Contract responsibility

Department responsibilities

The requesting department is responsible for overall administration of the contract. All contracts must be assigned to an individual within the department known as the departmental contract administrator who is responsible for performing or tracking performance, administration, addressing routine operational issues that may arise under the contract and alerting Contracts, Purchasing and Risk Management timely when a contract requires modification, renewal, cancellation, or in cases where the contractor is failing to perform. The individual that authorizes a Purchase Request or  Non-Purchase Request form on behalf of the department will be considered the assigned departmental contract administrator for the related contract. Refer to the Contract Routing section for more information on submission of a Purchase Request or Non-Purchase Request forms.

A Purchase Request is needed for all acquisitions of goods and services whether NAU is expending funds or not, and when using a P-Card for transactions that require a contract or insurance such as purchases of equipment, services, speaker/performer engagements, information communication technology (ICT) including software, open source software, or freeware, or renting equipment.

A Non-Purchase Request is needed for requests to sign a contract when there will be no expenditure of funds such as when NAU is receiving funds, permits without fees, memorandum of understanding, or intergovernmental agreements.

Contracts and Purchasing and Risk Management responsibilities

Contracts, Purchasing and Risk Management reviews, negotiates required terms, signs, processes any change, renewal, modification, or termination of contracts, manages contractual issues and maintains a file that contains, at minimum, the fully executed copy of the contract along with any signed modifications and related correspondence.