Types of Contracts
Personal/Professional Services Contracts (PSC)
A Personal/Professional Services Contract (PSC) is a specialized type of contract which is used to acquire skills, knowledge, and professional expertise not available at the University.
A PSC may be considered when one or more of the following situations exist:
- The specialized skills, knowledge, and resources to be provided by an independent contractor are not available with the University.
- The work cannot be done in a reasonable time with the institution’s own work force.
- An independent, impartial evaluation of a situation is required by a consultant with recognized professional expertise and stature in a field.
- A grant requires work to be done under a subcontract.
SOU employs two types of PSC’s for use: Short Form for under $25,000 and Long Form for $25,000 and over.
For questions, contact Contracting@sou.edu.
Irregular Employment Agreements (IEA)
An Irregular Employment Agreement (IEA) is a contract that temporarily (under 90 calendar days) hires an individual as an employee of the University to complete the tasks outlined in the contract. The IEA may be used for individuals from outside the University who are not classified as independent contractors or for current faculty or unclassified where the services provided are outside of the current scope of duty. Classified employees are not eligible to be paid on IEAs. Please reach out to Human Resources for assistance with these instances.
Other Contracts
Other types of contracts include:
- Service Contracts resulting from Intent to Bid (ITB) or Request for Proposal (RFP).
- Construction/Capital Improvement Contracts.
- Facility Use Agreements
- Grant and Research Contracts (post award)
- Information Technology Contracts
- All other agreements or memorandums of understanding
Independent Contractor or Employee
The type of contract for services rendered often depends on their status as an independent contractor as defined by the IRS. Here are some of the guidelines that help determine status.
Independent Contractor
- Is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation whose services are available to the public, and who may sustain a profit or loss.
- Is free to choose the working conditions, methods and techniques for performing the work and is not under the direction and control of the department.
- Is responsible only for meeting the specifications in the agreement.
- Has the right to employ assistants.
- Has a normal business practice, and uses separate telephone service, business cards or commercial advertising as is customary in operating similar businesses.
- Has two or more effective contracts.
- Has had no recent employee relationship with the University.
Employee
- Is a person subject to the direction and control of the University, not only as to what shall be done, but when, where, and how it shall be done.
- Is furnished with the tools, equipment, and a place to work.
- Has the right to quit.
- Is currently on State of Oregon payroll.
- Has a former (or future) employer-employee relationship with the University
Required Documents
In addition to the contract, depending on the nature of the contract, there may be some additional required documents. Here are a few that may be required:
Background Checks (PSC and IEA)
Background checks may be required for either an independent contractor, employee, or volunteer depending on certain circumstances. You may review criteria in the SOU Background Check Policy. If required, you may find the Consent for Background Check Form on the Human Resources Forms webpage under Recruitment. Background checks must be completed prior to any services being provided and there is additional cost to the department (typically $22 and up per check).
Certificates of Insurance (PSC):
With the dissolution of the Oregon University System two years ago, SOU has had to make changes to our insurance coverage, mainly we have had to become self-insured. To protect SOU and our interests, we have had to become more restrictive in requiring contractors to carry and provide proof and list SOU as an additional insured. They need to have insurance within the tort limits as dictated by the State of Oregon. Tort limits are the maximum amount an entity can bring suit against state agencies for damage. Recently the tort limits for the state have been raised to $2 million per occurrence and $4 million aggregate.
As a result, independent contractors and businesses doing business with Southern Oregon University will need to provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI) listing:
“Southern Oregon University, a university with a governing board, and their officers, members, and employees shall be included as additionally insured in said policy.”
Insurance requirements, as listed in Attachment A- Services Contract Standard Contract Provisions, are:
- commercial general liability insurance with a minimum limit of $2,000,000 per occurrence
- auto liability insurance with a minimum limit of $2,000,000 per occurrence, and…
- annual aggregate limit of $4,000,000
SOU departments cannot purchase insurance for contractors. For those that do not carry such insurance, here are some resources they may contact for special event insurance coverage:
- eventhelper.com (insurance policy independent contractors may purchase to cover them, and SOU as listed above, when contracting with SOU.)
- Tulip Plus (insurance policy for events where independent contractors are renting SOU owned facilites only. Does not cover events in facilities not owned by SOU or for individual contracting during an SOU event.)
W-9 (PSC)
If a vendor is not in Banner, we will require a W-9. We may also request a new W-9 if the current W-9 does not list a valid email address (used for DocuSign).
Employee Paperwork (IEA)
If the individual is being hired through an IEA, they may need to complete employment paperwork prior to working. Check with the Service Center Personnel Support Coordinator to see if this is required. Employment paperwork can be found on the Human Resources New Employees webpage.
Contract Requests
The Service Center will assist departments with processing PSCs and IEAs (for other types of contracts, contact Contracting@sou.edu or Contracts Office for assistance).
- To request a contract (PSC or IEA): Contract Request Form (web)
- View status of requests: Request for Contract Services Spreadsheet. There are several tabs:
- Requests: where the requests initially arrive and are processed by the Service Center
- Staff Person: Contracts that are assigned to specific Service Center staff person but are in progress.
- Completed: Once the contract is sent for signatures in DocuSign it will move to the appropriate Completed tab.
- IEA Mass Entry Spreadsheet: If a department has multiple IEAs with the same job description, pay rates, etc, contact the Personnel Support Coordinator and they will share this mass entry sheet to submit requests.
Additional documents for payees on either the PSC or IEA may be required. If required, contracts will be considered complete once all documents are completed and received. See Required Documents for more information.
Information
For assistance with PSCs and IEAs, contact the Service Center.
For assistance with these types of contracts, contact the Contracts Office.
For more information, visit the Business Services Contracting page.
Forms
- Contract Request Form (web)
- Request for Contract Services Spreadsheet (view only, web)