Faculty Handbook
SIGNING OF CONTRACTS, AGREEMENTS, ETC. FOR THE UNIVERISTY
There are only some eight persons at Penn State authorized by the University’s Board of Trustees to sign non-personnel contractual agreements and similar binding documents for the University. In practice, the three Assistant Treasurers sign most of the University’s contracts, with the exception of research contracts where a delegation of signature has been made to Robert Killoren, the Assistant Vice President for Research. Only the University’s Treasurer is authorized to delegate signature authority. Faculty and staff ARE NOT authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the University. Rather, the faculty need to send non-research contracts and similar documents, including any host-site agreements for off-campus student internships, to the College’s Financial Officer (Jan Grasser) for proper handling.
The University’s Office of Risk Management works with the University’s various financial and business officers, the Office of Sponsored Programs, and the purchasing department in reviewing and acting on contractual documents. Often Risk Management will make changes in the wording of contracts and agreements for the protection of the University before signing these documents. Steve Foster, contracts Coordinator in Risk Management, primarily looks at liability and insurance language. Normally changes are made to reflect the University’s insurances coverage and to limit the University’s liability to its own actions and negligence. Penn State does not accept liability for another party’s negligence, and the University’s liability insurance only covers the University’s own acts of negligence, including the actions of the university employees while performing their assigned University duties.
How to recognize and identify contracts and agreements? Contractual documents may not be titled “contract” as such, but any document that requires a signature is probably a contract. Look for such language as “terms and conditions,” “agreement,” “release and indemnify,” “indemnification,” “liability,” “governing law,” “legally binding,” and “We/I hereby agree to . . .” Warning: Most documents that are titled “Application” are actually contracts. Words that Penn State will avoid in contracts before signing because of legal implications are “partner” or “partnership” and “Joint Venture.” “Collaboration” or “collaborative/cooperative efforts” will be substituted for “partner” or “partnership.” If the document is a University contract, please be sure it indicates “The Pennsylvania State University” as the legal name entering into the contract, and not the name of a department, individual, or project.
The Office of Risk Management maintains more than sixty insurance policies. In regard to insuring the University’s property, there now is a deductible of $250,000 per occurrence, although a college can make application centrally for reimbursement for losses over $50,000. The policy does not cover equipment that is not located on the University’s premises at the time of the loss. Property insurance does not normally cover works of fine art unless special arrangements are made (e.g., by the Palmer Museum.) Thus, most loss of property will normally be the unit’s responsibility.
It is particularly important that the Office of Risk Management be involved in the planning of any field trips or short-term or long-term projects with Penn State students and faculty in the United States or in another country. Policy TR-13 in the University’s Policy Manual governs group travel in foreign countries and must be followed in regard to the University’s approval process and the submission of the Risk Management Checklist in a timely manner. There are numerous considerations regarding transportation to and within the location of the project as well as medical insurance. Charter flights are NEVER permitted without first obtaining specific approval from Risk Management! (Air charters fall under Aviation Liability Insurance, not the University’s standard General Liability Insurance.) Students and faculty should always fly in regularly scheduled carriers. University fleet vehicles are to be driven by University EMPLOYEES 21 years or older with a valid Pennsylvania driver’s license. Graduate assistants are considered employees of Penn State when performing the assigned University duties for which they were hired and can drive University vehicles.
All field trips and class activities (e.g., concert tours off-campus, trips to New York City) must have a University employee “in charge” to provide appropriate supervision. It is the University’s responsibility to arrange for proper and safe transportation for these University sponsored events (i.e., avoid students’ driving their own cars) and to have some form of communication with them (cell phones will do) in case of an emergency.
It is very common that host sites for student internships, whether for credit or not, will give the University an Internship Agreement to sign. Under no circumstances are these to be signed within the department or College. All Internship Agreements are to be given to our Financial Officer, Jan Grasser, for forwarding to the University’s Legal Counsel. These agreements can take a great deal of time to complete depending upon the terms the host site is giving the University. In particular, these host sites are increasingly trying to make the University liable for what the student does and what happens to the student even though the University is not supervising the student intern nor has any control over the internship. (Note: the University has no liability insurance on students or their actions.) It rarely happens, but the University has not always been successful in negotiating an acceptable student internship agreement, and the internship has not occurred.