Contract Routing, Filing & Maintenance

Routing for Review and Approval

If you would like to send a contract to the Office of General Counsel for review or approval, or to request assistance, please use the Contract Routing Slip (fill in the blank, PDF form) and send, or deliver, it to OGC. The Contract Routing Form also contains a helpful checklist that can be used in the preparation of university contracts.

Role of the Office of General Counsel

OGC maintains a file for all contracts it reviews, participates in drafting, or requested to assist in, but the primary file maintenance responsibility belongs with the college, department, division, or unit where the contract file is housed. OGC has established an internal contracts and transactions tracking system. The office logs in each request for review, advice or other assistance with respect to a contract or a transaction. The system lists the responsible attorney and tracks progress on the contract or transaction.

Filing and Maintenance

University contracts are administered and maintained at main offices of the unit or college which is responsible for the performance and oversight of the contract. The following requirements apply to the filing maintenance of University contracts:

Location

All contracts must be maintained in a readily accessible file in the office of the official who signed the contract. When the volume of contracts would make this impractical (e.g., College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), the signatory may allow the contracts to be maintained at the department, division or unit level where the contract was initiated provided the signatory maintains a log briefly identifying the contracts he or she signs and their location.

Administration

All contracts must be assigned to a contract administrator, who may or may not be the signature authority. The contract administrator is the official responsible for performing or tracking the performance of the contract and addressing any other issues that arise under the contract.

File Maintenance

All contract files must contain a copy of the final, fully-executed contract and any and all correspondence or other documents related to the contract. The contract administrator should be responsible for maintaining a complete file, and for closing the file when the contract is completed and retaining and then destroying the file in a uniform fashion.