Process

Stage 1: Information Collection, Restricted Persons/Parties (RPS) Screening, Instrument Selection and Document Preparation

  1. The responsible faculty/staff member or a delegate completes and submits the Information Collection Form (IC Form).The Office of Global Partnerships (OGP)* and the respective Global Academic Committee (GAC) representative(s) will automatically receive and then review the form.  
  2. OGP will search the global linkages database for existing agreements as well as conduct a Restricted Party Search (RPS). OGP, in consultation with the GAC representative(s),will help the faculty member determine the necessity and/or desirability of the proposed agreement and the best instrument for an agreement given the proposed scope. Ultimately, OGP and the GAC representative(s) will help ensure that the proposed agreement aligns with department, college, and institutional academic priorities.  As appropriate, the Head of the Department/School and Dean of the College/School may also be consulted during this stage.
  3. If it is determined that the agreement is not necessary, the responsible faculty/staff member will inform the overseas contact.

Stage 2: Document Review, Approval, and Signing

  1. After completing all steps in Stage 1, if a standard template LOI or MOU is being pursued, OGP will process the case and will provide a draft agreement to the faculty/staff member and GAC member if one has not already been provided.
  2. If the desired agreement is non-standard and has already been provided by the partner institution, the faculty/staff member should review the proposed agreement and ensure they are in agreement with the proposed collaborations before forwarding a draft for review to OGP and the GAC representative(s). OGP will review the document before routing it to Associate Counsel for Administrative Operations Ben Terhune for legal review (or Associate Vice President and Senior Counsel, University Partnerships and Digital Education Jonas Burgett in the case of Purdue Online agreements).
  3. When an Activity Agreement is sought and no agreement has been provided for review by the international partner, the faculty/staff lead should consult OGP and may use this AA template as a starting point and then forward it to OGP and the GAC representative(s). OGP will review the document before routing it to Associate Counsel for Administrative Operations Ben Terhune for negotiation (or Associate Vice President and Senior Counsel, University Partnerships and Digital Education Jonas Burgett in the case of Purdue Online agreements).
  4. For academic articulation agreements, including 2+2 programs, 3+1+1, and similar, the appropriate academic decision makers in each department/college must also provide approval in addition to International Enrollment Management, International Student Services, and the Provost's Office. Agreements involving graduate programs must also be reviewed by Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars Haley Oliver.
  5. Once all Purdue parties mentioned in steps 1 or 2 have approved the document, the faculty/staff member may themselves send the document directly to the overseas partner/authorized signatories, or, if requested, OGP/legal counsel may conduct this step if the faculty/staff member prefers.
  6. Signature authority: For Purdue, all MOUs and Activity Agreements are signed by the Senior Vice President for Partnerships. In addition, all dual-degree program/articulation agreements must also be signed by the Department Head, Dean and the Provost. The Interim Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars must also sign for dual-degree master's/PhD programs. For a Letter of Intent (LOI), Department Head, Dean, Provost, Center Director, or their designee are allowed to sign for Purdue. 

Note: Purdue’s President does not routinely sign international partnership documents.

Stage 3: Record Keeping

Once any of the three instruments is signed, the faculty/staff member should send an original and/or scanned executed copy to the international partner (as per the partner's preference) and a scanned copy to OGP. Ultimately, agreements are recorded in two places: 1) the global linkages database and 2) the COEUS database OR Legal Counsel database.

* Director of Global Partnerships, Heidi Arola, is responsible for international agreements at this time (harola@purdue.edu). Assistant Director Juan Velasquez oversees Latin America agreements (jvelasqu@purdue.edu).

** For steps on drafting and approving Student Exchange Agreements, refer to Exchange Partners

Note:  At Purdue, an “Exchange Student” is typically an undergraduate student who changes registration status and pays their tuition and fees at their home institution in order to enroll as a non-degree student at the host institution as part of a reciprocal agreement between institutions.