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  • Open Comment Period: June 5 - June 16, 2015

    Jun 5, 2015 8:30 am by OBFS Policy Administrator

    In this Open Comment: New Contract for Procurement of Services under $10,000

    The Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS) is planning to replace the Professional & Artistic under $5000 Contract Template with a new Procurement of Services under $10,000 contract template. This template is for non-recurring purchases that allows the Department Head to sign the unmodified template as a Comptroller Delegate and submit the contract for payment through Travel Expense Management (TEM).

    This new template:

    1. Specifically identifies the pool of services not allowed.
    2. Increases the dollar threshold from under $5,000 to under $10,000.
    3. Reflects the most up-to-date University contract terms and State requirements/certifications.

    The template will continue to allow the Department Unit Head to sign the unmodified template as Comptroller delegate, and payment for a properly executed Procurement of Services under $10,000 contract may still be processed directly through TEM.  The rules for using the template relating to modifications and attachments, amendments, and payment are unchanged and addressed in the instructions.

    For review during this open comment period are:

    1. Draft instructions for use of the template, amendment template, and the payment requirements.
    2. Draft Procurement of Services contract template.
    3. Draft one-time Procurement of Services contract amendment template.

    For you convenience all three documents have been combined into one PDF document. Please view the document using the link below.

    Procurement of Services Under $10,000 - Documents

    To leave feedback, please use the "Add Comment" link below. On the next screen, choose the "Sign in with my NetID" option and log in with your University credentials. Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until approved.

    You may also submit a comment without posting to the feedback board by contacting obfspolicies@uillinois.edu.

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    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    The higher limit is great but I echo others concern about how you differentiate between fee and travel expenses. Oftentimes we have to do an estimate on travel expenses and include the language "not to exceed" a specified amount.

    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    * The higher limit would be very nice.
    * The compensation section (4.1) needs to allow for comments or split between fee and travel reimbursement. We use this extensively now and I feel it alleviates a lot of confusion. Perhaps a not to exceed? Or is travel reimbursement not to be included in the contract?
    * What office will provide guidance regarding the certifications?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    I like the increase in the dollar limit! I questions actually piggyback on two others. My concern is using the same vendor with different scopes of work....is this possible since the limit is one time payment. We use the same vendor multiple times throughout the year, but different scopes of work and different funds are paying. Also, can we determine when the payment is made, say 1/2 way through the work or do we have to wait till the entire job is completed to process payment....I agree with another comment made..making the vendor wait for one payment is going to be hard to get the vendor to agree to this contact.

    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    "In order to use this contract template, the department and vendor must agree that the University will make only one payment after all services are completed. The one-time payment is processed through the University Payables TEM system."
    *My concern with the limit to one payment per contract is that many of the professional/artistic services we currently access would not be okay to wait months to a year to receive payment. The organizations with whom we contract depend on our funding to keep their businesses running; they are not able to essentially front the money while waiting for reimbursement.
    *The higher limit is a great improvement!
    *Question: is this contract fund-specific? If we have 2 like funds that both access a P/A services from an organization, do we need 2 contracts?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    I agree the higher limit is great! Need some clarification on one-time use. Does this mean we can use a vendor only once in its entire lifetime? Or is it once every fiscal year (or 12-month period)? I ask this because on the Amendment form under instructions for modifying the Scope of Services, there is a Note in parenthesis that seems to imply there could be more than one contract for a vendor - if it is a different Scope of Services. In other words, can we use the same vendor multiple times as long the Scope of Services is different in each contract and is less than $10k? Or is this still stringing?

    pczarn2@uic.edu Aug 1, 2016 2:57 pm

    * I like the higher limit.
    * We have many instances where we would like to pay contractors more than one time. One time works for halftime entertainment acts, but we would need to pay stat crew members, PA announcers, other game/event staff more than once per year (i.e. fall season, winter season, spring season). Will this be possible with this new template?