Beginning in mid-January, FMS Procurement Services is conducting a pilot with a small, initial group of participants called the Premium Contract Service. The Premium Contract Service is a paid service ($400 per contract) that provides direct oversight and prioritization of the contract outside of the standard queue. With this service, a dedicated contract officer will:

  • Manage your contract’s movement through the entire process.
  • Follow up closely with each party involved in the contract, at each stage.
  • Ensure that review and processing times within Procurement are as short as possible.

How were pilot participants selected?

In November 2024, Procurement Services reached out to individuals who had previously selected rush processing of a contract request and invited them to participate in the pilot. Confirmations were sent to participants the week of January 6 with instructions on how to participate (also noted in the accordion below). The pilot participant list is currently closed, but if you are interested in participating in the future, please contact: Patricia Moss (pmoss@stanford.edu).

How does it work?

Starting January 13, a new question will appear in the SmartMart Contracts Background Information section (see example image below). By default, all users will see “No” selected for this question. Pilot participants will change the answer to “Yes” to be prompted through the rest of the pilot process. Contract requestors who are not participating in the pilot should leave the answer “No.”

What happens next?

During the pilot, Procurement Services will engage with participants to assess their overall experience and benefit of the service. The pilot will run until Spring 2025, at which point the next steps of the service will be determined. Pilot participants will be communicated with at this time to keep them informed.

Questions?

  • Questions about the pilot? Contact: Patricia Moss (pmoss@stanford.edu)
  • Questions about submitting a Contract Request? Submit a Support Request
     

Pilot participants were notified in early January of their selection for the pilot. They should have received the following communications. If not, please reach out to Patricia Moss (pmoss@stanford.edu).


How the pilot will work

Starting January 13, you’ll see a new question in the SmartMart Contracts Background Information section. By default, all users will see “No” selected for this question.

For pilot participants:

  1. Select “Yes” to the question “Are you a Premium Contract Service pilot participant”  to enable the Premium Contract Service option for your contract request. Please always select “Yes” during the pilot regardless if you plan to use the premium service so we are able to obtain accurate metrics for the pilot. 
  2. If you’d like to use the premium service for the contract request that you are in the process of submitting, answer “Yes” to the second question: “Would you like Premium processing of this request for a fee of $400?”
  3. Otherwise, answer “No” to this question and no additional questions related to the Premium Service will be asked.
  4. If you answered “Yes” to use the service for this contract request, you will then be asked to enter the PTA (Project-Task-Award) information for the $400 fee in the provided field. Note: Must use a non-sponsored PTA. The $400 fee will be processed via a iJournal transfer, including the description: “Premium Contract Service”, (Contract Request No.), (Requester Name).

Tips for success

  • Get approval for the $400 fee before submitting your request.
  • Confirm with your department which PTA to use for the fee.
  • Notify your PTA Finance Approver(s) to expect a iJournal request with the fee description.
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