cooperation agreement template joiman

8/3/2019 Cooperation Agreement Template JOIMAN

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September 2009

Cooperation Agreement Template

IntroductionThis template is not a model as such. A lot of agreements have been set up byconsortia where partners have the choice to describe important points useful for thecooperation 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 helpinginstitutions to avoid problems, conflicts or loosing time to solve them.

Some examples have been given just to see what kind of things could be discussedamong 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 leveland academics. In the framework of Joiman, it has been discussed by allrepresentatives 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 datashould 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 ismentioned.

General Agreement Layout

1. 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 students3.6. Academic progress and examination of students3.7. Mutual recognition within the consortium and the final degree3.8. Quality assurance3.9. Administrative and financial issues3.10. Confidentiality3.11. Intellectual property rights4. Student-consortium agreement4.1.Student scholarships

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4.2. Students rights and responsibilities4.3. Mobility within the network Services offered (to be removed)4.4. Services offered4.5. Alumni association

4.6. Accommodation4.7. Insurance obligations4.8. Prevention and security5.Faculty Exchange6. Action and cancellation7. Application of law and dispute resolution

Annex 1Example of Degrees and Diploma Supplement givenAnnex 2Internal Regulations for administrative procedures, exams, degree awardAnnex 3

Annual report of budgetary matters

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Explanations to be provided in the agreement

1. Description of the programmeIt is a summary in half a page explaining the main objective, the length, thetarget group, the mobility scheme and the role of the partners. It explains thecompetences or qualifications acquired and the format of the degrees awarded.The web site should be given

2. Organization

2.1. 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 ofthe validity of such a framework.To be very clear, each university should add the name of their legal authorityresponsible for the official framework: who is responsible, when it has beendecided and for how long.

2.2. Co-ordinating institutionWho is the coordinator, how he is nominated, for how long and a description ofhis main responsibilities.

2.3. The board (students included)

The Consortium will appoint a Board and the agreement should describe severalpoints

- Each partner should nominate a local academic co-ordinator from amongstthe academic staff teaching in the programme, who is responsible forensuring that the requirements of their home Universities are met.

In addition

- Administrative representation: Each University could nominate at least oneadministrative representative of the institution able to implement a joint

procedure for managing the joint programme efficiently and to advise theBoard.

-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 aso 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?)

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- Who prepares the agenda, when is it sent to the partners, who will write theminutes of the meetings?

- Who is responsible for keeping accurate records of all meetings and decisionsof 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 agreementdetails should be given regarding their definition, role, representative.

3. Principles mutually agree within the ConsortiumThe following principles should be mutually agreed on within the Consortiumwith 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 eachinstitution should be discussed between the representative and their Institutioncommunication strategy.

A list of points should be given, either in the agreement or in the internalregulation.

Example:o Websites of the institutions of the consortium

o A specific website for the project

o Via the National agencies

o

Cultural services and diplomatic representations of the countries involvedin the consortiumo Communication through scientific and professional bodies and

organisationso International scientific conferences organised by the consortium

memberso Partnerships with international companies of the profession

The promotion of the programme is the responsibility of all the partners as agreedby the member institutions and as members of the board. This action is clearlyviewed and defined as a key element of the sustainability of the course. The boardwill 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 theprogramme. The strategy for promoting the programme will be discussed annuallyby 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

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3.3. Criteria for admissionList of the pre-requisites, language proficiency, other joint characteristics, priorlearning 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 aredifferences, 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 selectionshared by sub-groups)?

- How the results are proclaimed and forwarded properly to the students in duetime?

- Division of the work between the coordinator and the partners?

-Reference to the different academic calendars could be useful in some cases

3.5. Enrolment of studentsThe 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.

ExampleoRegistered at the starting university (i.e, the first university in the course of

the studies)oEnrolled at the co-ordinating university

oRegistered at the second university in case of a mobility period

3.6. Academic progress and examination of students

This section should be short if the internal regulation is precise on all the keypoints.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 used

Internal 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 qualityassurance that the institutions are working with the recognition and the degreeawarded. This section should be written to facilitate the transparency and bereadable for academics, students, administrative staff, rectors, councils of theinstitutions

Internal examination procedures annex should describe in details the gradingsystem, the role of the students in the process, the deliberation of the jury forgiving distinction etc.....

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Example of agreement

-

Each member institution formally recognises the modules offered within theprogramme and the credits awarded.

- The coordinator (should be defined by the consortium) collects the resultsfrom the partners and certifies to the consortium the outcome of theassessments 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 (doubledegrees)

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 thecoordinator (in the case of a joint degree), or by both the universitiesgranting the degree (in the case of a double diploma)

o ????? other solutions should be described

- Information about the Official signatures of the documents and exampleshould be put in an annex of the agreement.

Accreditation system: the agreement should mention the official title of thedegrees at each participating institution, the date of the accreditation and thelength of the validity of the agreement.This table should be filled in for instance:

Name of institution

Title of degree awarded forthis Masters course by thisinstitution

Type of degreeawarded

Date and reference offormalapproval ofthe degree

3.8. Quality assuranceIt is the responsibility of the consortium to define their criteria. Nevertheless,because different countries are involved, very general principles should beexplained again such as:

Example of agreement to be discussed

Quality assurance will be based on both internal and external assessment measures.External quality assurance will be guaranteed by arranging frequent overallevaluations, under the responsibility of the board. This self-evaluation will be carriedout every year.

Internal quality mechanisms: to be discussed according to the specific activitiesof the networks and evaluations made by the teachers to their students, how theytake into account the remarks, they adapt their program after the feedback of each

semester etc....

Student involvement on the board: toclearify their effective role in the board

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Evaluation and quality culture: To be discussed among the partnership. Exampleof problems listed:

Each University in the consortium follows its own national institutional qualityassurance 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. Institutionalagreements have been made and signed by all Rectors/Presidents/Vice-Chancellorsin order to certify the good practices of the network and to engage the responsibilityof each institution on the quality control of the academic part of the programme. Iffor some reason, one institution is no longer accredited to award the Mastersdegree after the period concerned; the University will be removed from the

programme pending new official accreditation. This will not affect students that arealready in the system.

Quality assurance with respect to higher education in Europe: to explainother mechanisms used by the consortium if it is the case.

3.9. Administrative and financial issues

This 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 programme

3.10. Confidentiality

Example 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 thedisclosure of which may be clearly prejudicial to the other member institution.Notwithstanding the above, a member institution is entitled to disclose confidentialinformation which it is required by law to disclose or which, in a lawful manner, it hasobtained from a third party without any obligation of confidentiality, or which it hasdeveloped independently of confidential information, or which has become public

knowledge other than as a result of a breach by that member institution of itsobligations under this confidentiality clause.

3.11. Intellectual property rights

This section should describe if the students research work could lead tointellectual property rights. If companies are involved in the program, specificsshould be explained.

A lot of countries seem to already have text available for this topic and theconsortium should consider the differences and find a compromise.

4. Student-consortium agreement

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This section could be written in the agreement or it could be done in an annex ofthe agreement

4.1. Student scholarships

According to the external funds, the agreement should explain who provides thescholarships to the students. Differences should be made between EU and non-EU students, between EC funds such as Erasmus Mundus or embassies fundetc...

4.2. Students rights and responsibilities

Example of agreementThe students rights and responsibilities are the same as those valid for eachdegree student at the institution where the student is studying at the time.

The student must comply with the demands of the institution in question asregards to documentation for registration procedures and documentation forvisa purposes

4.3. Mobility within the network Services offered

Example of agreementStudents participating in the Masters programme must do at least onesemester in another university (equivalent to 30 credits). All students should beaware of this compulsory mobility period. All member institutions will provideappropriate information at the administrative, financial and pedagogical levels.

4.4. Services offered

ExampleStudents participating in the mobility programme shall benefit from all servicesoffered by the host University. The services should be the same as those givento 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. Accommodation

Explain how the students can get accommodation at the different partnerinstitutions.

Example of agreementStudents must submit the application form for housing to the institution inquestion by the deadline set by the institution. The member institutions rulesand responsibilities regarding student housing apply to students in the

programme

4.7. Insurance obligations

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To explain the students responsibilities, the differences between the countries,how to solve the problems and give good and correct information to thestudents

Example of agreementThe member institutions state that their students admitted to the joint studyprogramme have sufficient insurance coverage at the university where they areenrolled, such as insurance for accidents and health. Students are required toobtain the appropriate insurance if needed.

All other charges, including health insurance and third party liability (fordamage which they may involuntarily cause to a person or their properties),shall be borne by the students themselves.

4.8. Prevention and security

It seems too complex to describe all problems a student might face. To avoidconflicts in case of accident, it would be good to write that the students mustrespect the local internal rules of the university they currently visit.

Example of agreementThe parties shall supply each mobility programme participant with detailedinformation about the specific risks existing in the work environment in whichthey will operate and carry out their functions and with necessarydocumentation about the prevention and emergency security measures and

provisions in force in relation to their activities and about theindividuals/subjects in charge of this, in conformity with the legislative normsand regulations in force in the country of the hosting University.

5. Faculty Exchange

All specific modalities should be explained. This section is important in order todefine who pays the activities, who is responsible in case of accidents and soon.Please find below examples of this:

5.1. Exchange modalities


The Universities shall regulate the reception and employment of faculty membersand administrative staff participating in the mobility programme under thisagreement, in conformity with the law and rules in force in the country concernedunder the exchange.Personnel covered by this agreement will continue to comply with the contractualobligations with the home university and will continue to receive their dueremuneration and to benefit from the rights that they are entitled to for their

juridical position, according to the legislative norms existing in the home country.In each case, the home university shall consider the duration of the stay as anordinary service period for all purposes.The parties agree that all financial issues will have to be negotiated and will depend

on the availability of funds provided by community programmes, or by potentialpublic or private funding earmarked for this project.

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5.2 Activities for teachers and administrative staff


Faculty members and researchers can hold courses and lectures, carry out tutorials, participate in seminars, be part of examinations, final thesis and doctoratecommissions at the partner university, and take part in research activities andmeetings for student exchange programme planning, evaluation and developmentheld at the partner university.The administrative staff will have the possibility of participating in meetings forstudent exchange programme planning, evaluation and development, and will beable to carry out special visits in order to analyse the management systemsoperating at the partner university.

5.3. Insurance obligation


The parties state that their employees and staff (teachers and administrative staff)are insured against incidents that they may encounter during their stay abroad, forthe activities under this agreement,

All other charges, including health insurance and third party liability (for damagewhich they may involuntarily cause to a person or their properties), shall be borne bythe staff members themselves.

6. Action and cancellation

When is the agreement commencing?For how long?How to cancel it?What happens if one institution is no longer allowed to award the degree during thevalidity of the agreement?How to change the content of agreement?

7. Application of law and dispute resolution

Some words to explain how to solve problems in case of a dispute.


If any dispute arises between the member institutions, they will in good faith attempt

to negotiate a settlement. If unsuccessful, they will in good faith attempt a resolution

through an alternative dispute resolution procedure (an ADR procedure)

commissioned by the board.

The consortium will, if needed, appoint a common committee for appeals and

grievance. This committee will be elected among the members of the board. This is to

handle possible complaints from students in the programme. The students must

respect local rules. If they complain, the receiving institution will resolve the problem

with the local regulations and the student

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Signatories

Date

Stamps

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Annex 2

Example of content of Internal Regulations

I. General

Section 1 Aim of the Master's Programme and purpose of the master's assessment

process

Section 2 Master's degree

Section 3 Admission requirements

Section 4 Standard period of study, scope of studies, credit points

Section 5 Assessment process and assessment deadlines

Section 6 Academic Board

Section 7 Examiners and assistant examiners

Section 8 Recognition of grades and credits for course work, assignment to a more

senior

specialised-study semester

Section 9 Cancellation, failure to appear, withdrawal, cheating, disruption of

examinations

II. Master's assessment process

Section 10 Scope and type of assessment

Section 11 Admission to the master's assessment process

Section 12 Admission procedure

Section 13 Written tests

Section 14 Oral examinations

Section 15 Master's thesis

Section 16 Submission and evaluation of a master's thesis

Section 17 Supplementary coursesSection 18 Assessment, grading system and pass requirements for the master's

assessment process

Section 19 Repeating the master's assessment process

Section 20 Certificate

Section 21 Diploma and Rectors signatures procedure

III. Final provisions

Section 22 Invalidity of the master's assessment process and revocation of the

master's degree

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Section 23 Access to master's assessment process records

Section 24 Entry into force und publication

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cooperation agreement template joiman

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