Contract Signature Authority

The President is the only signature authority for San Juan College; therefore all contracts (agreements, memo's of understanding, etc.)  that bind San Juan College require the President’s (or a designated appointee’s) signature.

Before the President signs any such documents, Administrative Services must first review the documents, please allow at least four business days for the department to complete the review and obtain presidential signature.  The following steps/information should be useful:

• Preferably two original documents should be created.
• Documents should identify San Juan College, not specific schools or departments, as the contracted authority.  However schools or departments are responsible for the specific details of the contracts and should ensure that all pertinent information is provided on the documents when submitted to Administrative Services for review.  Do not leave any unfilled blanks, etc. This includes adding the President's name and title on the signature pages.
• The schools or departments should assign appropriate College employees as "project managers" for the contracts.  These individuals are responsible for ensuring that the College meets all contractual obligations and, therefore, should read, initial, and date in the bottom right hand corner of each page of the documents.  By initialing, the individuals acknowledge they have read the documents, reviewed for accuracy, and agree to the terms.
• Submit the documents to the Administrative Assistant for the Vice President for Administrative Services, who reviews for initials, etc., logs, and forwards to the coordinator.  Most contracts, etc. include indemnification and other insurance clauses/sections that must be carefully reviewed and may be edited and/or completely replaced at this stage of the review because the State of New Mexico is prohibited from extending free public liability fund coverage to private third party contractors because of the “Anti-Donation Clause” contained in the New Mexico Constitution (Article IV, Section 14) therefore San Juan College cannot additional insure or indemnify any third party.
• The Associate Vice President (and, as needed, the Vice President) then reviews and forwards the documents to the President for signature. 
• Upon Presidential approval,  copies are given to the coordinator and the original documents are returned to the college departments that initiated the process.
• At any time, during the review and signature process, departments should contact the Administrative Services Administrative Assistant as to the documents' status as each stage is tracked and logged.
• The departments then work to obtain the final signatures from the third parties.
• Once the documents are fully executed, the departments must return either one original or copy with all signatures to the Coordinator for the College's contract files.

Should departments have any questions or concerns regarding contracts, agreements, etc. please contact our office for assistance.