Before submitting a contract request: 

What is a contract?

• A contract is an agreement with specific terms and conditions that legally bind the College. Contracts should specify the names of all parties involved and clearly identify the obligations of the parties, the payment terms, and a timeframe (or “term”) in which these duties are to be performed.

• A contract might be called a “Memorandum of Understanding,” “MOU,” “letter agreement,” “letter of understanding,” or simply an “agreement.”

When should a contract be used?

A Contract should be used when the supplier agreement requires terms beyond normal PO Terms or when a Statement of Work (SOW) needs to be agreed upon. 

Examples: Liability Waivers, Multiple Delivery Dates, Multi-Year Agreement, Independent Contractor (individual person providing services, MOUs, Leases).

What to know when building a contract:

The business owner sending the proposed agreement for review has the primary responsibility to ensure that the below items are accurately depicted and meet RISD’s needs. This is particularly important as the business owner will manage contracts directly after execution. All contracts must:

• Clearly, accurately and sufficiently reflect all negotiated terms.

• Align with the institution’s programmatic and strategic mission.

• Not generate any institutional conflicts of interest.

• Not have negative, long-term consequences.

• Not include a provision for assumption of sales tax by the institution.

• Understand that the use of RISD’s name, logo or other marks by the contracting authority are subject to the express approval of RISD.

• Acknowledge that legal liability and assumption of risk provisions are favorable to RISD.

• Indicate that the contracting authority will secure and maintain sufficient insurance.

• Guarantee that sufficient funds will be available to meet the obligations of the contract, if applicable.

• Be reviewed and approved by Procurement Services if applicable per Procurement procedures.

Upon receipt of the proposed agreement for the purchase of goods and/or services, Procurement will conduct a business review of the terms of the proposed agreement in accordance with its policies and procedures.  All proposed agreements are reviewed for terms and conditions, insurance requirements, the scope of work, the suggested vendor and pricing. As necessary, this process also engages other departments with specific potential concerns, including General Counsel, Information Technology Services, Marketing & Communications, Risk Management, Human Resources, the Budget Office and others.

Bidding & independent contractors:

• Ensure all RISD Bidding Requirements are met.

• If you are requesting an Independent Contractor Contract, please review the Independent Contractor Process Page.

Contract Review & Approval

Procurement Services oversees the review and execution of all contracts for goods and services, including independent contractor agreements, and other financial documents requiring a college official’s signature.  All contracts for goods and services need to be reviewed and approved by Procurement Services prior to signature. Non-Procurement related contracts (partnerships, artwork loans, etc.) should be reviewed by the General Counsel’s office.

• All Purchasing contracts must be reviewed and approved by Procurement Services. 

• All contract requests must be submitted via Juro. You may request any RISD template contract or Supplier Contract via Juro.  The Juro Page provides an overview.

  • If multiple bids are required per the bidding guidelines, please attach all the bids/quotes to the etrieve form.

• Contracts may only be signed by signatories of RISD outlined by the Signature Matrix according to the Delegation of Authority for Executing and Approving Policy.

• All contracts must be executed via RISD's contract management tool (currently Juro)

All Independent Contractors require a contract.

All Speakers and Performers (non-honorarium) require a contract.

Contract Approval Process

Timing: Please allow minimum of 2-weeks to process a contract.  Some contracts may take a  longer or shorter amount of time to process depending on the legal review. 

Step 1:  RISD Department Negotiates a contract with the supplier and ensures all bidding requirements are met.

Step 2:  RISD Department submits their contract request via "Juro". You may choose what type of contract template or Review Vendor Contract.

Step 3: Procurement Services will conduct a business review of the terms of the proposed agreement in accordance with RISD policies and procedures. Procurement Services will consult with General Counsel, ITS, and other departments when necessary.

Step 4: Procurement Services will provide feedback to the RISD Department on the status of the request and any required edits or redlines.

Step 5: If edits are required, the RISD department will seek alignment with the supplier

This step may have several back and forth discussions between RISD and the supplier.

Step 6:    Following completion of applicable reviews, proposed contracts must be executed by Procurement Services via RISD's contract management tool (Juro) and will be routed to the designated contract approvers and signatories detailed in the contract signature delegation matrix. Contracts signed without appropriate review and/or authorized signatures do not bind the institution.

Once the contract is fully executed all parties will be copied on the executed contract.

An overview and job aids can be found on the Juro page.