5-step Approval Process

STEP 1: College/Campus Approval:

The faculty member/college/campus identifies an opportunity for formalizing an international collaboration. The faculty member or a designated college/campus representative coordinates with the department head, college/campus international programs representative(s), and the dean or chancellor. The dean or chancellor (or a designee) must approve the formalization of the collaboration and should be consulted at the early stages of the process to ensure college/campus support. Commonwealth Campuses must seek formal support and endorsement of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses.

Colleges and campuses may have additional internal approval processes for proposing international collaboration agreements. Faculty members should contact the college/campus international programs director to clarify internal policies or procedures.

STEP 2: Submitting an International Agreement Proposal:

The next step in the process is to submit an Intent to Submit an International Agreement Proposal (IS-IAP) application. The application form will request contact information about the person requesting the collaboration (faculty champion); the name of the intended partner and their contact information; and the nature and scope of proposed collaborative activities. Additionally, the applicant must provide informal evidence (e.g., email communication between leadership and the requesting faculty champion) that college/campus leadership is aware and supportive of the potential collaboration. Finally, if the partner provides an agreement draft, it must be enclosed with the application.

Global Collaborations will review the IS-IAP and determine whether additional details are necessary to process the agreement. If the proposed agreement is merely establishing a relationship with the partner, and the partner will allow usage of Penn State’s standard Letter of Intent or Memorandum of Understanding templates, the faculty champion may not be required to submit a full International Agreement Proposal (IAP).

For program-specific, custom agreements, or when non-Penn State templates are used, the faculty champion will be invited to submit the more detailed International Agreement Proposal (IAP) application. The IAP will request information about the intended partner’s strategic alignment; history and background of the relationship; anticipated outcomes of the proposed collaboration; sustainability of the proposed collaboration; and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) impact. It will also ask for a Letter of Support (“reference letter” in InfoReady) from academic leadership (dean, chancellor, or their designees).

STEP 3: Global Collaborations Provides a Draft Agreement:

Once Global Collaborations receives all necessary information to begin processing the agreement, either a Penn State templated agreement or program-specific custom agreement will be shared with the faculty champion for review, edits, and/or acceptance. If the partner institution provides a template or a draft agreement, it should be submitted as part of the IAP process (see Step 2). Global Programs will review the draft, coordinate the internal Penn State approval, and provide faculty champion or the college/campus designee with an approved version.

STEP 4: Global Collaborations Negotiates with Collaborating Institution:

Once the faculty champion accepts the draft, Global Collaborations will share it with the intended partner institution for their review, edits, and/or approval. The extent of negotiation will depend on the complexity of the agreement and the number of regulatory offices involved in the process. During this stage, the partner will be asked to provide the names and titles of all signatories for their institution.  (NOTE: Intended partner signatures are NOT obtained at this stage.  Global Collaborations will obtain ALL necessary signatures after the final version of the draft has been approved for signing).  The collaborating institution will be reminded that Penn State will still require final approval before the agreement can be signed.

STEP 5: Final Penn State Approval and Signing:

  • Global Collaborations coordinates the internal approval of the final version of the agreement.  
  • Penn State offices that may be consulted include the following:  Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the Graduate School, Office of Technology Management, and the Vice President of Commonwealth Campuses (VPCC).
  • Global Collaborations coordinates all legal matters with the Office of General Counsel in conjunction with Risk Management. See University policy AD49.
  • Global Collaborations coordinates checks and clearances (signatories and main contacts) against key U.S. government lists with the office of Export Control.
  • Global Collaborations then seeks final approval from the offices of Risk Management, Export Control, and/or General Counsel.
  • Global Collaborations collects the Penn State stakeholder signatures via Adobe Sign.
  • Global Collaborations then shares the partially signed agreement with the partner via email with a request for either original or electronic signature(s).
  • Once the agreement is fully signed, Global Collaborations will keep an electronic copy of the fully executed agreement on file in a central agreements database for University reporting.