Cooperation-agreement-template-JOIMAN.doc

September 2009Cooperation Agreement TemplateIntroductionThis template is not a model as such. A lot of agreements have been set up by consortia where partners have the choice to describe important points useful for the cooperation in the framework of joint programs leading to joint or double degrees. This document is a sort of framework with the checklist of important elements helping institutions to avoid problems, conflicts or loosing time to solve them.Some examples have been given just to see what kind of things could be discussed among the partners. Such a checklist has been tested by 7 countries (No, Fr, It, Sp, Po, Fi,D) and has been read by international officers, lawyers acting at the university level and academics. In the framework of Joiman, it has been discussed by all representatives of the countries involved (15).General Comments:- An agreement should not be too long otherwise nobody will read it;- An agreement should be available at least for some years (3 to 5). Annual data should be avoided in this framework;- Flexible annexes should be included where a lot of procedures, details, annual data are given;- If sentences are redundant between the agreement and the annexes, the main philosophy is described in the agreement and a feedback to the annexes is mentioned.General Agreement Layout1. Description of the programme2. Organization2.1. Legal Framework2.2. Co-ordinating institution2.3. The board (students included)2.4. Task-force committee3. Principles mutually agreed upon within the Consortium3.1. Advertising and public relations3.2. Student application form3.3. Criteria for admission3.4. Selection procedure3.5. Enrolment of students 3.6. Academic progress and examination of students3.7. Mutual recognition within the consortium and the final degree 3.8. Quality assurance3.9. Administrative and financial issues3.10. Confidentiality3.11. Intellectual property rights4. Student-consortium agreement4.1. Student scholarships 4.2. Students rights and responsibilities 4.3. Mobility within the network Services offered (to be removed)4.4. Services offered4.5. Alumni association4.6. Accommodation4.7. Insurance obligations4.8. Prevention and security5. Faculty Exchange6. Action and cancellation 7. Application of law and dispute resolutionAnnex 1Example of Degrees and Diploma Supplement givenAnnex 2Internal Regulations for administrative procedures, exams, degree awardAnnex 3 Annual report of budgetary mattersExplanations to be provided in the agreement1. Description of the programmeIt is a summary in half a page explaining the main objective, the length, the target group, the mobility scheme and the role of the partners. It explains the competences or qualifications acquired and the format of the degrees awarded.The web site should be given2. Organization2.1. Legal FrameworkThe agreement should describe how the programme is officially accredited: national frameworks, accreditation agencies (national or European associations, international programmes). The agreement should inform about the length of the validity of such a framework.To be very clear, each university should add the name of their legal authority responsible for the official framework: who is responsible, when it has been decided and for how long.2.2. Co-ordinating institutionWho is the coordinator, how he is nominated, for how long and a description of his main responsibilities. 2.3. The board (students included)The Consortium will appoint a Board and the agreement should describe several points- Each partner should nominate a local academic co-ordinator from amongst the academic staff teaching in the programme, who is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of their home Universities are met.In addition- Administrative representation: Each University could nominate at least one administrative representative of the institution able to implement a joint procedure for managing the joint programme efficiently and to advise the Board.- Student representatives: Registered students could elect their representatives Details should be specified regarding :- How many times a year the board has meetings- what kind of points should be discussed, such as o Overseeing programme development and delivery, including quality assurance of the programmeo Monitoring student achievement, progression and evaluation, including student feedbacko Reporting to the European Commission and other donors on grants awarded for co-operation projects - How decisions are to be taken ( by consensus , by a simple majority vote, other solutions?)- Who prepares the agenda, when is it sent to the partners, who will write the minutes of the meetings?- Who is responsible for keeping accurate records of all meetings and decisions of the Board?Other details should be put in annexes in an “internal regulations” 2.4. Task-force committeeIn some consortium, there is a need to define task forces. In the agreement details should be given regarding their definition, role, representative.3. Principles mutually agree within the ConsortiumThe following principles should be mutually agreed on within the Consortium with respect to the (remove) Advertising, Application, Selection, Registration, Examination, Quality assurance and Administration processes:3.1. Advertising and public relationsAll the partners should be committed to the promotion. Conflicts with each institution should be discussed between the representative and their Institution communication strategy.A list of points should be given, either in the agreement or in the “internal regulation”.Example:o Websites of the institutions of the consortiumo A specific website for the projecto Via the National agencieso Cultural services and diplomatic representations of the countries involved in the consortiumo Communication through scientific and professional bodies and organisationso International scientific conferences organised by the consortium memberso Partnerships with international companies of the professionThe promotion of the programme is the responsibility of all the partners as agreed by the member institutions and as members of the board. This action is clearly viewed and defined as a key element of the sustainability of the course. The board will support and co-ordinate activities.Each member institution agrees to the use of its name and logo for the purposes of promotional material, programme literature and other documentation of the programme. The strategy for promoting the programme will be discussed annually by the board.3.2. Student application formIn the agreement, the procedure for applying should be described :- EU and non UE- To whom?- Papers or “on line”?- Which language?- Role of the board and joint procedure without conflict to local regulations. - Deadlines 3.3. Criteria for admissionList of the pre-requisites, language proficiency, other joint characteristics, prior learning or not?The criteria should be joint criteria!3.4. Selection procedureVery important item.In this section, the joint selection is described for all kind of students. If there are differences, it should be explained and listed:- The criteria used by the network- Who organizes the selection- When and how (virtually, meeting, all files read by all partners or selection shared by sub-groups)?- How the results are proclaimed and forwarded properly to the students in due time?- Division of the work between the coordinator and the partners?- Reference to the different academic calendars could be useful in some cases3.5. Enrolment of students The consortium should be extremely clear regarding the type of mobility student (local, EU and non-EU)Consensus should be obtained to make the differences clear.Exampleo Registered at the starting university (i.e, the first university in the course of the studies)o Enrolled at the co-ordinating universityo Registered at the second university in case of a mobility period3.6. Academic progress and examination of studentsThis section should be short if the internal regulation is precise on all the key points.The agreement should nevertheless mention the topic of:- Transfer of the full records after each mobility and each examination- How data is circulated among partners- Commitment to recognize all credits obtained at a partner university- The grading scale usedInternal examination procedures annex should be well described in an annex. 3.7. Mutual recognition within the consortium and the final degree This section is very important and should be paid attention to. It is a quality assurance that the institutions are working with the recognition and the degree awarded. This section should be written to facilitate the transparency and be readable for academics, students, administrative staff, rectors, councils of the institutionsInternal examination procedures annex should describe in details the grading system, the role of the students in the process, the deliberation of the jury for giving distinction etc.Example of agreement- Each member institution formally recognises the modules offered within the programme and the credits awarded.- The coordinator (should be defined by the consortium) collects the results from the partners and certifies to the consortium the outcome of the assessments of each participant- Each student will receive:o A joint Masters degree (if allowed by the national or State legislation) or the national degree from the universities hosting the student (double degrees)o A joint certificate with the name of the graduate, the logos of the seven Universities and the signature of the co-ordinating institution.o A diploma supplement presenting the details of the participants academic programme and academic achievement. It should be produced by the coordinator (in the case of a joint degree), or by both the universities granting the degree (in the case of a double diploma)o ? other solutions should be described- Information about the Official signatures of the documents and example should be put in an annex of the agreement.Accreditation system: the agreement should mention the official title of the degrees at each participating institution, the date of the accreditation and the length of the validity of the agreement. This table should be filled in for instance:Name of institutionTitle of degree awarded for this Masters course by this institutionType of degree awardedDate and reference of formal approval of the degree3.8. Quality assuranceIt is the responsibility of the consortium to define their criteria. Nevertheless, because different countries are involved, very general principles should be explained again such as:Example of agreement to be discussedQuality assurance will be based on both internal and external assessment measures. External quality assurance will be guaranteed by arranging frequent overall evaluations, under the responsibility of the board. This self-evaluation will be carried out every year. Internal quality mechanisms: to be discussed according to the specific activities of the networks and evaluations made by the teachers to their students, how they take into account the remarks, they adapt their program after the feedback of each semester etc.Student involvement on the board: to clearify their effective role in the boardEvaluation and quality culture: To be discussed among the partnership. Example of problems listed:“Each University in the consortium follows its own national institutional quality assurance procedures to ensure that the programme maintains its high academic standard. Recognition of the degrees is a very important issue for the programme, and national authorities are therefore involved in its quality control. Institutional agreements have been made and signed by all Rectors/Presidents/Vice-Chancellors in order to certify the good practices of the network and to engage the responsibility of each institution on the quality control of the academic part of the programme. If for some reason, one institution is no longer accredited to award the Masters degree after the period concerned; the University will be removed from the programme pending new official accreditation. This will not affect students that are already in the system”.Quality assurance with respect to higher education in Europe: to explain other mechanisms used by the consortium if it is the case.3.9. Administrative and financial issuesThis section should be short but should define some key points such as :- Who administrates the budget- To whom do the students pay the fees- Who defines the price and at which point in the process- Who makes the annual finance report- Sustainability of the programme3.10. ConfidentialityExample of agreement:Except as expressly authorised by, and subject to any obligations of this agreement, each member institution agrees to keep confidential any information, data, know-how, document or other material which is communicated to it as confidential, or the disclosure of which may be clearly prejudicial to the other member institution. Notwithstanding the above, a member institution is entitled to disclose confidential information which it is required by law to disclose or which, in a lawful manner, it has obtained from a third party without any obligation of confidentiality, or which it has developed independently of confidential information, or which has become public knowledge other than as a result of a breach by that member institution of its obligations under this confidentiality clause.3.11. Intellectual property rightsThis section should describe if the students research work could lead to intellectual property rights. If companies are involved in the program, specifics should be explained.A lot of countries seem to already have text available for this topic and the consortium should consider the differences and find a compromise.4. Student-consortium agreementThis section could be written in the agreement or it could be done in an annex of the agreement4.1. Student scholarships According to the external funds, the agreement should explain who provides the scholarships to the students. Differences should be made between EU and non-EU students, between EC funds such as Erasmus Mundus or embassies fund etc.4.2. Students rights and responsibilitiesExample of agreementThe students rights and responsibilities are the same as those valid for each degree student at the institution where the student is studying at the time.The student must comply with the demands of the institution in question as regards to documentation for registration procedures and documentation for visa purposes 4.3. Mobility within the network Services offeredExample of agreementStudents participating in the Masters programme must do at least one semester in another university (equivalent to 30 credits). All students should be aware of this compulsory mobility period. All member institutions will provide appropriate information at the administrative, financial and pedagogical levels.4.4. Services offeredExampleStudents participating in the mobility programme shall benefit from all services offered by the host University. The services should be the same as those given to regular students at the respective institution.4.5. Alumni associationIf the programme has started an Alumni association, information should be given (who coordinates? Where to find information?)4.6. AccommodationExplain how the students can get accommodation at the different partner institutions.Example of agreementStudents must submit the application form for housing to the institution in question by the deadline set by the institution. The member institutions rules and responsibilities regarding student housing apply to students in the programme4.7. Insurance obligationsTo explain the students responsibilities, the differences between the countries, how to solve the problems and give good and correct information to the studentsExample of agreementThe member institutions state that their students admitted to the joint study programme have sufficient insurance coverage at the university where they are enrolled, such as insurance for accidents and health. Students are required to obtain the appropriate insurance if needed.All other charges, including health insurance and third party liability (for damage which they may involuntarily cause to a person or their properties), shall be borne by the students themselves. 4.8. Prevention and securityIt seems too complex to describe all problems a student might face. To avoid conflicts in case of accident, it would be good to write that the students must respect the local internal rules of the university they currently visit.Example of agreementThe parties shall supply each mobility programme participant with detailed information about the specific risks existing in the work environment in which they will operate and carry out their functions and with necessary documentation about the prevention and emergency security measures and provisions in force in relation to their activities and about the individuals/subjects in charge of this, in conformity with the legislative norms and regulations in force in the country of the hosting University.5. Faculty ExchangeAll specific modalities should be explained. This section is important in order to define who pays the activities, who is responsible in case of accidents and so on.Please find below examples of this:5.1. Exchange modali