International Partnership/Agreement Procedure

Procedure for International Academic Agreements

Step One: Initiate a Partnership

  • The initiating individual(s) must obtain approval from their Dean/Director.
  • Upon approval, submit the Partnership Request Form to OGE:

https://forms.gle/xfCKjhdtw8wWXW5i8

  • For Mānoa International Exchange or Hoakipa partnerships, contact:

Office of Mānoa International Exchange (MIX) – uhmix@hawaii.edu

  • OGE consults with relevant stakeholders to assess feasibility, alignment, and institutional capacity.

Step Two: Preparation and Negotiation of Agreement

OGE serves as the central agreement coordinator and will:

  • Draft and negotiate the agreement with the unit and partner institution
  • Coordinate institutional review, as applicable, including:
  • UH Office of General Counsel (OGC)
  • Office of Export Controls (OEC)
  • Office of Vice Provost for Academic Excellence (OVPAE)
  • Office of Vice President for Academic Strategy (OVPAS)
  • Office of Vice President for Research and Scholarship (OVPRS)
  • Provost
  • President

Step Three: Signature and Execution

OGE will:

  • Determine appropriate signing authority
  • Prepare required action memos
  • Route and obtain signatures
  • Upload executed agreements to OnBase

Procedure for International Research Agreements

Step Zero (NEW): Data Governance Review – REQUIRED FIRST STEP

Before initiating the OGE process:

  1. The proposing unit must submit the proposed research collaboration to the Data Governance Review process.
  2. The review will assess:
  • Data classification (e.g., public, restricted, sensitive)
  • Data security and privacy risks
  • Compliance with federal, state, and UH policies (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA, export controls)
  • Cross-border data transfer implications
  • Cybersecurity and infrastructure requirements
  1. The proposing unit must obtain formal clearance or required conditions from Data Governance before proceeding.

➡️ No research agreement may proceed to OGE without documented Data Governance review/clearance.

Subsequent Steps

After completion of Step Zero, all remaining steps (Step One: Initiation, Step Two: Preparation and Negotiation, and Step Three: Signature and Execution) shall follow the same procedure outlined for International Academic Agreements.

Contact Info:
Dr. Xiaoxin Ivy Mu
intlpart@hawaii.edu
xiaoxin@hawaii.edu

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

All UH Mānoa international agreements involving academic programs must undergo a process of review at multiple levels and must be signed by the Provost – via Office of Global Engagement. Those wishing to develop an international agreement should familiarize themselves with the UH System Executive Policy 8.200: Policy on Contracts and Signing Authority. Please pay special attention to the section on International Agreements (III.B.4.c), which outlines the appropriate review process and provides international agreement templates, available for download by following the link to Appendix 6.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

UH Mānoa’s Routing and Delegation Guideline.

UH System International Initiatives and it’s Agreement Database (domestic and international), OnBase.

N.B. It is UH policy that all international agreements be prepared in English, which shall be the designated language used to interpret, construe, and enforce the agreement. If desired, the sponsor may translate this agreement into a more familiar language, but if any translation of the agreement conflicts with the English version or contains terms in addition to, or different from, the English version, the English version shall prevail. If UH is asked to sign a non-English version of the agreement in addition to the English version, an accurate translation is required (whether provided by the partner institution or by UHM) and a qualified speaker of that language at UHM or designated by UHM must certify that it is a full and accurate translation. A statement that the translation has been reviewed and certified accurate, and by whom, must be included in the signing action memo.

N.B. It is important to check with the contact person at the partner institution whether the Provost’s digital signature will be acceptable. UH no longer requires non-digital (“wet ink)” signatures or hard-copies of agreements, but in the rare instance that the partner institution insists on a wet ink signature, that requirement must be noted in the signing action memo. Then the hard copy of the actual signed agreement needs to be mailed to the contact person at the partner institution for signature(s) there. Mailing will be the responsibility of the originating unit at UHM. A pdf scan of the fully signed MOU should be returned to the originating unit at UHM and forwarded to OGE, sent as an email attachment.