Personal Service Agreements Procedures

1. When to Use a PSA
• Choosing a PSA versus a Purchase Order
• PSA versus Employee
• Consultant versus Subgrantee
2. PSA Components
3. The PSA Process
4. Completing a PSA 
   • Outline of a Legally Sufficient Contract
5. The Corporate or Certified Resolution
6. Amending a PSA
7. Tracking a PSA
8. Assistance
9. Forms
10. Helpful Links

When to Use a PSA

Choosing a PSA versus a Purchase Order

A Personal Service Agreement (PSA) is to be used to cover the acquisition of services that are infrequent and unique, primarily noncompetitive in nature, and where the employer/employee relationship does not exist.  A PSA must always be used to issue subgrants.  It is also appropriate to use it for consultants who provide professional or technical services that fall under the above definition.

A Purchase Order is the correct instrument to pay for consulting services that are routine vendor-type services.  A Purchase Order needs to be used for all services that require competitive bids.

PSA versus Employee

PSAs are not to be used in place of hiring regular full-time, part-time, or temporary employees. A PSA is furthermore not appropriate for the hiring of individuals to teach classes or to perform work that has been recognized as belonging to one of the collective bargaining units within the State System. 

Retired members of the State Employee Retirement System cannot be placed on PSAs. Instead, they are to be placed on Special Payroll in 120-day positions.

If an employer/employee relationship exists and the contractor is acting as an employee, the department needs to contact the Department of Human Resources for information and assistance.  If in doubt, contact the OSP Contracts Assistant, Jillian Lopez, at (860) 486-4674 or jillian.lopez@uconn.edu and she will provide you with a list of questions that will help make the determination.

Grant-funded research collaborations usually involve issuing a subaward to the collaborating institution. The State of Connecticut requires that a Personal Service Agreement is used to issue a subaward. A Personal Service Agreement must also be used to contract for consulting services. All grant-funded Personal Service Agreements must be reviewed by the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) before they are sent to and signed by the subrecipient or consultant.

Consultant versus Subgrantee

A subgrantee is usually an institution that collaborates with the UConn principal investigator (PI).  The subgrantee performs and has responsibility for part of a sponsored project.  Its services are of a specialized and specific nature and cannot be performed by UConn.  A subgrantee is normally reimbursed for expenses in accordance with a budget.  UConn has the responsibility to monitor subgrantee performance.

A consultant is usually an individual, but may be an organization.  The consultant assists the UConn PI. Consulting services are primarily advisory in nature and address a clearly delineated problem.  A consultant is normally paid based on an hourly or daily rate or based on a fixed price for deliverables. PSAs for individual consultants cannot have a term of more than one year. Such PSAs may be extended or renewed.

The PSA Process

All grant-funded PSAs must be forwarded to the Office for Sponsored Programs.  After review, the OSP will forward the PSA to the subgrantee or consultant for approval and signature.  After University approval and signature, OSP will forward all PSAs over $3,000 to the Office of the Attorney General on campus for legal review, and they in turn will forward the agreement to the Hartford Attorney General's office for approval.   
It is in violation of State Policies and Procedures to split a contract for the purpose of avoiding the above process.

UConn shall assume no liability for payment of services until the contractor is notified that the PSA has been accepted by UConn and, if applicable, the Attorney General.

Amending a PSA

A PSA must be amended for any of the following reasons:

• The scope of the project has changed;
• The terms and conditions of the contract have changed;
• The contract dates have changed;
• The costs involving the contract have changed;
• The payment schedule has changed; or
• The contract's end date requires extension.

Please contact Jillian Lopez at (860) 486-4674 or jillian.lopez@uconn.edu if an amendment needs to be issued.  Amendments must be submitted to the Office for Sponsored Programs a minimum of 30 days prior to the termination date of the original contract.  An amendment to a PSA CANNOT be processed if the original contract has expired. In this case, a new original PSA will need to be initiated.

Tracking a PSA

Personal Service Agreement approval process can now be tracked in InfoEd through the related proposal screen. All relevant contracts are tracked under the agreements tab. A more detailed explanation of this process can be found here .

Assistance

Grant-funded PSAs have to be submitted to the Contracts Specialist in the Office for Sponsored Programs, Jillian Lopez. She can be contacted by phone at (860) 486-4674 or by email.

If you have any questions concerning this proces, or need assistance in completing any of the forms, please contact the Office for Sponsored Programs. In addition, you may seek online advice on the webpage of the Office of the Attorney General at UConn.

Forms

• Late Submittal Form

Helpful Links

• Office of the Attorney General
• Connecticut Office of Policy and Management
• Connecticut State Code of Ethics