The University of Miami enters international agreements to establish formal partnerships with collaborators outside of the United States. UM’s agreements provide the frameworks for international partnership and activities over a specific timeframe and offer the terms for renewing collaborations. Together with with General Counsel's Office, the Hemispheric and Global Affairs, together with the General Counsel Offi is responsible for drafting and vetting all international agreements and supports the signing of agreements by UM’s leadership.
Collaboration Agreements create formal linkages between the partnering institutions and provide a broad framework for collaborative activities. Collaboration Agreements do not commit UM resources to the partnership, as those details must be clearly identified and described in Specific Agreements. A Collaboration Agreement is signed by a University of Miami officer with the appropriate permissions according to the University’s signature authority policy and a counterpart at the partner entity.
Specific Agreements provide detailed information on the scope of international collaborative activities, including the commitment of resources and acceptance of obligations by the partner units where applicable. These agreements are flexible in commitment and their terms are vetted to assure compliance with University policy.
Additional Specific Agreements may be signed as new partnership opportunities emerge or if additional units become interested in collaborating with an established partner institution. Specific Agreements are signed by a University of Miami officer with the appropriate permissions according to the University’s signature authority policy and a counterpart at the partner entity.
A Student Exchange Agreement establishes the terms and conditions for the exchange of students between the University of Miami and institutions of higher education abroad. This agreement includes the academic levels to be included in the exchange program, fields or disciplines of exchange, period, implementation of exchange, responsibilities of the home and host universities, responsibilities of the students and designated administrative officials at the partner universities.
In all cases, the University of Miami requires certain information to be included in the agreements it signs. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Before starting the process to establish an international agreement, it is important that the University of Miami community assess the merits of the partnership and its benefit to UM. Some questions to consider include:
In order to be valid, all international agreements require appropriate approval and authorization and must be routed through The Hemispheric and Global Affairs prior to being shared with a proposed partner. When receiving agreements from an international partner, the agreement will be routed through the Hemispheric and Global Affairs for approvals from legal counsel and University leadership.
Using the above questions as a guideline, consider the key reasons for forming a partnership and how success would be defined (e.g., what are the anticipated outputs and outcomes).
University of Miami faculty or staff who wish to propose an international agreement should first reach out to the Office of the Hemispheric and Global Affairs to begin the approval process and have the support from the Dean or corresponding Director.
It is essential that proposed international activities are discussed with unit administrators in advance to ensure that there will be resources available to support the partnership.
Once submitted, proposed agreements will be reviewed by the Office of the Hemispheric and Global Affairs and other relevant units to ensure compliance with University of Miami guidelines.
The Hemispheric and Global Affairs will work closely with the proposing University of Miami faculty or staff in drafting the agreement, supporting the negotiation and obtaining the signature of the parties for execution of the agreement.