Establishing an Agreement

Proposals for new international agreements should be discussed at the outset with Elizabeth Angerman and the international liaison of the initiating college.

In order to ensure tangible outcomes, all international collaborations must be initiated and driven by faculty members and academic units at Ohio State in collaboration with the international partner. 

International partners should identify the specific department/unit of interest and initiate discussions about potential areas of collaboration. After the connection is made, it will be possible to construct more formalized ties that promise a measurable impact on activities for both partners. The more concrete the collaborative interests are from both sides, the better the result.

The Office of International Affairs will assist formalizing an agreement between the two parties.

Steps for establishing international partnerships

The Office of International Affairs follows university, state and federal policies in development and management of new international agreements. This requires liaising with various Ohio State stakeholders, including, but not limited to the Office of Research Compliance, the Office of Legal Affairs, the Graduate School, the Office of Distance Education and eLearning, and the Office of Business and Finance.

1. The initiating faculty discusses the agreement proposal with the international liaison of the initiating college and the Office of International Affairs (contact OIA-InternationalPartnerships@osu.edu).
2. The initiating faculty completes the Concept Statement Proposal Form and emails OIA-InternationalPartnerships@osu.edu the completed form. If the agreement is a renewal of an existing agreement, the faculty submits a Renewal Statement Form.
3. The Office of International Affairs and the Office of Research Compliance conduct a mandated screening of the international partner (Visual Compliance Restricted Party Screening).
4. The Office of International Affairs, the college international liaison, the initiating faculty, or the international partner develops a draft of the agreement using the appropriate template and emails the draft to OIA-InternationalPartnerships@osu.edu.
5. The Office of International Affairs works with Ohio State’s Office of Legal Affairs to obtain approval of the agreement draft.
6. The Office of International Affairs negotiates the final content of the agreement draft with the international partner.
7. If the agreement is to be executed in two languages, the international partner provides the translation of the final version of the English draft via email to OIA-InternationalPartnerships@osu.edu. The Office of International Affairs certifies the accuracy of the translated version.
8. The college international liaison coordinates the review of the final agreement draft with the college senior fiscal officer and emails the completed Resource Commitment Approval (RCA) Memo to OIA-InternationalPartnerships@osu.edu.
9. Both Ohio State and international partners review and approve the final agreement draft.
10. The Office of International Affairs coordinates the signing process of the agreement. Signatures may be obtained in any order, depending on the preference of the partners. Once all signatures are obtained, one original is archived at the Office of International Affairs and one is kept by the international partner.