You are currently an employee in a government agency/nonprofit which is considering entering a contract with either a nonprofit or for-profit entity/agency. (Four different possible fact scenarios are provided below; however, please feel free to create your own scenario if you so desire.) Your manager has approached you and said that they are wanting ideas on how the contract should be drafted. Accordingly, they have asked that you write a sample agreement with only the following provisions: (1) A statement of the purpose of the contract, (2) A description of the parties involved, (3) The basic transaction that will take place between the parties, (4) provisions on when the agreement will take place, and when it will terminate; (5) At least two other separate components which you feel are important to the contract (such as notice provisions, whether/how much liquidated damages should be awarded if one party should breach the agreement, whether any party should be limited from potential liability that could arise, whether any party makes warranties about the contract and its circumstances to the other party, etc.). While your manager does not need the entire contract drafted, they are excited to hear what your thoughts are on what is best for the city in this agreement.
Potential scenarios:
1) You work in the contract department of the City of Atlanta. Because you have an MPA and took Law for Public Managers, your boss asks you to prepare a draft contract for the City to contract with a nonprofit or for-profit entity to operate the City of Atlanta’s water department. Apparently your new boss is new and does not know about the problems that occurred when the city contracted before for water services.
2) You work at Goodwill Industries. The mission of this organization is helping unemployed individuals become self-sufficient. The State of Georgia has approached Goodwill Industries about providing job training and employment services to recipients of assistance through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as the Food Stamp Program). A pilot program in several Georgia counties requires healthy adult SNAP recipients to be employed. Although there are a number of skilled social workers at Goodwill Industries, no one has any experience with contracting. Because you took PMAP 8411, your boss asks you to draft a contract with the state to provide these services.
3) You work in Dr. Mark Becker’s office. As the president of Georgia States University, he is concerned about police services on the campus. He has decided that the campus police are not doing the job that needs to be done. He wants to enter into a contract with the City of Atlanta to provide police services for Georgia State University. Knowing you have an MPA, he asked you to draft a proposed contract with the City of Atlanta.
4) You work for the Office of Government and Community Affairs at Georgia State University. Your assignment is to deal with requests for the use of Georgia State University facilities. Most of the requests are for the use of university space for meetings or conferences. The director of the office comes running into your office with an excited look on her face. She has just been contacted by the Governor’s Office and told that the AMC Networks, Inc. wants to film the final episode of The Walking Dead television series on the Georgia State University campus. Because you know what you are doing, she wants you to draft a contract with AMC.
Grading Rubric
One third of your grade will be given based on your attempting to provide each of the five pieces of information requested.
One third of your grade will be graded based on correct grammar and spelling. Please use the present tense and active voice in your writing, and make sure that the correct contractual terms are used. (For instance, make sure you use “shall” when a party must act in a particular way during the contract, and use “may” if a party has discretion on whether they act or not.) Please do not feel like you need to use “lawyer-like” language; in fact, avoiding such language will be rewarded.
The last third of your grade will be the structure of the transaction you propose. A contract with vague terms will receive less points, while a contract which provides specific guidelines will receive more points. For instance, a contract may say “[this party] will pay $10,000,” but it is better to include a date when that amount is actually due. Don’t feel uncomfortable making up dates, schedules, or payment amounts, as your manager understands that this will be reviewed prior to finalizing the contract.