International Affiliation Agreements

What is an international affiliation agreement?

At UIC, an international affiliation agreement is defined as any cooperative arrangement (including but not limited to contracts, memoranda of agreements, or letters of intention) between the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois on behalf of UIC, and foreign higher education institution/s or organizations (including agencies) to support academic activities such as international student recruitment, student exchange/mobility, faculty exchanges, direct enrollment, student placement abroad, special student programs, facilitated transfer, and curricular collaborations such as degrees offered in cooperation with an international institution. Such agreements must adhere to the International Collaboration Policy.

Proposed collaborations with third-party organizations that are not traditional higher education institutions exclusively involving outbound mobility of UIC students should be routed through the Study Abroad Proposal Review Committee process. Contact the Study Abroad Office at sao@uic.edu for more information.

What is the process for proposing an international affiliation agreement?

1. Request a consultation

When you begin conversations with a current or prospective partner about an agreement, schedule a consultation with the Shawn Conner-Rondot, Director of International Affairs and Outreach (sdconron@uic.edu). He will ensure that you have the necessary information in hand, including the appropriate agreement template to share with the partner.

2. Request an agreement/contract template

University Counsel requires that UIC units ask the partner to consider a pre-approved University of Illinois template, which you can request from Shawn Conner-Rondot (sdconron@uic.edu). That request should specify the type of agreement you are seeking and the details of any activity you intend to undertake with the partner. If the partner insists on using their template, please send the template to Conner-Rondot for an initial review.

3. Have the partner complete a vendor information form (and tax forms if needed)

The University of Illinois requires that partners provide specific “vendor” information depending on the type of contractual relationship (no funds, receivable, payable, hybrid) your unit will have with that partner.

  • For no funds and receivable agreements/contracts, follow the instructions on the Second Party Form. It is preferable for the form (PDF) to be completed and then signed using Adobe Sign; however, you may email the form to the partner/vendor after you have filled out the top half of the form with your unit’s information. “No funds” means that no money will be exchanged between UIC and the partner. “Receivable” means that UIC will receive money from the partner.
  • For payable and hybrid agreements/contracts, you should follow the instructions for vendor setup on the Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS) website. The partner must complete a vendor information form, as well as tax forms. The Office of Global Engagement and OBFS cannot offer advice on how to complete tax forms; all questions must be directed to the IRS. “Payable” means that UIC will be paying the partner for goods or services. “Hybrid” means that the agreement/contract will include payable and non-payable components.

4. Fill out and submit an agreement proposal form

An agreement proposal form is required any time you are proposing a new agreement or proposing to renew an agreement. The questions on these forms are designed to capture details about your relationship with the partner, e.g., how the partnership came about, what you plan to do and/or are currently doing with the partner, how the partnership is going, any concerns about the partnership, etc.

After you complete the proposal form and obtain the relevant signatures, send it by email to Shawn Conner-Rondot (sdconron@uic.edu). You should send the draft agreement, if the partner has completed review of it, at the same time.

When an agreement is renewed, occasionally it may be necessary to put a new agreement in place because University Counsel has updated the language in the University of Illinois templates and/or required inclusion of new language when a partner’s template will be used. The Office of Global Engagement will work with you to determine what might be needed.

If you need to amend an existing agreement, contact Shawn Conner-Rondot (sdconron@uic.edu) to discuss the steps involved.

5. Stay in contact with the Office of Global Engagement

After the Office of Global Engagement has received the agreement proposal form and the draft agreement, an OGE staff member will initiate the following process:

  • Visual compliance check to ensure the partner and the names of any individuals mentioned in the agreement (including signatories) are not considered restricted parties by the U.S. government
  • Reviews by relevant OGE offices, including the Office of International Services and the Study Abroad Office
  • Submission in Contracts+ to Purchasing and Contract Management (PCM), which will review the proposed agreement, consult with University Counsel as necessary, and secure the signature of the UI Comptroller or Comptroller Designee

The Office of Global Engagement will contact you if PCM and/or University Counsel indicates changes to the agreement are required. Although OGE may ask you to share the changes with the partner, you should not feel compelled to function as the intermediary on any negotiations. OGE and PCM can work directly with the partner to finalize the agreement.

You are welcome to contact Shawn Conner-Rondot (sdconron@uic.edu) at any time to ask for a status update on PCM’s review/signature process. At certain times of the year when the volume of contracts and agreements increases, PCM may take longer to complete these steps.