News – Procurement Contracts | The University of Alabama

Contract Business Terms

September 11th, 2023
in News

Before uploading your contract to the portal you should always review the business terms. This is the specific portions of the agreement with contract details that you have discussed with the vendor. You should read your agreement carefully to make sure the terms listed are what you agreed to and that the only blank space in the document is the signature line.

The business terms can include:

Start date
End date
Length of the Contract
Cost

Contract Management reviews your contract submissions to ensure compliance with Alabama law and University of Alabama policy. We do not know the specifics of your discussions with the vendor and rely on what is contained within the contract. Please take a moment to make sure that what is written matches what was discussed with your vendor.

Do You Know What the Status of Your Contract in the Contract Portal Means?

July 10th, 2023
in News

Under Review – The Contract Administrator is in the process of reviewing your contract or negotiating terms with the vendor.
Pending Approval – The Contract Administrator sent this to another department for internal approvals.
Approved – Whoever the Contract Administrator sent the contract to for internal approval has approved it, and the Contract Administrator is negotiating terms with the vendor.

It is often assumed that the contract is ready for signature, but this all depends on whether the vendor ultimately accepts the terms we are requesting.

Pending Signature – The contract is waiting to be signed by the vendor or the University’s signatory.

How to Contract for Professional Services

March 3rd, 2023
in News

Are you responsible for submitting Professional Services Agreements and Guest Speaker Agreements? If so, we want to help you! The Professional Services Guidelines webpage is a great resource for viewing basic requirements, the submittal process, the review and signature, and for guidance on the payment processing. In addition, we have included below some common mistakes that we see with the PSA and GSA:

PSAs/ GSAs must be submitted before the date of service.
An Independent Contractor form that has been approved by the tax department will need to be attached (when contracting with an individual).
The dates of service and amount to be paid must match in the PSA/GSA and IC form (if applicable).
If the contractor provided you with a document that requires signature, do not initiate a PSA/GSA. Submit the document through the Contract Portal for review and approval.

We are also working on a new training course. Stay tuned for information about PSA and GSA training opportunities!

Portal Emails

June 13th, 2022
in News

Emails sent through the Procurement Contract Portal are saved and organized into their corresponding contract record. This applies to direct messages to and from the Contract Administrator assigned to your record as well as automated notice and reminder emails that are created as part of the portal’s workflow.
As shown in the email message below, although the message you receive indicates that it is “From” contracts@ua.edu, your message does not originate at this address. Contracts@ua.edu simply acts as an intermediary between the Portal and the End User. It is the embedded link, contained in the email, that saves a copy of both the outgoing and incoming emails to the matching portal contract.

It is essential that the embedded link remain in the subject line of all email messages. To ensure this simply select “Reply” or “Reply All” to the messages you receive from the portal. This will return your response to its corresponding record and alert your Contract Administrator of the incoming message. An email sent to contracts@ua.edu without the link will not make it to the portal and might not be seen in a timely fashion.

If you have questions regarding the Procurement Contract Portal or would like to schedule a training session for your department, please contact Julie Love.

Replying to Emails from Contract Management

November 3rd, 2021
in News

While software is a wonderful tool for organization and efficiency it insists that you follow its rules. The Procurement Contract Portal is no different, especially when it comes to emails. When you receive an email regarding your contract submission you will notice a couple of things you might not see in other emails.

A subject line that includes an ID number.

This number contains an embedded link that connects this email and any response to your contract record ensuring that all communication regarding this particular contract is stored with the contract. If the subject line of the email is changed in any way the email will not link to the record and will not reach the Contract Administrator assigned to your record.
A reminder on how to reply.

Selecting “reply all” to the message keeps that embedded link in place and ensures that your response goes to the assigned Contract Administrator and links to your record. You can always add additional individuals to the message and attach documents as needed but you must select “reply all”.

If you have any questions regarding emails or anything else related to the Procurement Contract Portal, please feel free to contact Contract Management at 348-5230.

Contract Path

August 3rd, 2021
in News

Have you ever wondered how many places your contract travels before a signed copy returns to you? Check out the Contract Path Guide for more information.

Contract Types

June 30th, 2021
in News

Did you know that for each contract type the portal provides you a list of required forms and a hyperlink to access them?

1. Select your Contract Type. Remember that General Contract should only be used if no other contract type applies.

Open the Contract Documents tab where you will find displayed the additional document requirements based on the contract type you selected.

Click on the hyperlink shown below.

You will be taken to the Contract Submittal Links page on the Procurement Services website. This page contains links to the forms referenced in the portal. *Excluding the Vendor Disclosure Statement located under Purchasing Forms at http://purchasing.ua.edu/forms/ . Simply complete the necessary forms and upload and correctly identify them along with your contract.

If you have questions about the use of the Procurement Contract Portal feel free to contact Contract Management for assistance.

What Type of Contract am I Uploading?

November 4th, 2020
in News

Contract	Description
Advertising	Includes, but is not limited to, magazine, billboard, television, internet, and radio advertising.
Catering	The hiring of a food service provider in that capacity alone. This does not include catering as part of a venue rental agreement.
Game	Athletic, online, or other competitive contracts.
General Contract	Used only if your contract fits into no other category. A common example is an agreement by which an outside vendor is paying UA for services.
Guest Speaker	Individuals hired to speak to departments or other campus organizations.
Hotel/Venue/Catering	Used when contracting for 2 or more services with one vendor, for example, convention bookings.
Hotel Rooms	Agreements for hotel rooms only with no additional services
International Programs/Research	Agreement related to research partnerships with foreign universities or their teaching staff.
International Student Recruiting/PSA	Agreements with vendors that specifically recruit international students to UA.
International Study Abroad	Contracts for student travel to other countries as part of a current class on the UA campus or enrollment in a future class that will take place at a foreign university.
Permissive Use Agreement	A contract for activities to take place on the UA campus or other UA property outside of the traditional campus setting.
Professional Services	An agreement whereby an outside vendor is providing specialized services to the University. This does not include contracts wherein the University provides services to an outside party. (See General Contract)
Software	Includes traditional software and subscription agreements as well as other computer applications.
Sponsorship	Includes sponsoring an event or program by name or being physically present as an event sponsor.

Terminology Guide for the Procurement Contract Portal

May 4th, 2020
in News

So, you are ready to upload your contract and supporting documents to the system and suddenly realize that you are not sure which “Document Type” fits your document. You are not alone. In fact, this is one of the most common portal questions received by Contract Management. We now have a Contract Portal Terminology guide available on the Contract Management Website.

While they can be confusing, the labels are designed to provide you with an organized electronic file that you can reference as needed. Use your dashboard to review your contract history within the system and explore your individual files. As always remember, that the Contract Management Staff is available to assist you with any questions.

Attaching Contracts to Concur Invoices

June 1st, 2019
in News

Contract Management facilitates the contract review, negotiation and execution in accordance with Alabama Law and University policies. At the completion of this process, requesters will be provided a fully executed copy of the contract. If payments are to be made against this contract through Concur Invoice, please ensure that you are attaching the fully executed contract as part of your supporting documentation in Concur to prevent delays.

Category: News

Category: News