Memoranda of Agreements
Stages of Development of Agreements
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Initiation
Early drafts of the MOA can be discussed and reviewed by your IPECC representative. The final draft of the MOA should be sent to the International Outreach office (Kim Fox, kfox@tamu.edu) in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center for review. The draft will be returned with suggested revisions, if any, and with forms and instructions to start the approval process.
Models of an initial umbrella Memorandum of Agreement, a Supplement, and Reciprocal Educational Exchange Program Supplement must be consulted when preparing a draft to share with an international counterpart. These documents have been previously approved by all university officials and significantly different agreements result in an extended routing period.
Drafting the Document
You have already taken the first step in visiting our web site! The next step is to check with the International Outreach staff or on the Center’s web site to determine whether an agreement already exists with the foreign institution of interest. (http://international.tamu.edu/ipo/faculty.html). If an umbrella MOA already exists, only a supplement will be needed. If no agreement currently exists with the foreign institution, both an MOA and a Supplement should be developed.
The Texas A&M contact should draft the MOA and/or Supplement based on the attached models with the help of their college IPECC representative and the needs and interests of the foreign institution. The text should be written in consultation with the contact of the foreign institution.
Approval and Routing
Once a Memorandum of Agreement and/or Supplement has been drafted (with the help of the IPECC rep.), it will be forwarded to the International Outreach office (kfox@tamu.edu). The International Outreach office will review the document to ensure that it meets University guidelines and policies. If necessary, the document will be returned to the initiating department or individual for corrections.
It is imperative that the Texas A&M contact/initiating department, discuss the corrections or additions as recommended by IC with the counterpart(s) at the foreign institution before they arrive at a mutually agreeable original document.
Upon satisfactory completion of the agreement, the IC will ensure that the document obtains the recommendations, approvals, and signatures from the appropriate administrators. The IC will handle the routing of agreements for all signatures. This process normally takes about six to nine weeks.
Once all appropriate Texas A&M University signatures have been obtained, the agreement is returned to the department initiating the agreement. The department is then responsible for obtaining the signatures of the foreign institution officials. After both institutions sign the agreement, at least one original document must be returned to the International Outreach office to be filed in the International Agreement Archives.
Monitoring/Renewal
Approximately six months before an MOA and/or supplement is scheduled to expire, the IC will check with the contact person to determine whether there is interest in renewing the agreement. The Texas A&M contact person is responsible for contacting the foreign-institution representatives and determining whether or not there is any interest in continuing or renewing ties and collaboration.
The IC also maintains and provides lists of Texas A&M's international agreements, as well as information and statistics concerning the location, contact person, history, and status of each agreement.
