Welcome to the Office of the General Counsel’s contract request webpage.
Santa Clara University enters into hundreds of contracts each year with third parties that provide for a wide array of activities involving the use of University funds, facilities, personnel, and other resources. Pursuant to SCU’s Contract Review, Approval, and Signature Authority Policy, contracts that meet certain criteria must be reviewed in advance by the Office of the General Counsel before they are finalized and executed by an authorized SCU signer.
To submit a contract for review by the Office of the General Counsel, or to ask that a contract be created, please complete our Contract Request Form or email it to us at contracts@scu.edu.
Please note the following:
- Contracts in the amount of $5,000 or more must be reviewed and approved in advance by the Office of the General Counsel. An exception is when you are using a template previously approved by the Office of the General Counsel, so long as the template is used for the type of transaction for which it was approved.
- Regardless of the amount of the contract (and even if less than $5,000), if the contract involves unique risks and liability to the University, exceeds one year in commitment, includes indemnification or insurance provisions, or provides for jurisdiction outside of Santa Clara County if there is a dispute, the contract must be reviewed in advance by the Office of the General Counsel.
- For engagements that are less than $5,000, a contract is still required. If the vendor does not provide a contract, you may contact our office for a services agreement template that you can use. The department’s contract administrator and contract approver are responsible for reviewing and approving the contract.
Please submit contracts for review as early as possible. The Office of the General Counsel strives to provide feedback on contract review requests within 10 business days. If you need to receive feedback on a contract in fewer than 10 business days, please include this information when submitting your contract, and we will attempt to expedite your request.
The following are a few additional tips to help you:
- If possible, please send the other party's contract in the form of an editable Word document instead of a PDF.
- Please be sure to read through the agreement yourself before sending it to us to ensure the business terms accurately reflect the contemplated arrangement. Please call any anticipated issues to our attention.
- To ensure consistency across campus, contracts involving certain terms or activities need to be reviewed by other designated departments. (See the Contract Review, Approval, and Signature Authority Policy). Please reach out to those departments before you send us the contract. The contract you send to us should include any input from those designated departments.
- Before you send us the contract, please be sure that you already have confirmed that there are adequate funds from an approved budget to move forward.
If you have any questions about the contract review process, please contact us at contracts@scu.edu.