Guidelines for Partnership Approvals
Any academic or professional member of staff in any School or College may initiate a proposal for the development of an academic partnership or collaborative programme. The nature of the partnership determines the amount and type of information required to approve the proposal, for example, a joint-degree award programme with a new partner requires more information and more detailed review than a student exchange with an existing partner. In this way, the level of analysis of the process of approval for new collaborative arrangements is to ensure they are in line with the scale and the level of risk associated with the partnership. UCD Global has developed an online database with information about all its existing international partners (called ‘Rowan’) and this database (available in InfoHub and managed by UCD Global) should be checked in the first instance to identify whether there is an existing relationship with the proposed partner.
Any proposal for a new global partnership should comply with the following principles which will be used to address the suitability of a proposed collaboration.
The proposal should:
- Be consistent with UCD's global engagement strategic priorities
- Be with highly regarded institutions which are selected strategically, with whom we share common aims and interests and with whom we can build sustainable and mutually beneficial alliances.
- Contribute positively to the University’s national and international standing.
Considerations for Approvals for UCD Staff
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Local Approval
The collaboration should be approved by School and College executives. This step will also identify if there are programmatic elements that need to be approved by the University Programmes Board or University Management Team (UMT).
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The Global Engagement Group (UMT GEG)
Submissions to UMT GEG should be made to global.partnerships@ucd.ie. GEG seeks assurances that the proposal has been scrutinised and has the full support of the College both academically and financially and that it aligns with the University Strategy and College strategic planning. In addition, it looks for evidence that consideration has been given to the reputation of the proposed partner institution and the risk associated with the proposed collaboration.
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University Management Approval
University management will only consider international agreements that have been endorsed by UMT GEG. All agreements endorsed by UMT GEG will be escalated to UMT for approval.
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Signature
Only the President or a University Officer formally authorised in writing to act on the President’s behalf is entitled to establish a contractual relationship with any partner institution. The President will only consider agreements which have been approved by UMT.