Required Contract Clauses

The only clause that is required in all contracts is the correct identification of the College:

The College shall be identified as The Trustees of Hampshire College in all agreements and contracts. Departments and individuals may not contract in their own name on behalf of the College, but must identify the College as the contracting party. (The department may be identified in the agreement as the office though which the contract is being made.) The official College address is 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002-3359 in all contracts and agreements.

There are no other clauses that are required in all contracts; every contract is unique. There are, however, a few clauses that are required in most contracts.

The Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) Clause (see ABC Contract Clauses) ensuring compliance to accessibility standards and regulations must be included in any contract or RFP involving the purchase or procurement of EITs.

In most contracts, the College also requires an indemnity agreement and an insurance clause (see ABC Contract Clauses). The indemnity clause sets forth the legal foundation for another entity to be liable to the College for any action of the entity that brings a claim to the institution. The insurance clause, or the insurance in place because of this requirement, provides some guarantee that the entity will have the financial wherewithal to meet their indemnity obligations, if any should arise. Changes to the clauses should be made only after review by the risk manager or other legal counsel.

The most common exceptions to this rule are 1) invited speakers and 2) small professional services directly related to personal scholarship activities, such as hiring a book editor, indexer, translation, or transcription services; analysis services; or requisition of instruments or equipment. Small immediate repairs to instruments or equipment that the person hiring the services has budget authority for through his/her grants, research accounts, or faculty fellowship do not require written contracts, unless the equipment to be repaired or serviced is on campus and the work is potentially hazardous. If the contracting party has any questions, the risk manager should be consulted.