Memoranda of Agreements

Letter of Cooperation: What is it?

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On occasion a document needs to be signed quickly or at a signing ceremony. Although Texas A&M University does not require this document, some foreign institutions feel that a period of relationship building is useful to the process of developing an agreement. Perhaps a document stating that Texas A&M University and a foreign institution hope to establish faculty, student or research collaborations in the future is needed. A Letter of Cooperation fills that need.

This letter is even more general than a MOA and does not commit the university or departments to any definite plans. Generally, they are only established for a one year periods. It is a very good first step to creating a long-term arrangement and will potentially allow faculty to lay out the plans for the official agreements. The benefit of these documents is that they can be created quickly and do not require a routing process.

The main point to realize is that this is NOT AN OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY AGREEMENT.  These documents can be signed by any faculty/staff member since there is no specific commitment.  An agreement is considered “official” when it is signed by an A&M University representative with authority to bind the University.  Because a Letter of Cooperation is not signed by a person with that authority, it is not binding on the University.

 A model of the Letter of Cooperation is available (see link below) for guidance.  This model is flexible and able to be adjusted as needed.  The Office of International Outreach staff is available to help answer any questions that arise in the planning process.

Although these documents are not considered an official university agreement, the Office of International Outreach is still responsible for maintaining a record of their existence.  After a Letter of Cooperation has been signed, an original or copy must be turned in to your college’s IPECC representative.  The IPECC representative will in turn send a copy of the document to the International Outreach office to be placed in the permanent archive.

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• Glossary of terms
• IPECC College Representative List
• Search the MOA Database
• Letter of Cooperation: What is it?
• What is a Memorandum of Agreement? What is a Program Agreement?
• Joint/Dual degree guidelines
• Specific Information
• Stages of Development of Agreements
• Procedures for creating University-Wide REEPs
• Letter of Cooperation Model  
• Memorandum of Agreement Model  
• Standard Program Agreement Model  
• Justification Model  
• REEP Program Agreement Model  
• Joint/Dual degree Letter of Cooperation Model  
• Joint/Dual Degree Program Agreement Model  
• Joint and Dual Degree Verification Certificate

Routing Flowcharts

• Memorandum of Agreement Flowcharts
• Multi-Institutional Degree/Certificate Programs Flowcharts
• Letter of Cooperation for Joint and Dual Degree Flowcharts
• International Agreement for Joint and Dual Degree Flowcharts