Rationale

UofL has instituted a centralized sponsorship program to:

• Create added value for the institution and its community and ensure the university is realizing the maximum opportunity from every sponsorship agreement
• Maintain a central repository of all sponsorships to avoid legal conflicts or agreements that devalue the institution. Units entering into independent sponsorship agreements without prior approval from OCM and/or Purchasing may violate existing, university-wide contracts or sponsorship agreements.
• Protect the university from misrepresentation of its name and harm to its reputation; and safeguard the integrity of the UofL brand. This includes protection of our students by vetting companies that want to directly market to our campus community; and ensuring sponsorship partners align with the university and its values.
• Provide guidance to university units and programs; help prevent conflict-of-interest issues; and ensure compliance with university policies

Procedures

• All current or future sponsorship marketing agreements, inclusive of extensions and renewal of grandfathered agreements, must be communicated to, reviewed by and approved by OCM.
• Any activity that grants a non-university entity access to promote or share its name, products and/or services to the campus community—faculty, staff, students, alumni and visitors—must be communicated to, reviewed by and approved by OCM.
• OCM is the only department with authorized signatory authority on sponsorship agreements. Individual units or departments should not reach out to, or contract directly with, a sponsor on behalf of the university (unless a policy exception is granted by OCM).
• Units that are contacted by non-university entities seeking to partner with the university to sponsor programs or events; or market its name, products and/or services to the campus community should be referred to the university’s exclusive sponsorship broker, Learfield Communications.
• Agreements that provide marketing access to university audiences en masse—including students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors—are managed and executed by OCM in partnership with the Department of Purchasing.
• OCM will be present on any department-specific Request for Proposals where sponsorship or marketing value could be a portion of agreement with the potential vendor, as determined by OCM and Purchasing.
• Anyone responsible for compliance of any type is responsible for notifying OCM of any prohibitions relative to sponsorship.