In the idea generation phase, a department has an idea for a contract that they would like to advance.

The initial departmental approval stage, is where the department seeks pre-approval from their departmental decision maker(s) to move forward with a contract idea. This stage may consist of verifying the department’s BCM access, fact finding, gathering necessary information, registering the supplier in Workday, gathering any necessary competitive bids or quotes or completing the Sole Source /Single Source Supplier Selection Justification Form for contracts that are valued over $25,000, and submitting the contract request into BCM.

In the Workflow Assessment phase, the contract request is analyzed to determine the correct contract management path. Submissions are reviewed for accuracy and may make some initial review stops (examples include but are not limited to BioMed, the Information Security Group, or Export Controls, etc.) before ultimately landing in a contract review office. It is during this step that a Data Security Review (DSR) will be conducted if necessary.

In the Drafting phase, a contract request has been approved and moved to the contract side of BCM. In this phase, the BCM contract record will be created, appropriate templates selected, and any supplier provided documents will be reviewed.

The Negotiating phase is the most active and interactive part of the contract review lifecycle. It is Brown’s best opportunity to support the academic and administrative objectives of both the department and the University while managing the supplier contractual relationship and mitigating risk.

In the signing phase, the designated signers for both Brown and the Supplier are notified that the contract is coming for their signature. Any Brown signer must be an authorized signer under the Contract Signature Authority Policy Schedule. BCM utilizes DocuSign as the University’s digital signing platform. Once the contract is signed, BCM will log it as executed.

Once a contract is executed, it enters the Maintaining phase. This is the phase that the contract receives periodic maintenance to either keep it alive or end it.

The retention phase can run simultaneously as the Maintaining phase, and is where Brown keeps record of the contract and its supporting documentation for the life of the contract plus ten years (the Statute of Limitations in Rhode Island for contract claims). This phase is important for Brown’s compliance functions.

• Identifies a contract need
• Proposes the contract idea to the correct Departmental Decision Maker and seeks pre-approval to move forward
• Verifies the department’s BCM Contract Requestor
• Gathers necessary information for the Contract Requestor
• Works with Strategic Sourcing to gather any necessary competitive bids or quotes or completes the Sole Source / Single Source Supplier Selection Justification Form (In compliance with the Competitive Bid / Quote Requirements and Sole Source Purchases Policy)
• Verifies that the Supplier is registered in Workday in accordance with the Supplier Registration Policy

• Approves the contract idea to move forward
• Identifies budgetary resources
• Reviews the business terms of the contract and provides suggested edits to the business terms or identifies problem areas
• Notifies the Brown Signatory (if not the same person) that the contract will be coming for signature at some point

• Creates a new contract request in BCM
• Answers all required questions on the intake form and submits all required documentation
• Acts as the departmental contact for questions received throughout the BCM review process
• Maintains the contract throughout its lifecycle (Maintenance Phase)

• NOTE: there are currently two contract reviewing teams in SPC:
  • SPC IT Contract Team - provides contract review for all IT contracts at Brown
  • SPC Contract Team - provides contract review for all other purchases of goods and services
• Reviews and approves the contract request - moving it to the Drafting phase
• Reviews the legal terms and conditions (redlining and negotiating as needed)
• Submits the draft contract for appropriate ancillary review rounds (i.e. the Office of the General Counsel, Office of Information Technology, the Information Security Group, Insurance Office, Office of the Vice President for Research, Export Control, Commerce Committee, Financial Services, etc.)
• Shepherds the contract through to the Signing phase
• Assists the department with any maintenance

• Ancillary Review Offices may include, but are not limited to:
  • Brown Technology Innovations (BTI)
  • Commerce Committee
  • Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)
  • Information Security Group (ISG) - Data Security Review (DSR)
  • Financial Services Operations
  • Insurance
  • Office of Information Technology (OIT)
  • Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
  • Office for the Vice President  for Research (OVPR)
• Reviews the contract for their area of expertise and provides feedback and suggested edits as necessary

Reviews Brown’s suggested changes or redlines and accepts/rejects/negotiates the terms with the Contract Manager

• Includes both Supplier and Brown signatories
  • Supplier Partner Signer: executes contract in compliance with their signing authority (should sign first)
  • Internal Brown Signer: executes contract in compliance with Brown University Contract Signature Authority Policy Schedule

• Maintains the BCM platform
• Monitors record retention in compliance with Brown’s Record Retention Schedule