Audience
This article is intended for staff or faculty who are submitting contracts to be reviewed by required IC personnel before being signed by the appropriate signatory. These instructions apply to employees completing the Contract Review Form.
Note: This process is not a purchase request form. It should only be used for the review of contracts for purchases that have already been approved by appropriate parties.
Platform
TeamDynamix
Important Terms
Contract Requestor – The College employee completing the request form. This individual may or may not also be the contract owner depending on department workflows.
Contract Owner - The College employee assigned to negotiate the agreement with the third party and to steward the agreement documentation through all phases of review and approval.
Authorized Signatory - The individual authorized to signs the agreement on behalf of the College, in accordance with formal delegations of authority.
Contract Review Team - Reviews written agreement and provides advice and recommendations to the Owner and Signatory.
External Party Name – Name of the vendor/supplier/company (ex: Microsoft)
Product Name – Name of the product (ex: Office 365)
Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) – The HECVAT is a questionnaire specifically designed for higher education to measure vendor risk by confirming information, data and cybersecurity policies are in place to protect sensitive institutional information and constituents.
Certificate of Insurance (COI) – Ithaca College requires Certificate(s) of Insurance be on file with our Office of Risk Management for review and approval prior to the commencement of any work by the vendor.
How to Submit a Contract for Review
Creating a new request
OR
- Login to TeamDynamix at http://help.ithaca.edu/
- Select Services in the menu bar
- Select the category Projects and Professional Services
- Select the Service, Contract Review
- Select Submit Contract Review (Green button in sidebar)
Completing the Contract Review Form
Review reference links at the top of form
► Initial Information
- If needed, review description for External Party Name and Product or Plan Name
- EX: Microsoft Office 365
External Party Name: Microsoft
Product or Plan Name: Office 365
- Product Description – What does the product do?
- Business Use Case – How will this product benefit the IC community?
- Target Start Date – When would you like to begin using this product?
- Note: Please allow 4 weeks for your contract review to be completed
- Contract Types:
- Templates
- If you are using a Contract Template, please select the template you are using
- Template modifications: Please note any modification or changes including addendum's that have been added to the contract
- Vendor Provided Contracts
- Select the correct contract type and subtype
- Certain contract types will prompt additional questions and may require additional review from other parties.
Ex: Technology related contracts require additional review from IT@IC and require further information at the end of the form
► Contract Owner Information
- Contract Owner Name: See Terms above – This may or may not be the individual completing the request.
- Authorized Signatory: A signatory must be listed in order to submit the contract for review.
If you are unsure of this review Signatory Authority Information for a list of individuals authorized to sign contracts on behalf of Ithaca College
► Vendor Contract Information
- A primary representative is required.
- Secondary representatives are optional
► Contract Details
- If the vendor has not previously worked with Ithaca College and is not in the supplier system please refer to the Knowledge Base articles for instructions to request a new supplier be added to Oracle for Payment:
- Enter all other required information about the contract in the remaining fields
► Additional Questions for IT Related Contracts
These questions are required for IT@IC to perform the contract review for security and integration concerns
- Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT)
- The HECVAT is required for IT to review the contract. If a HECVAT is not added to the request it is the responsibility of the contract owner or requester to reach out to the vendor to obtain a completed HECVAT form as soon as possible.
- More information, including a blank copy of the HECVAT to share with the vendor can be found in the following references:
- SSO - IT prefers when vendor products can be accessed with SSO which is a more secure sign in option for the IC Community.
- Payment to Vendor - If the Vendor requires payment through their platform please be advised that an "Attestation of Compliance" will be needed to confirm that the vendor and their platform are PCI compliant.
► Uploading Documents
- Select browse
- Locate the files on your computer
- Select all files related to the contract review (quote, contract proposed, addendum's, HECVAT if applicable)
- Select Open
- The number of files select will be shown in the attachment box
- Click Submit button
How to Check the Status of a Contract
- Login to TeamDynamix at http://help.ithaca.edu/
- Select Services in the menu bar
- Select Ticket Requests in the sub-menu
Here contract owners will be able to view all requests they have submitted and check the status of pending requests.
► Statuses of Contract Review
- New - Submitted by contract owner - not yet reviewed by Contract Review Team
- Under Review - Initial review by Contract Review Team has begun
- In Negotiation - Initial review by Contract Review Team complete - Suggested changes being negotiated by vendor
- Final Review - Final review by Contract Review Team and Signatory
- Closed - Contract signed by all parties - Fully executed contract uploaded to Oracle
► Reviewing Comments/Responding to Comments
Communication between the Contract Review Team and the contract owner can be found at the bottom of the ticket under Feed
- Adding a New Comment:
- Select blue Comment button under the ticket Feed
- Add any additional individuals you would like to notify of your comment in the box provided
- Type your comment in the designated box
- Select Save
► Adding Additional Attachments
- Manual Add
- Select Add Attachment
- Select the location of the file you would like to upload
- File on your computer
- File on OneDrive
- Select browse
- Locate the file(s)
- Select all files related to the contract review (quote, contract proposed, addendum's, HECVAT if applicable)
- Select Open
- The number of files select will be shown in the attachment box
- Click Submit button
- Drag and Drop
- If the file is easily accessible you may drag and drop the file to the box labeled Attachments on the right side of the ticket
Timing for Contract Reviews
Please allow 4 weeks for contracts to be reviewed and edited by the Contract Review Team and negotiated with the vendor before they can be signed by an Authorized Signatory. Submission of a contract for review should be done at least 4 weeks prior to the target start date of the contract.
IT Contracts and how are they different?
Requesting contracts for various types of software and cloud based services requires an additional review by IT@IC to address any integration and implementation issues that may arise with the vendor you have chosen. If your contract is IT related there will be additional questions at the end of the request form that will need to be completed in order to assess the security risks of your product.
In addition, all IT contract types will require a Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) form be completed by the vendor. Most vendors providing IT related products will already have a copy of this form available. More information on the HECVAT, including a blank copy of the document if the vendor does not already have a completed version, can be found here EDUCAUSE: Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit. Further details can also be found here: Process for Vendor/Third-Party Information Security Assessment
Please note that the contract review process is not a purchase request. Approval to purchase a product or service should first be approved by appropriate parties before the contract is submitted to the contract review process. Academic software purchases must be pre-approved by ETAC.
How do I add a vendor/supplier into Oracle for payment?
Before a vendor can be paid, they must be added to the Oracle system at Ithaca College.
For additional instructions for adding vendors to Oracle please refer to the Knowledge Base articles below:
Resources