MOU Guidelines
Global Partnerships Start Here
Faculty and administrators are encouraged to collaborate to advance NC State’s goal of integrating global perspectives into the university’s academic and research mission. NC State Global facilitates the process of global partnership development for all university-wide collaborations by establishing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) or agreements with institutions outside of the United States.
MOU and International Cooperative Agreements must be authorized by the Chancellor or Provost to protect NC State from unplanned financial or legal obligations.
Consulting with NC State Global is the first step to successful global partnership-building in all scenarios. Our staff support faculty and administrators throughout the process to ensure quality international programming and partnerships that best suit your needs.
Global Partnership Categories
Global partnerships have a defined purpose such as facilitating research collaboration, hosting a visiting scholar, or establishing a student exchange program, 3+X program or dual degree program. These relationships, while in alignment with internationalization goals, typically fulfill a specific purpose or narrower interest of a particular college, department or individual faculty.
Key partnerships are relationships that involve priority academic programming or research collaboration typically at the college level or focused on a specific topic such as Global Health, Sustainability, Data Science or Entrepreneurship. These are characterized by substantive faculty involvement and/or specific educational or training programs for students.
Strategic global partnerships are multi-faceted relationships in terms of opportunities for students, faculty and staff. They are also defined by multi-disciplinary engagement that includes at least three Colleges, commitment of institutional investments (whether seed funding or incentives for faculty exchange, student mobility support, etc.) from both institutions or the intention to provide in-kind support for active engagement (e.g. space, access to facilities, administrative support, etc.). These comprehensive relationships foster synergies and can have greater impact on internationalization priorities on campus and abroad. See Appendix C for the strategic global partnership parameters.
Consortia – University networks that leverage multilateral collaboration, as well as promoting bilateral exchanges and program development among member institutions. Examples include the UGPN (University Global Partnership Network) and the AC21 (Academic Consortium 21). These complement and enhance the activities with some of our bilateral global partnerships.
Global Hubs (e.g. NC State European Center in Prague) – dedicated facilities, space and infrastructure overseas to support study abroad programs and serve as a gateway for faculty to organize scholarly workshops and academic symposia, as well as connect with partners in the region and beyond. New hubs can leverage existing global partners for academic programs, joint research, visiting scholar/researcher exchanges, alumni engagement, relationship building and liaising with government and sponsorship organizations.
How to Establish New MOU and Agreements
- Consult the Office of Global Engagement
NC State Global maintains records of all existing agreements that may be useful in preparation of a new partnerships and has information about NC State, Board of Governors, state, and federal policies that may impact the planned collaboration. - Allocate Resources
If necessary, initiating units must ensure that resources to support the agreement are available through the department, college, or university. - Draft Agreement
The agreement is reviewed by NC State Global and the Office of General Counsel for consistency with NC State policies and procedures. - Partner Review
The draft agreement is forwarded to the partner institution(s) for their review. NC State Global and the initiating unit negotiate with the partner institution(s) as needed to achieve consensus on a final agreement. - Sign Agreement
Two originals are signed by all parties. One is kept by NC State Global and logged into the Global Partners Database. The other original is forwarded to the partner institution for their records. Signature authority for all MOU and agreements reside with the Chancellor or Provost. Agreements without authorized signatures are not valid.