The first test of whether something goes into BCM is: “is the contract for the purchase of goods or a service?”

The Brown Contract Management System (BCM) has been created to manage all contracts for the purchase of goods and services. If the contract is not for the purchase of goods or services, it does not go into BCM. 

The other areas of Brown that work on contracts that are not for the purchase of goods or services are the 

• Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
• Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) 
• Research Agreements and Contracting (RAC).

The second test is whether the contract is on supplier paper (i.e. the supplier provided their own contract). 

All supplier paper for the purchase of goods and services must go through BCM.

The third test is whether the contract is/will be any of the following:

• Professional Services Agreement (PSA)
• Artist Professional Services Agreement (Artist PSA)
• Master Services Agreement (for use after working with SPCI only) (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Amendment to an existing agreement
• Termination of an existing agreement

If the contract is any of the above listed documents, it must go through BCM. The above listed items are considered templates and are exclusively housed in BCM - they can only be obtained via a request in BCM. 

If you come across any documents suggesting that it is one of the above listed agreements outside of BCM, please disregard them and let SPC know their source, as the most up-to-date versions of the templates are only in BCM.

The fourth test is regarding other template agreements available around the University that are not exclusively housed in BCM.  If the specific criteria for the use of the other templates is not met, they have to go through BCM.  For instance, the General Services Agreement or the Guest Speaker Agreement:

The General Services Agreement (GSA)

The GSA is owned by the Controller's Office and may only be used when all three of the following requirements are met: 

1. Total contract value is under $3,000.
2. Employee Versus Independent Contractor Checklist is completed.
3. Has absolutely no changes to the template.

If the proposed GSA does not meet all three of those criteria, it has to go through BCM (for instance, a GSA that is for less than $3000 but has changes to the template - it needs to go through BCM).

The Guest Speaker Agreement

The Guest Speaker Agreement is owned by Event Strategy and Management through the Invited Speakers and Guests Policy and may be used so long as the following criteria is met: 

1. Has absolutely no changes to the template.
2. No supplier terms and conditions or other documents are included.

If the proposed Guest Speaker Agreement has a change to the template or has additional supplier terms and conditions, it needs to go through BCM. 

Other OGC approved templates (updated in the last year)

If the OGC approved template has not been reviewed by the OGC in the last year, you should seek review from the OGC to make sure that you are using the most up-to-date template. Other templates that have been created and approved by the Office of the General Counsel within the last year may be used outside of BCM so long as the following criteria are met:

1. Has absolutely no changes to the template.

2. No supplier terms and conditions or other documents are included.

If there is a change to the template or it has additional supplier terms and conditions, it needs to go through BCM.