- UC Santa Barbara enters into agreements that support the interests of faculty and academic units in furthering international research and academic work. Formal written agreements are required whenever an international collaboration involves the following:
- The ongoing exchange of students and/or faculty between collaborating institutions.
- The ongoing commitment includes short term use of university resources (space, lab equipment, etc.).
Agreements may be initiated by UC Santa Barbara faculty or departments, or by an international university or institution. UC Santa Barbara affiliates should refer to the section on Guidelines which provides detailed information on UC Santa Barbara’s international agreement development and approval process. The UC Santa Barbara faculty member affiliated with the collaboration is the responsible party at UC Santa Barbara for providing the oversight and administration of all activities specified in the agreement.
The MOU and Collaboration Agreement templates available on the website take the guess work out of what should go into these documents. The templates have been reviewed and approved by all relevant campus offices. They include all necessary clauses to ensure compliance with UC Santa Barbara and UC policies and standards. Additionally, utilizing the language in the templates will minimize the time necessary for edits, reviews and approvals.
While there are many varieties of formal agreements for international collaborations, UC Santa Barbara employs two primary types: the MOU and the Collaboration Agreement. Appropriate approval and authorization is required for both. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a non-legally binding document that states a general desire to cooperate in certain broad areas. The MOU makes no promises on behalf of UC Santa Barbara, and states that both parties will enter into specific written agreements that define the nature and terms of proposed collaborations. The MOU format is recommended when partner institutions are either in the initial stages of collaborative discussions or when partners do not wish to commit to specific undertakings. The Collaboration Agreement specifies commitments for cooperation, exchanges, or other intellectual pursuits. Collaboration Agreements must be entered into with careful consideration, as they define commitments of resources, acceptance of obligations.
UC Santa Barbara recognizes that partner institutions may also have developed standard language and formats for international agreements. While UCSB Global Engagement will review international agreements regardless of the source, utilizing the language provided in the MOU and Collaboration Agreement templates will minimize the time necessary for edits, reviews and approvals. If a UC Santa Barbara faculty or staff member is approached by a partner institution to review their MOU or agreement template, please refer them to the UCSB Global Engagement website to review UC Santa Barbara’s templates. Ask the partner institution to highlight the required language in their template and to highlight language in the UC Santa Barbara template that they prefer to remove. You may email these documents to ipianalto@ucsb.edu for review and recommendations.
- Signing ceremonies are events in which some or all signatories to an agreement meet in person to sign the document. Such events are generally proposed for purposes of goodwill. They are not required to implement an agreement. The decision to host or attend a signing ceremony is up to the faculty representative named in the agreement and leadership within their unit. Some factors to weigh when choosing whether to host a signing ceremony on our campus, or to attend a ceremony abroad, include:
- Funding: there is no central funding available to support signing ceremonies. The faculty representative is responsible for consulting with unit leadership to determine whether any proposed expenditure of funds is appropriate.
- Logistical support: there is no central office that provides supportive services for signing ceremonies. The faculty representative is responsible for coordinating signing ceremonies.
Neither one of these agreements is applicable. Any transfer of funds by one party to another requires a separate agreement in accordance with policies and procedures applicable to the specific transaction.
Any agreement that requires Academic Senate review will need at least 6-8 weeks. Agreements that deviate from the UC Santa Barbara templates may need additional time for review.