Introductory Paragraph

This Agreement (hereinafter "Agreement") is made and entered into by and between TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, a public institution of higher education in the State of Texas (hereinafter "TTUHSC"), on behalf of its School of _______, Department of _______, _______ campus, and [LEGAL NAME OF OTHER ENTITY, describe legal status] (hereinafter "___x____").

Both TTUHSC and ___x____ are also referred to herein as "Party" or, collectively, "Parties".

Unnecessary "Effective" Dates

Please DO NOT begin contracts with the following problematic language:

This agreement made on the ________ day of __________, 1997, between...

This language has caused problems in the past and has no bearing on the contract itself.

In most cases, the only effective dates that must be included in the contract are the start and end dates. It is highly desirable that the start and end dates be specified only once in a contract, and that they be placed together with any contract termination provisions. When any other feature of the contract seems to require an effective date, discuss the issue with the Director of Contracting in order to insure that such a date is properly stated with regard to the Rules and Regulations of the TTU System Board of Regents and with the TTUHSC Operating Policies and Procedures.

The execution date of a contract is usually understood to be the date that the contract is signed by the last person who needs to sign the contract. It may be important to be able to distinguish between multiple documents based on the date of a signature. Obviously, it is desirable for the execution date to be no later than the start date.