVERSITY PURCHASING POLICY

Every effort should be made to comply with the University Purchasing Policy which addresses: (1) Purchasing, (2) Competition, (3) Conflict of Interest & Buying Ethics, and (4) Small Business Utilization (Disadvantaged, Minority-Owned, Women-Owned, Veteran-Owned, Service Disabled Veteran-owned and HUBZone Business Enterprises). The Purchasing Policy can be found at http://www.luc.edu/purchasing/purch_policy.shtml.

In addition, the following resources should be referenced as part of the contracting process:

PROCUREMENT ACTION MATRIX

STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Standard Agreement for Consulting Services

ITS Consulting Attachment

Consulting Services Agreement Instructions

F. NO PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED

No payment will be authorized for any agreement or contract which is not signed and which does not otherwise meet the requirements of this Contract Policy.

The appropriate Authorized Officer, or Other Authorized Individual if applicable, will be accountable for the final terms of all agreements/contracts they enter into and for ensuring that all agreements and contracts within their respective areas of responsibility meet the requirements of this Contract Policy.

G. CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions relating to this Contract Policy, please contact Benjamin Smigielski, Associate Vice President for Strategic Financial Planning at 312-915-8709 or bsmigie@luc.edu.

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Last Updated: September 13, 2022

Approved by the President's Cabinet and the President of Loyola University of Chicago