Risk Management

Contracts for Goods or Services

Do you need a contract when paying for goods or services? What are the steps to complete one? Here’s what you need to know.

When do I need a contract?

When you’re working with an individual who provides services on campus and does not work for Reed College, you’re typically hiring an independent contractor and you need a contract.

What’s the Process?

There are different steps to follow depending on what you’re hiring for.

• Consult with the student engagement office when using student body funds.
• Consult with IT services when purchasing software, hardware, or cloud-hosted services.
• When working with a food vendor (including restaurants and catering services), first fill out the catering exception request form. If an exception is approved, you’ll receive an email outlining next steps, which include a food vendor contract, obtaining county licenses, and possibly insurance.
• When working with an organization, corporation, or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities, these contracts must also be reviewed and approved by risk management before work begins. We prefer to utilize our Complex Services Agreement for these partnerships, but they sometimes have their own contracts (see: when a vendor has their own contract, below). Please send contracts to risk@reed.edu for review and approval.
• Consult these instructions for all engagements that don’t fall into the above categories, including vendor services, guest lecturing, instructional services, and performances.

Which contract template should I use?

Reed College Event Speaker Agreement

Event speakers, guest lecturers, classroom visits.

Reed College Performance Agreement

Bands, DJs, performers, authors reading or speaking.

Reed College Photography/Filming Agreement

Photography, videography, cinematography.

Reed College Food Vendor Agreement

Food carts, catering, food vendors.

Reed College Student Organization Performance Agreement

Student events.

Reed College Personal Services Agreement

Independent contractors and consultants. Follow the instructions noted in the last bullet point, above, under What’s the Process?

Reed College Complex Services Agreement

Business entities.

When a vendor has their own contract

Although our preference is to utilize Reed contracts, it's important to note that many procurement vendors and business entities will insist on the use of their own contract templates. These vendor contracts often contain terms that are favorable to the vendor and may require careful scrutiny by Reed’s risk management.

Steps

For independent contracts (not for business entities), send final contract for approval to risk@reed.edu. The risk management team will collaborate with you to review and negotiate the vendor contract, ensuring that it aligns with acceptable terms and conditions for the college.

After approval is granted, the contract must be signed in this order (prior to purchasing):

1. Vendor
2. Department approver (must be budget authorizer)
3. Risk management or designee

What are my responsibilities?

• Obtain approval from risk management, human resources, and your VP/Dean before contract work begins.
• Follow the process for the specific contract you need.
• Have a contract signed by the contractor first, and then the appropriate authorized signatory. If working with an independent contractor and following the process in etrieve, risk management will sign after the workflow has been approved.
• Retain contract documents in accordance with Reed College’s record-retention policy.